Not coping with Windows 10...

As you may know, I own an Asus VivoTab Note 8, which is like the poor-man's version of the Wacom Cintiq. Last weekend I had the option to upgrade from Windows 8 to Windows 10. I was so excited I upgraded straight away without researching if anything would be affected on my tablet.
The pen function does not work anymore.
And it's not isolated to all VivoTab's; some work and some don't! Unfortunately mine is in the 'don't' category, and now I'm looking on the internet to find ways to fix it. By the sounds of it though I'll have to wait for an update to fix the driver. However I keep getting sidetracked, especially with Google Hangouts at the moment.

Needless to say I haven't done any art. I actually cracked out my notebook and pencil earlier today, as I've had an idea in my head for a few days and wanted to get it on paper:

It's supposed to be 2 dogs sitting at a table enjoying afternoon tea. I've also been toying with the idea of having humans on leads so it's like a reverse situation, but I think if I drew that it would come across a bit weird. I'm not even sure where I got the inspiration to draw that from, or why I even would, but I figured I like tea and I like dogs so why not combine them? I'll have to get on my Wacom Bamboo to flesh it out. At least I still have that! I need to start drawing things that inspire me more, to hopefully get into a better groove for drawing. I just feel like I've had an art block that's lasted for far too long now.

I washed my car yesterday, and listened to something on Youtube to try and inspire me to do something with my life... the link is here, and it's well worth a listen: https://youtu.be/GakfEmYBukQ

I haven't read any of Imaginative Realism this week, I only read at night and I'm been so tired when I've gone to bed this past week I've just gone straight to sleep!

I'm back on Fat Fighters now :) We have a party for Slimmer of the Year tomorrow, so I'm going to take some cucumber cups for the party (thick cucumber slices, seeds scooped out to make a 'cup', then filled with a mixture of low-fat cottage cheese, garlic and chives).

So, here's to another fab week at work, and to me getting out of my artistic rut!

Art expo, hands and general doodling

So, I'm feeling a lot better! Although I managed to shake off my sore throat from last weekend it was promptly replaced with a cold, which I didn't start to shift until Thursday, but then by Thursday evening it was like I had never been ill.

I've been trying to get more daily sketching in, even though I haven't done it every day I've at least done more than what I would normally. On my tablet (which has a stylus so I can draw on it like a Wacom Cintiq) I've downloaded a free app called Graphiter, which is a great little program for sketching on without having to load Photoshop all the time with all of its fancy gadgets. I've been focussing on hands this week, and initially I was just copying pictures from Google using the Drawing On The Right Side Of The Brain techniques, which looked pretty OK. However (I had an 'ah-ha!' moment), I realised if I wanted to progress with my art I would need to work out the mechanics of what I'm drawing, not just copy, otherwise if I want to draw something in the future I'll struggle as I wouldn't have learned anything:

Top-left & top-middle are the ones I copied direct from Google Images. Bottom middle is my hand with the fingers foreshortened, that was harder to work out the mechanics

I've also done a bit of general doodling this week, the first was quickly sketching my partner close-up as he's playing a video game, although when he's concentrating he sticks his tongue out and moves it around, so I struggled to get the lips right:

The other doodle I did made up a character while my fella and I were taking turns playing games, I've no idea where it was going at the time, not bad for 10 minutes though huh?

Also I've noticed there's a new Wacom Cintiq that +CreativeBloq have reviewed. It's their most affordable yet, although to be honest if I had a bit more cash I would probably get the Surface Pro 3.

I managed to get to the art expo this weekend, I really enjoyed it, and it's nice having something like that in my hometown, where it's a small town and nothing much really happens. I was quite inspired by a few pieces I've seen, and I thought the art being sold was very affordable, although we weren't looking to buy. Some were ridiculously overpriced though, but I guess that's just my opinion. There was a range of art for sale, all different subjects and mediums, quite a lot of watercolours which, while I think looks pretty, is not my medium of choice. 
It was also my gateway to see what our local Art Society did, and while I enjoyed the art I don't think joining the society is for me. They do have life drawing sessions every Wednesday which is open to non-members, so I may pop along to one of those in the future. I've looked up other art groups in my area, and they're either not for me (ie ceramics) or closed groups. I think if I want to do a collaboration in the future I'll need to do one online. I keep meaning to join a Hangout on Google+ on the Sycra forums but I always seem to miss them (I think because they're over in the states and me being in the UK it's always the time difference).

Anyway, not many plans for next week, will just try to keep up the sketching, and maybe finish my logo, and might try to get a BriefBox done this weekend too.