Star Quality

This is the 12th computer generated star that I've done. Hope that you like it. (Click to enlarge).

Another Revision

This is a wild revision of my second computer drawing. I cleaned up the small spikes near the center and I added a few long spikes. I especially like the light blue 45 degree corner spikes. (Click on the image to enlarge it).

A Sign Of Four

There are 4 different, yet similar revisions of my first computer drawings. The drawings became more and more complex as I went along The technique of painting all 4 alike (as far as they went) was a matter of doing a lot of cut and pasting within MS Paint. I colored the first one, them began overlaying the completed colored drawing onto the blank of the next. That way I only to color the additions not the entire drawing over again. I think that they turned out nicely. They give you a glimpse inside my mind. The further I go the more complex I become. (Click on any image to enlarge it).

Alien Spawn

As Barbwire formed a circle Alien Spawn forms a square. I nearly filled the entire space with shapes. Every major shape is filled with another shape. I don't know where this trend is heading and I won't know until the next drawing. (Click on the spawn to make it bigger).

Alien Life Form

This one was sort of out there. I wanted a different way of filling in the space that the 22.5 angle took up. I ended up filling it with rounded shapes. The long outer legs of the trident shape at the 45 degree angle was a happy accident. Here I didn't like the way some of the long ends of the shapes protruded into the shape ahead of it so I rounded things off. Fewer spikes this time as well. (Click on the life form in order to enlarge it).

A Spider's Domain

I originally entitled this one "The Web" but I've changed my mind. I started to use more curved shapes in place of more linear ones. I think that they look better against the spikes. Again, here, Ive used the central design and placed it st the 4 corners of the 45 degree angle spikes. I also tried but failed to not use so much blue this time. (Click in the image in order to see it bigger).

A Baker's Dozen.

I had, with Barbwire, figured out a way around the 22.5 degree problem but it was a little time consuming. With this drawing I left it out and opted for a long spike at the 45 degree angle. But in order to keep it "clean" I had to leave some empty space around it or it would have gotten lost in the clutter. I replicated the central design at the four ends of the spikes. (Click on the image in order to see it bigger).

Barbwire On Steroids.

My lovely wife named this one. It sort of does look like barbwire. All those spikes! I tried to fill every void with something. It seems that I just don't like to see an empty space. I know that empty spaces have value but I just can't seem to bring myself to leave big empty spaces. Notice the black and gray shapes above the pink and yellow ones. The look like alien faces. (Click on the alien in order to see a bigger image).

The Eleventh Hour.

By now I was getting the hang of things. I wanted to fill every shape with some other shape. I was getting bored with the MS Paint standard color pallet. But defining custom colors left me without the original colors and that wasn't good. (Click on the image to see a larger one).

The Tenth Level

This one is a departure from the others in that I did drop the 22.5 degree angle in favor of some windmill like structures. My art was not only growing but changing as well. It seemed that I was incorporating more spikes and fewer curved elements into the drawings. I was beginning to fill the drawings more and more to the edges of the limits I'd set for the size of the drawings. Things were getting bigger all the time. I also felt that they were getting more sophisticated. By now I had gotten so bored with the standard color pallet that I made my own. I collected colors from various pics on my computer and made up a color pallet that is a bitmap. I paste it to the bottom of each drawing so I'll have some color variation to choose from. (Click on the image in order to get to a larger one).

Number Nine, Number Nine, Number Nine...

Any Beatles fan will recognize the title of this post. This the ninth drawing in this series but the fourth computer aided drawing. It's a little smaller that number 8 below but still incorporates both curved and straight elements. I was still struggling with the 22.5 degree angle. Thought a slight problem I didn't want to not use it because it adds more depth to the finished drawings. Somehow though I feel that this drawing lacks something. I just can't put my finger on it. (Click on the image in order to see a larger one).

Eight Is Not Enough.

With my third computer aided drawing spikes were definitely going to be a major part of each "Stars" design. It was the first time that I had incorporated the 22.5 degree angle into the drawing. This has proven to be problematic. 90 degree angles are the easiest to clone. Just flip a section left or right or up or down. Easy for the computer program MS Paint. 45 degree angles require a little more manipulation in order to clone. However 22.5 degree angles can not be cloned. The limits of the program won't allow for it. I have been able to cut and paste and with the use of another program flip a piece of the drawing then cut and paste it back into the drawing but it is a lot of effort for so little return. I'm learning to live within the limits of MS Paint. (Click on the image in order to see a lager image).

It's Getting Better All the Time.

My second effort at drawing using the computer was a much more satisfying effort. Not only was it fuller and more sophisticated, it was the first time on the computer that I had used black, white and the 2 grays from the color pallet as more than accent colors. Their inclusion seemed to open up the drawing giving it more depth. It also incorporated some of the shapes from my paper and ink drawings. Mainly the pink and blue shapes near the center of the drawing. Spikes were emerging as one of the main features in my drawings as well. It was also the first time that I had connected shapes by removing the lines that separated them where they came into contact with each other. (Click on the image in order to view a larger image).

An Idea Is Born.

This was the first of my computer generated images. I got the idea to use the computer from drawing number 2 and the spikes from from drawing number 4. I used the lay out that I had used for drawing number 2 as a guide. Again I did only 1/8th of the drawing before cloning that one part in order to make the whole. A little added detail that couldn't be done until the drawing was assembled and all that was left was the coloring. I used the MS Paint color pallet without alteration. Compared to my later drawings this one is very crude and unsophisticated. At a later time I plan on reworking the original line drawing and recoloring it. (Click on the image in order to view a larger image).

Drawing Number 5.

This was the last of my ink and paper drawings and in my mind the worst. It was an experiment that I considered a failure though I did learn what not to do from the results. It's too dark, due to the use of markers instead of colored pencils, and some of the detail is obscured because of it. I don't like this one and would have just as soon omitted it from the line up but it was ,after all, part of my learning curve. (click on the image in order to see a larger image, if you must).

And Now For Something Completely Different.

Effort number four was reminiscent of drawings that I used to do which I called "Squares" for lack of a better term. It really looks nothing like my "Squares" only some of the shapes used here reminded me of them. This was a departure from the earlier attempts and something wholly my own. Very crude compared to my later computer rendered drawings but it was the fertilizer that helped the earlier planted seed grow. It was also my first time using colored markers instead of colored pencils. I wasn't quite pleased with the effect. (Click on the image in order to view a larger image).

Third Time Not Quite The Charm.

This was my second attempt at such a drawing. It was an experiment. I laid out on plain paper what would later become my working grid, a set of perpendicular lines meeting at the apex. From the apex a 45 degree line was drawn (I didn't add the 22.5 degree line until later). I then drew only 1/8 of the drawing, the lower half of the upper left quadrant. I drew in pencil, as before, and inked in the drawing. I then erased the pencil and scanned the drawing into the computer. Using MS Paint I then manipulated the drawing into a whole. My work on the pencil and ink drawing had not been perfect so the manipulation did not yield a perfect result either (examine the tips of the four blue and yellow shapes). What this drawing did do was plant a seed of an idea that took a couple of more drawings before it began to grow. (Click on the image in order to see a larger one).

Is It Art?

This was my next attempt at doing something on paper. It was inspired by some drawings that I saw on the JetPens Flickr page. Mine is crude when compared to hers but at least I was trying. Like the first it was colored in with colored pencils. I like colored pencils as they not only give things a translucent look but you can vary the intencity of the color by the amount of pressure you apply. This gives me a bit of leaway in coloring.

(Click on image in order to view larger image)

Good Morning Mr. Sunshine.

This was the first drawing that I had done in years. Crude, yes, but for me it was a lot of work as while I may have an artistic eye I'm not much of a sketch artist. I used a quad pad as it is one of my favorite writing/drawing papers due to all the lines. Unfortunately the lines scan (but they don't seem to photocopy) so there is no way to get rid of them. The lyrics were added in MS Paint and are from the Bee Gee's song "Lonely Days" which was the inspiration for the drawing. I posted it on the JetPens forum under "Artwork And Photos" and on their Flickr page. So far I am the only one to publish art on the forum. Why? I haven't a clue. One of my earilier entries, a computer generated collage of penscils taken from photos from the JetPens on-line store, won a $5.00 gift certificate from JetPens! So I'm trying to win another one! Thus was the beginning of my current streak of drawings. They get better, I promise. (Click on the image to see a larger image).

Logitech Mouse Wheel

Whatever you do, never, never and I mean NEVER take the rubber off of a Logitech mouse wheel! Why? Because you will never, never and I mean NEVER get it to go back on correctly. They are never made to come off, they are molded on! How do I know this? Have I been talking to a Logitech technician? No, but I wish that had! No, I, innocently enough, removed the rubber from the wheel of my Logitech optical mouse in order to clean it. And to my utter surprise and astonishment the rubber part was full of tabs and inserts and the plastic part was full of a jigsaw puzzle full of receptacles! Some of these tabs/receptacles were on the sides of the rubber jacket and plastic wheel. Others were along the inner/outer rims! I knew once I had the rubber jacket off the plastic wheel that I was never going to get the two back together, though I tried and tried and TRIED! I even cut the tabs an inserts off the rubber jacket in desperation but it was a lost cause. The rubber had stretched beyond it's capacity to expand and it tore! One dead mouse wheel. Now what was I going to do?

Well, I have a small collection of computer junk so I sifted through it trying to find a spare wheel, but alas, no spare wheel. So I ended up stealing the wheel from a ball type Logitech mouse that I had laying around. The entire wheel mechanism was the same so all the new wheel needed was a bit of cleaning up as the mouse had been sitting ground for a while unused. The color of the rubber is a bit lighter shade of gray but other than that it is the same. A little silicone grease in the right places and the job was complete. The mouse works as well as before.

Bottom line, never, never and I mean NEVER take anything apart that you want to keep unless you know how it comes apart and that you are assured that you can get it back together again. You may not have a spare laying around to fix it with.