It's all happening... but it's not all about art.

You might be thinking that art buys my bread and butter, if so you could not be more wrong.

Don't get me wrong, I would love to, but like many other fantastic artists, my art doesn't earn me a living and it is more like an outlet to vent, imagine, live, create, take a break from the rest of the world...
One day maybe I will reach notoriety and the ability of earning a living doing what I love the most, today is not the day, but this doesn't mean that I cannot find a way to enjoy what I do to pay my bills.
Fact is, I have been looking for work for a while, necessity really but also the desire to start something and unite the useful to the enjoyable.
So it happens that I will be starting a new job soon, hopefully I will have still some "me time " to do artisize, and hopefully I will also love what I do for a living.
It's nothing creative though, far from it, it is actually quite pragmatic oriented and I will train to learn a subject that hopefully will make a good difference in people's life (as well as pay my bills).
Right now this adventure might take more time off my art than I would like to, but I will still try my best to keep you updated and create more art work for you to love.. or hate LOL.

Just lately I have pretty much stuck with the digital and photo editing as I found it quite inspiring, I am still quite a beginner I believe but with time and practice I will be able to use this new technique to serve my muse.

Meanwhile wish me luck with my new venture, I have uploaded on of my latest photo/drawing work, and some of the photo editing I have been doing.
A bit of ego stroking this time, where I have been using my face to create photo alterations.

Be happy
Be safe
Be whatever you want to be
xxx Iz

Trying new things, going digital

Everyone that knows me well, knows that I love the feeling of the paper under my pencil or the canvas under my brush and to use different styles combined like pencils and watercolour, or gouache and markers or markers and acrylics... They also know that I love oil paining and the thrill of squirting the paste on the palette, the mixing with mediums and the creating of new shades; the tapping and the brushing and sprinkling the pain around.

I love it all.

And because I love it all, switching to digital drawing and painting has been something I have resisted for a long time but I finally did it. I tried and tried until I found the passion again.

I think there is nothing that compares using the real materials,  even cleaning my tools and putting them away all nice and shiny is something I find somehow therapeutic.
But... It finally found me, the digital creativity.

I have done a few trials before I felt confident and I wish sometimes that I had access to technology which replicates more closely the results you get with the real materials, there is plenty out there but with a small budget it isn't easy to combine product and results.
I have found and app for IPad mini  called Tayasui Sketches which comes free to download for Ipad users, with the option of a pro version for £3.99 (UK Price), the results are very good and I would say the price is quite accessible for most to pay to get good results with a pad and pen (the latter a cheap one you buy from Tesco for five quids).


Here is one of the drawings I come up with using it

Above one of the drawings I have done with this Sketches.

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While the drawing apps are fun and entertaining I found they are a bit limiting for my rampant creativity so I have also started to produce work using Photoshop, which I previously used for photo-editing but never to create something from scratch.

Digital art work creates a total different feeling and I must admit, it has grown on me and I am enjoying it more than I expected.
I have still a lot to learn but getting my tootsies wet in it was a start.

Here a few of the things I have done with Photoshop

Above my first Photoshop trial at drawing (The grass has been added from a photo of course)

....

You can laugh now...

Above: this is the  last effort , much better I think.

If you want to see more of my recent work you can do so by clicking on the Links page on this blog for all my social media addresses.

Is this the end of my traditional materials use? Not at all.

I will probably always find myself with a pencil in my hand and using real materials every now and then, but I understand that as technology progresses, it's the brave who don't fear change who will do better and as much as I believe that there is nothing more explicative than the traditional drawing and painting techniques to showcase real talent, there is talent and creativity in those who have not much hand dexterity but use their mind and skills of construction to create a work of art, which is just as amazing as any other skill.

If we could look at paint sprays on a canvas and call it art, we can call art the building of a work through layers and clicks and the use of digital means knowing that the ultimate component for the production of art is still there: a creative mind. 

Here is to Izzy stepping into the XXI Century, cheers!