InDesign woes

Well, turns out no one with a brain lays out their books in Photoshop on their PCs, they do it in InDesign on their Macs. Who knew? Anyhow, I downloaded a free trial of InDesign, which isn’t working, which is PISSING me off, but I did at least do two pages using InDesign at work and they look pretty good, so… if someone at Adobe helps me to figure out how to download InDesign correctly, I should be off and running. (I really don’t want to have to do it at work – I’d rather be at home, in my jammies!)

Facing pages

Seal

So, it’s all systems go with the book. I downloaded a 30-day trial version of InDesign and have a month to crank it out, so I ran out the door early this a.m. to get more fishing boat pics in the good light (light! I’ve missed you!) and then went back just before dusk for more. I got a lot of great material for the book, plus I got to see a couple of seals and a loon.

Seal face

Loon fishing

Fishing boat book

Now that I have things in place to put out a “real” book of my fishing boat photography (I have a printer lined up and a local artist agreed to write the intro!), I am re-doing the “prototype” I did on Blurb and adding a lot more pictures. The new version will be 11×9, which actually necessitates the full revise since some of the photos in the book were taken with an older camera and won’t hold up to a full-page bleed.

I liked Blurb because it let you preview it two pages at a time, and the most difficult and important work, I think, is getting the “flow” of the images right. Therefore, I made a two-page template in PS so I can at least plan which photos will appear side-by-side.

Facing pages

Scratch my back

… and I’ll scratch yours! Another pastel of a favorite image of mine.

Horses

Pastel horse

OK, I am pretty psyched this morning because I had a little breakthrough last night.

Sometime in the fall, I took an introductory pastel painting class and became interested in the medium. I bought all kinda pastels and all kinda paper and have been trying my hand at it here and there, trying to find my “style” and also trying to figure out whether I am any good at it. Pastels and pastel paper can get really expensive, and if I am not, I don’t want to keep pouring money into it.

So far, I feel like my work has been OK, but nothing stellar. Nothing I’d want to approach a gallery with. Nothing I’d want to pay good money to frame properly. (You can see a few examples on myartwork page)

But then last night, I sat down with a good-sized piece of inexpensive paper and tried again. I printed a photo I’d taken of a gorgeous horse in a field filled with yellow buttercups, and that’s what I worked from. (I have an open juried show in mind and the theme is “Fur and Feathers.”) I lightly sketched and colored the entire thing, and then did some blending – but lightly. I can have a heavy hand, like I should be working with fingerpaints, but I took my time and paid attention to how, and how much, I was smudging. Then I went back with a charcoal pencil and did some very light shading, which still turned out a tad dark (something I have to work on). I am not thrilled with how the horse’s head came out, but, overall, I have to say THIS is what I’ve been aiming for – the style I’ve been trying to find. THIS I consider art. And I haven’t done any art I was truly pleased with in a loooong time.

Pastel horse

Nope… not yet

It’s still winter. *Sigh*

Leaf and ice

Cat fight (sort of)

Hootie (black-and-white) and Anoush (white-and-black) were snuzzling happily one moment, and then beating the spit out of each other the next. Cats!

I've got him riiiight where I want him!

Aaaah, victory is sweet!

Scusset Beach

I got to go to TWO beaches this weekend, although it was blustery and cold on the Cape and the sun didn’t come out until we were driving home. Sigh!…

Sea gull pair

A couple more

From yesterday’s travels:

Swansea

Cutie pie

Fogland Beach

If you don't know where you're going...

Fogland

I finally got to walk on a beach today – whoopee!!!

... and carry a big stick!

Partially submerged rocks

Sea gull feets