Archive for January, 2010

Youre a romantic guy and you want to do something nice for that special lady in your life. So, you come up with an idea to give her a flower for every season throughout the year. Trouble is, you dont know what flower goes with what season, so here is a helpful guide.

Springs Best Bet: Cherry Blossoms this flower is a perfect fit for the love in your life. For the Chinese, this flower symbolizes feminine beauty, principle and love. Their rich, pink petals give them unmatched beauty.

Runner ups: Daffodils, Lillies, Lilacs and Tulips.

Summers Best Bet: Daisies Forgetting about HAL’s creepy singing about a girl named Daisy as he was shut down in A Space Odyssey, these flowers are beautiful, so much so that they rank fifth in the world in terms of cut flowers. While they lack in color, usually only white with a black center, their beauty lies in their simplicity and ordinary grace.

Runner ups: Geraniums, Jacobs Ladder, Roses and Sunflowers.

Autums Best Bet: Chrysanthemums This hugely popular flower is one of the most cut in the world, ahead of even Daisies. So beautiful is this flower that in ancient Japan, the emperor adopted it as his official seal. Beyond its use as a beautiful gift, these flowers make an excellent tea, can reduce indoor air pollution and its seeds act as an effective insecticide. It is the official flower of Chicago and the official flower for the month of November, which is on the cusp of winter oddly.

Runner ups: Asters, Zinnias, Gerbera Daisies and Marigolds

Winters Best Bet: Forget-Me-Nots What other flower could be used for winter than the Forget-Me-Not, the state flower of Alaska, a place known for winter and snow. This flower, luckily for it, does not need sun but rather shade. Its blue petals and yellow center give it a beautiful aspect that clears the dreariness of the winter. The name comes from 15th-century Germany where the wearer of a Forget-Me-Not was believed to never forget the name of their lover.

Runner Ups: Jasmine, Orchids, Poinsettas and Hollies.

Of course, this is just a guide to the flowers and in reality, any flower you pick for that special lady in your life is going to be special. This guide just serves to provide some assistance for the man who wants to seem a bit more knowledgeable and romantic to his wife or girlfriend.

“Why is it so important for an artist to learn sketching?”

Drawing in monochrome lays the foundation for greater things to come. You can move on to color pens, oil pastels, watercolor painting, acrylic painting and oil painting later on but without the skills to create the visual effects that you want, your progress will be limited.

This e-book is about building a strong drawing foundation. Without a strong foundation, the artist has no expressive freedom. Without control and mastery of drawing techniques and tools, they cannot express their ideas and vision in a satisfactory manner.

And that’s the goal that every artist should keep in mind when creating a work of art.

It could be a few broad strokes, or it could be many fine lines. It could be patches of shades, or it could be patches of void spaces. It doesn’t matter.

The important thing is to remember that a drawing or a painting is complete when the ideas are expressed to the artist’s satisfaction.

You’ll see these techniques re-surface when we move on to discuss more advanced drawing techniques. Meanwhile, do familiarize yourself with the techniques discussed in this e-book.

Ultimately, the goal we want to achieve here is to prove that anyone with a burning desire and a strong interest for art can learn to draw in no time.

What’s the next natural thing to happen? With understanding comes better works of art. Let’s start with understanding composition.

Aspect 1: Composition

The composition of a drawing contains elements such as line, shape, tone, texture, color, direction, size, proportion, and perspective. The combination of these elements makes up the overall look and feel of the drawing.

Decide early the subjects that are going to be included in the drawing. Draw out rough shapes as outlines for the subjects. This will let you see how the different shapes fit into the drawing, and you won’t find yourself running out of space for some objects that you want to include in the drawing.

Aspect 2: Perspective

Perspective, simply put, is the way in which objects appear to the eye. Anyone with a keen observation of the objects in the surrounding has the potential to draw great looking pictures.

After that, it’s all a matter of translating that mental image into visual form. The higher the level of skill and mastery of tools, the better the drawing.

Here, the artist has the power to choose from the many different ways to represent the image. Different mediums, different drawing tools, different types of paints, etc. He or she may even choose to represent perspective differently. Here’s a quick example of how perspective can affect the drawing.

Objects that are further away always appear smaller. The further they are, the smaller they are, and they will keep on appearing to the eye as smaller objects until they disappear into the horizon.

In addition, details of the objects may be blurred or lost due to the distance.

If the object is of importance or if for some reason the artist wishes to emphasize the presence of the object, the perspective can be altered to bring the object to focus.

Most efficient overall – Honda Insight hybrid

With 60 mpg city and 66 mpg highway, the Honda hybrid

has top honors as most fuel efficient in the United

States.  With a 1.0 gas engine mated to an electric

motor, the insight was designed to make the most

of the power by using low resistance tires.  The

bad things about the Insight include a cramped

interior, seating for two, and a very odd styling.

Fuel efficient mid size car – Toyota Prius hybrid

(60 mpg city and 51 mpg highway)

The Prius, unlike the Honda Insight, is capable of

carrying 5 people plus their gear.  The Prius will

generate a total of 110 HP from its gasoline engine

and electric motor.  The sleek shape to the Prius

has a low co-efficient drag although Toyota has

managed to do this with a larger, yet more driver

friendly vehicle than the Insight of Toyota.

Most efficient compact car – Honda Civic hybrid

(49 mpg city and 51 mpg highway)

With a reputation of being the cheapest hybrid in

North America, the Civic hybrid takes the great

design of the regular Civic and makes it a lot more

efficient.  With an output of 110 HP, the Civic

hybrid is very competitive for the class.  

Most efficient sub compact car – Volkswagon diesel

(37 mpg city and 44 mpg highway)

The Volkswagon Beetle diesel is ahead of even the

sub compact hybrids.  Making 100 HP, the Beetle

diesel may not sound that powerful, although the

177 lb-foot of torque will put shame on every

other vehicle in the same class.  

Most efficient station wagon – Pontiac and Toyota

(30 mpg city and 36 mpg highway)

The Pontiac Vibe and Toyota Matrix are both the

result of a joint venture of Toyota and General

Motors.  Both vehicles come equipped with Toyota

engines, although a lot of the design and

engineering came from General Motors.  Both the

Matrix and the Vibe are versatile with active

lifestyles.  With a fuel efficient 1.8L 4 cylinder

that produces 126 HP, the Matrix and the Vibe

aren’t going to win a street race although they

make up for it with smoothness, efficiency, and

refinement.

Most efficient large car – Hyundai Sonata

(24 mpg city and 34 mpg highway)

The Sonata is a major surprise, beating out very

stiff competition.  The 2.4L 4 cylinder engine is

very smooth, responsive, and powerful.  The

suspension however, is soft, and geared more

towards comfort than handling.  This isn’t a BMW,

although the build quality is great, clearly

demonstrating that Hyundai is no longer a second

rate manufacturer.