Yes, a live feed can be used as an input, so a live performance could definitely be used to influence the output.
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In the past Iāve had a video camera in an area with black velvet as background and a light where someone can stand and have their face used as an input. A musician against a black background would be a great input.
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I recently decided to try watercolors and water color pencils. Iāve used watercolor pencils a little before but never watercolor paints. I received some generous gifts and bought some other gear myself. I did a few practice pieces, exploring how the pencils and paints worked together. I wanted to do some ocean theme paintings for our kidās room. This is the first serious attempt. I did a jelly fish because that seemed like a forgiving subject. Iām pleased
I bought cheap brushes in the hopes that it would help me not freak out when kii-kitten ruined them. Well, it didnāt help. I did not enjoy trying to manage how the kid used the brushes. Kii-kitten didnāt either. Iām also unhappy about the brush performance, they are so floppy, I canāt get clean lines, and I donāt need extra animal hair on my paintings. Fuzz-bot has that covered. So kii-kitten will get those to practice how to treat brushes and Iām buying myself some Princeton Aqua Elites.
Once kii-kitten has thoroughly ruined the cheap brushes and learned how to āplay nice with the brush,ā Iāll get some Princeton Snaps. They seem fairly durable.
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Iāve tried several times to use truly cheap brushes and honestly it pretty much always ends up with me thinking āwhy am I trying to paint anyway?ā They donāt have the be the most expensive brushes but thereās a big difference between the cheap cheap ones and the ones that work.
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A very minor project. A simple cutting board I really liked (exactly the right weight and size for most cutting) split into two pieces. In order to fix it I was going to need to clean up the ragged splintered edge anyway, so decided to add a tiny strip of pizzazz to make it slightly more personalized.
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My niece is getting married next year, and my wife is gifting the the cake (since thatās what she does.) I decided to do something diffrrent, so i started on a salad set for them from a chunk of maple tree from our front yard. Weāll see how it turns out. Just started the hollowing process.
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Nice!
@wanderfound : thoughts/comments?
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Wanderfound stopped coming here a while ago.
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Heās still an āactiveā user and reads stuff, he just hasnāt posted anything in a good while.
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Not satisfied with the cat. The part between the nose and eye bugs me. But I continued anyway so I could experiment. I like how the stripes on her body ended up.
The new brushes arrived and are easier to use. Did the entire eye with those and didnāt have the same precision issues.
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Yeah, the bridge needs to be lower. But still, so much better than I could ever do!
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That isnāt actually what bothers me 
the color is wrong. The actual cat has a very bold nose. The head-to-body ratio doesnāt match the perspective of the photo
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Ah, but that photo is what I imagined the cat would look like when I saw your painting.
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Thatās too bad, because I really enjoyed their posts. I thought they were long gone.
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Finally got around to putting shelf tops on the firewood storage thing. Added some tubes to one side to facilitate stacking smaller kindling.
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To me thatās the trickiest part about watercolor, if you go too dark and it dries you canāt do anything. Unless you have gauche. I havenāt tried that much. I did just order some white pilot pintor pens to possibly add touches to watercolor pieces.
Some other tips if youāre interested: pentel Aqua pens (the kind you put the water inside) are inexpensive and precise and donāt lose fibers. Might be a good option for kii-kitten.
Finally, last year I discovered the 30-sheet multi-media sketch books from Sophieās art supplies. 3 for $10 or so. Theyāre the perfect size for a travel journal and with that, some watercolor pencils and the water brushes, you have a pretty portable way to keep in practice while documenting your travels.
We just got a book on drawing kawaii animals. Hereās a sample from our sketch books:
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And now I want all the things! Including the book in the picture. Are those drawings yours? I like them a lot
Sakura gel pens seem to layer over water color fine. I already had a bunch of those on hand.
Watercolor is taking a bit more planning. Iām taking the idea of painting light-to-dark to heart. I think where I messed up on the last one was trying to get all the pencil stuff down at the same time, like I could for color pencils. But the same principle of light-to-dark and many layers probably applies to the pencils too. Iām going to try a new piece this week (though maybe not till the weekend) and concentrate on the layers.
I should really look into taking a class. That would be fun
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Yes, me and the mr have been drawing while watching the great British bake off of an arctic evening. Thanks. 
Iāve been playing around at watercolor for years and still donāt have a handle on the layers. I feel like half the time I overwork it, and it wouldāve looked better if I stopped 10 minutes earlier. Then the other half, it looks unfinished or washed out.
Either way, itās a relaxing hobby. And on trips, like our train trip last summer, itās a great way to force myself to really look at stuff.
Never had a class, but I have a couple more book recommendations if youāre interested.
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Yes please.
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I really liked 5-minute Sketching - Landscapes by Virginia Hein. I like her style, the link goes to her IG page so you can see if you do, too.
And one I got just recently from the library that helped play around with the cool effects you can get with watercolor was āGo with the Flow Painting,ā by Ohn Mar Win.
Theyāre both good if, like me, you tend to be too fiddly or overwork things.
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