Fun with new toys

Or should I have titled this post 'All About Me'? After buying my new printer/scanner yesturday, I figured I'd try using the photo editing/drawing programs that came with the printer. So after I installed everything, I figured I'd get my graphics tablet out and start drawing. But then I discovered that the stylus pen that came with it was missing. Damn I hate moving!! Now I have to go buy a whole new set, but I figured it could wait. Still wanting to draw, but pissed about my tablet, I figured I'd need a distraction for a while so I stopped off at The Bestest Blog Of All Time. There I saw a challenge on todays best blog of the day, but realized that I don't have a digital camera or any current photos to scan. So I thought a digital self portrait will do just fine. I've never done a self portrait, and using the mouse to draw instead of the grapic stylus was quite a challenge. After playing for a couple of hours, I realized that it's as close as I'm going to get (above drawing)...and...yes....it does... sort of....look like me..., a little. Got the nose right, but the eyes are funny. Still playing with the graphics program I decided to play with some of the effects. And yeah, the software produced a better likeness (below) than I did. This was a fun excersise for me (propping up a mirror near the computer, using that clumsy mouse, and staring at myself for a couple of hours, sent me into fits of giggles at times--my wife thought I was going nuts), but now I really do want to try a graphite or pencil drawn self portrait to see how it turns out. Then maybe I'll filter that drawing, then we'll see how good the software does!