Virtual Brush Box

Art of the outside world. I’m Fine I’m Fine Just Understand: BONUS: Emoji Painting Gallery, FAMOUS PAINTINGS RECREATED USING ONLY EMOJIS!. Hat tip to M.

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Pears
Acrylic Painting Class with Chris Cruz
Class 2 of 4
Shelby County Arts Council
Columbiana AL, USA
14 September 2024

Instructor website, Chris Cruz Designs

Caption. My table at the start and at the finish.

We began with a pencil sketch supplied by the instructor. We went over the lines with a pen and the directive not to draw straight, flat lines. The resulting rough outlines reminded me of Jules Feiffer, who I recognize due to repeated rereads of The Phantom Tollbooth.

Caption. Golden: OPEN Slow-Drying Acrylics

Today’s art factoid. The good thing about acrylics is that they dry fast. The bad thing about acrylics is that they dry fast. Golden makes an acrylic paint that acts like an oil in terms of drying speed. We used this in the second coat that soften the colors we had applied in the first pass. Yes, I underpainted. Imagine that.

Caption. Group photo, L to R, instructor, me, other student.

Main photo taken in parking lot when I realized I had left the class without one.

Previous Post [Class #1]

Onwards!
Katherine

Text

💧 ☁️ 🧊

Water is life.

Water is rain.
Water is lakes.
Water is rivers.

Water is drinking.
Water is boiling.
Water is showering

Water is floods.
Water is giant waves.
Water is small tragedies.

💧 ☁️ 🧊

Steam is energy.

Steam is clouds.
Steam is mist.
Steam is fog.

Steam is cooking.
Steam is coffee.
Steam is lift.

Steam is burns.
Steam is explosions.
Steam is the dark side of the industrial age.

💧 ☁️ 🧊

Solid Water is weight

Solid Water is the name of an age.
Solid Water is as small as a cube.
Solid Water is as big as a glacier.

Solid Water is cooling.
Solid Water is art.
Solid Water is Baskin-Robbins Mint Chocolate Chip

Solid Water is biting.
Solid Water is burning.
Solid Water is freezing.

💧 ☁️ 🧊

Afterword

Hat tip to J.

Someday the word for solid water will once again mean solid water. Today is not that day. I admit that the “solid water” formulation hampers the flow. However, I did not enjoy having that word bouncing around in my head while I was writing this. YMMV

I thought water would be the easiest of the three but came up with solid water entries first.

Onwards!
Katherine

Art of the outside world. Hyperrealism. From pencil to paint. Cj Hendry website. Examples under CJH: Originals. Hat tip to Bored Panda: This Is Not What It Looks Like! These Giant Paint Blobs Are Actually Pencil Drawings, Grašytė 2017.

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Color Mixing

I was fascinated by the shapes.

Blob was on the palette from acrylic class #1 [Beach Scene]

Onwards!
Katherine

Awareness of the outside world. Wild Horse Fire Brigade. I know it’s more complicated, but horses eating down excess vegetation sounds like a good plan.

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Ears.

(Click) What was that noise?

No. I will not put my ears up. Distractions in front of me will not work. I will remain alert. You are doing odd things back there.

Ramsay
Saddle seat lesson
Stepping Stone Farm
September 2025

Onwards!
Katherine

Awareness of the outside world. AMNH: Museum Researcher Names Lizard Genus After Tolkien’s Dragon Smaug, 2011. Hat tip LTU&E: Oh no!

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Razzy
Hunt seat lesson
The Hunter Place
7 September 2025

Razzy and I jumped a course.

Well.

Actually.

I jumped a course. Razzy trotted around the ring over two crossrails and a low vertical while wondering what I was getting all excited about.

First course in the newest version of my jumping career. [Setting A Jump Record, Sorta]

Onwards!
Katherine

Awareness of the outside world. Yahoo!News: Scientists create compact, room-temperature fusion reactor that fits on a tabletop, Shavit, September 7, 2025. Some of us remember the 1989 kerfuffle. “Cold fusion became a taboo topic in mainstream science … formed a peer group to re-investigate cold fusion under strict, modern conditions.” ibid. The interesting bit here is the approach. “While this experiment didn’t achieve net energy gain, it does show that the path to usable fusion energy may not require billion-dollar machines.” ibid.

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Caption. The latest in fun flex bandages. TSC.

Milton has graduated from having his hind foot wrapped. [The Foot Extravaganza, photo]

He is sound on a straight line and will trot voluntarily. We have not asked about sound on a circle. Mostly because we suspect we know the answer. We are all waiting to see what level of damage the abscess hath wrought on his hoof. It tends to be dramatic. [The Year of the Foot Continues 2025 & Milton’s Foot Diagnosis Develops 2020]

Update. Upon reflection, I think I am conflating two events. Any lingering bad steps are probably from the hole in the foot healing over/growing in. When the hoof damage finally manifests, it is startling but generally long after Milton has gone sound.

Not using these wraps. Yay! Saving for next time. Boo! Note starter tabs on rolls. [Hack from the Manufacturer]

Onwards!
Katherine

Awareness of the outside world. Whatever: 20 Years of “Being Poor”, September 3, 2025. Whatever: “Being Poor,” Ten Years On, September 3, 2015. Whatever: Being Poor, September 3, 2005.

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Has feed changed?

We can’t seem to get the feed right. Seems we are always fiddling. In the past, we bought a bag & fed it to our horses. Maybe Cosequin for the ex-racehorse, but mostly easy peasy. These days, we have been having problems settling on the right feed, and when we do, we have to add all kinds of adjustments & supplements.

Everything in the English world is tuned to Warmblood these days.

I know this.

I have objected to this in the past.

Driving. A 16.3 hand Thoroughbred has cob-sized tack because he does not have heffalump shoulders.

Saddles. Optimized for Warmbloods. We had to go old school and buy a 20+yo Stubben to fit Milton.

Horse clothing. “Bought Cob (bell boots) rather than Full size for my 17-hand horse, because the industry standard is no longer Thoroughbred. Grumble. Grumble.” [Tennessee Travels, Shopping]

Shows. “There used to be a place to show Thoroughbreds. It was called the hunter industry.” [Get Off My Lawn, And Take Your Warmblood With You]

Why shouldn’t this apply to feed? Therefore, we are having to retune our feed back to Thoroughbred.

Which used to be the norm. But I believe I have already mentioned this.

Onwards!
Katherine