Software Testing & Creation: Sketchpad 5.1

I have been trying out Sketchpad 5.1 for online testing - this is a drawing/painting sketchpad you can use to create digital artwork. Sketchpad 5.1 - click here to go to site.

As drawing and painting are not my best skill I wanted to see how I would get on digitally and I chose this software as it has layers - many pen/pencil/paintbrush options and has differing brush sizes and you can upload images and work with them.  The interface looks like this when you go onto the 'drawing board'

I had an idea that I would like to make something like a Japanese Poem Painting - a bit like this:

One of Eight Views of Xiao and Xiang Rivers 1788 Part of a set. Tani Bunchō 谷文晁 (Japanese, 1763-1841) Japan, Edo period (1615-1868)

So I began by just playing with the brushes and making marks to see what happened: 

As you can see i made right mess!  But a fun and interesting mess that led me to understand how the tools worked and how I could try something of my own _ I went with the idea of a poem painting and an image came to mind from Casper David Friedrich

Wanderer above the Sea of Fog (1818). 94.8 × 74.8 cm, Kunsthalle Hamburg.

Friedrichs images often show the backs of figures in the landscape and there are quite a few that use mountains, see and trees and these images always move me whenever I see them.  I often think of mountains when I want to release tension and anxiety - I imagine the cold and so fresh air and just looking at these monuments in the landscape so beautiful. In my next post you will see me creation...