Pouring My Art Out

Hey, he was running out of ideas, so I am giving him a refill…

Posted on May 6, 2019 by pouringmyartout

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I am a civic-minded person, I will have you know. Ask not what you country can do for you… and all that…

Posted in cartoons, funny famous people pictures | Tagged art, donald trump, humor, idea, Photoshop, politicians, politics, poop, trump | 4 Comments

Is that a skeletal hand reaching for the moon???… (or); more random pictures for you to look at while I put the finishing touches on my latest novel…

Posted on May 3, 2019 by pouringmyartout

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I am still playing around with the camera on my new phone, taking lots of pictures. I love that one.

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I mean, it isn’t really that interesting when you do it right. Sometimes art is about doing it wrong.

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Or just experimenting, like this reflection of the moon in two windows.

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Taking selfies with the sunset behind you is always tricky.

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You get a totally different outcome, depending on what you focus on. a 6

There’s my hawk buddy!

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If you look closely, you will see the face of the ogre king on the left side of that cloud.

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Okay, that is just a moon with a halo, but I like the angles of the building at the bottom.

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Reflections of a tree at twilight.

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I just like the way the middle row of windows is sort of purple.

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The spectral exit… an exit sign inside a room, with cloud reflections on the glass.

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And, as long as these all seem to be taken at work, here is one sunset picture.

Posted in Pictures of me, sunsets | Tagged art, clouds, humor, moon, photography, sunsets | Leave a comment

So, how do I add videos to my blog posts, dagnabbitt???

Posted on April 30, 2019 by pouringmyartout

I got my sporty new phone. I have been playing with the slow-mo video. I have stuff to share. It is time that I figure out how to put videos in the blog… but I am a computer moron. Do I need to pay for an upgraded blog like wordpress tells me when I try to post a video, because mine does not support them?

Please help me out.

And use small words.

Posted in cartoons, my weird moving pictures, wordpress | Tagged bloggers, blogging, blogs, cartoons, help, humor, social-media, tech support, wordpress | Leave a comment

Let’s make a cover for my new novel; a step-by-step blog series, and I want your input!… part 13…

Posted on April 29, 2019 by pouringmyartout

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Okay, technically, this shouldn’t be part of this blog series. This is the map I am going to stick in the front of the novel, between the copyright and dedication page, and chapter 1. You might notice that I used the same font that I used on the cover. I have no idea how good this will look in the book. I just like the idea.

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It is based on that sketch I did when I was visiting my mom in the Bay Area and was right in the middle of getting the book going. I did a quick pencil drawing. Then, as happens with me, I got carried away, and did some watercolor painting and colored pencil work on it. It was really just to give me a visual reminder of where things were in relation to each other.

The editing of the novel is done. I am compiling it into one document and sending it to my daughter Jessica in New York, who will format it and send it to the publisher. As soon as I know how many pages it will turn out to be, I can download a cover template, and put the finished… soon, I hope… cover on there. Then, I can order a copy, and wait to see how it all came together.

Posted in fiction, My art | Tagged art, books, drawing, maps, novel, painting, writers, writing | Leave a comment

Trump’s support of racism leads to death near my home…

Posted on April 28, 2019 by pouringmyartout

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The rhetoric of hate and Nationalism. It is real. There was a mass shooting yesterday at a synagogue near where I live in San Diego in Southern California. I have been to that building. I have been in that building. My daughter went to high school with the shooter. He used to wear a MAGA hat to class. She didn’t like him.

This isn’t random violence. This isn’t someone who snapped. This was a kid indoctrinated in hate. Maybe some of that hate was picked up at home. Maybe he met some racist asshats somewhere, and got sucked deeper into the hate.

But that hate was supported by Trump. That hate was whipped up by Trump. And this isn’t some twisted form of delusional revenge against Muslims because he thought they were going to kill us all. This wasn’t directed at Latin Americans because he thought they were coming to steal his job. This was pure, unadulterated murder of people of the Jewish faith, for nothing but hate. This is right out of Nazi Germany.

No, Trump never killed anyone of the Jewish faith, Neither did Hitler. At first, he just suggested it, hinted at the need to do it. It wasn’t until Hitler took full control of the apparatus of the State that he could order killings.

Let’s not let Trump reach that point.

Posted in Everything Else, thinking about stuff | Tagged america, donald trump, guns, hate, mass shooting, politicians, politics, racism, trump, violence | 2 Comments

And now, some random animal photos for you to look at, while I finish editing my newest novel and doing the cover art…

Posted on April 27, 2019 by pouringmyartout

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That might be the best photo of a lizard I ever took. I saw him outside at work. He let me stick the phone right up to his face. Totally not intimidated by my size… or the idea of becoming world famous on my blog.

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Me, posing awkwardly with a grizzly bear.

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Uh… one of my dogs has a really long tongue.

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The cat has retained control of the dog bed in the sun.

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I think she lays like that to be ready to claw any dog stupid enough to get too close.

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A bunny. My wife and daughter made that for Easter.

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I still see that hawk all the time at work. I am trying to get a picture of the coyote I see running around every night, but the lighting is not good.

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Seriously, who sleeps like that?

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I think Shiloh practices being cute.

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Okay, I have work to do.

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See you soon.

Posted in dogs and other animals | Tagged animals, bears, birds, cats, dogs, hawks, humor, lizards, nature, pets, photography, tongues | 3 Comments

More California sunsets to look at if you are sick and tired of looking at the cover ideas for my newest novel…

Posted on April 25, 2019 by pouringmyartout

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Posted in sunsets | Tagged california, golden gate bridge, nature, Northern California, photography, san diego, san francisco, san francisco bay, san francisco bay area, southern california, sunsets, the bay area | Leave a comment

Let’s make a cover for my new novel; a step-by-step blog series, and I want your input!… part 12…

Posted on April 24, 2019 by pouringmyartout

mockup 2

The newest mock-up of just the front cover. I added some ships. And some flowers. But now, the flowers sort of clash with the patches I added to our princess’s jacket. Too much red, maybe? I did change the jacket more, to make it look less like a modern military jacket. I changed the cammo pattern, and got rid of the pockets. I also elongated the helmet. Oh, and I added wooden buttons to the jacket, which does help, I think.

I put the title over one of the ships. This isn’t the final layout, I just want some feedback. I will add some ships to the back cover. I can squish the title over to the right to get it off the ships. Or make the ships smaller. What do you think?

Posted in fiction, My art | Tagged art, authors, blogging, blogs, books, novels, photography, Photoshop, photoshop art, wordpress, writers, writing | 10 Comments

Let’s make a cover for my new novel; a step-by-step blog series, and I want your input!… part 11… the results are in!!!

Posted on April 23, 2019 by pouringmyartout

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Here it is… I mean, sort of… the very first mock-up of the cover for my new novel, as determined by excessive testing and polling. This is the background you liked best. This is the text setup you liked best.

I am still going to add some black sailing ships out at sea. And I am still altering the foreground. Our princess will end up looking much more like something other than a modern soldier, in keeping with the story.

cover test 2

Here is the whole thing, including the back cover, where the background photo wraps around. The white line represents the spine of the book, so it will obviously be thicker, and have sideways text on it. And I doubt that the text on the back cover will be those exact words… although I do sort of like that.