deviantART: by:bolsterstone

deviantART: by:bolsterstone http://search.deviantart.com/?q=by:bolsterstone&section=today deviantART RSS for by:bolsterstone en-us Copyright 2009, deviantART.com Thu, 31 Dec 2009 13:13:52 PST deviantART.com http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss http://s.deviantart.com/minish/widgets/apple-touch-icon-precomposed.png Happy New Year! http://bolsterstone.deviantart.com/journal/29318666/ http://bolsterstone.deviantart.com/journal/29318666/ Thu, 31 Dec 2009 00:09:02 PST

]]> =bolsterstone Joyeux Noel, Merry Christmas, Happy Festivus, etc. http://bolsterstone.deviantart.com/journal/29048222/ http://bolsterstone.deviantart.com/journal/29048222/ Sat, 19 Dec 2009 20:00:41 PST
On Groups
After wading through 2000 deviations all submitted within the past two days, I will hopefully getting back to creating. (I thought that groups were going to be a good idea but I am starting to have second thoughts. It seems that some of them have opened the floodgates for submissions. As a result, we have some dAers submitting lots of quick unfinished doodles with little thought about their viewing audience. I like giving support to young and developing artists, but my goodness!) I just hope that I haven't accidentally deleted some of the devs from my watchers while sifting through them all.

Tools News
Currently I am trying out Artrage 3 digitally and so far, it looks promising -- some features are better than Painter (blending, watercolour, inking brush) while some still need work (the interface seems more cluttered than in the previous version). Also, I'm giving some coloured pencils and watercolours a trial run (got a couple of gift certificates for the local art store, so I had the opportunity to stock up on some DerWents -- we'll see how they turn out).

Holiday Wishes
Lastly, I hope that all my watchers are doing well. And, I offer my best wishes of the season.

]]> =bolsterstone Status Update http://bolsterstone.deviantart.com/journal/27568451/ http://bolsterstone.deviantart.com/journal/27568451/ Sat, 03 Oct 2009 22:57:56 PDT
I have a couple artworks underway and thanks to a kinder schedule at work this year, it looks like the new stuff could be up in a week (or less). I have a couple of commishes that I have been approved to post here and some other partially completed works that I'll be polishing off shortly. (Heck, if H1N1 hits my school and my school board decides to shut it down until the flu has done its course, I suspect that I might have even more stuff up shortly.)

Anyway, here's looking forward to Hallowe'en and Christmas.

Some Clubs I Belong To

]]> =bolsterstone Disney + Marvel = Mouse of Ideas? http://bolsterstone.deviantart.com/journal/26943727/ http://bolsterstone.deviantart.com/journal/26943727/ Mon, 31 Aug 2009 18:47:47 PDT

Well, BBC is reporting that Disney will be buying Marvel for 2.5 bn. pounds or $1.5 b American dollars - see [link]

On the positive side, this means that Isaac Perlmutter the largest shareholder (and biggest Skrull of them all) can finally retire in style, but after seeing what has happened to other franchises bought up by the Mouse should Marvel Zombies be worried? Will we be seeing Kim Possible joining the "New" Avengers? Darkwing Duck as a member of the X-Men?

(Geez, the opportunities for satire are nearly endless. Where's Steven Colbert when you need him?)

Some Clubs I Belong To

]]> =bolsterstone Update http://bolsterstone.deviantart.com/journal/26513088/ http://bolsterstone.deviantart.com/journal/26513088/ Mon, 10 Aug 2009 19:18:04 PDT
Also, a note for my watchers -- I have a couple devs I'll be uploading for the next few days.

Some Clubs I Belong To

]]> =bolsterstone Update http://bolsterstone.deviantart.com/journal/26016932/ http://bolsterstone.deviantart.com/journal/26016932/ Fri, 17 Jul 2009 23:14:10 PDT
Anyway, things are now going well. The artistic muse seems to be back. And, I'm up for trying to boost my knowledge further this summer about digital art.

Some Clubs I Belong To

]]> =bolsterstone Two More Weeks til Holidays http://bolsterstone.deviantart.com/journal/25161448/ http://bolsterstone.deviantart.com/journal/25161448/ Sat, 06 Jun 2009 12:35:07 PDT
Sorry about the lack of updates. This is the tail-end of the school year -- and it is typically one of the busiest times for us schoolteachers.
Y'know, no rest for the wicked, etc., etc. (Thanks to all my watchers for their patience.)

As soon as the report cards, final exams, essays, final projects, IPPs, year plans, Pre-AP entry materials, and other administrivia are completed, then I'll be back and getting through the backlog of postings, reviews, comments, etc.

Some Clubs I Belong To

]]> =bolsterstone 5000 views http://bolsterstone.deviantart.com/journal/23736217/ http://bolsterstone.deviantart.com/journal/23736217/ Mon, 16 Mar 2009 19:16:45 PDT Golly, 5000 views already! Where the heck does the time go?

It seems not to long ago I was closer to 100. It's amazing what being active online can do. (Not like I've been too busy lately, I must confess. Teaching is a very time-consuming activity -- not to mention the constant 'flus and colds that students so generously pass along.)

Anyway, I'd like to thank everyone who has either added me to their watch list or has generously stopped by and maybe fav'd an item or two. I hope I can live up to the expectations.

Oh, and a happy St. Patrick's Day to all my Irish friends (and of course to all those who wish they were Irish).

Some Clubs I Belong To

]]> =bolsterstone Catching up to do... http://bolsterstone.deviantart.com/journal/22100512/ http://bolsterstone.deviantart.com/journal/22100512/ Sun, 21 Dec 2008 10:38:56 PST
Don't know what to make of this new beta-user page yet. I'll let you know when I figure it all out.

Some Clubs I Belong To

]]> =bolsterstone Lessons from Norman Rockwell, Part I http://bolsterstone.deviantart.com/journal/20032450/ http://bolsterstone.deviantart.com/journal/20032450/ Mon, 18 Aug 2008 22:52:15 PDT
1. Have a regular place to work, a place where you can have a drawing table and enough drawer space to keep your work materials handy. Then you can sit down undisturbed to study and draw whenever you have free time.

2. Try to do a certain amount of work and study each day but plan your time so that on occasion you can put in several hours of uninterrupted work.

3. Success only comes with hardwork. So you must draw and draw, design and design.

4. Quality rather than quantity is what counts, though a good commercial artist also must be able to make a picture to certain specifications and do it within certain time limits.

5. (On criticizing the work of his students): I am highly critical of my own work and will be no less critical of yours. I also appreciate praise for work well done and I know you do too, so I will certainly praise what is praiseworthy.

6. Spare the model and spoil the picture. [Edit: I think we've all heard this one before.]

7. A model should have two qualities: he must be the right type for the picture and he must be able to express the feeling required.

8. [A] danger of depending upon your own ability to create a character of your own is that, sooner or later, you will form the bad habit of repeating your characters and your work will become monotonous and tiresome because it is repetitive. [Edit: a sin many of us are guilty of...]

9. Nothing should be shown in a picture which does not contribute directly to telling the story the picture is intended to tell.

And, lastly, one of my favourites:

10. One wonderful thing about making pictures, however, is that there is always a next time. You can try hard but when the picture is finished, it just isn't a "wow." Perhaps you don't know what is wrong but you promise yourself to do better, to try harder. You have great hopes for the next one. When you lose this feeling of hope and of interest, you are finished as an artist.

Source: Rockwell, Norman. Rockwell on Rockwell. (New York: Watson-Guptill, 1979)

More to follow in the next update...

Some Clubs I Belong To

]]> =bolsterstone Fan-Art Fervour Finally Finished http://bolsterstone.deviantart.com/journal/19728384/ http://bolsterstone.deviantart.com/journal/19728384/ Sat, 02 Aug 2008 00:20:37 PDT I CAN'T BELIEVE I'M FINALLY DONE!!

As I mentioned in the last journal, I have been actively seeking out Fan-Art on the forums for the past month. This was done in part because I have always felt that fan-art was an under-appreciated part of DeviantArt. And, we can't neglect them. After all, fan-art is a way for many artists to exercise their chops and it is also the way in which many developing artists build and improve their skills. (Quite a few cartoonists first started by emulating the designs of the likes of Kirby, Adams and Lee, for example.) So, this is my small way of helping give fan-artists just that little bit of extra exposure that they otherwise need and deserve.

Fan Art Features
for the Month of July

Below, we have just some of the best collected from my fan-art drive on the forums as of July 23rd, 2008. Other gems can be found in my collection located at: [link] . Please show them a bit of love!

http://bolsterstone.deviantart.com/journal/19548306/ Wed, 23 Jul 2008 02:52:20 PDT The Fan Art Project

First congrats to

on getting his Daily Deviation. It's good to see one of the deviations in the July Fan Art hunt getting some extra exposure. Now, to see if I can help out some of the other participants in some way...

Featuring Some Colourists

Second, I ran a challenge on the projects board with respect to this lineart:

I put out a challenge to number of people in the Projects Forum that I would feature in my journal their interpretations of the lineart. Please show them some love.

Also

submitted one link to her colouring effort on Photobucket: [link]

Marathon Update

Third, on other fronts, the marathon training is going well. Unfortunately, I find that though I am tired, I can't fall asleep. I think it is because I am putting in a late night run as well as my usual morning run. Maybe it's time to break out the chamomile tea...

Fan Art Features

Lastly, I can't forget my features. These are just some of the best collected from my fan-art drive on the forums as of July 23rd, 2008:

=bolsterstone Faving Fanart & Mission: Marathon http://bolsterstone.deviantart.com/journal/19418128/ http://bolsterstone.deviantart.com/journal/19418128/ Tue, 15 Jul 2008 21:39:00 PDT My Fan-Art Watch
For those who don't know, I've just started a marathon session of commenting, critiquing and faving fan-arts in the forum section. I've committed to doing this for the remainder of July (or until the thread runs dry) -- perhaps in a bout of insanity. But it is a noble sacrifice -- good fan art has been lacking in exposure of late. (And we all start somewhere ...

)

All the stuff I've collected will get some extra exposure at the end of the month -- I'll see if I can put them up in a news article (or at least do a full journal article).

Anyway, that I am finally caught up (whew!) with that fav'g, etc., I've finally got a chance to get my journal updated.

Personal Update
I've got myself a goal of running a marathon in mid-August. So, we'll see if I can pull it off. I've been hitting about 6 miles (10 km) per day in order to get ready -- I'll start peaking at about 10 miles per day in about two weeks. We'll see if I (and my poor knees) can keep up with this. (I need to do it so I can hold myself up as an example to my students as to what you can do when you put your mind to it.)

On the other front, my sister and her bouncing baby girl are both doing well and the little 'un is putting on weight rapidly. (Yes, she really is a bouncing baby girl.

)

Some of the Fan-Art I've Seen So Far
First experiment in featuring some of the work found in the fan-art forum search

(This one blew me away!)

(neat!)

=bolsterstone Canada Day Weekend http://bolsterstone.deviantart.com/journal/19111874/ http://bolsterstone.deviantart.com/journal/19111874/ Sun, 29 Jun 2008 15:11:05 PDT
The weather is beautiful outside (about 29 degrees Celsius) and there isn't a single cloud in the sky. Amazing sight! (I think I'll be heading out for a walk shortly.) And, there are tons of kids on the sidewalks -- I think it's a good sign that school is actually out for the summer. (And, I won't have to do any lesson prep. for a few days. Yea!)

Anyway, I hope everyone has a good start to the month and best wishes to everybody!!

]]> =bolsterstone Michael Turner Passes Away http://bolsterstone.deviantart.com/journal/19093913/ http://bolsterstone.deviantart.com/journal/19093913/ Sat, 28 Jun 2008 13:59:10 PDT

The art world and comic world have lost a really important talented artist. He was diagnosed with cancer back in 2000. Aspen Comics' Vince Hernandez and Frank Mastromauro, were at Turner's side when he passed away.

Vince's statement in memoriam can be found here: [link] .

]]> =bolsterstone Feeling Better http://bolsterstone.deviantart.com/journal/18940594/ http://bolsterstone.deviantart.com/journal/18940594/ Fri, 20 Jun 2008 00:11:45 PDT

Anyway, I'll be drawing and painting again shortly. (School's over in one week. Hard to believe that there'll be no more lesson planning for the next two months! Woohoo!)

]]> =bolsterstone Flu http://bolsterstone.deviantart.com/journal/18800972/ http://bolsterstone.deviantart.com/journal/18800972/ Thu, 12 Jun 2008 11:32:42 PDT
TTFN

]]> =bolsterstone Principal's Portrait is Finished! http://bolsterstone.deviantart.com/journal/18757280/ http://bolsterstone.deviantart.com/journal/18757280/ Mon, 09 Jun 2008 21:46:48 PDT
In the meantime, there's two weeks left until the end of the school year -- and my students (and me!) will be free. (Of course, I managed to catch one of their darned colds in the meantime. Ah well! Small price to pay when you are getting them ready for the evil final exams. Bwahaha!

)

Incidentally, mother and little Liv are doing fine. All fingers and toes are accounted for. And the wee one seems to be in good health.

I'll be putting up some more art shortly -- after I get the last of these exams prepared.

]]> =bolsterstone I am an Uncle (AGAiN!) http://bolsterstone.deviantart.com/journal/18534589/ http://bolsterstone.deviantart.com/journal/18534589/ Tue, 27 May 2008 20:42:20 PDT

More as I get more information. Whee!!!!

]]> =bolsterstone The Principal's Beard is Half-Constructed http://bolsterstone.deviantart.com/journal/18487700/ http://bolsterstone.deviantart.com/journal/18487700/ Sun, 25 May 2008 00:50:59 PDT

Well, for reasons that escape me, I am working on my principal's portrait at 1 am.

And, for other reasons that escape me, I decided to actually go with the my old glazing method using these new water-soluble oils. I guess I figured that if worse comes to worse, I can still whip off the portrait in pastel. But this is as good a time as any to break out these new oils -- ever since my condo board decided to ban the use of the solvents I used for my previous traditional oil painting.)

Anyway, I've got the uinderpainting done -- I did it in green-white-gray -- following the standard Titian glaze-upon-glaze method. And these blighters are taking quite a while to dry. So, I've been on-and-off dA all day while I've waiting. (Ergo my entering of this journal update.)

At least, I was also smart enough to put the original sketch in charcoal on a separate piece of paper -- I borrowed the idea from Norman Rockwell in his Rockwell on Rockwell book, which I stumbled across at a local used book store. So, at least, if the experiment flops, I still can transfer my drawing to another board/canvas without having to redo the work. (Thanks Norman whereever you are!)

As a positive, these water solubles are faring pretty well. They are getting tacky -- which is a good sign. And the fumes are tolerable. (And no turps!)

The only problem is that now I can't fall asleep -- too much darned energy! Knew I shouldn't have had all those cups of Earl Grey while working on it...wonder if it's too dark outside to go for a run...

]]> =bolsterstone Spring http://bolsterstone.deviantart.com/journal/18365063/ http://bolsterstone.deviantart.com/journal/18365063/ Sat, 17 May 2008 10:10:45 PDT
Time to dust off the street trainers/running shoes and hit the local running paths. My goal this year: to do two marathons. (Wish me luck!)

From the teaching perspective, it is also a time of uneasiness. I'm still waiting to find out what my teaching assignment will be like for next year. (A number of my colleagues at other schools have already found out and have started planning their lines of attack for the next year.) Fortunately, I am not too worried. And, hopefully, there'll be a bit more of the creative stuff and a little less of the grind -- not that I mind the grind. (A robotics option instead of woodshop/mechanical arts would be a nice change.)

The portrait of the principal is starting to take shape -- thanks to those people who passed along suggestions on how to get some snaps of him to help me with the process.

For those who are watching me on dA, I'm also in the process of transferring over a chunk of my sketches and the like to digital form -- so things will probably be coming out in drips and drabs. (This year I had a chunk of mangakas in my classes so there will be some anime/manga stuff coming. My apologies to those who were looking for more of my realist stuff. The painting stuff will be coming -- but not right away.)

Time to get onto a little spring cleaning.

]]> =bolsterstone One month to go (and counting) http://bolsterstone.deviantart.com/journal/18282171/ http://bolsterstone.deviantart.com/journal/18282171/ Sun, 11 May 2008 23:33:23 PDT

Anyway, this is just a quck update to say that, yes, I am still present. Unfortunately, I am tied down somewhat by an "unofficial commission" that I am trying to do for a retiring staff member at my school for his end-of-year farewell. But I am worried that I won't be able to get it done in time though -- for a few reasons:

Reason#1: He can't know that I am trying to do the portrait. (No worries about this dA posting however!

)

Reason#2: He seems to avoid leaving pictures of himself lying around. Even yearbook and newsletter pictures.

Reason#3: He doesn't sit still long enough for me (or my students) to sneak a picture. Gah! I've even tried doing him from memory but every time I compare my sketch to his fizzog, it just doesn't quite catch him.

If anyone knows any tricks I could use then I'd appreciate it.

========================

Anyway, though I won't be posting the 'commission' in the near future (and not without his permission!), I have got some more sketches that I'll be turning into postable stuff soon enough. I'm aiming for next weekend.

]]> =bolsterstone Two more months...give or take... :p http://bolsterstone.deviantart.com/journal/17785607/ http://bolsterstone.deviantart.com/journal/17785607/ Thu, 10 Apr 2008 19:06:52 PDT
Now which hockey team should I cheer for this time around?

]]> =bolsterstone Spring Recess (Yay!) http://bolsterstone.deviantart.com/journal/17597797/ http://bolsterstone.deviantart.com/journal/17597797/ Sun, 30 Mar 2008 21:42:34 PDT

For me, spring recess ("spring break" for you Americans) has been a long time coming. Between the odd illustration and teaching, I am jaked (translation: tired) and find this time that I am truly appreciating the time away from school. (It also helps that it is now one year since my darned condo flood and the coincidental condo bylaw which banned the storage of my painting solvents in my suite. Gah! At least, things are starting to look rosy again.

)

Sure it is nice to be able to find somewhere to stash my sparetime doodles (translation: the artwork posted on dA over the last little while), but it isn't quite the same as being able to sit down and actually engage in a little 'confider sur le page' (translation: truly put oneself into one's work).

Anyway, with the time of snuggerlumps and granola long gone (translation: muddy snow and slush has nearly disappeared), I am feeling pretty content and, heck, I might even start taking requests. (Heck, only one commission left and I'll have a clean slate.)

I wish everyone well and I hope that they have an awesome spring!!!

]]> =bolsterstone Journal Fixed -- Kind of http://bolsterstone.deviantart.com/journal/17351207/ http://bolsterstone.deviantart.com/journal/17351207/ Sat, 15 Mar 2008 17:30:12 PDT
]]> =bolsterstone