Alas, my Art Camp has been postponed. Diane is having work done on her cabin, and apparently her workers have told her that the entire thing has to be jacked up to do repairs on the floor. We will reschedule for July sometime.

Lichtenbergian goals:

I finished arranging the Waltz, except for checking the range of some of the viola notes in their new violin habitat. I think it sounds OK.

Lichtenbergian distractions:

I went on a road trip to Sam Flax in Atlanta for some paints in colors I did not have and need , it’s easier to paint grass if you have the right shades of green to begin with , a bigger portfolio to hold the largish studies I’ve been doing, a new watercolor pad in said larger size, a new sketchbook, also larger than the one I’m about to fill up.

I also bought a circle guide, a thingie for you to use to draw perfect circles. The book about drawing faces that I’m using insists that one is necessary for irises and pupils. I also bought a new jar of absorbent ground, the white stuff you paint on board for a base for the painting. With oils, you use gesso, but I learned from the helpful staff there one day that gesso repels water-based paints, so gouache wouldn’t actually work on gesso. Now I have them tracking down a quart size.

I wanted to buy a proportional divider. What is a proportional divider, you ask? It looks like this:

You use them in double-checking distances between your reference photo and your drawing, i.e., the distance between your subject’s pupils is a in your photo, and should be b on your drawing.

I looked all over but could not find one. Finally a helpful staff member showed me where they were: under lock and key in a case, because they are actually precision instruments costing $150 and up. I did not buy one. (However, in looking for that image just now, I came across a perfectly good wooden one designed for artists that’s only $30.)

And then, I came across an incredible Lichtenbergian distraction: Artist Trading Cards. This is so amazing that I have given it its own blogpost below.

Finally, I’m not sure whether this is a distraction or a goal. MakeMusic, Inc., who makes Finale, is sponsoring a new composition competition with the American Composers Form, of which I am a member. I think I’m going to go for it.