Sunday, February 21, 2010

21st February 2010 - Who's made a mark this week?

The image below is the one that got away and didn't make my submission to the Annual Exhibition of the Society of Botanical Artists. It's still a work in progress but once I've completed it I'm thinking it might just take a trip to California instead for an exhibition I'm participating in later this year!

Scarlet Charlotte (a work in progress)
7.5" x 11.5", coloured pencils on Arches HP
copyright Katherine Tyrrell

My big rumination on computers! Some of you will have noticed that I've been having a mega think about computers this week. I've been sharing it online as I guess all artists all think about pretty much the same sort of things when we're trying to make a decision about options for the next computer.

I'm not there yet but you can follow my thought processes in the following posts plus all the really terrific advice and thoughtful comments that these posts attracted
This exercise helped to generate this chart - which some people may be surprised by. I know I was.

PC versus Apple Mac - what you recommend
(right click chart and open in new tab to see bigger image)

My conclusion to date? I'm really not bothered about operating systems or software investment as this has to be updated all the time. I just want to be secure and buy a machine from a manufacturer who will impress me and make me want to repeat the experience. It's not much to ask. You can help suggest which one in the last post above.

I really want to emphasise just how very grateful I am to those who took time out to write about their own experiences and recommendations. These comments certainly helped me but I have a sense that they've maybe helped other people as well!

Art Blogs

By way of thanks for all the useful advice given this week in response to my request for help on Thursday about PCs versus Macs a number of the blogs featured this week are ones I came across when checking out the people who responded to my post on Thursday

Drawing and sketching
Salles la Source
(19th July 1994)
8" x 11", pen and sepia ink
in black Daler Rowney Sketchbook
copyright Katherine Tyrrell

Coloured Pencils and Pastels
Landscapes
Painters and Painting
Photography
  • Tina Mammoser (the Cycling Artist) has created a special etsy shop for her photograph of the coasts of the UK and her wave mechanics project relating to the River Thames. It's called ThamesLady.etsy.com
Portraiture

Art Business and the Economy

Art Market / Art Collectors

Art Museums, Exhibitions and Fairs

  • Michelangelo's Dream opened at the Courtauld Gallery this week. The exhiition continues until 16th May 2010. It's had some very good reviews - including Michelangelo at the Courtauld by Rachel Campbell-Johnston and Michelangelo's drawings at the Courtauld gallery are intimate encounter with an artist in love by Jonathan Jones
Michelangelo’s masterpiece The Dream is one of the greatest of all Renaissance drawings. This complex work shows a nude youth being roused by a winged spirit from the vices that surround him.
With Tate Britain's Henry Moore exhibition nearly upon us, publicity is seeping out that his much-acclaimed shelter drawings were perhaps not as originally inspired as once thought. The myth is that these drawings, of figures huddled together in the Blitz, were triggered by encounters on the Underground. However, it appears Moore may also have been inspired by photographs in Picture Post.
The Telegraph - Art Market News
The rare trove of material on view demonstrates how studying and copying earlier models were as much a part of Chinese artistic tradition as learning from nature

Art Education / workshops / Tips and techniques

Art Education
Workshops
Tips and techniques

Art History

Art Studios



Book reviews


A lot of you were interested in my post highlighting Harold Speed's The Practice and Science of Drawing which is available to download on the Project Gutenberg site.

Colour


Did you know that PANTONE 15-5519 Turquoise is the colour of the year 2010? I know I've been seeing an awful lot of turquoise in clothes shops in the last few weeks so maybe it's a decor choice too? It's certainly one of my favourite colours. Anybody up for a 'painting in turquoise' challenge?

The Web: networking, blogging, webware and websites

Blogs
Networking

and finally........


Find out what species of web animal you are. This BBC test is linked to its recent series of excellent programmes about The Virtual Revolution. The test takes about 20 minutes and you need to have woken up before doing it! You can explore all eight animals in the test

For the record apparently I'm a web leopard! I must confess to actually feeling quite old by the time I'd finished (I shall ignore the snorts from those trying to remind me of my actual age). I got very confused by one of the tests and just couldn't finish it and had to skip it. I may just go back and try again...........

You are a Web Leopard

Fast-moving - Web Leopards like you are adept at getting information from the internet very quickly. Your speed is a trait you share with real-world leopards, which are among the fastest land animals.

Solitary - Leopards live alone, fending for themselves in isolated home ranges. Similarly, the Web Leopard likes to go it alone when looking for information, rather than rely on social networks, or other sites where the users create the content.

Specialised - Web Leopards are best suited to performing one task at a time rather than multitasking. The real-world leopard is similarly specialised, being perfectly adapted to silently tracking its prey before pouncing.

BBC - The Web Behaviour Test (What species of web animal are you?)
However given the name of the new Mac operating system I'm taking this as a SIGN!


The Art of the Landscape
Posted by Making A Mark on Sunday, February 21, 2010 8 comments
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Saturday, February 20, 2010

Decision time: pros and cons of PC vs Mac for artists

The posts from the last two days - PC vs Mac for artists and PCs versus Apple Mac - for artists (Part 2) - have all been about me trying to arrive at a decision about what my next computer will be. My current HP Pavilion is making far too much noise for me to feel confident about its life expectancy. Since I no longer have a reserve computer (and I like to be able to access the Internet 24/7) I think I really need to get a move on with buying a new computer and then get the HP sorted and relegate it to #2 computer.

This post is about making lists and trying to sort out pros and cons. You're reading the process which normally goes on before I buy a computer.

The next 'Making A Mark' computer

Current setup:
This is being used with an increasingly ancient Phillips Brilliance 200W Monitor which was very good when first produced - but I've lost the drivers and it's not compatible with software developments and hence runs as a generic PnP monitor. It's an earlier version of this. However it has a very nice matt 19" screen and I used to be able to colour balance it.

Buyer profile:

This is the bit where we go beyond what suits everybody else and start to look at what I need to get a good fit between my computer and me.
  • Power: I'm an artist and writer. I do lots on my computer most days and I want a computer which does NOT hang, get tetchy or act slow. It doesn't need to be as fast as a gaming computer but it must not be underpowered.
  • Heat: The computer is on all day (although is programmed to power down and sleep after standing idle for 30 minutes) and I have lots of windows open all the time (and lots of tabs open in those windows!). I've got a track history of fans not coping and/or giving up.
  • Graphics: My computer needs to have a powerful graphics card which has the ability to deliver very good quality graphics (when combined with a decent screen). I want a make which has a good and reliable reputation (no more early burn outs as I got with the NVidia GeForce 8600 on my Sony Vaio VGN-FZ21Z) Having learned the way NVidia behaved re the defective cards (of which mine was one - see my comment on the last post) I'm not feeling inclined to go for another NVidia card
    • Lots of use of the graphics card for accessing and mainpulating graphics and video files - typically jpeg files and short videos.
    • Not used at all for gaming.
    • I expect I might well want to do more online downloads of TV programmes in the future
  • Quality of Display: blue dot opacities (early cataracts) have been detected in both my eyes so along with my endless glasses cleaning I also MUST now have good definition and sharpness onscreen. Basically as much help as I can get with my deteriorating eyesight. Large size is good for when I want to enlarge screen content to get round blurring. Essentially a screen quality and graphics card issue.
  • Memory: I'm a heavy duty user in terms of having lots of windows open at once. I'm using 4GB of RAM and would want at least the same again. More would be nice.
  • Keyboard: A critical consideration as I've got tenosynovitis in my right hand which means I need to maximise ease of use and minimise vibration levels. (No 'clicky' keyboards allowed!) Laptop keyboards are best re vibration and normal size keyboards are best in terms of not making keyboard skills 'cramped'. Basically any computer has to allow me to use my existing digital Microsoft Media Keyboard (I know this is OK with PCs - but what about Macs?)
  • Portability: no real need for portability; I always work at the same place.
  • Software: Always used Windows to date (and before that Dos!) but not wedded to it and refuse point blank to use IE! Use webware for all websites and blogs plus Notepad, Microsoft Office Small Business, PC Elements 7,Adobe Reader and Firefox. Odd usage of Windows Movie Maker for editing videos and programs for making CDs/DVDs. Kaspersky for security.
  • Learning: Have had to update and learn new things lots of times in last 20 years. Never averse to learning something new - as I have to each time every operating system upgrade comes along. Preference for consistent principles and intuitive rather than the 'read all the instructions very carefully and keep the manula right next to you'! My experience is that I've had to upgrade most software with every new computer. Existing software can still be used on the reserve computer
In the table below I've tried to think about

THE PROS AND CONS - TYPE AND MAKE


Pros
Cons
Buy a desktop
  • less likely to overheat when compared to a laptop
  • ease of access
  • more likely to be able to replace defective parts
  • chearer repairs
  • could have a big new screen to help with eyesight problems
  • can get machines which pay attention to heat (but expensive)
  • Probably need to buy a new monitor too this time around
  • takes up more space
  • can be noisy
  • problematical if not engineered to be energy efficient and dissipate heat effectively
Buy
a laptop
  • portable
  • nice keyboards - no vibration
  • can have very good screens - on more expensive models
  • screensize probably not helpful re eyesight issues and intensive use
  • most decent size regular use laptops are not really portable - except within the home (and I always use my PC in one place)
  • much more expensive repairs
Buy a PC
  • Windows 7 an improvement on Windows Vista (but I have no experience of it)
  • some of my existing applications software would work with Windows 7
  • I've never been able or wanted to buy my next machine from the people who made the last one
  • attrition rate of PC manufacturers. Difficult to identify suppliers which will outlast the life of the next computer! Dell and Toshiba pretty much the only ones which have been around since early 90s
  • many of the PC websites are completely unitelligible
  • online suppliers do not have accessible stores
  • unable to identify a manufacturer who makes decent machines AND has good/reliable and accessible service
  • stores which sell computers rarely employ people who understand them
  • telephone support only OK if intelligient and intelligible and one of two (iof noth both) usually missing
Buy a Mac
  • Apple still around after 25 years
  • manufacturer configures machine and makes software hence has a better chance than most to optimise configurations for each machine to suit software
  • option available to dual boot (so no loss re existing windows applications software) - but would need a big enough hard drive to make this realistic (or external hard drive for storage of image files)
  • apparently no problems with viruses etc
  • good and clear website - explains technical aspects clearly
  • machines refurbished by Apple with warranty available
  • Apple Stores are staffed by intelligent people who understand their machines
  • opportunity to make an appointment for a technical discussion in store
  • genius bar in Apple Stores (two easily accessible); ability to talk to a knowledgeable techie person face to face
  • good quality colour and clarityon imac screens
  • very nice matt screen on MacPro
  • tackle and resolve techie issues quickly (eg Imac 27" screen flicker - stopped selling them while they got it sorted)
  • upgrades on current ATI Radeon card available in 21.5" and 27" imacs
  • two close chums (fomer PC users) who are extremely happy with their Macs
  • lots of former PC users commenting on my posts also recommending macs and are repeat buyers
  • need to buy new applications software for Mac
  • need to buy a new Windows 7 operating system for dual boot)
  • glossy screens on iMacs produce reflections
  • initial cost of a Mac (but lifetime cost might not be too different to PC given recent track record)

It's surprising how making lists helps you come to a decision.

Conclusion: Interestingly at the end of the day my decision is not going to guided by or anything to do with the operating software at all. It seems likely that both Windows 7 and Snow Leopard are reaosonably competent systems. I just want a computer which works well with the operating system and which will make me want to be a repeat purchaser in the future. Is that really too much to ask of a computer?

The next question I think is can I live with a glossy screen (any suggestions?) and which size of imac! Plus do I buy new or refurbished?

Many, many thanks for all the comments to date. I don't think I;ve ever had quite so many comments on one topic. Please feel free to continue to express your views.

Links:

The Art of the Landscape

Posted by Making A Mark on Saturday, February 20, 2010 12 comments
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Friday, February 19, 2010

PCs versus Apple Mac - for artists (Part 2)

PC versus Apple Mac - what you recommend
(right click chart and open in new tab to see bigger image)

Many thanks for all the really helpful comments many of you provided yesterday to my request for information and advice about WHICH COMPUTING SET UP IS BEST FOR ARTISTS and people using graphics and video files (in PC vs Mac for artists).

I'm a great believer in making lists when it comes to making a big decision and spending a lot of money.

This post summarises the points raised by your responses - and writing it will help me make up my mind. It might help you too..........

[ Note: I'm planning to update this post as more comments get added to the original post as it seems to have some potential to be a useful reference post for others. I might even create another 'resources for artists site'! ]

The PC versus the Mac

Personal recommendations

What's interesting about the comments is the extent to which people recommended buying a Mac. You can see this reflected in the chart at the top of this post and the table below.

 Mac user recommends PC user / ex PC user recommends TOTAL NO. OF RESPONDENTS % of respondents
Buy a Mac 17 9 26 78.79%
Buy a PC 0 3 3 9.09%
Build a PC 0 2 2 6.06%
Unsure 0 2 2 6.06%

17 16 33 100.00%

Of the 32 people who have responded to date (19th February 2010), where there were clear recommendations this is how it works in terms of numbers.
  • Nearly 80% of all respondents recommend buying a Mac
  • 100% of Mac users recommend a Mac
  • 56% of former PC users recommend buying a Mac
Here's what surprised me
  • the very high percentage of people who are former PC users recommending a Mac
  • the lack of support for any particular PC brand
  • PC users recommending 'build your own' as a solution - in the absence of an adequate market solution (which frankly although it has some attractions, is a lot of hassle and also has some definite downsides if you are not a techie type)
What people like about Macs
  • intuitive
  • works well for techies and non-techies
  • good at handling images for art and graphics
  • better reliability
  • fast boot
  • no problems with viruses (which is largely a function of market share AND the vulerabilities of Windows)
  • Apple Care - which provides techie help and repair for a specific period for a fee
  • you can walk into a store and talk to somebody about a Mac
  • no worries
All of the above leads to people becoming repeat purchasers and advocates for the brand

Other things to think about
  • the hardware is the same between PCs and Macs. Basically components - such as processors, hard drives and graphic cards are the same.
  • the main difference between PCs and Macs lies in the software
  • the other major difference is that the people who configure the hardware for each product also produce the operating system which runs it.
  • overheating is an issue which can potentially affect both systems but seems to be more of a problem with PCs. Possibly because Macs put more thought into design (eg separation of heat producing components and/or inclusion of extra fans)
  • Potential to address PC problems with overheating through purchase of chill pads and extra fans (my view on this is that machines should not need people to do this!)
  • the expense of purchasing a Mac versus the expense of buying a PC (and then another PC and fans and chill pads and forking out for repairs etc). It would be interesting to work out lifetime cost equivalents.
  • If you'd need to buy new software for a new PC anyway is buying new software for a Mac really an additional cost?
  • We all have to learn new things all the time - so maybe learning to use a Mac is no different from learning to use Vista or Windows 7?
Tomorrow I'm going to summarise the pros and cons from my perspective of different options for buying my next computer

I'm always interested to hear your views. Do say if there's anything else which it would be useful to know - or add a comment to yesterday's post.

The Art of the Landscape
Posted by Making A Mark on Friday, February 19, 2010 13 comments
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Thursday, February 18, 2010

PC vs Mac for artists

Today I'm going to go and visit an Apple Store.

I've burned out three personal computers in the last three years - all because the fans were completely inadequate for the job. (The best one was the one that went with a very large bang and sparks flew out the back!)

I'm in two minds. I'm a completely dedicated PC person dating back just about as far as you can (I've been using the Internet since the early 90s) and have never been a huge fan of the Mac (there's something about that keyboard which always said 'lame' to me!)

Except I'm now very disallusioned about the way that I'm getting through PCs. OK - so I'm a heavy duty user but I think I should be able to buy a machine which can be on upto 18 hours a day in a domestic room which does not have air conditioning AND have loads of windows open all at once without blowing a machine every year (always just outside the warranty - which is the other niggle!)

So - I need advice.

Which Mac are you?
(I do like the MAC website - and that is swaying me!)

This is an invitation to tell me your thoughts about WHICH COMPUTING SET UP IS BEST FOR ARTISTS and people using graphics and video files.
  • SAY WHICH IS BEST - a PC or Mac - and why.
  • SPELL OUT WHY you like your favourite machine
  • If a Mac Owner tell me WHICH MAC IS BEST? I'm a MAC virgin and open to influence!
  • If you have a view about specific aspects of specifications and what you think works best DO TELLl!
PS I'm also out this afternoon (looking!) - so if you don't see any comments that's because they will all be waiting for my moderation. Don't be shy - pitch in and let me know you views


The Art of the Landscape
Posted by Making A Mark on Thursday, February 18, 2010 55 comments
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Wednesday, February 17, 2010

The Practice and Science of Drawing

The Practice and Science of Drawing by Harold Speed was recently the 14th most popular book (ie downloaded) on the The Project Gutenberg site. It's currently 22nd. That's not bad considering it's a book about drawing!

Lately, in despair at the quality of a lot of the books which are now being published I've started looking at books published in the past - as either used books or e-books. Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is processing and digitising.

It can be downloaded in a variety of formats for both reading onscreen and on e-readers. (That's when I found out that Adobe Digital Reader which can read epub files is only available in the USA - like so many other of the nifty tweaks on the Adobe site!) I'm reading it onscree in html format.

Harold Speed (1872-1957) was an English artist, who studied at the Royal Academy Schools and subsequently became a member of the Royal Society of Portrait Artists. His portraits of contemporaries are in the National Portrait Gallery.
A portrait and landscape painter, and writer on art. Initially studying architecture at the Royal College of Art in 1887, he turned to painting, and won a gold medal for life school studies in 1890. He continued his training at the Royal Academy Schools from 1891 to 1896, where in 1893 he was awarded a gold medal and a travelling scholarship that took him to Belgium, France, Italy and Spain. He exhibited his work at the Royal Academy for fifty years from 1893, and became a Member of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters 1895. He was the author of a number of books on art including The Science and Practice of Drawing (1913), The Science and Practice of Oil Painting (1924) and What is the Good of Art? (1936).
Bio of Harold Speed, National Portrait Gallery
To my mind it's an example of a drawing book of the sort that used to be written. Consider how it approaches the task of drawing figures - from the basics of teaching people to draw - rather than the simplified 'how to draw eyes' or 'how to draw hair' which is the sort of dumbed down version which all too often appears in art instruction books today. I wouldn't mind the latter if enough emphasis was given to the basics of drawing - but that simply doesn't happen. Which is why I shall continue to highlight older books on this blog and Making A Mark Reviews

Plate L.
FROM A DRAWING IN RED CHALK BY HOLBEIN IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM PRINT ROOM
Note how every bit of variety is sought for, the difference in the eyes and on either side of the mouth, etc.

The contents cover the following

The Practice and Science of Drawing

CONTENTS

I. INTRODUCTION
II. DRAWING
III. VISION
IV. LINE DRAWING
V. MASS DRAWING
VI. THE ACADEMIC AND CONVENTIONAL
VII. THE STUDY OF DRAWING
VIII. LINE DRAWING: PRACTICAL
IX. MASS DRAWING: PRACTICAL
X. RHYTHM
XI. RHYTHM: VARIETY OF LINE
XII. RHYTHM: UNITY OF LINE
XIII. RHYTHM: VARIETY OF MASS
XIV. RHYTHM: UNITY OF MASS
XV. RHYTHM: BALANCE
XVI. RHYTHM: PROPORTION
XVII. PORTRAIT DRAWING
XVIII. THE VISUAL MEMORY
XIX. PROCEDURE
XX. MATERIALS
XXI. CONCLUSION

APPENDIX

INDEX

I certainly don't agree with everything it says but it's interesting to browse and there are some great quotes - starting with the opening paragraph of the Preface!
Permit me in the first place to anticipate the disappointment of any student who opens this book with the idea of finding "wrinkles" on how to draw faces, trees, clouds, or what not, short cuts to excellence in drawing, or any of the tricks so popular with the drawing masters of our grandmothers and still dearly loved by a large number of people. No good can come of such methods, for there are no short cuts to excellence. But help of a very practical kind it is the aim of the following pages to give; although it may be necessary to make a greater call upon the intelligence of the student than these Victorian methods attempted
Preface
Project Gutemburg

Project Gutemburg aims to digitize and archive cultural works to "encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks." Founded in 1971, it is the oldest digital library and relies on volunteers to help create the eBooks. The books are all ones which are in the public domain. The catalogue is updated on a nightly basis. These are the links to different bookshelves (topic areas).

This is the Art Bookshelf - listing all books about art.

You can also search the database for author name, title, language or words in the full text of the eBook
Posted by Making A Mark on Wednesday, February 17, 2010 4 comments
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