Between the Buttons. . .

The latest 'Kodak Moment' photo update. I typically use the Fotor editing app online to brighten and crop my photographs (taken with an iPhone 15 Pro Max).

With apologies to the Rolling Stones.

Taking some time now over a few days to carefully apply my usual gold to the many visible buttons. Focusing on more pleasant things that I can control you understand. Influenced by current reading on the Stoics, courtesy of my theologian/philosopher uncle. Another professor in the family.

Now, I typically do not attempt the many buttons up the outside of the gaiters modeled on each infantry and artillery crew member casting. That would be (another) sheer folly. But those on the cuffs, lapels, waistcoats, and at the small of the backs on officers, drummers, or NCOs? Those are fair game and really help the figures to pop as the cool kids were all saying a few years back.

Of course, one needs a sharp eye and steady hand along with plenty of light and a decent brush (using a new Cottman #1 round for most of this work). A good supply of patience is also helpful, which explains why I am doing this across several sessions. Worked for about an hour yesterday evening before making a couple of mistakes and deciding that was enough for one night.

Wicked away the offending blotches. Rinsed my brush. Capped my paint. And headed upstairs for an hour of solo yoga and meditation by the hearth. Don't laugh (as the younger me undoubtedly would have done)! The Grand Duchess and I typically enjoy holding quiet guided stretches (Yin Yoga. . . deep stretches of the connective tissues) followed by meditation at end the day before turning in.

Sonja (back from Toronto late Sunday evening) has practiced for almost 25 years, and I joined her back in April 2023. I must admit, the two activities are a marvelous way to focus on breathing with gradually more relaxed thoughts to the exclusion of all else. A pleasant and necessary antidote to the near constant barrage of ugliness. Given the unpleasant times in which we find ourselves, making yoga and meditation part of the daily routine is something I recommend without reservation.

I don't know that the yoga and meditation have increased my painting output, but the resulting sense of calm from a session along with gradually increased flexibility and improved balance are well worth the time and effort.

-- Stokes

Comments

Fitz-Badger said…

Best wishes!
Sometimes we need an escape or outlet. I know I have needed more of that lately myself.

3:15 PM

And We're Off!!!

Arrrgh! Gotta go back into camera settings on my iPhone to bring all of the frame into focus. Blast! Painting is underway on the 60 or so Minden Austrians, which are slated to become my version of the Anhalt-Zerbst Regiment of AWI renown. More or less indistinguishable from Austrians of the era really, right down to the red facings and turnbacks, but the eventual flags (already in my files) will set them apart. I went ahead and based-coated all of them over a couple of days lthe last week of August, using a mix of light gray and white acrylic gesso, before next applying my usual basic alkyd oil flesh tone to the faces and hands. In a day or two, I'll hit that with Army Painter Flesh Wash to tone things down a bit and bring some definition to the faces and hands. As usual, the plan is to focus on about 20 figures at a time, splitting the regiment roughly into thirds along with the color party and regimental staff. Depending on ...

Sunday Morning Coffee with AI. . .

A rmed with a second cup of fresh, strong coffee, I messed around a bit this morning with artlist.io using its image to image function in an attempt to convert my hand-drawn map from September 2006 to something that more resembles an old map from the mid-18th century. And just like my experiments with Ninja AI in June, the results are mixed. The above map is pretty good, but Artlist keeps fouling up the place names and has trouble putting a faint overlay of hexes across the entire area. Hexes, admittedly, are not likely to be found on any genuine maps from the era in question, but there we are. Frankly, I prefer the appearance of the Ninja map, but there were problems getting it to correct its errors. Grrrr. As is the case with so much having to do with the various AI's out there now, the output generated is a direct result of the prompts entered. For text alone, and when you develop a lengthy, highly detailed prompt, it is...

Continued Regional Map Revisions. . .

F ooled around a bit more with the revised map just before and after dinner this evening, using the Fotor app to reinsert missing text . I also removed a few other things using the 'Magic Eraser' function, which works surprisingly well. Now, we're getting somewhere. I just have to figure out how to ensure that the text is all a uniform font style and maybe figure out a way to add a few bunches of trees to suggest forested areas, Ninja AI is not always entirely cooperative to the tune of "I'm sorry Dave. I can't do that." -- Stokes

The Grand Duchy of Stollen

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