Ryoichi Ikegami would be chuckling if he read this. He is a legendary artist and comic book manga graphic master who has brought the Sanctuary, Crying Freeman and Mai the Psychic Girl stories to millions of fans around the world. But what would he make of the announcement of Xiamen and Hong Kong to bring Financial Centers of Art to these cities? From the manga capital of the world - in Tokyo - he'd probably ask -"Could we have them here too?" See the front page for more on this. Born in 1944 and still drawing today, Ikegami draws in ways that leaves most other manga artists or illustrators just dazed and left admiring his brilliant renderings. In the new Software section - I added a bonus feature on him as I think the guy richly deserves it. Despite hands covered in calluses from years of holding pencils and brushes in his gifted hands, and reducing his workload to monthly installments rather than weekly ones - he has a school of Art now and a legion of admirers. I also want to showcase the amazing range of Faber-Castell Polychromos pencils by adding a video on the front page of the site. Great art deserves to be seen, and so do great art materials.
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Adobe created Photoshop over 2 decades ago and it first appeared on the Apple mac computer. Photoshop has become the worlds best graphics editing software since then. After several iterations and enhancements, Photoshop has now transported and extended to the Apple iPad and Android tablet. Photoshop Touch is an all-purpose art and photo editing package for your tablet mobile device that can do what the main Photoshop does on a computer. It offers text and color manipulation, layers, special effects filters like blurs, hue adjustments and masks. It also comes with companion apps such as Adobe Eazel, for the artist like me who wishes to create painting instantly in Photoshop on a tablet. Adobe Nav can do more with photos than any other app on the iPad, as it enables me to browse, view, zoom or re-order photos as I wish. I can access PSD files on a PC and bring them into the iPad and edit them as necessary with no hassle. And then I can use Adobe Color Lava to create custom colors, like swatches and themes for certain artworks I may make in succession or as a group. Creating great color schemes is part of being an artist, and inspiration can strike at any time! The heart of any photo editing app or software is always the tools and ways that art can be created and arranged - and corrected if need be. On the iPad, Adobe have made it very easy to undo and redo actions, and enable artists and photographers to make use of the net and other PC devices like laptops. Color selection is easy and intuitive. Tools are applicable to whatever work you happen to do at any moment. The app gives you the tools automatically for that tasks. Applying effects to photos is extra easy. For photo work, no other application beats the feature set here. Adobe have provided more than enough features to tame any artistic beast! Android users get the full Photoshop editing treatment with a version that works on all Android mobile tablets. This is what Photoshop looks like on an Android tablet. it has the very same features, tools and effects as the iPad version. And with the blurring of mobile phones and tablets into the strange sounding "phablets", such as the Samsung galaxy Note II, with its own stylus, it is only a matter of time that we would see Photoshop make its way to the phablet market. Adobe Photoshop Touch is available for under ten dollars on the Apple App store and Google Play for Android fans. If this is not a bargain, then I don't know what is. (Alan Mc Keogh) Nice start to the week. Sunshine here in Singapore all day today monday. Had a nice walk this afternoon around our lovely neighbourhood. Our local shop has some nice flowers and I bought some for Mandy. The apartment is looking great and very lived in. I am sketching some interesting things these days... In a country where there is plenty to inspire and much to appreciate, I have to sometimes wonder what kind of plebs inhabit twitter. Maybe you heard of twitter, the online place where all things bright and not-so-bright get said in 160 characters or less. I mention this as I see that UK Singer Adele has given birth to a baby boy today. But oh dear, some folks on twitter don't seem too happy by it. Various personalities, most of whom I don't follow... seem to have left tweets for everyone to see. And they are not flattering. Like this one - "...It's nice that Adele has finally given birth this week. It can't have been easy being pregnant for the past five years..." Or this: "...I bet when Adele's son misbehaves instead of giving him a time out she'll just write a song about how much he's hurt her..." You do have to wonder why these morons bother having twitter accounts so they can just let off nasty comments about a great singer. Perhaps these folks have nothing positive to say about anything. So they just take it out on one of Music's most successful singers of all time and who has recently performed a theme to the new James Bond Movie. Some morons it seems just want to try dragging good people down. Pity. She is a great music Artist, and her album "21" is one of the best and cleverest albums I ever heard. Congratulations Adele. Usually Singapore is beautiful and warm and tropical. This morning Saturday, the rain came down just around mind day and it is so heavy! The view from the apartment bedroom window is this! Ugh! Why am I putting this in my blog? H'mm... good question. But then there are nice things to photograph in the rain... I also photographed our begonias just outside the front door, and they just love the heat and the rain. And 30 minutes after I doused them in water this morning, the heavens opened and oh boy now they are really getting watered! East Coast Park here in Singapore is a marvelous place to spend a day. And that is exactly what Mandy and I did today. We spent an afternoon visiting an amazing beach location. To say it has everything, would be an understatement. It is also an artists and Photographer's delight.
First thing to greet us was a Surfing lagoon, especially made for surfers who want to learn to surf. Some great photos can be had here. it is a family and cyclists a If you notice a new set of additionsd to the website and blog, don't worry. have added new social media bookmarkers to the pages so more folks can retweet or like or bookmark as appropriate.
I admit I am missing the green green fields of Ireland, but the Art world here in Singapore is wonderful and there is so much amazing creativity to be seen here and enjoyed. We are settling in well in our new home here too. I predict some visits to the beach coming soon, since Mandy and I love the beach - and I am looking forward to working in this new amazing abode. Feel free to leave comments on any parts of the website you enjoy and let me know what you think. Alan. Travelling on a bus recently with Mandy, I had a strange experience when I discovered my wallet was missing. When we traced our steps back to where we had been, namely at an Ikea store, we went back and asked if a wallet had been handed in? To my amazement, my wallet had been found and I got it back, and everything was inside just as I had hoped it would be. I am lucky for several reasons. One, the staff in Ikea are very honest. Secondly, the punishments for stealing in Singapore are harsh compared to other countries, and act as a disincentive to theft. And thirdly, Singapore seems to respect people's belongings more. Even my money and cards were intact. So far, my experience of Singapore has been largely positive. Travelling on the MRT is a great experience as well. The queues are never that long and trains are automatic with no drivers, and they run on time. Gaps between each train is from 2 to 7 minutes max. The streets are well planned and sensible. The malls are airy and cool and great to shop in, or hang out. Mandy loves it here. The Quality of life is good in Singapore. I wonder what my "Couple on the no. 16 bus" would make of it? I did this as a sketch and eventually in coloured pencils. I think they'd approve! I am sitting here in the Apartment, typing these words. It's mid afternoon, the sun is shining over the sweet city of Singapore. People are walking around enjoying their lives, and the city is glowing with its rife success. And Mandy agrees with me. After getting up and a quick shower, then downstairs for breakfasting with the other guests, it's off to work for Mandy and finding work for these artistic hands of mine.
The local area here is friendly and safe and most of all, peaceful. Apart from the sound of drilling in the distance as some new building is constructed, all is peaceful and flourishing in this amazing and advanced tiny country. This is going to be my base for the future, as Mandy and I settle down here together. I have never seen so many people walking around with mobile phones and electronic gadgets in their hands, as here in Singapore. But then it is one of the safest countries on earth. No one is dumb enough to steal, the punishments are harsh for even minor infractions here. You jay-walk in Singapore at your peril! I still haven't figured out the number one reason Tourists come here. The shopping, the sights, the friendly atmosphere, the history and culture...but we will find out. We have have so much more to see. This is a great place to stay in. I can't recommend it highly enough! Travelling across Asia and the middle East is a wonderful experience. I always never cease to be impressed by the friendliness and the amazing sights and scenes and the people. You do become a student of life and the people in it when you travel a lot. Doubtless, Mandy would agree, and she will be seeing me very soon here. So far, so amazing... and I can't wait to get to my final destination...
Just sitting here and grabbing a refreshment can lead to a wonderful sketch opportunity... New changes to the layout and design to the site in the next few weeks. Meanwhile every minute is a valuable moment to grab a sketchbook and capture a scene or event around me. Rain and sunshine happening in equal measure these days. The kind of weather and days that inspire the artist and poet in all of us.
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Alan Mc KeoghI am an artist, web and blog designer, and I enjoy creating art, whether people, still life, or landscapes. I blog and write to grow the masses. Logos are a growing passion here. Come to me, brethren! New projects coming soon. Archives
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