COMMUNICATION
["stremiki " - John Stremikis & "trebor61" - Bob McDowall]
Some Moleskiners in the past, have asked me how I manage certain techniques and the only ways I knew were to direct them to photographs - I use flickr, or to describe how, in lengthy detail, in the forums section. Clearly this is only "adequate" so John and I have discussed, what might be, more efficient methods of communication.
Our discussions started by exchanging emails, then we started to go on-line with Skype using video cams. I think the fact that one can see and speak to others across the globe, is fantastic and it makes my Scottish heart sing because its free. We would like to see if others, who contribute to Skineart, might like to help us expand this by joining us on line. John and I initially talked about many things, including but not exclusively, sharing art techniques. We have had many an enjoyable time chatting and swapping ideas about a whole range of subjects. I now know, for instance, that some American beers are quite nice (this explains my post about Chicago beverages - approved November 22nd). John is daily learning to understand my Scottish accent more and more.
Clearly we had to have some sort of plan before starting a new thread in this "forums section" so here are some ideas which we have pursued. The links which refer to small "instructional videos" are meant to show, only, that it can be done. Please excuse the roughness and amateurishness of my attempts.
BEFORE OUR ON-LINE VIDEO CONFERENCING
Using flickr photos:
I have used this, in the past to try to answer particular questions, usually asked in the form of a comment.
Q. How do you paint the mountains in your latest post?
A. Please view these picture from the links shown -
http://www.flickr.com/photos/28475994@N00/4055812139/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/28475994@N00/4055812747/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/28475994@N00/4055813583/
Clearly this is a bit cumbersome and takes time to do.
Describing/sharing techniques in the forums section:
I started a thread called "Sharing techniques with others" and have used it to reply to a few folk who have asked questions. The main drawback with the different threads in the forums is that, if they are not used for a while, they disappear from the screen as more recent ones are posted. To access this you will have to, firstly know it exists and, secondly do a search for it. The only way I now use this is to leave the link in the comment box when answering a query.
https://www.skineart.com/forums/topic.php?id=36#post-139
Sending emails to other Moleskiners:
I am in touch with a few other Moleskiners and enjoy swapping ideas and chat with these folk in the USA and parts of the UK and Europe. My email address is bobmcdowall@hotmail.com Please feel free to contact me at this address if you wish. John can be contacted at jrstremi@wisc.edn
AFTER OUR ON-LINE VIDEO CONFERENCING
Actual techniques used in video conferencing:
Among other things," getting started", "techniques and etiquette", "having more than two people on-line at the same time", "split screens", "control of the screens by passing this to other participants". John is an expert on these matters and his expertise is great (and sometimes quite bewildering to a beginner like me) so don't feel excluded through inexperience. We would see beginners sharing ideas, initially, on a one to one basis if they felt happier doing this.
Talking about various matters using web cams:
This lead to a sort of understanding that maybe some sort of organised discussion might take place if a group were on line. We investigated the possibility of asking folks to view a set of photographs or videos in advance of a get together. This meant getting a decent video cam (my existing one was huge and unwieldy). I settled for a "flip mino" and started to produce stuff like this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tC4ZtzfBWdQ
This is a video shot in Almondell park. Many of my Skineart posts have originated here.
Having proved that this is possible it seems there are two routes to help get ideas across. One is to produce instructional videos similar to the above and the other is to actually do this live. Both routes are similar, for the purposes of showing this here. My initial difficulty was making a device - a very rough and ready thing, to hold the video cam above my desk to be used to record "movies" or to act as a camera when live. I've managed this as I hope this link shows:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/28475994@N00/4119781545/
I was able to shoot these two "basic efforts" to show, to myself, that this is possible. Many thanks to another of my contacts for some brilliant suggestions on how these might be improved in the future.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFpTUiwqclk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wg3JqfNaCLU
Some feedback would really be appreciated and, as a measure of success, we reckon that if only one or two Moleskiners augmented our group by sharing Skype details, then this would be enough to give us encouragement. You can find me on Skype at "rbmcdowall" and John at "Russell G Retriever"
Looking forward to hearing from you.
