36 Is Far Too Many

I've recently started using Ubuntu (10.10) .  It's neat.  It has many of the features I like about both Windows and Macs and the things I don't like are changeable.  One feature I'm a fan of is having multiple workspaces.  As I'm using Ubuntu on my netbook it's nice not having a bunch of windows cluttering the tiny screen.  In an attempt to demonstrate my love of workspaces to a friend I increased the number of workspace columns to 16.  At some point during this escalation the preferences window changed and instead of selecting number of rows and columns I needed to select number of rows and number of workspaces.  Workspaces went up to 36.  Overall this was a bad plan.  My application dock (Docky) began coloring  an 8th of my screen black and the borders of all my windows went missing (You know the part with the close window button.  I also lost the ability to change the number of workspaces, though I could change the number of rows.  Whether or not an application would launch was also now up to the computer's whim. After some searching (rebooting, searching, using alternate log in, not being able to connect to the internet, going back to my main log in, and more searching) I found the way to manually change the number of workspaces using the terminal.

gconftool-2 --type=int --set /apps/metacity/general/num_workspaces #
(where # is the number of workspaces desired)

That solved most of the issues but under appearance the visual effects were now set to none and all attempts to change it back to normal caused the window to temporarily freeze. After more searching I found the solution to be reinstalling the package that was supposed to handle that.

sudo synaptic
(and then marking "compiz" for reinstall)

Then just for kicks removed the shut down menu from the top panel and couldn't figure out how to get it back so I looked up how to reset the default panels.

gconftool --recursive-unset /apps/panel && killall gnome-panel

...Anyway, I still like Ubuntu*.

*I've had stranger problems on Windows: like having the start menu disappear.

Not as productive (painting) as I should be...

Painting is coming along but I'm still hitting road blocks. I think it has to do with all the other stuff I need to / feel like doing. Like inking!

Even if the lines are in the wrong place ink just looks cool

PS. I'll make up for missing yesterday's post later

Wet, Messy, Carcinogenic, Fun!

Ah... Painting. I think I've finally figured out why it's been so hard to get myself into the studio.  I've written about this before. It's just no fun painting when you know exactly what it's going to look like.  Given enough time and expended energy I can make anything look however I want.  It ceases to be exciting! I can't toil away making paintings. Toiling is no fun. Toil.
But I feel I have found a solution! I know I can rework any parts of a painting I don't like. So why not just do it all faster? If it doesn't work out on the first layer I mix another and I won't have wasted time on unnecessary precision.  It's exciting and I don't always know if I'm going to do it right so it's challenging.  Plus it gets me great textures and that satisfying wet into wet look.
Honestly I had already found that this worked on smaller paintings.  I could do them quickly on not worry about it.  Taking it to a larger scale was intimidating. But I've found that part of the reason it was intimidating was because it just didn't seem to work.  There just wasn't enough paint to be spread that quickly over a large surface and I couldn't force myself to just start globbing half tubes of paint onto the canvas. The first two hours I painted today went by slowly and carefully. I had to stop after two hours. I was getting tired. I forced myself to at least paint a little bit more before wrapping up. Not long after I started again I realized I didn't need a lot of paint to paint quickly (and opaquely).  I mixed 1 part linseed oil with 3 parts mineral spirits and the colors glided on. The next two hours went by quickly and I only stopped so I wouldn't be stuck hungry in the studio too late and have to travel back home with it being colder outside than it already was.

...So anyway I think I can look forward to painting again.

Current Incarnation

One of the more useful fruits of procrastination I  finally have a convenient way to hold my brushes without becoming Wolverine. Made from a shallow card board box, the edge was caught on the door of the cabinet.  The brushes were then stabbed into it until snug.

...The Little Things (continued)

Well that last post was a bit rushed. Which is in part due to this website: http://weavesilk.com/

Neat Silky Pictures.

Also while I was cleaning my brushes today I had a great idea for my thesis project. A professor of mine, Paul Bruner, told me once not to make pictures with two focal points.  Having two points creates one line, one choice.  Your eye must move from point A to point B.  The event of looking becomes a dizzying headache (At this point I'm extrapolating 'cuz I don't remember exactly how he said everything.).  When comparing two things one will be compelled to contrast them against each other.  However, with three things similarities between two will emerge in contrast with differences with the third.  There are now three lines to be drawn between points A, B, and C.  And from any point one may choose to travel in one of two directions, not one of one.  This freedom is necessary for balance and interest.  In any case this thought has made me decided to add a third wall (page) to my thesis plans.  What exactly that wall is, I will not say yet.

The Little Things...

...That stop you from doing the things you were supposed to do.  However I managed to do a bunch of them anyway!
Like painting!

still in progress

Pattern Established!

Well it seems I lost track of time and nearly didn't post today! I was afraid I had fallen out of routine on only the second day. Which is really more like the first day because there must be some pattern established before it can truly be called a routine.  However as there is not much time to write anything particularly substantial by the end of the day I will draw something random and post that.

ah... finger painting with the touch pad

Stuff To Do and Stuff To Be Done...

I need to write more. I go through cycles of having a lot of things to write and not wanting a giant post with everything I'm thinking about, and having no idea what to say. So what I'm going to do. Is remove the choice from the matter. For the next month I'm going to write a post a day.  I'll be writing about various things I've been meaning to for a while (teaching, painting ideas, maybe I'll draw some comics) and if I run out of ideas I might just keep clicking this for ideas.

I want to draw this comic.