Well, OK, a Pink Rubber Ball.
This ball is me playing around with shading and blending colors in Corel Painter Essentials, the program that came with my Bamboo graphics pad.
Yes, I bought myself a new graphics pad, tax return money burning a hole in my artistic pocket. The old one I bought probably ten years ago, so I guess I shouldn't be too upset that it finally gave up the ghost.
I've been playing around with it for the last couple weeks. There is a lot of just practicing to get the feel down, most of which doesn't get saved. The feel of the pen on the pressure sensitive pad is unique, and takes just lots of doing to feel comfortable with. So different than seeing a line behind the pencil in your hand.
Other than playing with the graphics pad on the computer, I've been doing a lot of embroidery with felt, mostly at work. I'm putting full force into just going with the flow, embroidering as I go, not making any pattern in my head or on paper. It's good exercise to not have a plan, but when I get so far into no plan, with practicing and not saving on the graphics pad, and the embroidery being the main things I've been doing, then I get to the point of not knowing where to start with a plan or pattern.
Case in point today: I'm inspired to work on the lining for the fulled purse that I started a long time ago. I really want to start carrying it, and after some thinking through of what I do and do not want in the lining, I just want to get it done. I have everything I need at hand. The sewing machine is out on the table. And the afternoon to myself. And I have butterflies in my stomach at the prospect of HOW to make myself make a pattern. Even creating the bag itself was a make-it-as-you-go design.
So much free-flow lately. Much needed, and much appreciated. But I need to be able to free-flow as well as flow-within-the-lines, too, right? (as long as the lines are my own)
