Farewell, my trusty Wacom tablet

I discovered the world of amazing drawing tablets made by Wacom back many decades ago. I could never afford a decently-sized tablet, and always purchased their smallest tablet, overall about 5x7 inches but the true working area was even less. I've had three of them through these decades, starting with the ArtPad that had a cabled serial port, but worked great. I cannot remember my second Wacom tablet model, but it was powered by a USB cord (much better), and enjoyed it. One day it went bad....  it just got caught on a pixel and didn't move too well. I then purchased some tablet that was huge (at that time), but it never worked correctly. I think that's still in Rota, sitting unused and collecting dust. My present one I've had at least a decade: the Wacom Bamboo and is a wonderful extension of my mind and hand. 

While in the Navy, I had drawn a few sketches while off-duty, aboard my first aircraft carrier. In fact, till its last year of active duty, the Forrestal still had an annual art show! The very first art show was organized and coordinated by me, a lowly airman who then worked in the Photo Lab! I went around the ship searching for people who were artists in their own right, and got them committed to creating artwork to display in the show. They could use any medium they wanted. We were deployed at the time, and I picked our last portcall in Palma de Mallorca as the location of the very first Art Show, giving these artists of the USS Forrestal about three months to decide what, how and time to get it done! We had a good amount of sailors participating in the art display, and later I contacted and coordinated with the Palma USO to find me a place to show the show during our brief inport period. I practically did everything and the strange part about all that? 

I don't and cannot remember a thing about the actual show or anything!!

However, it was a big success, and the following year I departed the Forrestal, heading from the East Coast of the USA, to the West Coast where I joined the ship's company of the USS Constellation. In the next century, I was surprised to discover by chance while reading an article of the Forrestal's last year in active service, of their final art show to be held! I had NO idea the ship was still continuing the art show after all these years!

From then on the Constellation and other ships, I had no time at all, and stopped sketching. I never had any formal training in art, same as I have NO training or instruction in photography, but I liked seeing things and scenes then, and sketched them when I could. Heck, I remember drawing jets, tanks, and aircraft carriers while in grammar school in cold foggy San Francisco as a very young teen! 

Well, today I got a new and early birthday gift to myself: A Huion drawing tablet with a wireless battery-less pen, and with a working area measuring 10x6.25"!! 

With so many decades using Wacom and now this tablet, it was an easy conversion, but as I knew: Though the features of Wacom cannot be beat, this newest tablet is making me very happy and I haven't even had it a whole 24 hours! Granted it's not as flexible as my older three usable tablets, but I love the broad landscape this tablet has, and that is what I really needed and deserved! Granted, now I do not edit images as I once did decades ago, but I love using a pen and NOT a mouse!

I've already done two sketches, one just a quick sketch of a plane to include in my Amazon review of the tablet. I just finished another of a portrait of someone who is very near and dear to my heart, and I plan to try another sketch tomorrow once I have any ideas of WHAT to draw. 

Who knows? Perhaps this will be my incentive to QUiT cameras! I had done a pen and ink drawing before I joined the Navy, and that scene was that of the backside of Ghirardelli Square and the Golden Gate Bridge, as seen from the long and steep Hyde Street! I found that original sketch partially folded and rolled in San Francisco in a very dusty spot, and now have it (meThinks) in the Falls!

So farewell, my trusty Wacom tablets. I salute you, and am very grateful for your service. I am hoping this new Huion H1060P tablet will keep me happy and occupied in sketching as I expect it to serve me just as well in photography, during my remaining years on this Earth!

Sketched Dec of 1972 while the Forrestal was inport in Athens, Greece 

UPDATE: Sunday 9 December: After 24 hours of switching from my laptop's touchpad and the new Huion tablet, I've given up!! Granted, it is a huge working area for a pen as compared to my old Wacom which is soooo tiny, but in not even being able to do some quite basic and simple functions that is easy with my Wacom pen since day one, but nearly impossible with this newest tablet, I've decided to send it back! As I type this, my older Wacom (CTL-460) of over a decade is connected as usual!!

I DO have my eye on a Wacom Intuos though.....

UPDATE: I have already ordered and received the Wacom Intuos Medium Size Pen Tablet (PTH660). I tried it for two days before I contacted the company it was shipped from, regarding its return. My older wacom tablet works better and simply, and has more functions built-in, unlike both newer bigger tablets received and returned. It also works better as a "mouse" all day, doing many things taken for granted with a mouse, without the need to be "programmed"  :( 

another gallery showing finished....

well, I just returned home from picking up my framed images from the group show in Berkeley. What can I say? It was my first actual gallery showing in the United States, first time showing in the Bay Area, and the first-ever display in my life as a photographer to be attended by any of my family, since I have only exhibited previously outside of the United States; my sister and one of my three brothers attended the opening night.

While I didn't sell anything, I was present to see, hear and read many fantastic comments about my work, especially the four Kat Love images that I had framed two images each vertically matted within a single black frame. It was hung on the wall behind the gallery's front room high on the wall behind the workspace counter, and on opening night there were several people who just stood there, motionless in the bustle of an opening night in a small crowded gallery, just staring at my fotos. It was a great pleasure for me to see such reactions, and it moved me deeply. I always have thought I have an immense talent for photography, and to see it recognized in one way or another is always good for the general morale of an artist - and I do consider myself an artist. I also needed that morale boost a lot!!

I was hoping one of the Kat Love images would be sold; they were priced quite inexpensively so I could recoup at least the framing costs, but that didn't happen. Of course, I couldn't afford to frame my images so my sister graciously paid for the framing. Oh well.... now I start looking for another location where I can hang and show my art.

I continue my occasional breaks from boxing, cleaning and moving boxes of stuff down six flights of stairs, these breaks for my photography being my sole source of relaxation and diversion from the cleaning and organizing. This weekend I'm hoping to get some pictures of the triathlon starting from the Marina, plus later the same day, to tour the interior of San Francisco's City Hall which I have heard is very ornate and beautiful; I've been wanting to see it but because of my hectic crazy schedule haven't found the time to do it. It'll be an eye-opener I'm sure!

As always, I have many images displayed at my website plus some samples of my second-ever session with a mature male nude model.

Here are some images I've created in the past few weeks/months:

Raelyn Mouse in Oakland (I think that was the location)


FitnFifty helps me find the light



Union Street Fair offers some great "still-life"



the Bay Area is a cup of light and shadows no matter when one looks