Can't Paint so I code :)

Since my operation (which took at the 26th of April) I'm still can't sit, it's been a month already and I've become literally a couch! This doesn't help when you want to draw, since I lay down all day, the only thing I can do is sit in front of my laptop and do what I also do best, which is programming.

This time I'm not programing for the x86 (Intel) based PCs, I took on me to study the newest operating system: Android by Google.

Having installed the programming workspace and the integrated development environment (IDE) called Eclipse and Google's Android's SDK (Software Development Kit) I was able to configure the system, the Emulator and create an 'Hello World' project.

After sleepless nights, sunny days (I had times where I didn't go out of home for a week or two) I managed to learn the basic ideas of how stuff work and code a background running music player that updates the screen and send notifications back to the user on an interval of time:



I will keep develop this app for fun and learn more about how Android works (Mainly graphics). I must say that it is an impressive looking operating system that allows you to do so many and integrate your code with others apps (also the fact that it is open source and mult-task makes it cool)

As for the phones that runs the Android:
1. T-Mobile G1 - can be modified the heck out of it!
2. HTC Magic - can be modified the heck out of it!
3. Samsung Galaxy - I guess it can be modified, I don't know
4. HTC Hero - Closed sourced project (but u can probably still can mod it to other androids)

The phones as you buy them will not come as ROOT permissions so you could not install anything on them unless you know how to go down a firmware with a ROOT users and than update on newer version while still keeping the ROOT permissions.

It's funny, Google makes an open sources tree branch of their Android OS (as for now, it is called 'Cupcake') but yet u can download it, mod it, compile it and install it on your own phone just like any other Linux systems (which is what Android based on, Linux kernel 2.6.x)

I don't know when I will own an Android phone, maybe I will try get the HTC Hero and develop for it (while my emulator is helpful, it is slow as hell - and on my laptop it ain't pretty!)

Until I can paint and draw again, I will play with android more and more.

Another creation of mine

2 weeks ago I finished a piece of art that was commissioned by someone who saw my online art gallery and sent me a message to draw him.
My art is usually consists of drawing the beautiful female figure and less of the male figure, just because I love the softness of curves and slick lines. Overall I love women :) that sums it up pretty much!

So I gave the commission a little of though, but I decided to do it anyway, just for the experience and having at least one male art to begin with.

The actual process took sometime, since, from the beginning to the end of the draw, I've been busy with life, work..etc or just had down times and no mood to draw at all. It happens to everyone, and it's hard to stay focus and motivated all the time, when the project that you work on is sometime insignificance at some points. So, every now and than I used to find my self draw, and hour, two and sometimes half an hour.

So, it has been around 2-3 months since I started the project, until one day I decided to finish the this draw once and for all! I sharpened my pencil, and hit the paper.

for those who want to know how I draw and what is the process/tools that I'm using, so here it is:

Tools:
- Convert/Print the colored image in gray-scale version (it's easier to me since I'm colored bind to see how the shading is done when it's like that)
- regular A4 paper
- regular B2 pencil
- regular eraser (Though I also posses those sticky erasers that looks like gum)

Process:
now having my gray-scale version of the image that I wish to draw/mimic/copy, I always begin with the tip of nose. Now, usually artists measure and plan their art on the paper that they draw on, I usually don't, not that I think I got confidence at the way I draw, it just that I love to draw as it is, without knowing what will come up in the end, I don't like it always to be 100% the same, on the same method, I could just "print" the image and trace it.
from the nose, I build the nostrils and create the shadows around it, than the nose it self, eyes, eye-brows, lips, cheeks, ears, hair, face, body.

The shadowing process is the most time consuming on my part, shadow/light pass consists of and endless net strokes. vertical, horizontal and diagonal strokes with different weights.

The hardest part of a drawing, is drawing it correctly with proportions, correct element positions, the right pose, shading and than details.

In this art, I had few problems when I finished it (I saw them in the middle of the draw, but continued with it anyway), and my problems were: position and details.
I had a trick up my sleeve though! When finished my art, I photographed it (since I don't own a scanner) and fixed the light/contrast in Photoshop.
My trick, was using a Photoshop tools called: "Cloning" tool, the "Move" tool and the "Scale" tool.

basically I put the original image in a layer, and my "imperfect" image over it with a 40%-60% (changeable) opacity and than started to move/clone and scale parts of my art to match the right positions of the original image. Note that I also fixed digitally some details as well.

I didn't made it perfect, as still its my art, together I blended it to make a real cool 90% art 10% digital fix, that you can see below:



I hope you like it, it was a fun project to do, as you can see from the image, my art is on top of the real image, together it creates a unique image.

- Shany.