Clocking em down. Peacock not quite refined..but on its way. Need to work the spokes back in color (quiet them down so the head pops), equalize the thinness of the legs...refine..Got the Deadman's Mile volunteer school graphics done. Got the initial pops on the holiday card done and in FedEx. Feeling like anything is possible.
Was working with the vectorization of drawings yesterday and I feel that this could happen. I am sure with more crunching on it, it could become more automatic. Am going to redraw the Vin piece for the slick cover of Eden...and see what I can do. Its a draw half, flip it, correct and erase it and then turn into workpaths all in photoshop. Then its save the workpaths to illustrator and see what happens. Then, its resaving the illustrator file and importing those paths back into photoshop to add highlights and burn and dodge areas to see what sort of magic I can get. And, the last thing is to have it look like I did the whole thing on my art table and not with the wacom.
Just got some beautiful frames with thick and generous mats (Nielson Bainbridge) with plexi (not glass) from Dick Blick today. Plan on filling them up for the Art Trail. Will need to get an image down to the State of the Art Gallery this Sunday for the preshow for the Trail. I think the buffalo is going to be the "one" to be framed. I love the Nielson Bainbridge frames. Look really good and have all the stuff in one place (and if you shop the sales you are not bankrupt framing your work). I think Christmas may have some framed pieces given to family members and friends.
Speaking of Christmas, I don't know about you, but the world has become a pretty scary place and I worry about December as god knows what is going to be happening with wars, the economy, the state of the state. I hate all this paternalistic crap that is dished out about how the "American Public doesn't have to worry or be responsible for the bad debt and and foreclosures" going down. This is a real problem. We all must be responsible for our mortgages...not big brother or the government. If you sign on the line, you are responsible. If you cannot make the payment, you move on. Yes, the banks were going to town giving people ideas about what they could afford. But don't you, as an individual have the responsibility for understanding your min/max and not exceeding what you can afford? The growth of the plastic sided mcMansions did not grow in accordance with people's incomes skyrocketing in the double digits. And, with people plugging so much of their own wealth into these "homes", with the market and the projected resale taking a downward turn, so do many people's retirement income et cetera. Additionally, even these overpriced mcMansions were stupidly built (ie we saw thousands of houses (abandoned and not even sided) outside of San Diego, built on these dirt hillsides that looked like one false move and the entire group would slide down the hill. They were crummy construction and were scheduled to sell in the MILLIONS), stupidly sited and badly detailed with cheap materials. So, in the quick break to make a huge buck--quality, design and location were all severely compromised.We all are responsible for this home craze...the growth of the pretend market of pretend houses that the owners cannot even afford. Its is the Walmart headset of everything we as an american populace expect-- more is better than good. Cheap is better than quality and well made. Leveraging everything for image transcends the reasonable-ness of paying off the credit cards and being liquid. Television reinforces this...but it has rooted in the American consciousness....How can we change this lack of thought, this disrespect of liquidity, this inability to say No or "we cannot afford it". We need to honor responsibility before image.
And the banks-- the bonuses must stop. The outrageous salaries must stop. Investment banking must align with the rest of world--and if the US is going to own these institutions...business cannot continue in this fricking dreamworld they live in. Lets just remember, bankers do not make ANYTHING. There is nothing tangible that a banker makes and can hold in their hands and say "facit" (latin for I made it). The layer cake of deals leveraged on deals on top of deals that teetered on selling debt etc. was irrational and stupid--as stupid as the deregulation that happened. People need controls as greed and passion can override intelligence and forward thinking--and need a governor to keep them in line. I do not see either party responding to this nightmare that we now have to shoulder along with debt from this war, and no end to debt from Katrina and 9/11 and other national needs...nor does it seem there is an easy way out. So regardless of how we vote, schools will continue to be underfunded, we will not be able to send our kids to college affordably, healthcare will go unresolved etc. Imagine rolling $700,000 Billion into healthcare? or to split hairs healthcare, education and innovation?
What a waste.