Creative

Bird art: Snow goose

It’s been a while since I did one of these, and I figured I should get one more in before the end of the year. It’s not perfect, but it’s snow goosey enough. Based on a photo I took at Iona Beach on October 22, 2023.

10 more posts to go

I fell way behind on my unofficial goal of 2 posts per day on the blog, and still have 10 more to go. Can I do it? Maybe. Should I? Maybe!

Here’s a haiku on perseverance I just made up:

Perseverance

You think and then do
You ponder what you have made
Do more anyway

Hardworking Sasquatch

I asked Adobe Firefly to give me a Sasquatch working in an office on Adobe Photoshop, using the photography filter. It gave me this:

Sasquatch isn’t real (or is it??) but AI still having trouble with fingers.

I mean, would you tell him lunch break is over?

My most important use for AI-generated art

To amuse me. If it makes me laugh (or smile), I’m good.

Yesterday, a discussion in Discord lead to speculation over whether the Sasquatch had arrived in Australia via dugout canoe1This started when someone in my gaming group, who is going on a trip to Australia soon, noted “my research has indicated that there’s a Bigfoot like cryptid called the Yowie that lives in Australia“. I asked Adobe Firefly to produce illustrated proof of this, and behold:

Also, I just generally love the way Firefly depicts the Sasquatch

This is all I really need AI to do when it comes to art. Sasquatches in canoes.

A haiku about the warmth of the sun

It was hot today. But if I had to choose between 40C and -40C, I’d go with 40C.

I mean, really, I’d choose something nice in-between, but if I had to pick because of an important movie plot or something, I’d go with the warmer. I dislike being cold.

Anyway, the haiku:

The warmth of the sun

Just like a beach boy
The warmth of the sun calls me
Rays of light and tan

Ten words that rhyme with June

It’s the end of June, I’ve lost weight, it’s been sunny, and I got sick.

So, a mixed bag.

And now ten words that rhyme with June:

  1. Spoon
  2. Moon
  3. Prune
  4. Loon
  5. Tune
  6. Rune
  7. Boon
  8. Croon
  9. Zune1According to Microsoft, this is totally a real word
  10. Dune

Now, take these ten words and use them in a story! Surprise writing prompt!

I sat by the window, listening to a tune on the radio, staring out and up at the fat moon. I used a spoon to shovel up ice cream from a bowl, directing it to my mouth. The night was silent, save for the plaintive cry of a loon. I did not want to listen to it croon its sorrowful song, so shut the window.

I picked up my Zune, which still worked all these years later, quite the boon. I played a song at random and did not like it. Why had I bought it? I would need to prune my playlist. I laid back on the bed and closed my eyes, seeing before me in the dark an image of endless sand, one giant rolling dune after another. Had I been here before, or only in a dream? I opened my eyes and reached over to the nightstand, picking up a small wooden talisman I had been given by a stranger, a burnished, dark rune, whose etchings defied explanation. I held it up before my face and turned it over.

"Soon," I whispered. "Soon."2Bonus rhyming word for extra credit

Trying to draw a cartoon hummingbird

It’s harder than I thought it would be!

I started using my usual bird-drawing style, and that turned out too realistic, so I tried to simplify it further by:

  • Removing all shading (pretty much), making all colours flat
  • Removing all the detail lines, except for the actual outline of the bird
  • Removed its itty bitty footsies
  • Going over the outline with a thicker stroke to make it more cartoonish

In the end it definitely looks better, but the proportions are still those of an actual hummingbird, so I may try exaggerating those next. Cartooning is tricky!

The current result: