The Last Draughtsman: Robert A. Nelson

Robert Nelson, Professor Emeritus, Millersville University, is a highly respected contemporary painter, sculptor printmaker and collage artist. Nelson studied art education at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, earning a bachelor’s degree in 1950 and a master's degree in 1951. He taught at his alma mater as well as the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg and the University of North Dakota before returning to school at New York University, where he received his Education Doctorate in 1971. The next year he began teaching at Cleveland State University, where he stayed until 1975, when he joined the faculty of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

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I had the good fortune to meet and interact with Nelson in a printmaking workshop during my undergraduate days at the University of Nebraska. Nelson is the consummate draughtsman and is quickly becoming a vanishing breed. While he handles multiple mediums effortlessly, perhaps his greatest asset is his drawing skill. I discovered this profile video and am happy and surprised to see that Robert still has the gift and is working away at age 89.

I hope I'm as lucid and creative as Robert in my sunset years.

We Live in the Future

(Via)

Painter 12 Essential Training is Live!

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The production elves at lynda.com have been working overtime...so much so that my latest title, Painter 12 Essential Training, has been released ahead of schedule.

In this title, I cover Painter 12's newly updated interface and how to customize it to match your workflow, customized workspaces, color, brush basics, cloning techniques, symmetry tools, auto-painting, layers, and more. Included are my auto-painting brushes, John's Smart Brushes, for use with the Auto-painting palette.

Van Gogh's Starry Night Is Alive!

Starry Night (interactive animation) from Petros Vrellis on Vimeo.

Petros Vrellis, artist and programmer, has brought Van Gogh's painting, Starry Night, to life. Utilizing a particle systems approach, Vrellis enables interaction by user touch to affect the dynamic fluid field the brushstroke reside in. The result is a painting that seems alive via touch. The accompanying sound is generated by sampling the fluid movement via MIDI, creating an atmospheric ambient score.

I wish this was on the iPad.

Is Pressure Sensitivity Coming to Tablet Devices Soon?

Click image to jaja Kickstarter page.

Brisbane-based Australian inventor Jon Atherton has developed a unique approach to enabling pressure-sensitive input for tablet devices like the iPad.

The jaja is a stylus that uses high-frequency sound to interpret 1024 levels of pressure-sensitivity which is delivered to the tablet via its built-in microphone. The frequency of the low-volume sound used is above the range of human hearing. This approach bypasses the need for standardized protocols like Bluetooth.

The jaja will utilize an SDK available to developers for implementing the jaja's input into their apps. Expected price when available is $70.

I sure hope this Kickstarter project becomes a reality!

Think You Have Good Color-matching Chops?

Click image to test your color-matching skills

Design website Method of Action has put together a great tool, Color, for assessing your color-matching skills. Increasingly complex matching problem are presented in a time-limited fashion, forcing you to make quick decisions. Your given a score based on your selections (and an opportunity to try again).

Good Luck!

Mark Zimmer: The Relativistic Observer

Click image to visit the Relativistic Observer blog

My brother-in-pixels and good friend, Painter creator Mark Zimmer, has recently launched a blog, the Relativistic Observer. With his terrific insight, Mark covers a wide variety of subjects:

The future, technology, gadgets, MEMS, Painter, creativity, energy, world events, security, cryptography, image processing, mathematics, and my past. Oh, and maybe a few songs.

Mark is an inveterate note taker (a page of Mark's notes is shown above) and shares many of his insights, including the creation of Painter, which I was fortunate to be a part of. He also writes about his musical composition chops and shares some of his songs.

A good read and highly recommended.