Photoshop CS5

After several months of waiting, Photoshop CS5 has been released and I've downloaded it to my imac.  The beauty of this is that I can now plug my Cintiq into the imac and use both screens.  This allows me to place Photoshop tools on the left screen and paint on the right.  Having all that space clear on the Cintiq screen is really helpful. Being able to draw right on the screen has been an adventure.  I've grown accustomed to it and marvel at what it can do. 

As nice as this setup is, I do miss the days of smelling oil paint and linseed oil.  I own a complete set of Old Holland paints and new sable brushes which have been sitting unopened in my studio for several years now.  I've been looking at painting easels and if I get one, I'll have to rearrange the entire work space, but I'm looking forward to creating things the new way AND the old way.

My working space here on Maui has been a lot smaller than my previous studio in Massachusetts.  Here are a few photos of my old studio which was on the top floor of an old brick factory building in Worcester, complete with skylight and huge windows.

My cat, Nerf, was quite at home among the painted animals on the walls.  In the corner was my drum set on a riser where the boys would rehearse on Wednesday nights.  The space was beautiful.  Unfortunately, it had a downside... it was located in the city of Worcester.  I got tired of the cold weather.  I got tired of hearing gunshots and sirens at night.  The back windows overlooked a small lake... which often had trash and broken shopping carts all along the shore.  In 1995, it was time to move on to greener pastures.  Not many artists get to have such a cool studio as this one, but I'm going to try it again... if I can afford it!