Mr. Doob's Drawing Tool

A while ago, a friend of mine told me about a program on the internet in which you can make really interesting digital drawings with unusual effects. At first, I didn't understand what was so special about it until I decided to try it. Now I completely understand what all the hype about it was. And I think you will too.

Mr. Doob's Harmony-

'Mr. Doob' is a man by the name of Richard Cabello, and as far as I am concerned, he is a genius. I can't even fathom how he could create this program, which is probably why I'm an artist and not a computer genius. This program allows you to draw on an blank page, with several different drawing effects to choose from such as shaded, ribbon, web, ect. Some of them make an almost spider web-like pattern, while others create a very sketchy, messy look. The variety of things you can do with Harmony are really quite endless. My first attempt at drawing with Harmony (below) was done using the chrome effect, which is probably my personal favorite.

Of course, Harmony also has it's downfalls. It's extremely hard to make it do what you want it to. In fact, it took me a very long time to get used to. The program also does not have an undo button, which is a bit of a bother. But with some patience and experimenting, you can create a masterpiece quite easily.

Overall, Harmony is a rare jewel amongst other artsy programs found on the internet. It has a wide variety of effects that Photoshop can't claim to have. It'll take some time to get used to, but the outcome is completely worth it. So, try it out and comment below with what you think of it, or even show me your first attempts as well.

-Holly

Cheap and easy photo editing!

I'm a heavy editor. I love to bump up the contrast, experiment with the colors, and add cool filters to my photos. But it's hard to find good editing programs that are free and easy to understand. After trying several, I've finally found the ones that work for me. Hopefully they can work for you too!

1. Picnik

Picnik is an free editing program that is accessible on the internet. This means that there's no downloads and you can edit your photos anywhere and anytime. It's extremely easy to use and the layout is fun and interesting to look at. There are plenty of available effects and options you can use to edit your photos. If you get creative and trying layering different effects on each other, you can have yourself a real masterpiece. There's an option to upgrade to premium, which costs $2.08 bucks a month. I strongly recommend this if you do a lot of editing. The touch up suite that comes along with the upgrade is absolutely great; the airbrushing is amazing! Picnik is the most fun and easiest to understand in my opinion, which makes it the best option for me.

2. Photoscape

Photoscape is a lot less easy to understand compared to Picnik, but is really useful and has some things that Picnik is definitely lacking. Photoscape's biggest advantage, in my opinion, is the filters that you can apply to your photo. It has a good (if not small) set of antique photo filters and other things such as Film effects. It doesn't have nearly the wide range of options as Picnik does, but it's a effective and good for simple photo editing. However, it does require downloading.

3. GIMP

GIMP is truly a great program. In fact, it's almost a little too good to be free. But thankfully, it is free! GIMP is great for very artsy editing and photo manipulation; even digital drawings, if you have access to a drawing tablet. You can do a lot more with this than the other two, but it's painfully confusing. I was very overwhelmed at first and it took me a very long time to figure out, unlike Photoscape. But there's definitely a reward at the end of the road, once you've got it all figured out. GIMP also requires download, but hey. It's free!

It all really depends on what kind of photography/editing you do that will determine which one of these programs is best for you. Try them all out and see what you think of them! And I sincerely hope I helped you some with your photo editing needs!

-Holly

La Blogotheque

La Blogotheque is a French website that showcases hundreds of great indie musicians. These artists do what La Blogotheque calls concert a emporter or, alternatively, a "take away show". Meaning that, instead of having the usual concert up on stage, these artists roam around the cities and play in the streets, in restaurants, in apartment flats, or just anywhere. This ingenious idea is the brainchild of Vincent Moon, who wanted to give concerts an entirely new way.

The podcasts are absolutely amazing. Musicians that were really just faces with music attached before suddenly seem real when you watch these. The rawness of the videos, minus the small bit of editing that polishes them off, helps you see the musicians more as the people they really are. It's fascinating to watch. The podcasts include some of my favorite artists, such as The Shins, Beirut, Vampire Weekend, Andrew Bird, Sufjan Stevens and many more awesome bands. If you like indie music, this is definitely the site for you.

http://www.blogotheque.net/-Concerts-a-emporter-

-Holly

Mazeophobia: A Blog

Mazeophobia- the fear of getting lost.

Quite an oxymoron, really. I am so easily lost in art; yet being lost is the thing I hate the most. One could argue that being 'lost in art' and being physically lost are two entirely different things. Is there really a difference, though?

My name is Holly. My passion is art in all it's forms, whether it's music, painting, or literature. My mission is to share that passion with you. I know that not all of you will like my style. And that's okay with me. The key thing is sharing something that I love with as many people as I can, whether they like it or not.

So, basically, this is out of love. The love of art and the love of people. Enjoy.

-Holly