Well, it’s that time of year again, yes, even given the pandemic and dystopia. Our 2020 Christmas Letter is X. What do you think? It works, doesn’t it? Makes a long story short. Check out our previous Annual Christmas Letters in our archives.
As always, everyone here at portfoliolongo.com wishes you the very best over the holidays and in the new year, and if applicable, Merry Christmas.
If you’re not familiar with Juanjo Domíguez, Argentine guitarist, then check him out. Below the digital painting I did of Maestro Juanjo on an iPad using Sketch Club, I’ve inserted a YouTube video of him accompanying Diego el Cigala and Andrés Calamaro performing Los Hermanos by Atahualpa Yupanqi. Enjoy!
I’m adding another YouTube link that perhaps better illustrates Maestro Juanjo’s playing (along side one of my favorite singers, Diego el Cigala): click here to watch Soledad.
Click on image to enlarge.
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I’m guessing that I’d like his rye bread as much as his voice, guitar playing, creativity, and audacity. Yea, I follow the legendary David Crosby on Twitter; and, I’ve tried rendering his mug elsewhere on the illustroblog. He recently (11/9/20) tweeted a photo of himself standing before what he says is his first loaf of rye bread, crediting David Nuell, whom I’m guessing made the photo.
Done on an iPad Pro using an Apple Pencil in Sketch Club with a tweak or two in iColorama. Sketch Book stats indicate that I used 4,327 brush strokes, 130 undos, and 1 hour, 44 minutes. I made a dumb mistake using multiple layers. I added a black background color to sketch out Croz independent of the kitchen back drop, which I did separately and first. Unfortunately, I didn’t sketch Croz on a third layer, rather, I did him over the black background fill of the second layer, which blocked out the kitchen backdrop. So I had to scramble. My advice: think through stuff, and check your layers frequently. I know, on one hand, I could have spent more time on this, on the other, I could have been looser and more playful and cut the time in half. It is what it is. Here’s a screen shot of the reference tweet/photo crediting David Nuell:
Screen Shot
Here’s my rendition of one of my favorite family photos. My dad took this extraordinary photo of my mom several months before they got married in 1943, probably just before he enlisted in the army. My mom worked at this Isaly’s in Canonsburg, PA at the time. There she is crossing Pike St. and walking over the trolly tracks on what looks like a sunny Sunday afternoon. One way or another, my dad probably ordered a White House ice cream cone, his favorite.
Yea, “Colin” was selected to be part of the “IN THE MOMENT” 2020 Online Digital Art Exhibit at the Cape Cod Art Center. Unfortunately, the link was removed by the Art Center. Try this from another exhibit from another year.. Click here to see the post in which I first presented “Colin.” How pleasing!
4th Quarter, 2020
Yes, of course, this tag exists!
Yes, of course, this tag exists.
The Star
I was listening to Antonio Muñoz Fernández before hitting the sack a few nights ago and thought I’d render right along on my iPad in Sketch Club with a tweak or two in iColorama.
Click on link below to take in a beautiful performance.
I was in a slump and felt overwhelmed by all the revelations that politics as usual is all about acquiring and retaining power. It happens on both sides of the aisle, but Republicans, I’m convinced – because they’re wealthier and have more to lose – are better at it. And that was before RBG died (see an RBG post from 2014 with video), prompting Republicans to activate their pituitary glands once again for the world to see! So, I sketched out one of my stock, bald-headed “establishment” guys in Sketch Club on my iPad. I copied it, flipped it, added some more details, tweaked it a little in iColorama while recording the “movement,” and then finally editing the video with a soundtrack in Videoshop. As I did this, I realized I was working through an insight, or at least a suspicion, that we attach ourselves to mental constructs, even our sense of self, with whom we dance and dance and dance, as reality goes on in the overlooked background. It’s so hard to detach or let go, but very little acceptance can occur until we do.
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