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Saturday, April 18, 2015

Painting From Life Plein Air

                         
                       
                       
 
                
Painting poolside from life using Art Rage.    Finesse is many failures away, but the process is fascinating enough to keep me at it.  

Renting the car yesterday perked us up. We spent the morning exploring the neighborhood and familiarizing ourselves with what restaurants are where, what condo developments look like us, where's the drug store, the super market, the services you need to survive in this world. Summerlin Nevada looks like a suburb where you could live comfortably as long as you had pounds of moisturizer and Blistex in every pocket of every jacket and pair of shorts.    While the extreme of the desert dryness has been a shock, I haven't had one wave of lightheadedness from my chronic vertigo since we got here in spite of eating over salted restaurant fare.  This is something to think about. Dry skin? Chronic vertigo?

Tonight, my youngest son and his wife are joining us for the weekend. We're looking forward to hugs and laughs. Their room is adjoining ours. We have a lot of catching up to do. 

15 comments:

  1. So ... you're thinking of exchanging six months of snow for constant sun??? :)

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    1. I have been. But the summers here are harsher than our winters; there's always a trade off. But I do like being Vertigo free. Humidity is obviously a contributing factor for that ailment, not just salt. Ellis talks Florida, talk about humidity! I think we'll stick.

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  2. Dit vind ik zo knap een paar streken en toch kan je zien wat het is zo mooi Linda lieve groetjes Danielle

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    1. Thanks Danielle, the iPad art apps are an excellent way to practice simplicity. Working small demand precision of stroke. I'm looking forward to doing that on canvas with paint when I get back to the studio. The 6 x 8 canvases i primed before I left should be dry by then. (Six by eight is about the size of the iPad screen and is the size I've been using for my graphite drawings).

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  3. BINGO!!! Love this - I thought it was back to the old days of expressionistic Roth work.
    ArtRage has its uses. Well done, Linda. Hope you LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this one.
    p.s.
    I have had positional vertigo for over thirty years. My body has learned to adjust to the direction of the wave, but my common sense evaporates at times and I bend to pick something up without something to hold. MISTAKE!!!... but the dry climate works best for me for some reason.
    I even take Yoga, and, at times, it is like being on a roller coaster.

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    1. Except for not being able to control the weather, the BP and the humidity in the air, mine is under control. I can bend. I can look up. Flying doesn't bother me as long as I sit no further back in the plane than the sixteenth row. I am a stickler about salt intake. No more than 800 to 1000mg per day. On holiday, however, keeping water retention down by eating right is almost impossible. I am a very difficult customer at restaurants. My strict diet has reduced the severity of the attacks to what I would call an occasional whoops, the wall moved. When that happens, I know it's going to rain.

      I did start a watercolor yesterday, but got bored. The iPad was as serious as I wanted to be.

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  4. what a nice trip you are on! the art rage painting is lovely---makes me want to be poolside too. It is fun to tag along on your adventures.

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    1. Well bring your pad and come on down! The weather has turned warm and the winds have died down. All is swell in Las Vegas.

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  5. My vertigo troubles me when things are moving around me, ie the flow of the river as I walk along the bank, and is purely a balance thing and such situations are avoided.
    Love the plein aire poolside, makes me want to reach for the paint! Not got the hang of the tablet yet...but to be fair I've only tried once. Your colours are spot on, and the blurry heatwave!

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    1. Motion and irregular light does it--or at least used to. Not anymore. Lowest salt diet and water pills have eliminated that discomfort.

      Thanks. It takes a lot of playing around to get the gist of it. Best part: there's no pressure. This isn't considered art YET, but there are some out there who can really paint by combining several of the art apps. Amazing.

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  6. Surprised that this is done on iPad, thought it was made in oil. It look great!
    I am not that old, but I can feel some issues coming. a
    All we want is to stay healthy, or at least without any major issues. I wish that for you too. Hug! =)

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    1. Chronic vertigo has nothing to do with age; it has to do with head injuries and hearing loss, something that has an adverse effect on the balance system. I know a young man, thirties-forties who got it after going on one of those amusement park rides. Fluid in the ears is a cause. A low salt diet is highly recommended, 800 to 1000 mg per day. But changes in the barometric pressure and high humidity can also cause a bout. The lack of rain and dryness of the desert states are a good thing. I am great at monitoring my salt intake, but living in Michigan surrounded by the Great Lakes wrecks havoc as weather patterns vary.

      Art Rage is a great painting app on iPad. I do like diddling with it. This was a great exercise matching color values.

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  7. Lovely painting. Can feel the beauty of the day.

    I grew up with hot , dry weather, so I like it. After we moved to a much colder, wetter climate, I discovered the sauna. Feels like home.

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    1. Strikingly different climes. Each attractive for different reasons. A Sedona friend commented she uses tons of moisturizer and still looks five years older than our age, whereas her friend in Florida looks five years younger. Humidity wrecks havoc on sinuses, but you do look wonderful.
      Woods probably do better her in the Southwest? In Michigan, water wonderland, they will warp, as will stretcher bars. 😀

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  8. Such beautiful light in this iPad painting....thought it was done in oils. I really love it!

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