The Artist's Eyes by Jenn Lee

Last week I became a Grandmother for the first time. My eldest daughter gave birth to her own daughter…Angel. She fits her name perfectly…a real angel.

I have to admit that this has been the most difficult challenge to overcome when it comes to work distractions. It is difficult to focus or work when you have a new baby in the house.

Since I can’t share with you new paintings I have…err should be completing, I thought I would share my precious distraction…please say hello to my grand baby, Angel Lee. Isn’t she beautiful? She is a distraction worth being distracted for…in this artist’s eyes.

©Photo by Jenn Lee

©Photo by Jenn Lee

©Photo by Jenn Lee

©Photo by Jenn Lee

When I first started a serious interest in art, I was always going through tons and tons of paper, canvas’s, pencils, paints and supplies. I always had boxes of past artwork stored here and stored there. As the years have gone by and multiple hassles with moving around, I have either given away or tossed many art pieces. This is why I love my tablet PC….

In today’s day and age, we are all about technology and gadgets. I had purchased a ThinkPad X41 Tablet PC awhile back, for it’s portability and tablet technology. Much like a Wacom digital tablet, it utilizes a full screen touch point ability for use with a stylus. There are several reasons I believe that this is a great asset to an artist like myself.

One reason I believe it’s a great asset is because I am primarily an ECO friendly artist. I try to keep my imprint on the environment as little as possible with my use of non toxic materials, recycling and reuse of materials. With using a tablet/touch pad PC, I have the ability to draw, paint or sketch out ideas all digitally. With this technology I do not have to use any paper, paint or other materials. It not only reduces my material usage, it but frees up a huge amount of office storage space as well.

Another reason I think it’s a great asset is its portability. As a business woman, I need to have a portable portfolio. Having the convenience of being able to carry my portfolio with me is great. As well, when I am quoting a commission, being able to sketch out ideas on location or digitally sign contracts on the tablet PC, increases productivity.

Recently I decided to add switching my OS (Operating System) as well. Mind you I know Microsoft is popular, and standard on any PC purchase besides a Mac, but we are not limited to it. This laptop came with XP Tablet version installed. Though it was nice to power it up and go, it was not as speedy as I would like, plus XP is a retiring OS, which means I will have to switch it out in the near future. Knowing this, the newer Microsoft OS’s will not run efficiently on this laptops specs. With those things in consideration as well as input from my good friend Jason of Webfoo, and his knowledge and passion for Linux, I decided to try running Linux on it.

Linux is an Open Source operating system. The impressiveness of the Linux community building/creating a completely free OS is amazing of itself, as well the amount of people in the community that donate so much time and energy adding to, fixing issues and developing of their own free will and time spent.

With the successful installation of Ubuntu Lucid 10.04 on my little tablet PC, I immediately noticed a more than significant increase in speed. This alone was a moment of pride and excitement. Pride because I consider myself a complete beginner in working with Linux and excitement that it installed and was configurable without a hitch.

Not only was I able to install the operating system, the free applications available are amazing. I hear a lot of people talk about the amount of applications they can get on their iPhones and iPads with Apple, but at a cost. Again I reiterate, the free resources available in the Linux community is astounding.

If you consider getting a tablet PC, Ubuntu is definitely something to do a little research on. GIMP is like Photoshop. It has many brushes, actions and tools just like Photoshop, but without any of the cost. It has a wonderful application called MyPaint that definitely competes with Adobe Illustrator as well. From my standpoint, MyPaint has the full range of capabilities you have with drawing or painting on a canvas that mimics real life. Did I mention these too are free? Some things to think about…in this artist’s eyes.

With the kiddos being out of school on summer break, I have been trying to keep them busy with fun projects of their own. Today was one of those days when it was hard to occupy my youngest son so I decided to do some creative photography with him….

Every once in awhile I have to admit it’s nice to break out of my usual artistic medium and play around with other ways to use my creativeness. I love playing with photography as a secondary tool as a creative outlet.

With today’s digital cameras you can take as many shots as you want and have the instant gratification as soon as you upload them to your computer. My tool of choice is a Nikon D70. It may not be the best digital camera or the newest but it has several great little tools embedded into it that makes it better than some of the newer cameras. If I was going to recommend a nice digital camera to play with…this would be it.

When you are sitting at home with the kiddos this summer and can’t get them to stop climbing the walls…get them to strike a pose for you…besides nice updated portraits of them to share with family, you can get creative and make digitally manipulated photos like this! Not only will you have a little creative fun, your kids will leave you alone for awhile after posing! Mu-ha-ha-ha….

If you don’t see what was so creative about the photo above, other than the fact it looks like my son is falling out of the sky…check out the original below…

All you need is a photo editing program like Adobe Photoshop or if you are looking for a free program, try GIMP. You can find tutorials online for either program and even some on Youtube. After you get the hang of it, you can have a lot of fun as well as this being a great creative outlet…in this artist’s eyes.

This is off topic compared to my usual jibber jabber, but as I forewarned you readers…this blog is my place for general gibberish in the day to day life of an artist, so with that being said, I have come to notice how dependent I have become on modern technology lately. The things we take for granted as luxuries are becoming quite numerous as time goes by. I am sure a lot of us say we are not dependent at the least, but think carefully about that answer…

We have computers, cell phones, TIVO, DVRs or GPS systems, amongst the many other things I could list. I can remember when I didn’t have a cell phone. It was something you saw on television or movies. Now I cannot seem to leave the house without feeling slightly naked without it. I grab the keys, my purse and yes…my cell phone.

How many of you TIVO or DVR your favorite television shows? How upset are you when you don’t remember to set the record function before you leave for the day or evening? I bet more than most would like to admit! Gone are the days of BETA or VHS, now every home has a DVR or TIVO recorder, indeed gone are the days of brick sized ribbon format media storage.

Who has a paper map in their car? Alright, let me rephrase that, when was the last time you looked at one? It doesn’t count if you have one and you don’t open it up for reference! In my SUV, the computerized voice of Darth Vader boldly instructs me on my trips as of late via my GPS. “Prepare to make the jump to hyperspace”…sounds off as I enter the expressway. I look to that pocket sized virtual map to lead me on the correct path…gone are the fold up maps that if I remember correctly…sometimes caused some close call accidents while driving and navigating!

How about that trusty computer? I can remember my first computer. In fact I can remember putting together my first computer….okay I will even confess I remember first taking apart then putting back together my first computer he-he. What can I say? I wanted to know what was inside and how it worked! I did learn what I needed to know…eventually…and as the members of my household can attest to, I can build, rebuild or repair the computers in my house. *Sigh* speaking of which, I will be doing some repairs to my own computer in the very near future as well.

Back to topic though…I use my computer, err let me rephrase that, the internet for my go to place for just about anything I need information on. I can’t recall the last time I used a phone book, a dictionary or an encyclopedia. My children use the internet for educational references as well as entertainment. If I need a recipe I Google, if I need a DIY project explained I Google it, if I need information about prescriptions, cars, computers, clothes etc I Google it. Yes I love Google! But seriously…how much do you rely on your computer/internet? It is where you are reading my blog too isn’t it?

Modern technology has gone from luxury, to things we seem unable to go without in our day to day lives. I have to wonder where we will be in another decade? what will be the new inventions in technology? What will our children or our childrens children be…unable to go without in their day to day lives? Modern technology is a giant unstoppable  wave of human creativity that knows no boundary…in this artist’s eyes.

When it comes to photography, John Adkins has been my teacher/mentor as well as I am his biggest fan. He is a wonderful photographer that has an eye for composition as well as lighting. I look at his compositional lighting as an art. He sculpts the light like a sculptor sculpts clay. I have been after him for quite awhile about teaching a class on lighting and now finally he is going to do it! If you are a local interested in photography as a hobby or even considering it as a business interest…this is a class you don’t want to miss.

Do your eyes glaze over at the thought of using your flash on camera?

Do you want to learn how to create directional, beautiful light with your off camera flash?

Are you intimidated by using your flash off camera?

If so, you will definitely want to attend my first, Off Camera Flash Photography Workshop!

Many folks have been requesting for some time that I do a workshop covering off camera flash techniques and with the help of a few friends and some positive motivation, we are finally in the running.

In this workshop we will be covering all of the gear needed to use your flash off camera, how to balance ambient light with flash and how to modify those little flashes to look like the big boys.  Mastering off camera flash is much easier than you think and will help you take your photography to the next level.  Its so easy even I can do it!

If this sounds like something you would be interested in, then check out the details below and I look forward to seeing you there!  If you have any questions about the Workshop, please sound off in the comments sections below or feel free to email me.

Be sure to bring your camera and gear!  If you’re new to the new off camera flash world and don’t have all the goodies yet, don’t be afraid to show up as we will have plenty of gear for you to check out and experiment with.  Also, this is not a gear specific class, meaning that this can be done with Canon, Nikon, Sony, Pentax and even point and shoot cameras!!!

Details:

Off Camera Flash Photography Workshop

When: Thursday June 24th 2010
Where:
Republic Bank & Trust Co.
9600 Brownsboro Road
Louisville, KY. 40241-3901
(502) 339-2200
What time: 5:30pm to 9pm
Cost: $59 Cash at the Door