New Painting #2

My second and final painting for the year- which I started during the Thanksgiving break and finished before Christmas. I'm quite happy with the result, although the photo of the painting itself is disappointing. The close-up photo is accurate, but I don't know why oil paintings don't photograph well. I think part of it is that I'm not blending color so much and the photo tends to flatten the color and hardened the brushstrokes. In person the painting has a much softer feel to it.

I used the computer a lot on this one to match color, and I used a noise/dustscratches filter to remove detail as well as a posterizing filter to indicate my color breaks. Everything went great until I got to the hair and faces. Really struggled at that point because of color and trying to match the photo's flesh tones. My goal was to paint loose but for the color to be photo realistic.

In the end I realized that the faces require far more work because so much happens in such a tight area-whereas you can be very basic with the clothing and background. If you're off just a bit on the clothing no one will ever know, but you don't have that luxury with the face- it has to be dead on. The slightest curve in the eyelid or the lips makes a huge difference. Quite stressful. I probably should have used a different photo of Jake- the squinty look probably wasn't the best choice (seemed OK at the time) but I wanted both of them smiling, and the photo being a year old, Jake has changed a lot whereas Brooke hasn't changed much at all- so everyone likes Brooke's portrait better. One oddity is that if you view the painting from the side- Jake looks better than Brooke because it elongates his face and ages him a bit so he looks older and more like he does today. When the faces were basically done I still tinkered with them for a week because everyday I would see a tiny detail (comparing the photos to the painting) that I didn't see before- which was interesting and a helpful thing to do.

Well- there you go- glad it's done, it went very fast til I did the faces but I didn't make the same mistakes that I had on the previous painting. Did a tighter drawing, did a better under painting (could have been better) and used the computer for my color. Also learned a lot about brush size (need to improve my brush stroke) and color mixing, but the bottom line is this takes a tremendous amount of concentration to do, and in hindsight- if I had not picked up the brush now, at age 46- I don't know if I could do this if I waited another ten years. I am much much faster now- far more decisive (thanks to designing Christian tees the last 12 years!) but the level of concentration and patience necessary is what will erode first as I get older. I believe that if I ever take a long break again (15 years) like I did that I wont be able to get it back- this gift will be gone and it would be my fault, and mine alone for wasting it.

Soccr part 2

Here we have the continuation of the game, with LIVE ACTION PHOTOS!!!

pic1- Jake "kinda" goes after the ball. In the back is his coach who does an awesome job - really. She really works with him and is constantly calling to him to come in and play.

pic2- Jake and Seth running downfield to get to the ball. My favorite pic.

pic3- ooohhhh, so close to the goal yet he is still too new at the game to have that killer instinct and go for the goal- BUT- he did actually "mix it up" a few times.

pic4- returning from the field of battle VICTORIOUS!! and the first thing he says to the smiles and applause of his family is, "where is my transformers!"

Jake plays SOCCER

It has been a slow step-by-step progression to watch jake play soccer. But what can you expect from a three year old! Not much really.

First game he only went on the field- if I went with him. Second game he wouldn't play at all. He just laid on the ground everytime the coach called for him. Third game we promised him a Batman toy- skeptical, he wanted to see the evidence- we produced the goods- and he went out and played. Soon as he came out he wanted the toy! Eventually he did go out there on his own, and he did kick the ball into play- it was a great day as a parent. Yep. Savor the moment.

Fourth game- which these photos are from he was actually up for the game.

Pic1 - he practiced for the first time.

Pic2 - the team pic, the boy on his left Seth, and the girl Carmen are really good- well for 5 year olds.

Pic3 - We see what Jake spent most of his time doing, which was playing with his transformer tank. (Big mistake bringing the toy)

Pic4- Individual shot.

Roan Mountain- part 2

Roan Mountain july21 2007

2 weeks in a row we went up to ran Mountain. First week to see the flowers, 2nd time to hike and to have a picnic. This is a very unique place;

1- the tempature is 30 degrees cooler than at our house. Both times it was around 78-80 at the house and it was 58 degrees on the montain top! SWEET!

2-the foilage here is different, the balds (grassy mountain tops) as well as the woods feel like you're in a different world. Much of what grows here is unique to the area.

Pic1 is of the kids in the woods.

Pic2 is of the trail.

Pic3 is of the fields- the ground looks smooth from a distance, but in fact it is very lumpy- you could not run on it, and the soil is jet black. In the distance is Roan Mt.- Both times we visited it was up in the clouds.

Pic4 is of Bobby and Carlie once we got out onto the open fields. Were we are hiking is actually called the Balds. (Fancy name for fields)

vacation part VI

I know what you are thinkng...this vacation will never end!

Well we did eventually run out of time and money...but a few last shots.

Jake is king of the world...a group shot of the kids ... Carlee.....and the minnow bucket during "happy hour"...don't worry there's plenty for everyone.

vacation part V

Fort Sumpter...Jake and Carlee... and the Castle washes away

vacation part IV

Photos by Meagan Hipps;

Working on the Castle.....Brooke and Sarah ,
The old cemetary...this tomb freaked meagan out a bit.....Brooke in Charleston ,

vacation part III

Here is a random assortment of additional photos that were taken by Kim Hipps and her daughter Meagan.

First up is a photo of the hole Bobby dug and Abby was the first one in.

Later we put Harrison in and made him into a merman.

A group shot of the girls

Homeschool Vacation part II

On Tuesday we were back in Charleston on the USS Yorktown and later in the day we took the boat ride to Ft Sumpter- to my surprise my daughter Brooke loved it- the history part that is. Yes! I think part of it was seeing the four dolphins in the ocean on the ride over, but she also was very surprised when I point out that the crater holes in the walls still had the shells imbedded in them. I guess you never know exactly what will click in a childs head. This by the way this was my second time at Ft Sumpter so I gave some of the girls a guided tour and pointed out how a cannon is positioned, loaded, aimed and fired. Some of the cannons were missing different equipment so you had to look at 2-3 cannons to describe every detail. Most of the cannons were buried in sand after the Civil War when the fort was upgraded during the Spanish American War. It wasn't until decades later that many of the cannons were "discovered" once the fort became a tourist attraction.
By Thursday we were again at the state park which the kids loved- and I highly recommend. Earlier in the week Bobby had dug a huge hole and the kids all took turns being covered up to their necks in sand. Later on Thursday we got the kids to help build a huge sand castle and waited for the ocean to tear it down.
I did a little fishing but we had no luck- really didn't matter- we all had a great time together. People wonder with home schooling if the kids get enough interaction with other kids- all I can say is that these 8 kids got plenty of interaction- they all got along great. Plus when I think back on my childhood the best part wasn't being in school with 500 other kids- it was having a friend to hang out with- and most of those great memories I have were on those summer vacations when 3-5 families got together. I just know that this vacation is something Brooke will never forget.

homeschool vacation

Last week the homeschool group went to Myrtle Beach/Charleston for the week and we really had a great time. Saturday morning we kicked off the vacation by going to a free Southern Gospel show at the Civic Center in Myrtle Beach. I must confess that before Saturday I wasn't real big into Southern Gospel- but I must say it was a great show- really a blessing. Some of these people can flat out sing. I especially liked the Greens and Mark Bishop. I'd never even heard of Mark Bishop but went away a new fan (got a CD).

Sunday we spent the day in downtown Charleston at the old slave market, ate at Bubba Gumps then spent the remander of the day walking around town. We took the kids through an old cemetary and their big thrill is that behind the old cemetary was an alley that led to a courtyard where Blackbeard the pirate and his crew stayed while in Charleston. That is where this picture was taken. Aside from that, simply walking the town was awesome as well as seeing a replica of the CSS Hunley. On the way back to Myrtle Beach we hit the beach at the state park.

Computer woes

I remember reading my friend Brian's post when his Imac crashed and while I cannot compare my problem with my DSL to his- it still was very aggravating. I was down for an entire week! I spoke to tech support so many times that I knew 80% of what they were going to ask before they asked. Still didn't help. Every time you call or get transferred- you have to answer all of the same questions over. What's worse is half the time the tech support staff is in India, so you spend most of you time saying,, "can you repeat that". On day one the tech said it was my modem and I would have someone come to fix my problem on TUESDAY- but on Monday they call and say it's been corrected- yet the DSL doesn't work. Finally, 4 technicians later I get one who says "It must be you modem"- aaaarrrrggggggg!!!! Yet when it arrives I have to problems. 1- it doesn't "plug in and play" as I was assured, and 2- it's not wireless. But by Wednesday night after I find out from tech support that the modem had a glich it in- WE"RE UP! When I get home on Friday the wireless modem arrives and I'll be honest- I was dreading going downstairs to plug it in. When I do - it doesn't work- but fear not- the modem has a disc with the instructions! We're saved!- well not quite. After I bang away on this for an hour I finally cave-in and call tech support AGAIN, only to find out that the "odds were stacked against me" because there is a bug in the system and even if I had wrote the installation manuel i still would not have gotten on.

After all that I will now have to call again- to go over billing for a wrong modem and to have a week removed from my bill. Wish me luck- I'm certain no one speaks plain english in that department.

The one thing I learned - how lost- no, how totally disconnected I felt without internet for a week. I felt so dysfunctional in doing my job because I wasn't connected via e-mail to my company. So you can bet the last time I called tech support I wrote down how you get around that bug.

On another note- the photos was Jake trying to offer his own tech support - and I can barely understand him any better then the guy from India- and the next day he played "Barbie" with Brooke and Meagan.

Japanese banquet

Each year the home school co-op has a banquet on something they are studying. Last year it was a Medieval dinner, this year it was a Japanese banquet. The girls made costumes and did their make-up and of course Jake snuck into Brooke''s room and got into her lipstick. I guess I don't know much about lipstick because I caught him as soon as he put it on and it was like paint! That stuff wont come off! It took three days to finally wear off.

Jake's Brithday #3

The big day finally arrived, and you know what his birthday wish was? He wanted a doughnut- so off to the doughnut shop we go. The deal is he likes to eat doughnuts because he likes to put his finger in the hole and eat around it.

As for the birthday, everything went great. Sorry no photos cause Nancy videoed the thing, and I was busy cooking hamburgers- no body to operate the camera. Jake had a great time, we started late (6:00) and the weather was awesome.

Of course Jake got everything "Cars". "Cars" clothers and "Cars" toys- the photo of him at the table is of the big haul he took in that day. He got alot (actually too much) of other stuff- including the G I Joe Hover Chopper which he uses to fly patrol over his Cars collection. He also got an ESPN baseball tee that he plays on the porch that he loves.