For all of us artists out there, finding that "perfect picture" to draw is always challenge. I know that I almost always cannot draw a picture unless I feel/see the drawing in the picture. Same goes for the picture of paintings. Sometimes I'll look at a photo and immedietly see it in painting form or in a drawing form. I just get this feeling.
   So, how do I find those perfect pictures? And where do I go to get them? I have many places for finding pictures.

   Step 1: Google. I always start out in Google with the basic keywords of the picture I'm looking up. How google works is by keywords. For instance, I was looking up Loki pictures so I could draw Loki. So the keywords I looked up were "Loki, movie". I didn't find anything "drawable" from that search, so I changed keywords/added to them. "Loki, movie, avengers, head, shot" (without the commas). It brought up different pictures than when I just looked up just Loki and Movie.
   Now, the pictures that will come up all depend on what you have the security settings set as, what type of virus filters, and the serch settings you have set up. I have my settings set as strict, just because I like to run across the least amount of repulsive and virus filled images. But that is how I use Google for pictures.
   Also, always check the web address that image is from. Don't use pictures that come from colorbox.com, shutterstock.com, 123rf.com, depositphotos.com, istockphoto.com, these will have copyright watermarks on them, and cannot be used unless bought (which are quite expensive unless you pay hundereds of dollars for a membership, and there are other websites I haven't mentioned). So do not use photos that have *watermarks on them, unless you ask the photographer if you can use the photo first. I got into minor trouble with a horse photographer last year, and so I've been really careful with using photos with watermarks on them.

   Step 2: If I cannot find any type of photos in google, I usually turn to Facebook, but only if it's people I'm searching for. And it has to be a particular person. Like if I'm trying to find a picture of Lacy from the band Flyleaf, I will google her name and band first, (including going to her website), then if nothing prevails, I turn to Facebook going to the band's page, and if she has one, her personal page.
   Again, watch out for copyright on photography on Facebook as well. There are a lot of professional photographers on Facebook, but if they do post pictures, they will usually have watermarks on the pictures. If you still cannot find a picture that tickles your fancy that doesn't have copyright, but you've found a photo that you like that does have copyright, ask the photographer if you can use it, mentioning that you aren't going to sell it, and that you will write the name of the photographer on the back of the drawing. Some photographers will let you use their photo for a non profit use, while others will let you have full rights to the photo, even selling it.

   There is this awesome photographer called Jeanette Yoder, and she is the one who let me use some photos that she took of the band Nine Lashes. I could not, I repeat COULD NOT, find photos of some of the band members, so I ended up asking her for permission to use her photography. Her reply was enthusiastic, giving me full permission to use the photos. Without her photos, I wouldn't have at least 4 pictures of the 5 band members.
   Now, the original photo is on the left with Jeanette's copyright on it, and the drawing on the right is what I got out of the photo, with some editing.
   Step 3: If I STILL cannot find a picture that I can draw, if possible, I will resort to going through videos that have the person I want to draw in it. That happened when I was trying to get a second photo of Randy Armstrong. I ended up having to take a photo from one of their filmed videos that had a good shot of Randy (around 2:09 area). I actually got quite a few shots that are drawable from this video, I got at least 3 other pictures.
   So that is what I do to find pictures to draw. It sometimes takes me a couple of days of serching to find the exact picture that I will end up doing, but for the most part I just go with what I want to do. If I see a picture of a Star Wars character that I WANT to do, I will do it. I also have a sister who is fantastic at finding picture for me, so sometimes I have pictures that I haven't the foggiest idea where they come from =)

   I hope this helps!!

 - Leauphaun

*watermarks on photos are any type of text or design that is placed over the photo. Example: iStockphoto as an image with text and an image, and is quite visible, and quite often obstructs the view of the image, while Colorbox.com uses a more subtle text, and no image. On both of these websites, you can buy photos, but at the cost of upwards of $20 for on image.
COPYRIGHT TO: iStockphoto.com, and Colorbox.com.
 
Aren't these just to darn cute??!!! I LOVE red pandas!!!
 
Thanks to Kismint, I now have a tag to do whilst I am house ridden with a head cold. Thanks K-Minty!!

Here are the list of questions that she sent me.

1: Are you ok with bats? Yup, as long as they don't fly over head and drop "stuff" on me :/ But I think they are a wonderful creation by God.
2: If I asked you to check out a book called "Lasagna for Breakfast" at the nearest library, what would your first thought be? Well, I HAVE had lasagna for breakfast, so my first thought is "Yummy!" :)
3: Something on your "Bucket List"? Go and see a LOTR movie in theaters. The Hobbit qualifies as LOTR. 'Nuff said ;)
4: Is it cheesy to say gesundheit? No not at all. I never say it, but I defnintly don't find it cheesy. Just British.
5: Are monkeys cute or creepy? Neither. I DON'T like monkeys, but I don't find them creepy.
6: First guy's name that comes to your head? Jordan, Justin, or Brian.
7: If you were to break your arm tomorrow, how would you do it? Trying to imitate Captain America's awesome parkour moves. Yup, that'd be how I'd do it.
8: Best shoes to dance in? Your birthday shoes. Best chance of NOT tripping.
9: Would you recognize any Beatle's songs if one randomly played on the radio? No, never in a million years.
10: Something that is bugging you now is...? This little tickle in my lunges. It's driving me crazy!
11: The last video you played on YouTube was...? The Wiggles bloopers. Go and watch. Hilarious!! Yes, I still love The Wiggles. But that's for another post.

Thanks K-Minty for the questions!

Here are the ones I created.

1: If you had a choice between Dill Pickle or Ketchup chips, which one would you choose?
2: Which one would you choose to be, the photographer, or the one having the photo taken?
3: Marvel or DC?
4: Read a book, or watch a movie?
5: If you could change your talent, what would you change it to?
6: YouTube or Blogger?
7: Are you happy that the books Lord of the Rings were written?
8: Do you think Manatee's are cute?
9: Your respons to the phrase "sign on the dotted line"?
10: Music on or off?
11: Do you know what a vinegaroon is? (no googling ;) )

There are all my questions. I tag anyone who want's to do this, and if you do decide to do it, leave a comment with a link to your blog so I can check out your answers!
 
   Some of you may know that the band RED is creating their 4th album as we speak. The album releases on February 5th and SOME OF US ARE REALLY EXCITED.
   They've been tweeting pictures of their adventures in the studio, which I've found hilarious! Particulary the photos that contain Randy (the bassist).

Here are some photos that I've saved from their adventures, check it out. And release the panic.
Picture
Randy Armstron with his bear "Thunder"
Picture
Anthony holding their new $5,000 guitar (jealous!)
Picture
Mike, Joe and Anthony (Randy is the one closest to the camera *goofball*) =)
Picture
Anthony with his starbucks, beside their amps
Picture
Anthony Armstron with his PRS guitar
Picture
Randy, Anthony, Mike and Joe in the recording studio with the wonderful people who are working on making this record work.
Picture
Anthony and Randy laying out some SICK sounds
Picture
This is how much meat 4 grown men eat... where's the veggies??
 
Hey everyone!!!

Ok, so ya'll have heard of the band called Thousand Foot Krutch (TFK), right?!

   If not, they released their 6th album (not including their live CD/DVD) back in April of 2012. Upon which, Trevor, the lead singer and creater of the band, decided that if the album got to a certain place on the sale charts within a week of the realease, he'd create 2 free remixes of two of the songs that are on the album.

   The fans being awesome, did end up buying the album enough to far excede the expectations, so Trevor came up with these two remixes.

Annnnnnnnnd, you can get them free here on Noisetrade until the end of October.

GO AND GET THESE TWO SONGS!! AND DON'T FORGET TO LOOK OUT FOR THE REST OF THE ALBUM WHEN THY RELEASE IT. IN THE MEANTIME, GO AND BUY
 
   In the moment when you find that you need a breath of fresh air, nothing feels better than having the door thrown back and the fresh air is allowed to blow in. I just had one of those moments.

   Where I live right now, we don't get a lot of wind, unless you live on or near the beach. I grew up in a windy place, not warm wind, but a windy place nontheless. So I miss the wind when I think about it. And then the opportounity comes when there is a huge gust of wind that comes bellowing through the huge trees in my backyard, making them shake, their leaves tossing this way and that; creating music.

   I also love the moments where you can stare up into the sky, and see the clouds moving with the wind. You can actually see them moving from here to there.

   Because of how the mountains are positioned around us, my town gets covered with clouds all winter long. Now, that doesn't always mean snow. Just cloud cover. The winters here can be pretty depressing, actually, if you thrive on sun (*coughs* like me...). So it's nice to hear the wind, and see the wind pushing back the clouds and revealing the blue sky overhead. Because along with that blue sky comes the sun. And the sun means warmth.

   But my favorite part about windy days, is letting the wind whip my hair around. I love the feeling of wind-blown hair, although it gets really tangled up :) But that feeling is one of a kind.

In other words. I enjoy windy days.
 
   Ok, so my sister got an iPhone recently, and she was looking online for an iPhone case... of course I suggested a Lord of the Rings case. These are my two favorite cases that we found.

   If I had an iPhone, I'd definitely get the one below, as that is my favorite of the two cases.

   Which one would you get?
 
Da da da da da!! TinTin!!

   Ok, so in reality, most of us here in America didn't know much, if anything, about the comic book series TinTin. That is because TinTin (without a space between the n and T) was originaly French.

   TinTin was originaly a comic book series that Hergè (the illistrator) created. It was about this 16 year-old reporter who ends up getting involved in all these different cases (of course he ends up helping to catch the bad guys). Originaly printed in French, sometimes in the books dialoge got translated incorrectly. Like Snowy, TinTin's dog (originaly called Milou, not sure if I spelled it correcty since it's a French name, which was Hergè's girlfriend's name).

   But in the comics, because they are older, you often saw men smoking, drinking, and shooting people. Which is not uncommen now-a-days, but for a children comic, that is a little different. My dad used to read these comics when he was a child, so I never thought I'd like to watch the movie, just because it didn't seem "interesting enough" to bother. Boy am I glad I did!

But here in these two pictures, you see TinTin with his faithful dog Snowy. Comic version.
And here is TinTin with Snowy... 2011 version.
   I cannot remember loving a (completely) CG movie more than this one. Hotweels: Acceleracers, anything by Pixar, Dreamworks, or Blue Sky Studios has yet to match this amazing animation work. It is truly a piece of art all in it's own.
   Because they used motion capture for all the people, faces included, the people have a sense of realism that has not yet been done in the animation industry (no Avatar doesn't count because there is still some live action in it).

   Because they took a bunch of comics and took different parts from each (the main movie is based off of The Secret of the Unicorn, with parts taken from The Crab with the Golden Claws, and the ending was taken from Red Rackham's Treasure. All to make one movie. Actually, the script directors did a fantastic job with taking dialoge word-for-word from the comics, and even to the point where they did the same camera angles. So visually wise, they did a fantastic job, making everything extremely believable.

I've watched the movie 4 times in a month, it's that good!

   As for content, well let's say that Captain Haddock is a... swarthy sort. He loves his rum, and will do thing to get a drink. When he get's it, there is some hilarity, but also trouble, as it goes with people who get drunk. But mostly funny.

Best part in the movie goes with this picture (do not read this next line: spoiler allert)

Captain Haddock: "...I don't remember anything"
TinTin: "Try to remember, Captain"
CH: "My memory isn't what it used to be"
TinTin: "Well, what did it used to be?"
CH: "Ah, I've forgotten"
Awkward silence...
The water is amazing, they really did a good job with it, as you can see here where TinTin, Snowy, and Captain Haddock wait to be rescued (enemy ship allert!)
   I found, also, that they did a good job with Thompson and Thompson. They are just as clumsy in the movies as they are in the comics. Also just as funny.
This guy I found to be a real character. I still don't know exactally what my feelings are towards this "pickpocket". He is beyond weird, in a kleptomaniac way. He does love his "piggy leather".
    Some of the most amazing animation shots are when they are in the Sahara desert. You really need to see the scene to understand what's going on in this picture. It's messy. However, I cannot find a picture of my favorite part with TinTin, nor a picture of the ship when it's sailing in the desert (again, watch the movie to get what I mean).
And so there you see it. Tintin now and then.

   As I've said, I've watched it 4 times, so go and rent it, it's the perfect family movie... except for the violence... guns.. and drinking... BUT other than that it's perfect ;)
   Even my mom (who is very particular with what movies she watches, loves this movie)
   But one of my favorite things about the movie, is that TinTin is such an innocent character. He keeps Captain Haddock on the correct (sober) path. My favorite quot...

CH: "And with that he throws himself..."
TinTin: "On what, Captain?"
CH: "on a bottle of rum. He opens the bottle and lifts it to his lips..."
TinTin: "...And he puts the bottle down. 'This is no time for drinking,' said the Captain. 'I need all my wits about me.' "
CH: "Ah, yes well, and he grabs a sword"...

That just shows what type of character TinTin is.

   So go and buy it, rent it, just watch it. It's well worth the time. After you do watch it, you will go and read all the TinTin comics that you can get your hands on.

Out of 5 stars, it gets a 5.

Signed with Fisherman's Friends - Leauphaun
 
I'm excited for winter.

Why?

Because...