New Equipment

New Equipment

I hate this new keyboard. My old familiar keyboard finally gave up the ghost this month. I have had that through 4 CPU’s. It was a sturdy, white dell that took a pounding day in and day out.

And it was more typically a keyboard made for those of us old-timers who learned to touch type. The indentions on J And F were grounding.

This new, lighter, and darker keyboard is hard to use if you don’t look at the keyboard. The indentions, or rather little raised nubs are quite small, and don’t keep you oriented well.

It makes working on this blog, or anything else difficult.

What has this to do with art? Well, not a lot really, but it does make the point that not all improvements in equipment are improvements.

The lighter and black keyboard for all it fancy new features is not as comfortable to use, and adds to the stress in the wrists when using. I am sure it is cheaper, and easier to produce, however.

The same can be said for some “improvements” in paintbrushes.

I have noticed the tendency to shorter handles. Now the lighter, and cushioning might be a help, but even the larger brushes are coming with rather short handles.

Now what use is a long handle you might ask.

And indeed, many people wonder why paint brushes have long handles.

Most painters use them almost like pencils, and choke up on them. But paint brushes have long handles for a reason, they add to the balance of them, and if used properly, back you up, away from the canvas and helps you keep a balanced view of what you are painting.

Try it.

Hold your brushes back on the handles, and use the full length of the brush.

For that matter, back away from the canvas and use your entire arm with your strokes. Paint from your shoulder. You can make longer bolder and surer strokes if you just back up.