More Guitar Art Work

Another guitar montage. I used PhotoPaint to create this. I made repetitive copies of two different guitars, one a Takamine 12-string the other an Ibanez 6-string.

Using PhotoPaint's 'object's properties' I selected the Difference mode and copied and pasted multiple copies of each guitar into the image.

I scanned in two guitar picks one gray and the other white and added multiples of them as well. Jim Dunlop's nylon picks.

I cut and pasted the objects in an endeavor to make a nice composition with plenty of color. I am pleased with the outcome.

In Recording I did some covers of Tim Mcgraw's tunes from the Greatest Hits vol 2 CD. My best take was "Watch the Wind Blow By." A real challenge to sound a bit like Tim Mcgraw but it always comes out sounding like my style, I have been playing too long by myself without any input from others styles. I haven't been in a band since High School, and that was a long time ago!

A Simple Entry - Guitars

A short and simple entry. Here is a manip I did featuring two popular guitar brands Alvarez and Ibanez.

I put these two together in the image because of their similar body style and color. I really like the finish on both guitars.

I again used the Pyramid Paint filter from KPT's Collection for the image. I like this filter a lot. It gives a soft appearance that I enjoy viewing. I also used PhotoPaints Alchemy filter for the background adding the light brown and yellow coloring to pull together the image. Then I added the frame and the names of the brands.

Been listening to Tim McGraw's greatest hits, very good songwriting and arrangements. These songs are very good for educational purposes for any songwriter. I'm not a true country fan but I do like certain songwriters work. His is one.

Re-string A 12-string Guitar

Well I went to restring my 12-string guitar and found one of my strings had been used to replace the G octave. So I finally visited the local (new) Village Guitar store, and found out they sell single strings. Some stores won't, go figure.

So now I have a full set of new strings on the 12-string.

Here is a photograph manip of a Takamine 6 String that I used to own but sold to a friend with my amplifier when I needed some cash. It had a pickup built in that wasn't very good but it sounded nice as an acoustic without amplification. I did enjoy having it, but I really like my Seagull 12-string and hope it will serve me for many years yet to come.

I saw on the web a Martin Vintage guitar for sale for $75,000.00! Could not believe it. I know Martin's are good guitars, but that price? No where my wallet's size.

I have my Toneport hooked up to my stereo and I have found it gives me service as an amplifier if I need that for my recording. Best to use headsets though to mic vocals, and guitar for mixing on the computer. I also have to be careful that I don't blow out my stereo while playing, so the headset comes in very handy, though I need a new set. This pair is gettting old.

Computer wise I am getting a version of Connectix Vitrual PC for our Mac G4. We want to run only a specific few programs that are Windows based for my wife. It is going to run Windows 2000. And my programs should work under that version of Windows. So I am venturing out into Mac and PC compatiblity. I also hope to use an ethernet connection for printer use.

We have but one printer and it is cabled to the PC and the Mac recieves much less use as it can't print. Both computers have Zip disk drives so you can port from one to the other but it is cumbersome and we are hoping to solve these types of problems. As soon as I get the Virtual PC/Windows 2000 package I'm in for a challenge, I can see that.

An Overcast Day Near Cook's Inlet

An overcast day driving toward Seward. Surrounded by mountains and waters it was beautiful though cloudy.

This is a heavily cropped photograph going south from Anchorage. I was the only one to see the tailfin's of a Beluga whale. No one else could verify it for me! I stand alone.

I put together another song yesterday. I used a chord progression I had used before but played it to a drum backbeat. A little up tempo backbeat with a slower chord strumming to it. I found an old song that I had not liked the chords and melody to and took the lyrics and fit them to the different progression. The melody is very Rock-like. Simple yet strong.

I started a new round of songs for a CD this one I've named "Fifth Time Around." As I have created enough music for at least four CDs. Now a Fifth one is growing.

Chord progressions and leads are coming fairly well but new lyrics and melodies are harder. Whe I was younger I was pretty prolific with lyrics and poetry. As a more mature person you'd expect I would have more to write about, but it doesn't always come out like it used to.

Inspiration is the best but most of it is persperation instead!

I am also limited to open chords and I avoid Barre chords, I have small hands and i'm playing the 12-string and it is just plain harder to barre 12 strings cleanly.

So I relish in learning new open chords like C2 and Asus2, G6 and others. Then to make them into a nice progression is a challenge I enjoy. Bridges are elusive as well. They can be so different, yet have to keep to the songs overall development, as to pose some difficulites.

A Man and His Dog

A man and his dog on a cutoff in the mountains. I tried to make a better image with the addition of a sky but it appears that the Pyramid Paint filter made it look too dark.

So I think it looks doctored up. But it was fun to do and so I am sharing it.

I've been working on a mapping project with a friend. So it is an interesting challenge to formulate the maps from resources. It is mostly cutting and pasting and adding street names that don't appear on the resource map.

I've been listening to music, too. Some of my older songs that I may remake using the Toneport to see if I can add an edge to them, or soften them a bit. I may add background vocals as well as some lead playing, although I'm not your best lead player! It's all in fun anyway. And there are always covers to do of other songwriters works.

I've received an invitation to an Opening Reception for the Michigan Plein Air Painters exhibition coming up on November 7th. http://www.michiganpleinair.com/ The show runs until Nov. 29th. It's being held at the Huron Valley Council for the Arts in Highland, Michigan. Not too far from us. The invitation was a large sized postcard with six images of plein air paintings, all very well done. We hope to go to the reception but if not we may go to the exhibition at a later date.