colors and the allure of a woman~michellesblueplanet iPad

It all started out as an exercise to try capture the allure of Katie Holmes after seeing the gorgeous newly single beauty in H Stern's fabulous latest ad campaign ..

However I soon got distracted as it quickly struck me that perhaps it is more interesting to see how same bones, same pose …. how different colors will change subject model's facial expressions?

 and hence I got sidetracked as I experimented below:

yup, iPad digital art has one more plus point over conventional water coloring or pencils or oil…..for now that is.

I am at the phase to experiment with strokes, so I am grateful for iPad's instant gratification 

Anyway, as always, when there's something new to be learnt, its an enlightening process~

so I would view it as good practice, great learning curve.

some hours into experimenting with different palettes…..

In the end, I discovered I still prefer the nude makeup painting that I did at the onset !

Beauty in its rawness , great skin, good bones, captivating eyes…..

those very qualities that contrasted so well with the jewellery…..

thats what caught my eyes about the H.Stern's ads in the first place!

So of course , very likely I will get back to perfecting those chiseled cheekbones for vivacious Ms Holmes as soon as I get my next burst of mojo that is :)

quoting Picasso and enjoying a Beckham eye candied weekend!

Pablo Picasso quoted "The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls"

Talking of washing,  the washing machine at home broke down.

our 20th floor sky garden roofing almost flew off with the kind of wind one can imagine blew Dorothy of the Wizard of Oz into the kingdom of the 2 witches of East and West!

All golf games were rudely interrupted …..

Day in and out, households in flood prone areas pray they wouldn't   have to seek refuge in storm shelters! 

Oh The skies have been pounding us with thunders and merciless onslaughts of pelting rain non stop! 
Oh my besotted rain watching brain cursed at the skies and went muttering, pleading to Mother Nature to hold off her washing for awhile! 

.....until that is I came across a most captivating photo of David Beckham online and all thoughts of the weather flew off to cuckoo's nest and David mania took over michelles' ipad ~ LOL

Isnt he just such a hunky dory eye candy  for the weekend ? :

                               

so yes Picasso was so very right when he said  "The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls"

brilliant aye aye. 

link to michelle's Beckham attempt process at Picasa

whimsical series~ just letting the creative juices flow, michellechoongkhoo

KL's a very wet city these days!

when it rains it doesn't just pour, it floods big time :(

which means one would be more sane to stay cooped in the house than to run around town ...

which in turn means there's plenty of time for fingers to get finnicky and restless~ LOL

my artful inspirations whilst listening to Faye Wong's Final Fantasy song "Eyes on Me" 

nice song. great mood. 

my fingers obeyed its calling and viola , here's my November Fantasies

                       process of creating michellesblueplanet November Fantasy 2

link to process of creating michellesblueplanet November Fantasy 1

Illustrations of Pav , the Pembrook Welsh Corgi via Autodesk Sketchbook Express on michellesblueplanet ipad

Pav , the Pembrook Welsh Corgi, a photo by michelle's blue planet on Flickr.

now I know why my reading has taken a back seat of late!

this finger drawing habit is getting toooooo wicked addictive , hahahaha!

But oh oh what good Fun it is and definitely most satisfying to know the quest for new knowledge, while never ending is easily satiated these days on the internet!

Adopting a zest for life and a credo that all new knowledge is worth pursuing (at least once or twice)  before we form an opinion or discard has never been proven more right than this time….for me that is!

I had been quite frustrated when I first came across Autodesk Sketchbook Express (ASK)  ….its comprehensive offerings initially proved to be too complicated and challenging .
So I left it aside and went on to tackle the easier apps ….
I came back to it once or twice and it even crossed my mind maybe I should just delete the app since I had no good use for it …..

Well, ASK has now become my favourite drawing app , wuuuuu huuuuuu.

If there are those so inclined to experiment with ASK too , maybe this link will help shorten your learning curve on how to do it...…
Drawing Corgi on michellesblueplanet picasa




Wasnt that gooooood clean fun? Now you see why it is so irresistable?

Art via Autodesk Sketchbook Express @ michellesblueplanet ipad

The link to show how this was done Elmo via Autodesk Sketchbook Express

and I think this is one of the best youtube link I've seen on ASK

super duper FUN w Esssssssss ~ michellechoongkhoo

super duper FUN w Esssssssss ~, a photo by michelle's blue planet on Flickr.

was supposed to get some paperwork off my desk but got side tracked by an inspiration for my alphabet 'S' :)

A "P" inspired by Pavarotti , our Corgi rescue ~ michellechoongkhoo

Pavarotti , Corgi love, a photo by michelle's blue planet on Flickr.

been a hectic week of new routines at home…..
due to the unplanned , unexpected , spontaneous arrival of Pavarotti , the Corgi~

The new friendship has taken everyone by surprise and filled our hearts with joy .

All are coping well .
How blessed.

And so my P is definitely an inspiration drawn from watching the interactions of adorable newcomer Pavarotti, the Corgi with beloved darling Elmo, the Beagle ~

Life can be so sweet.
Out there are some souls waiting for us to find and love them~
And so it is, that's how  Pavarotti found us ❀ ❃ ❉

links to the rest of the alphabets project

A to Zeeeee inspirations on ipad~ michellesblueplanet

this "oh oh " piece was inspired rather absentmindedly while doodling and fretting over how Elmo , our beagle would react to new voiceless friend ...

Corkie…pitiful baby, 

the debarked and abandoned 8 years old Corgi ,

whom our vet insisted we should take home and give the poor chap a chance for some happiness...

Legally , vet is now at liberty to give Pavarotti ( our newly chosen name ) away after owner has refused to answer all calls or made any payments for its medical bills for a full one calendar year!!!

Just want to state clearly here that it was not this vet who devoiced poor Pavarotti in the first place…..
his owner brought him in for hostel bedding on reasons that they were traveling and then never bothered to come back for him on the sick logic , they have decided to migrate overseas!!!

Hubby and I are both ill prepared to accept another dog after Maxine's recent demise and truth be told we are quite fearful of small toy dogs for their fragility and high maintenance! 

I have always adored GSDs for their boisterous personality, strength and robust physical frames, much suitable for our preferred outdoorsy rough tumble adventure lifestyle……and our Dexter, Max, Roxy, Maxine brought us many many years of unquantifiable joys ~

I have always stayed away from tiny breeds that are like babies in my mind.

Elmo was our first small breed dog adoption (take over) from sons and true enough, he prove  our original fears to be true.

Since his 2nd year birthday diagnosed as epileptic; his care became a journey of frustrations over medications and finding out what triggers the stress levels that brings on the seizures , what food to abstain (in the end it was everything except his Country Farm dog food) , from cutting back uncontrolled excitement and most recently to restricting exercises only on treadmills etc etc. 

Finally we thought we can see some light at the end of the tunnel for Elmo's battle against his epilepsy 

episodes.....It has been 3 months since Elmo's last seizure.

Are we ready to now take on another old dog, prone to urinary infection, weak hind legs with a history of diarrhoea on top of being voiceless? 

In the end, after some discussions with sons, Cita the primary care taker of the household dogs and honestly how can one walk away from eyes that were luminous, following our every step wordlessly and appealingly? 

would break everyone's hearts if the new friendship between Elmo and Pavarotti didnt take off …… and we have to return him to the vet….

After one night together… after a short while of pouting , sulking and a show of abit of jealousy, Elmo turns out to have a big big heart after all :)

We have faith and a strong feeling , outcome will be positive w happiness, tranquility restored.

only setback from this episode is a high anticipation that I will get slightly distracted for the coming weeks ahead ….the already much delayed "A to Zee Alphabet on ipad Project"….. is guaranteed to be further postponed ;)

Oh well, I've  gotten to " O" ...... and hahaha it's not as if I have any deadlines to meet? 

---------------------------------------------------------------

Everything happens for a reason, even if it’s not obvious at the time.

Since Karma brought Pavarotti to us…..thus we shall accept the challenge of his coming into our life and God willing, we shall be able to adjust accordingly ~

Do not struggle.

Go with the flow of things,
And you will find yourself at one with
The mysterious unity of the Universe. ♥

---------------------------------------------------------------

   

to keep myself abreast and ontrack, I decided to upload my works so far onto picasa just in case my mac crashes again…..HD is looking critically compromised with less than 12GB free space available, ooooops…

1.  michellesblueplanet alphabets project on picasa

2. the work in progress of my ebook "when there's a dream" 

decisions decisions DECISIONS made easier with ipad technology~michellechoongkhoo

Drawing on my ipad gives a different kind of satisfaction from watercoloring with paints on real art paper……
It is certainly not less, in many ways not more…..since both ways give me inner joy and stimulus .

Aaaah, who wouldnt wish for the luxury of time to not do anything else except explore art in any form and medium from the moment I awake till I go to bed…..

alas, since thats not always possible, these days therefore I find much energy is spent on my ipad….

• because it is less messy and it is available for instant gratifications when itchy fingers get art attacks :)
• Not forgetting that we must save la every part of our works of fancy please  …..then later we can manipulate them around to help us decide on composition and final output.
• for eg I couldnt make up my mind how to present latest work Michelleblueplanet News , smile……..
• luckily because I had saved almost every file whenever I made changes in strokes or color, I found it was so easy to try different scenarios without impacting my stage of work so far. I kept thinking, wow….this would have NOT been possible in the traditional mediums yea? 
• Well,  I thought maybe someone else who is often faced with such a conundrum would find some insight if I show the steps below how my ipad helped me decide on my final piece? 
• Art is about sharing, about making us think, stuff that touches our soul…..yea, but it doesnt hurt if sometimes, we find some tips on how to short cut our learning process, right?  so here goes…...

new , newer, newest……the modern consumer's conundrum~michellechoongkhoo

be they .... smartphones, cameras, computers, ......
our toys get obsolete right after we have just bought them with better ones seemingly launched daily!
we ask ourselves and friends, which brand(s) should we buy, now or later?
therein the conundrum of today's consumers?
likewise the multitude of choices for the digital art "explorer" , we have so many to learn and experiment with :D

                               michellesblueplanet News ~ 

                               was happily added with a finishing touch of fonts created via ipad app 

                              "Autodesk Sketchbook Express"

link to the thought process to final creation of this piece 

flickr link to more of michellesblueplanet ipad digital art creations

marble wednesday~ halfway thru my Alphabets , michellechoongkhoo

marble wednesday, a photo by michelle's blue planet on Flickr.

having my Marvelous Moment ~

snacking Massimo wholemeal toasted slices on Marmalade served with Massive dollops of super chunky peanut butter.....


N so with this... I have reached the 13th alphabet and halfway mark towards my ABCs project on ipad……still loving the experiment, still learning something new everyday !

muah mwahs, what a mmm mmmm Marble wednesday ?

my marble is a glittery piece of art, the wonderful color of the rainbow with a major major tinge of pink ~

♥ ♥ ♥

lovely Tuesday

lovely Tuesday, a photo by michelle's blue planet on Flickr.

is it too early to design our own xmas n New Year greeting cards, hahahhaa what do u think?
this ipad app I found first got me abit stumped!
it kept hanging the system n disappearing before I could save my work!
then when I thought I would be smart abt it by saving every other 3 steps of rendering different pen or brush strokes, what I ended up saving were blank white screens?
I almost wanted to bang my ipad in frustrations !

so I decided to slow my experiments down n then it all started to gel together , smile!
Turned out I was working too feverish fast for the system to process...
anyway, at last I think I've finally ironed out the kinks of how to process most of the features available from this new ipad app....

I can't help wishing if only they have add text feature tho !
but oooops aiiii free stuff...
one shouldn't and can't b"'""" too much I reckon ?

so here's my version of "lovely Tuesday" via My Brushes Ink with text added via fotolr ~
cool apps, both of them @@

just because...its spontaneous and RAndom hilarious FUN doing art the michellesblueplanet way, smile

just because...its FUN, a photo by michelle's blue planet on Flickr.

1. Draw free for the basic sketch
2. small world to convert background photo into spiral
3. nostalgio to collage 2 background photos for balance n composition
4. fotolr for text placement

with such great stuff , I cant get bored experimenting with my ipad :D

if anyone is still doubtful whether technology has a place in art, it must be because they didnt try it the michellesblueplanet way?
hahahah, go on have a bit of FUn ....
after all TGIF.

Cheers friends and all, lets enjoy our day

Image via Bamboo Paper on michellesblueplanet ipad

Image, a photo by michelle's blue planet on Flickr.

Art is a little like looking at the mirror!

we dont necessarily need to be limited by what is reflected back to us!
Why ....sometimes we may NOT even see the same image that others see!
mmmmmm other times, we may need to even use a magnifying glass just to see whats so near and up-close !

so for those times when we need to, a little imagination wont hurt too, we can be purple , blue or black n white but lets not stay Dull ?

Do have a nice day ahead , friends and all :-)

michellesblueplanet ipad sketches~ for art attack moments on the go

ipad sketches, a set on Flickr.

thats the nicest thing about living in this era.
Technology available at our disposal.

Nothing is impossible if we set our minds to it...
Gotta salute all the talented developers out there who make it all possible so far.....
am loving:
Paper by 53
Bamboo Paper by Wacom
Glow Draw
Draw Free
Nostalgio
Fotolr

too many links here but if you so desire to experiment too, they are easily found once you go to itunes store and search and hahaha the magic is they are all FREE of charge.

Should anyone need tips on how to navigate them, I am more than willing to share too, just drop me a liner~