South of Rockhampton in Queensland, Australia, the road divides an endless sea of grassy plains and rolling hills. Big sky’s and endless horizons are a constant feature that draws travellers from all over the world. Leaving the main roads to follow the lesser travelled byways opens up opportunities to see the real country.
Sketching an iPad
On Anzac Day I found myself filling in time near Brisbane while waiting for a response from a person I had arranged to meet up with. As the day dragged on I found myself at the Brisbane Botanical Gardens near Mount Cootha.
There are themed displays under domes and in shade houses that would take days to see properly. The gardens are lovely with nicely laid out pathways and beautifully manicured plants.
It was here that I met Stranger No 3…. Hector was sitting quietly on the stone wall at the side of the path totally absorbed in something on his tablet. My first impression was that one could check out Facebook anytime, anywhere and it seemed that social media had claimed one more addict.
When I came up alongside him, I noticed that he was sketching the scene before him on the tablet. The treescape on the tablet was impressive and I stopped to ask him about it. He old me that there are quite a few apps that can be used for sketching and with the help of a stylus he was able to create a pretty impressive picture.
The app he used allowed him to choose the medium for each drawing…. this one was an oil painting and of course the beauty of this is that there is no cleaning up of brushes etc when the job is done.
Hector is from Chilli and has been here for two months to study. Clearly art is his passion and while his palette may be a tablet, art is art no matter what the form. One wonders what Picasso might have done if he had an iPad.
Playing With Affinity Photo
Since I got my Apple iPad I have been looking at alternatives to the staple diet of Lightroom and Photoshop to process my images. Affinity Photo has come up with a strong contender that appears to be a crossbreed on both of those applications.
Sometimes, playing about when you don’t know what you are doing can achieve some pleasing or unusual results. Tonight I was demonstrating some of the features to a friend and colleague when a slip of the pen produced this. Maybe not everyone’s cup of tea but I don’t mind it.
Originally, a brightly lit shot of a stage at Broadbeach that had been erected for entertaining the sparse crowds there during the Commonwealth Games.
Life Is A Beach…. Best Served I The Morning
Known the world over for it’s racy nightlife and amazing beaches, Surfers Paradise has become something of an icon of what is Australia. It is also a place where lessons can be learned. Town planning has allowed massively high towers to be build right along the foreshore. Beautiful they may be, yet they destroy the ambience in the afternoon as their massive bulk casts long shadows across the beach.