reviewing nomadbrushes on iPad~michellechoongkhoo.

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

wuuu huuuu finally a most enticing weekend !

finally found time to experiment with my nomadbrushes !

thats how it is with art...
one can't wait and kept counting the days for new tools to arrive.....
when the tools did arrive, alas the inspirations did not surface.....
then work piles up and the tools lay forgotten and neglected.....

but ah hah, when the mojo rekindles.... there's no stopping itchy fingers :)

The above engrossed was created with all three of my nomad compose brushes and a mixture of ipad apps : sumo paint, artist ink and autodesk sketch.

link to other michellesblueplanet drawings done with nomadbrushes:

1. in search of artful expressions: meow created via artist ink~ michellechoongkhoo
2.in search of artful expressions: nomadbrush painting done via sumo paint app~ michellechoongkhoo

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

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?

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

the embedded widget of my first ebook~ just in case anyone is a curious cat, smiles

my first book "when there's a dream"  the link to preview my art journal at Blurb

 the sypnosis of whats inside:

This is michelle's compilation of the happy moments spent in search of artful inspirations that often made her lose track of time.... 
It matters little to her that the sketches or drawings are so random, ah maybe even come across as self indulgent..... 
but it matters much to her that the pleasures experienced during the creative process was akin to the joys of first love, of simple satisfactions, maybe even a tad akin to feelings of illicit sinful unpermitted unions.

Life is like coffee~ 
There's so many flavors to choose from..... 
enjoy. have fun. be happy like a child.

michelle and her first art journal.... "when there's a dream" is like peeking into her private love affair! 
Filled with experiments, filled with variety and always done with love.

and the digital preview , hee hee just in case you are curious~

when there's a dream~ by michelle choong khoo | 

when there's a dream~ by michelle choong khoo 

this is just for FUn ~ my first Blurb Book

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

my first ebook "when there's a dream"  the link to preview my art journal at Blurb

the sypnosis of whats inside:


This is michelle's compilation of the happy moments spent in search of artful inspirations that often made her lose track of time....
It matters little to her that the sketches or drawings are so random, ah maybe even come across as self indulgent.....
but it matters much to her that the pleasures experienced during the creative process was akin to the joys of first love, of simple satisfactions, maybe even a tad akin to feelings of illicit sinful unpermitted unions.
Life is like coffee~
There's so many flavors to choose from.....
enjoy. have fun. be happy like a child.
michelle and her first art journal.... "when there's a dream" is like peeking into her private love affair!
Filled with experiments, filled with variety and always done with love.



hahahaha, a work in progress because Im still finding where else Blurb can pull long forgotten images of works I've stashed online all over cyberland...…

saves me alot of work thats for sure.

very interesting weekend indeed!

having fun with my ABCs~ michellesblueplanet way

 




having fun with my ABCs, a photo by michelle's blue planet on Flickr.

relearning the alphabets my way :)

A = Attitude
B = Be Bold
C = Confidence
D = Dreams
E = Exhilaration
F = Freedom

more to come....... thanks for looking in!
hope you share your alphabets with me too :)

f is for free!

f is for free!, a photo by michelle's blue planet on Flickr.

don't u think technology is so swell?
base sketch done on paperby53,
tried some coloring by spray paint,
got bored by white n tried reverse image by fotolr
n last but not least collages done via QQ image HD~
awesome day indeed, feeling good,
but alas ooops....
now I hv to go do what brings in the bacon ;;)


at the snails pace I am going , wwwwwooooooo its gonna take a longish while to get to the end of all the alphabets?
oh well, I guess thats good too because then I have many things to occupy me and helps me find the creative buzz ?
after which theres the numerics, the sign language, braile alphabets .......

ahem practice makes perfect , right?

wheeeeeeee ~ I can do anything by michellechoongkhoo

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

there are days when art liberates you......

even when u dont feel like in the mood for sports because you are aching all over....

even when you dont feel at your physical best because you feel a flu or fever coming...

even when you know the weather makes it near impossible to try some things...


Today was such a day .
But I still wanna feel like I could do anything in the world; smile ...
in my mind and at the stroke of my fingers over my ipad using paperby53 app at least! big big smile :D

Tomorrow when I am more up to it, mebbe I will tackle some of the other things thats swirling around in my mind.

The present is a gift.

some mediums take time to warm up to~ michellechoongkhoo

i found a box of my oil paints in the carryon easel box in the store room today!

 oh noooooo, the oil paints have been neglected for so long , the covers of some tubes were twisted off due to dried up paint :(

 i also found a whole box of stretched canvases ...…

 Therefore confronted with those,  I tried to summon mojo to get some art out to good use !

 Its quite nice to mix the palette and then prepare the outlines of what I had set out in my mind a detailed oil painting of Tiger……

But after getting this first undercoat done …..I am reminded of how tedious and taxing on one's nerves it can be ..... waiting ...... waiting for the layers to dry !
Morever as I clean my palette and brushes with turpentine…..sigh, I realized why it was that made me put all those oil tubes and blank canvases in the store room for so long~

I guess some mediums need time to warm up to ……
We'll see how next weekend goes :P

the fire rekindles, the journey continues~michellechoongkhoo

it sure feels really good to spend the holy Wesak Day, getting re~acquainted with my brushes and the palette~

Though one may conquer a thousand times
a thousand men in battle,
yet he indeed is the noblest victor
who conquers himself.

- The Buddha

I am so happy to be inspired and its definitely reassuring to know too that watercoloring is akin to bicycling, once skills are learnt….heh2 one never truly forget the lessons!

On a Lucky day, if needed one can quickly bring the techniques up to speed to try capture the essence of the day's inspiration!

Happy Wesak to all arty friends and may you be always well and happy!

link to the story inspired by diyana

inspired by Diyana ~ michellechoongkhoo

Woke up this morning inspired to dig out all my brushes and watercolor gears, thanks to a sweet girl Diyana who wrote me a nice follow up email to inform me she read my blog and decided to sign up for art classes!
I sure hope she finds her art journey as enjoyable and gain self discovery akin to love affair with water coloring like I did <3

I am just imagining a pure sweet young graphic student as I painted this today …..and I shall name her Diyana, for if not for her email…..truly I must say I may have neglected my brushes for far too long~
Watercoloring is always painstakingly slow but it is pleasurably fluid as one waits for the paint to dry before proceeding to the next.
I almost forgot how much joy it can be…..something that cant be replicated with the doodlings done on ipad, I must admit!

What a lovely Vesak Day it is …..

300gsm cold pressed acid paper, 

Not quite done but I think it is definitely coming along well~

hope you like this Diyana

experimenting with textures

many layerings of masking liquid to create the hair curls, contrast and highlights

experimenting with salt to create a more 3 D effect for the tuna fish

after which both paintings were created into a magazine cover using bighugelabs effects

This has been a fun weekend indeed <3

borrowing a page from posh, charles & Keith~

I think Victoria's latest collection of clothes are awsome~ but not the weird "swimming cap" thingy the models were wearing!
So I substituted it with pixie haircut and sunglasses~

but looking back , I think I should have stopped and left the illustration undone ~

would have been more dramatic?

and dont you just love the new range of gladiator heels that is the current rage?
I think Charles & Keith deserves a pat for their latest collection too ;)

painting is only as good as the photo referencing~

Indeed I would make a most horrible commercial artist (not that I am good enough yet hee hee)

Time is so precious to me that I have so little to spare …therefore I only want to use it to paint something that I have affinity for or that tugs at my heartstrings….
thats why my favourite subject matters are my sons, my pets, sceneries that has nostalgia for me, something that I wanna do e.g diving or traveling …
in short, I only want to make the investment of time to do the art piece IF it speaks to me~

And I find that apart from being passionate about the painting subject, good photos are essential as references…
Luckily I have loads of archive photos that will not make me lack subject matter and I do envisage myself very very occupied for a long long long time, hahahaha.

That said, while photographs make good reference ….to really see tiny details, the photos if printed has to be of high quality…
If space does not permit, then I prefer to work direct from photos straight from the camera but my ultimate choice is I love to reference photos using the fantastic lighting from my iPad's screen!
Mac's technology is awsome to bring the photos alive in such vivid colors and thats what makes the difference between making the painting more realistic, in my personal opinion!

Here's Elmo done from my ipad photo reference ~

                              
                                      A4 hotpressed 220gms acid free paper
                                 and all framed up with app from bighugelabs~

all framed up~

loving what bighugelabs mat app does to photos ~
If only I wasn't so paranoid about doing online payment….I really should support them by subscribing…maybe I should just take the plunge?

Today I'd rather be at the beach~

some days are better spent imagining…..especially Mondays….

looking at archive photos of Maldives and remembering the fun we had when we tried to wild goose chase for the hundreds of manta rays promised to be Halfungu during the monsoons of 2010~

but luckily we were blessed to see a couple at Male….

I shall try to paint some the manta shots sometime soon~

Meanwhile I can't wait to be at Sipadan again~

10 days can't come fast enough !!!

                                 a set of small watercolors on beach @ Maldives
                                           2.5" x 3.5" on 300gsm paper

my first watercolor on uw critters~

I hv been itching to paint some of the wonders from underwater~ it was in fact this idea that made me go back to art in the first place~

I am quite happy and excited about outcome on today's experimenting with my seahorse….

A4 watercolor on 300gsm paper

routine is important~

coming back from Club Med, I havent had much chances to complete much painting, sketching ….and I know why!
I needed to get back into my breakfast routine again….and to stop logging onto the PC until I have done at least one piece of ART~
FB, google reader, flickr….are nice social networking platforms and fun fun way to interact/check info but unfortunately for me….they are huge time wasters!
yup….gotta do all those stuff only late at night otherwise, ooooops half the day is gone before I know it!

Today's inspiration of curry laksa because yummy, I am gonna be back Penang soon for a food crawl~

Personal style vs artistic style~michellechoongkhoo

Does your personal style reflect your artistic style?

To me one can’t live without the other. —Carlos Aponte

Read some responses from other artists at gallery hanahou

And hence I am almost always drawn to female faces whereas for males I like to do their physiques and profiles~

quick watercolor shadings

an inspiration from Estee Lauder's new commercial

                                                  quick midnight charcoal pencil sketching
                                       an inspiration of hubby @Archery , Club Med Bintan