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MBoulad In reply to s15jesusfreak [2007-05-18 00:52:51 +0000 UTC]

Thank you!

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MBoulad In reply to FractalEyes [2006-12-14 01:39:59 +0000 UTC]

Isn't it funny? I've known so many men like this, they don't want to ask for help I think...it's kind of cute in an exasperating way

Thanks, it was a fun painting

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MBoulad In reply to MichelleWalker [2006-12-14 02:24:14 +0000 UTC]

Aw, thank! I'm really happy you like it It was great fun to paint this one!

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MichelleWalker In reply to MBoulad [2006-12-14 18:48:26 +0000 UTC]

Yes, I can tell you had fun!!

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MBoulad In reply to NatalieKelsey [2006-12-12 03:48:07 +0000 UTC]

Thank you so much I really enjoyed working on this one!

Merry Christmas!

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MBoulad In reply to edhelbeleth [2006-12-11 22:44:16 +0000 UTC]

Thank you, perhaps I should add more description about my work in the future

Merry Christmas!

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MBoulad In reply to rockandtree [2006-12-11 22:43:17 +0000 UTC]

Thank you so much Merry Christmas to you

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rockandtree In reply to MBoulad [2006-12-12 21:06:54 +0000 UTC]

HEEHEE!! Your welcome!

Merry Christmas to you too!!

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MBoulad In reply to GD-litenin [2006-12-11 22:42:38 +0000 UTC]

LOL! Thank you I'm glad you liked it It was enjoyable to paint I'm finding recently that I'm enjoying the fantasy type work so much, perhaps it's a new direction to head in for awhile

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GD-litenin In reply to MBoulad [2006-12-12 14:00:35 +0000 UTC]

indeed . . . very cool concept and of course, like Santa . . . I never stop for directions

Yes, it appears that you have found a nice nitch that is not only fun and fresh, but that you are also very good at . . . I'll be looking forwad to more of this style

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MBoulad In reply to GD-litenin [2006-12-14 10:19:28 +0000 UTC]

That's funny, most men I know are like that It cracks me up. Is it something about testosterone that prevents blokes from stopping once they have a goal in mind?

I think that might be it!

My husband is like that too

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GD-litenin In reply to MBoulad [2006-12-14 12:52:21 +0000 UTC]

lol well yes that may be part of it . . . along with the fact that the last time I stopped and asked directions, I was pointed in the wrong direction and ended up being more lost than I started out . . . lol

So I think us guys have a little voice inside us (maybe his name is Testo? ) telling us that we can't trust those bloody service station attendants these days

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MBoulad In reply to ArtbySandiJohnson [2006-12-11 21:52:22 +0000 UTC]

I'm so glad you like it, Sandi

I'm finding the more experience I have with digital the quicker each painting is going. I think the turning point was the galah speed painting I did (the recent one where he's sitting on a branch). That was when I started playing with the artists oils. I've found using them allows me to work much more loosely, blend like traditional oils as I paint, and then go back and blend and detail more quickly afterwards.

Have you given them a try in your Painter program yet? I found them a bit tricky to work with, but once you get a feel for the way they work they're really nice I tend to stick to the soft blender brush and the blender bristle brush.

It also helped that I'm able to paint almost non-stop on the weekends Though I'm suffering from lack of sleep at the moment lol...

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ArtbySandiJohnson In reply to MBoulad [2006-12-12 14:10:37 +0000 UTC]

My painter is too basic.........son downloaded a free trial of Paint Shop Pro........I need to try..........maybe I can find a trial of Painter.............???? Photo shop is a bit of a pain, but right now I'm swamped with low paying commissions so it will be Feb before I can really play with digital agian. You are a real inspiration, though and I DO intend to buy some prints.

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MBoulad In reply to ArtbySandiJohnson [2006-12-14 10:15:18 +0000 UTC]

I wonder if you couldn't pick up a used copy of painter somewhere, maybe on ebay or something? I don't even know if that's possible, but you'd think people who are upgrading to the newer versions would want to sell the older one, eh? A lot of artists seem to use the older versions anyway. I doubt there's much I use on it that wouldn't be available in say Painter 7, I like sticking to the basic stuff

My husband is saying you might be able to get a cut rate on the software if you can get a student version (and I know you have a couple of students in the family ) I'd never heard of that in the US, it's quite popular here and gives students a huge cut in price on software (like 1/3 the regular price according to my hubby) If that's available where you are it might bring the price within reach (and I know at least one of your students will use it!) That might be worth looking into.

I want YOUR prints I have too many empty spaces on my walls.

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ArtbySandiJohnson In reply to MBoulad [2006-12-14 15:01:19 +0000 UTC]

Actually the student version, if I could find one would be a good idea. They do have that here, student copies.

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MBoulad In reply to Hajari [2006-12-11 21:28:44 +0000 UTC]

Thank you for your comment, I'm really happy you enjoyed this

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MBoulad In reply to ilikeshinyobjects [2006-12-11 06:53:42 +0000 UTC]

Well a very Merry Christmas to you too

I'll help if I can...is there something specific you need to know?

I saw Rescuers Down Under ages ago, but I'm pretty hazy about what happens in the movie, just there was a bad guy and a boy...an evil goanna? Gee, my memory is bad

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ilikeshinyobjects In reply to MBoulad [2006-12-11 07:47:22 +0000 UTC]

Yeah, an evil goanna names Joanna. The poacher's name is McLeach and the boy is Cody. The bird was a huge golden eagle name Marahute(mara-hoot-ay). Marahute didn't look like a golden eagle though...she looked like a bald eagle with gold-literally-feathers instead of brown. Cody's grey kangaroo friend Faloo calls Cody by blowing through a hollow branch attached to a log that conveniently sounds like a diggerydoo. Faloo takes Cody to a tall sheer-walled cliff where McLeach has trapped Marahute. Cody climbs the rockface and frees Marahute. Cody scares Marahute when he pulls out his pocket knife and she begins thrashing against the ropes pinning her to the rock. When Cody cuts the last rope, Marahute flings her wings open and knocks Cody off the cliff...she dives after and catches him and a friendship ensues. She takes him to her eyrie which is built into a small cave on the side of a sheer canyon wall and shows him her three eggs brooding in the nest and gives him one of her molted feathers lining the nest...then she takes him back down and he runs off all happy from the experience, then he hears a jingling. He finds a mouse tied up to a tiny branch with a bell and starts untying him. The mouse screams at him to stop because it's a trap, but by then Cody's already untied the mouse and triggers the trap and he falls six or seven feet into a wide rectangular pit, which triggers an alert light in McLeach's gigantic tractor truck thing...Percival C. McLeach goes to the trap to see if he's caught something, and he says my favorite lines. "Well, Joanna, what'd we get today? A dingo, a fat ol' razorback, or a nice big....boy?" He watches Cody in the pit for a minute, then kicks Joanna and yells "Joanna, you been diggin' holes out here again?!"...trying to make himself look good..."Dumb animal's always tryin' to bury squirrel's out here..." But Cody knows it's a trap and says so...but McLeach continues to play coy as he helps Cody out of the pit. One thing that bugs me now about the movie that didn't when I was a kid is that Cody doesn't have an Australian accent. He should! I should buy you a copy...they're only ten bucks at Wal-Mart. Yeah, I'll buy a copy and send it to you. I still need to work out some kinks in my plot, but otherwise, I need help with lingo, slangs and terrain/regions. My character lives out in the boonies, which is the American term for 'way out in the bush.' lol.

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MBoulad In reply to ilikeshinyobjects [2006-12-11 08:59:02 +0000 UTC]

Aw, that's sweet about the copy of Rescuers, but please don't put yourself out like that. Besides, we use a different format here in Australia, so the dvd wouldn't work on our tv! We use the PAL system, they use NTSC in the US

My first impression about the story is that it's best to write about what you know best from experience as the work will flow more naturally for you Utah would make a good setting as well, and really the climate, flora and fauna are a bit similar in some ways (desert regions, interesting locations, not too high population, etc...)

Feel free to send me a note if you have a specific question, though...I'm probably not the best authority, as I'm not native born myself (I grew up out in the 'boondocks' lol in the US, not AU), but I've been here quite awhile and might be able to point you to some resources to help?

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ilikeshinyobjects In reply to MBoulad [2006-12-12 01:23:23 +0000 UTC]

Oh, I didn't know you use a different format. What about VHS tapes? I grew up in a suberb of Columbus, Ohio called Belfontaine, but most of my relatives in Ohio are hillbillies...especially my grandpa and great grandpa. My Mom's sisters live in Columbus suberbs, and my Dad's oldest sister lives out in the boonies...but a nice part of the boonies, lol. His youngest sister lives in Texas somewhere near Midland and his dad and stepmom live in a nice neighborhood in Hilliard. One of my Mom's cousins lives in Bountiful Utah, actually. She's the only relative of ours that actually lives in the same state. One of my cousins is in Seattle, Washington, and another is in North Carolina...the rest of my relatives are in Ohio and Holland. I think I might change the location of the story from your suggestion...since I do know Utah best. There ARE places out here where there are little to no people... I do still want to write a story that takes place in Australia, though.

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MBoulad In reply to ilikeshinyobjects [2006-12-12 07:06:54 +0000 UTC]

Oh, no! don't worry about sending tapes. It would make me happier if you saved to get a new parrot

I'm glad you're thinking of using your home place as a setting, it's a good way to take a new look at the place around you. Good for the story, good for the writer as well I think it's easier to notice stuff when you're writing about what you see everyday, it gives you a fresh look at things.

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ilikeshinyobjects In reply to MBoulad [2006-12-13 00:16:14 +0000 UTC]

The breeder who has Ares' parents told me she is going to give one of her female blue-headed Pionus up for adoption...likely she'll sell her, but she said that if I want her, I can take her. I can't afford to get another parrot and a cage, plus there isn't enough room for another cage in this house. I could ask Kathy(breeder) to keep her until I can take her, but I'm not sure she will. I hope she will! I need to call Kathy to set up a date to go see her, the Pionus and her African Greys... My brother loves greys, so I told him that maybe Kathy would let him visit hers. I'm not sure that Kc(brother) is....smart enough....to care for parrot on his own, but he's constantly asking me to tell him everything I know about parrots. He's more of a cat person, anyway. He says he'd love to have a grey, but I think ultimately he'd end up giving it to me. :/

Utah would be a good setting for Rocs, I think, as well as Australia. I'm already writing the plot to the Utah setting.

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MBoulad In reply to ilikeshinyobjects [2006-12-14 10:45:41 +0000 UTC]

Aw, hon, I hope she keeps her for you. If not, you have some lovely little birds right now, I'm sure they're a big comfort to you. I know how much you missed your little friend

We have a pet problem, too, though a bit different. Our 2 rats are getting pretty old, the white one can hardly climb up to the top platform where we used to feed them They just don't live long enough. I think when these two old gentlemen are gone we're going to call it quits on pets for awhile, I don't want to go through this again. It's really sad watching them get old so quickly, it feels like we'd just gotten to know them.

I should paint them as old gentlemen They're really sweet, though they don't care much for handling like the first rat we had. We still enjoy watching them, we take them out and give them places to play together and sort of leave them to their own evil devices lol they're very mischievious. We keep their cage close to our dining table so we can feed them while we eat, so they're part of our dinner time routine as well.

I'm glad you're going to use Utah for the setting, you can put some local colour into your work that will make it very personal and hopefully will be inspiring while you write. Are you going to publish any here on DA?

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ilikeshinyobjects In reply to MBoulad [2006-12-15 03:47:35 +0000 UTC]

I talked to Kathy yesterday, and she's going to keep her for herself. She's fallen back in love with her, and her African Grey Brandi has taken a shining to her. She says they're good friends. I am going to buy another Pionus from her in the future, though.

I had an albino female rat named Duchess when I was 12. She went literally everywhere with me aboard my shoulders. The only time she was in her cage was when she was eating or sleeping or burrowing. She lived for four years, one year longer than the average rat, and a huge tumor growing in her neck and chest was what killed her. She died on my chest above my heart in the middle of the afternoon on a Saturday. The tumor had grown so large on her neck that she had to hold her head tilted at an angle to the left, and it had begun squirting out between her ribs before she died. It was unoperable, but the vet said that it wasn't causing her any pain...so we didn't euthanise her. She carried on until the day of her death as if nothing was wrong. She never showed any pain or slowed down. I miss her. I would really like to see the painting of your rats as old gentlemen.

I think Utah will be a great setting, too. The mountains are perfect. I know Utah like the back of my hand, and aside from some self-righteous, over-the-top religious groups, I love it. I will be publishing on DA, once I finish editing and illustrating. The story about the Rocs, and another story about parrots in Brazil which I hope will shed some light on the illegal parrot trade and poaching. I want to publish my parrot story with...I can't remember their name but they published the Hoot book. All the proceeds from purchases will go to parrot rescues and conservation groups.

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MBoulad In reply to ilikeshinyobjects [2006-12-22 11:40:27 +0000 UTC]

Wow, good for you!!! I'm glad you're taking up this cause (illegal trade in birds) I'd rather see people pay extra to get aviary raised young birds than birds that are illegally taken from the wild and sold cheap. It's the same with aquarium fish It's so sad to think how many are dying from poor treatment in transit and all for nothing...and the wild stocks are dwindling. It's such a shame.

I wish you much luck with this project!

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ilikeshinyobjects In reply to MBoulad [2006-12-23 01:07:43 +0000 UTC]

Yeah, that's why we're putting freshwater fish in our 50 gallon tank. It's easier to come by domestically bred freshwater fish than it is saltwater fish. The other reason for getting freshwater fish is it's easier to take care of them than saltwater fish. Mom and Dad don't want to deal with the hassle of maintaining the pH balance in a saltwater tank...they're so lazy, lol. I hope my parrot story takes off. After vet school, I plan to get into exotics and bird breeding. After I've established my bird breeding business, I plan to advertise myself in Bird Talk magazine. Since I'll have a vet tech degree, I'll be able to properly breed and take care of the birds. Same with the other exotics, if I get into that. In vet school, I plan to focus on birds and exotics, including horses. I'll be able to care for dogs, cats, and rodents at a vet office, but I'll be able to do birds and exotics, too. My parrot story is going to focus on the dwindling Spix's Macaw species, as well as illegal parrot trade. Since the Spix's Macaw is located in northern Brazil, I have to rewrite some of my story because I had originally placed my main character in the Piaui state, which is near central Brazil...but since I learned that the Spix's Macaw is nearly extinct due to habitat destruction and the illegal pet trade, I decided to make my story about them. If my story is published, part of the proceeds will go to the fight to save the Spix's Macaw, part will go to parrot and wildlife conservation and rescues, and part will go to my bank account...I hope that doesn't sound selfish..

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MBoulad In reply to ilikeshinyobjects [2006-12-25 22:24:29 +0000 UTC]

Aw, of course it doesn't sound selfish! You deserve to get something back for your work, even artists/writers need to eat and pay the bills!

Your story sounds like a good one, the background research will be interesting for you as well

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ilikeshinyobjects In reply to ilikeshinyobjects [2006-12-11 06:39:20 +0000 UTC]

The story was vaguely inspired by the Disney movie "The Rescuers: Down Under"...which is a movie I love.

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