Hi Johan 
I know it’s ages ago you prompted me to get myself back here - and I do thank you for that I’m still struggling to find time (and the time-lords are ever so non-relenting), but I do want to pop in here and say hello and hope that you’re busy painting on your FABULOUS easel! :bounce: Happy waves from a winter chilled yet sunny land down south and I look forward to your next updates (following your blog as well 
)
cheers and take care
Annette
Hey all,
sorry for being so very very absent here, but I’ve got such a busy schedule it’s hard to find time to even draw, let alone scan/photograph the drawings and post them online.
The good news is I managed to enlist in the oil painting class with this particular instructor I was talking about earlier in this thread. We had an exhibition at the academy, where 3 of my drawings were shown so my drawing instructor was quite happy with my work.
Me, however, I hate to say it but the last time I overlooked my work from this last schoolyear, I found that the overall feeling I had was disappointment in my work. This only means I need to work harder if I want to become better, so it’s not as big of a deal as it sounds
Right, now that I got that off my chest and I’m here anyway, I thought I’d ask a few things:
Inkscape
When exporting an image I created, I just can’t get the background of the exported .png image to be transparant. It’s either white or a color I gave it, but never transparent, and I need a transparent background!
Does anyone know how I can do this? (not been able to find a solution online)
php
Also, I’ve been studying a lot on web programming dynamic websites with php and mySQL.
I’m still quite novice so I need a lot of practice. If anyone knows a good online source with good exercises and assignments for php coding , please let me know through pm?
I’m not looking for tutorials (got plenty of those and some great books), but more for real exercises that will force me to use my grey cells to come up with my own solution
btw…
Mu, YOU ROCK MATE!:buttrock:
Annette, that is probably the nicest way anyone has kicked my butt to work harder, your so sweet! I’ve only used the easel to varnish the wooden chair parts I’ve been building (I’m fixing our living room chairs) so far, but it’s bound to be used for more creative things soon!
Hello everyone,
im new to here…
i love inkscape. . i have some drawing experience but using this software is fairly simple and i think its a better idea to start using it.
need your comments
nurap
HEY Johan :wavey:
Just stopping in to say HI…and to thank you for stopping by my thread and expressing the thought that you expressed this morning…
A couple of links back at you …I think you will enjoy them.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=az9Az6S1nus
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uldu_1-JCJE
TAKE CARE Johan, and HAVE A GREAT ONE…
Glenn
inkscapefan
Thanks for visiting my thread.
I’m not sure what you meant to ask?
Glenn
Thank you! Lot’s of truth and sense in these timeless songs!
My son Lars actually likes the John Lennon song as well, because he was asking what it is about, so I told him expressively 
My latest project, which was the cause of my lacking in updating this sketchbook, is “Het Vlaams Kunstschilders Forum”. It’s an online forum for dutch speaking painters (traditional and digital), which will hopefully grow into a nice community over the next few years. It’s in dutch so those of you that speak that language and are interested in painting, please take a peep at www.kunstschildersforum.be and if you like it, you can register for free.
Thanks to a very good friend of mine (he knows who he is), who was so kind to give me some AWESOME oil painting gear, I started my first experiments with this medium.
I created an abstract painting that now functions as a header image for above mentioned website.
Here is a picture of the painting in full:
Tussen Zand en Zee (Between Sand and See), Oil on panel
Good news on the studio. It is practically finished. I’m just waiting for these fluorecent lamps I ordered to use for lighting my still lives, and we’re good to go. One of these I will get me a good large mirror as well so I can start painting selfportraits etc in oils. Can’t wait!
ah you went for the flours then, good solution, supposed to be the truest to natural light…like the impasto…
Kris
I’m drooling over your life drawings from the past few pages, they look fantastic no matter what technique you use
Those tips on observing color (the 4 questions) will surely come handy.
Hey mate! Nice stuff going on here, happy to see things are going well, at least the artistic ones. Will we get a view of your studio? Interested to see where the magic is going to be happening
Hi dude, you’re doing very well with the figure drawings. I see some repeating shapes within your drawings, that make me feel you draw more than watch. Overall look very good, it’s just a bad habit you might consider getting rid of.
Cu buddy
Pff jesus I’ve not posted here in ages!
Sorry guys. Life is pulling my strings these days
Been busy learning to paint with oils. Not too much paintings to show yet (doing more basic, technical stuff like color charts etc). Oil painting classes start in 10 days though so I’m eager to learn it the proper way! As from then I will probably be able to show more of my stuff as well.
Here’s a portrait of my father I just finished.
razz
The studio has been flooded twice this summer already due to heavy rain, so is still a bit messy but as soon as I’ve cleaned it a bit I’ll post some pictures (don’t worry, I’ll paint with my boots on if I must )
nelchee
thanks for the encouragement!
siiilon
Not sure what you mean with “repeating shapes”?
Can you elaborate a bit please?
Kris
Thanks for the support buddy!
Hi Johan
Nice to see you back posting… I do know what it’s like when life pulls strings (more like ropes :surprised 
). Sounds like a nightmare with a flooded studio! Hope it was only floor that got wet…
Look forward to seeing you post paintings from your oil-painting classes, should be lots of fun! I like the colours in your impasto, and the portrait of your dad has a nice quality about it
Thanks too for your post in my thread (ages ago I know), I went away for a month and came back to find I’ve been a terrible hostess… 
cheers and take care
Annette
“Not sure what you mean with “repeating shapes”?
Can you elaborate a bit please?”
Your facial features for example are all the same, mostly it is visible on mouths. That make me think you draw more from memory than what you actually see. We all have this tendency, so I would really recommend you to switch drawing hand and draw upside-down from upside-down reference photo. Just for fun, you warm up yourself and and you can switch back to normal and you’ll see the difference. Build habits and then break them. Those good will survive, those bad will be pushed away.
cu and good luck
Hey Annette
thanks for your prompt reaction!
Apart from my drawings from school last year, nothing else was damaged by the water.
But that was just practice of which I wasn’t too happy anyway so it’s not that bad.
A month away eh… wow! Hope you had time to sketch during your trip!
siiilon
Ah ok. Well there were only 2 models (apart from the occasional new model) all year.
But you are right, when I draw from imagination, the heads end up looking very similar.
I’m trying to break that habbit, but I think I just need to expand my visual library a lot more.
I’ll really try to sketch more.
Thanks for the good advise!
Here’s a B/W oil painting I recently did as a value exercise. At the same time, I was getting to know oil paints, medium, using different types of brushes to see the effects etc.
Untitled, Oil on panel 25cm x 20cm
Hi Johan,
Great job on the last painting. The metal texture is really well done.
Cheers/
gregoo23
Thanks mate. It’s not metal though, but the top part of this ceramic jar was lacqued, hence the strong reflections :curious:
Pencil on A4, after Bouguereau
Pencil on A4, after Bouguereau
Hi there Johan
Agree completely with Mu, Sirielle and Razz: that last drawing is awesome! :arteest: Lovely shading and beautiful detail! Look forward to more updates from you and hope that your term back at school is proving to be inspiring and positive!
cheers
a.