Linda & Opie's Burnt Offerings

The Mighty Mini...

iPad with Retina Display -- and Keyboard

Hello Beautiful!!!

All Is Well...

...and on a completely unrelated note... This is my first post from my iPad! Who knew... It just never occurred to me that I could blog from here!!! I AM an idiot...lol! This will be a real game changer.

We Got our Kicks on Route 66

our trip to Sedona and Vegas was fantastic and we even got to drive along the iconic Route 66! we took tons of pics in Jerome, Sedona, along Rt 66, and in Vegas and will post about each place soon.

this pic was taken as we drove into the fabulous and funky town of Jerome - an artists delight to be sure! all of the images were enhanced by either opie or me on our iPads using a variety of apps, since the purpose of this trip was to sketch and take lots of photos. more on iPad photography apps later!

this was my first time in Sedona, which is a positive vortex. the rock formations were beyond majestic. although it was hot during the day, it was quite lovely in the morning and evenings. there was so much to see but i honestly think we covered it all. in any event, we had a blast!

we also took a 3 day pocket sketching class at the Sedona Art Center with the talented Kath Macaulay. it was a real treat to be on the other side of the table for a change! we'll post our sketches in the coming weeks.

we left Sedona and drove along Route 66 heading toward Vegas. it was a thrill to be on it since it was a major part of America. we knew we wanted to stop and eat - and settled on the Roadkill Cafe. it did not disappoint!

then we continued on to Vegas to visit opie's daughter sam who recently returned from climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro to raise money for children with aids. isn't she beautiful! it was also my first time there and she took us around and showed us the sights. red rock was amazing ... she hikes there quite a lot.

we even got to go to the the pawn shop. sam works right across the street from it. opie and i so love that show. it's both entertaining and informative. sadly the old man, my favorite character, was nowhere to be seen!

our trip ended with a tour of the neon museum - aka "the boneyard" - which is home to a bizillion neon signs of everything vegas! since it was so involved, we'll do a dedicated post about it in the upcoming weeks. right now this was our trip in a nutshell! i've wanted to post since we returned, but sadly we came back to find opie's mom re-hospitalized, and as of this posting, she's back in rehab. her health has been a merry-go-round ride since july but we're hoping she'll be better by Thanksgiving and back at home. your good thoughts are much appreciated.

 

And Off We Go

we've talked the talk and now it's time to walk the walk - so we're spending some quality time sketching and photographing Sedona and its surrounding areas to try to capture the beauty there. theres something about travel that makes you want to watercolor sketch...

these were sketched in France in the village of Dufort where the copper pots are made.

we spent 24 days there - taught two mixed media workshops - and took in the sights.... we even went to Lourdes! the south of France is a gorgeous area with fantastic food and we had an unforgetable time.

can't wait to see what Sedona is like. we've never been there before and are very excited. then we're visiting opie's daughter in Vegas. she just returned from climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro to raise money for children with aides - and then we'll fly home and sketch some more!
one of the great things about watercolor sketching is you get to travel light. we're taking a camera, our iPad 2, a compact watercolor set and water-brush and a sketchbook. Nirvana!

we'll have lots to share with you when we return - so stay tuned...

Sketch Club… there’s an APP for That!

Many of you know that Opie bought me an iPad 2 in May (i so LOVE it - i got him one - and now he'll  finally be more active on this blog) – so as promised – I’d like to share with you my latest obsession – the Sketch Club app... the best $2.00 you will EVER spend!!!

 
my very first sketch - roughly 5 weeks ago.

Sketch Club  (created by Blackpawn.com - who in my opinion is a creative genius) is much more than a sketching app – it’s a fun and nurturing artist community where you are encouraged to sketch in a fun, friendly, and completely unintimidating environment. With all of the mixed media that Opie and I do, I honestly haven’t seriously sketched since my young teen years, and yet I feel completely at home here, and so will you.

 
my homage to Project Runway!

There are daily challenges if you’re so inclined to participate, as well as compos (aka competitions)  which provide an interesting way to collect glops (which are like reward points) that you earn whenever you upload a sketch or comment on someone else’s. When you earn 150 glops you get a heart which you are free to bestow on a favorite sketch, or if you’re not into challenges and/or compos, you can simply upload a sketch at will. There’s never any pressure to go beyond your comfort zone.

 
this was done for a daily challenge on Fish.

while this was for a Caricature compo...

 
( i had such fun with this one )

Built into this app are several brush styles, layer transform tools, and (if you're using an iPad) even shapes, plus mirror/symmetry modes providing you with unlimited possibilities. You can even record your steps as you go along! When I first began in the app, I had a very limited understanding of brushes and hardly no understanding of layers, and yet with a bit of experimentation and feedback from other artists, I’m loving what I’m doing and the learning curve gets easier with every sketch. Then when you're finished, you can email your completed sketch, or upload it to Sketch Club or even to Facebook. How cool is that! This app is only about 10 months old, yet it is updated often, and to date there are over 144 five star reviews. So if you have an iPad (or an iPhone) and are into sketching – come and join this community of kindred spirits.

 
in this sketch i explored several brushes and layers.

Since there are so many different apps available for drawing, sketching, photo editing, music, and more, it’s very easy to either buy more than you need – or become overwhelmed by the selections.  Over time we’ll discuss several of our must have favorites since we’ll be taking this blog into new (digital) territories that includes sketching, photography, editing, and the joys of combining them all into a brand new category we’ll be calling: Digitography.

So as they say - fasten your seatbelts - it’s gonna be a bumpy ride down the digital highway!

 

when life gives you lemons...

take that time to learn something new!   i've had salmonella for a month and it completely kicked my butt - but the down time allowed me time to experiment with my iPad 2 and it's become my latest passion.

 

i love using the different photography, drawing, sketching and watercolor apps and go back and forth between them until i'm happy with the results. i'm still learning the many different brushes and tools so i'm taking baby steps - but i'm a quick study when i'm motivated! this began as an abstract sketch which i added subtle watercolor to.

 

this photo (which i did not retouch or alter in any way) was taken with the iPad 2 camera which almost everyone except me says is crap, because of its low resolution. i personally love it and wouldn't change a thing and even entered it in our village photography contest.

 

this was also taken with the iPad 2 camera and then i had a blast experimenting with different apps, filters, layers, effects, etc. i can't wait until i actually understand exactly what i'm doing - but i will say that my new favorite app is Sketch Club and i LOVE being part of that creative community.

happily, my salmonella is gone as of aug 8th (YAY), but my passion for iPad-ography is here to stay and i will be posting lots more about it and the progress i'm making.

btw: i recently started a new series called: flowers re-imagined -- and it's all done on my iPad -- which i'll share with you in future posts.

your comments -critiques and posts are most welcome...