Joe S Solecki
@joessolecki.bsky.social
Retired engineer/software developer, sad history of pretending to be a manager, very amateur artist, dad of 3, unapologetic liberal, still dreams about ANSYS, too many hobbies to mention, detests social media.
I can’t wait to hear who will receive the FIFA prize for medicine! Maybe RFK jr?
We have become a profoundly ridiculous country. This makes the Nero-era look sane and normal.
December 5, 2025 at 10:02 PM
I can’t wait to hear who will receive the FIFA prize for medicine! Maybe RFK jr?
At the state of the union every dem should wear a Ukraine armband. Sky blue and wheat field yellow.
March 1, 2025 at 3:19 AM
At the state of the union every dem should wear a Ukraine armband. Sky blue and wheat field yellow.
Reposted by Joe S Solecki
Second page of my new (very expensive gift) sketchbook. I’m not sure about the introduction of the red, what do you think?
#sketchbook #studiolife #insects #watercolor #experiments
#sketchbook #studiolife #insects #watercolor #experiments
January 30, 2025 at 8:43 AM
Second page of my new (very expensive gift) sketchbook. I’m not sure about the introduction of the red, what do you think?
#sketchbook #studiolife #insects #watercolor #experiments
#sketchbook #studiolife #insects #watercolor #experiments
My 6th gouache work. This time a small (4”x6”) spring landscape inspired by a hodgepodge of photos. It’s just ok. I am unaccustomed to painting small. And I am seeking more abstraction and failing at it. At some point I will move to gouache portraiture.
January 29, 2025 at 3:06 PM
My 6th gouache work. This time a small (4”x6”) spring landscape inspired by a hodgepodge of photos. It’s just ok. I am unaccustomed to painting small. And I am seeking more abstraction and failing at it. At some point I will move to gouache portraiture.
Reading this informative post suggests the very precarious position of BSKY. Any unscrupulous oligarch could easily (I think but hope not) buy and bury it or litigate it out of existence using 0.01% of their present wealth.
The @freeourfeeds.com project, a collective of tech leaders, aims to establish public-interest foundation supporting @bsky.app 's open source software & independent infrastructure to ensure users have control over data, regardless of corporate decisions:
thelogic.co/news/quebec-... via @thelogic.co
thelogic.co/news/quebec-... via @thelogic.co
Tech leaders have a plan to protect Bluesky from Elon Musk - The Logic
Free our Feeds, a collective of tech leaders including Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales and Mozilla Foundation president Mark Surman, wants to raise US$30M to protect Bluesky.
thelogic.co
January 18, 2025 at 3:50 PM
Reading this informative post suggests the very precarious position of BSKY. Any unscrupulous oligarch could easily (I think but hope not) buy and bury it or litigate it out of existence using 0.01% of their present wealth.
And here I thought no one uses Conte crayons anymore more. Very lovely portrait!
January 9, 2025 at 2:04 PM
And here I thought no one uses Conte crayons anymore more. Very lovely portrait!
My 5th gouache painting. This time a Great Blue Heron as seen on the Allegheny River outside of Franklin, PA, months ago. I have to force myself to paint abstractly and loosely because my dense brain seems to want realism.
December 7, 2024 at 10:11 PM
My 5th gouache painting. This time a Great Blue Heron as seen on the Allegheny River outside of Franklin, PA, months ago. I have to force myself to paint abstractly and loosely because my dense brain seems to want realism.
Continuing my goal to learn how to paint with gouache as part of an effort to move from watercolors to a combination of both mediums. This is my 4th attempt: A portrait of Marina Callas from a photo. I am not happy about it. Too many stupid mistakes. On a more + note, I am a bigger fan of Callas!
December 3, 2024 at 11:20 PM
Continuing my goal to learn how to paint with gouache as part of an effort to move from watercolors to a combination of both mediums. This is my 4th attempt: A portrait of Marina Callas from a photo. I am not happy about it. Too many stupid mistakes. On a more + note, I am a bigger fan of Callas!
She is one of my favorite sci fi authors and wrote one of my favorite sci fi novels: “The Lathe of Heaven.” In my book she is up there with Asimov, Clarke, Wells, and so on. Nice gouache portrait, too, from Victoria.
An oldie - little portrait of the fantastic Ursula K. Le Guin.
November 28, 2024 at 10:02 PM
She is one of my favorite sci fi authors and wrote one of my favorite sci fi novels: “The Lathe of Heaven.” In my book she is up there with Asimov, Clarke, Wells, and so on. Nice gouache portrait, too, from Victoria.
Well he easily conned Christians and Jews; so, why should Muslims be any different?
November 16, 2024 at 3:16 PM
Well he easily conned Christians and Jews; so, why should Muslims be any different?
It’s a big deal that this comes from Bloomberg.
November 12, 2024 at 12:56 AM
It’s a big deal that this comes from Bloomberg.
Right, winning is not enough for the craven supporters of rapist Trump. This reminds me of what Gore Vidal’s said: “It is not enough to succeed. Others must fail.” Trump and his kind are both extremely poor winners and extremely poor losers.
November 10, 2024 at 8:34 PM
Right, winning is not enough for the craven supporters of rapist Trump. This reminds me of what Gore Vidal’s said: “It is not enough to succeed. Others must fail.” Trump and his kind are both extremely poor winners and extremely poor losers.
Don’t forget to remind Liberal Weather Control Committee to get it right on Election Day: Perfect weather in the Pittsburgh and Philadelphia and other urban areas and cold, rainy in Pennsyltucky. I intend to vote 17 times again and I really need nice weather.
October 18, 2024 at 9:33 PM
Don’t forget to remind Liberal Weather Control Committee to get it right on Election Day: Perfect weather in the Pittsburgh and Philadelphia and other urban areas and cold, rainy in Pennsyltucky. I intend to vote 17 times again and I really need nice weather.
My artistic contribution to the fall weather using gouache and colored pencils. This is my 3rd composition using gouache and it’s so much more “forgiving” compared to watercolor painting. I make lots of mistakes and need lots of forgiveness!
October 12, 2024 at 4:33 PM
My artistic contribution to the fall weather using gouache and colored pencils. This is my 3rd composition using gouache and it’s so much more “forgiving” compared to watercolor painting. I make lots of mistakes and need lots of forgiveness!
Just for kicks, everyone should read Isaac Asimov’s argument that the earth and moon are unique in our solar system and really constitute a double-planet system (1975, “Just Mooning Around,” Asimov on Astronomy, Anchor Press/Doubleday New York)
September 23, 2024 at 11:07 PM
Just for kicks, everyone should read Isaac Asimov’s argument that the earth and moon are unique in our solar system and really constitute a double-planet system (1975, “Just Mooning Around,” Asimov on Astronomy, Anchor Press/Doubleday New York)
We are west of Pittsburgh and pretty close to Ohio. This one most likely escaped the horrors of the Buckeye state.
September 11, 2024 at 12:37 PM
We are west of Pittsburgh and pretty close to Ohio. This one most likely escaped the horrors of the Buckeye state.
An interesting picture of downtown Pittsburgh under menacing-looking clouds last evening.
September 8, 2024 at 1:46 PM
An interesting picture of downtown Pittsburgh under menacing-looking clouds last evening.
Thanks! Much appreciated!
August 12, 2024 at 8:34 PM
Thanks! Much appreciated!
Sure, here is a not-so-recent portrait using Conte crayons and a white-colored pencil of my granddaughter.
August 12, 2024 at 3:33 PM
Sure, here is a not-so-recent portrait using Conte crayons and a white-colored pencil of my granddaughter.
I think you are off to a very good start with your relatively new water coloring hobby! Unlike other painting mediums it can be very unforgiving but very rewarding once you master it.
June 2, 2024 at 7:49 PM
I think you are off to a very good start with your relatively new water coloring hobby! Unlike other painting mediums it can be very unforgiving but very rewarding once you master it.
When this dumb controversy comes up it’s usually about a woman with a PhD (e.g., Fox News ranting about Dr. Jill Biden). It’s never about men because, well, they are men who magically and always deserve the title (e.g., Dr. Henry Kissinger, Dr. Sebastian Gorka).
May 13, 2024 at 12:44 PM
When this dumb controversy comes up it’s usually about a woman with a PhD (e.g., Fox News ranting about Dr. Jill Biden). It’s never about men because, well, they are men who magically and always deserve the title (e.g., Dr. Henry Kissinger, Dr. Sebastian Gorka).
I don’t post a lot, but occasionally I get a picture (double rainbow) like this that needs to be seen by a few others. It was taken by my son, Andrew, on Neville Island on the Ohio River earlier this evening right after a brief rain.
May 11, 2024 at 1:22 AM
I don’t post a lot, but occasionally I get a picture (double rainbow) like this that needs to be seen by a few others. It was taken by my son, Andrew, on Neville Island on the Ohio River earlier this evening right after a brief rain.
Also, in YouTube search for “gimp background removal” I found a few useful videos there. (I think)
April 11, 2024 at 11:57 PM
Also, in YouTube search for “gimp background removal” I found a few useful videos there. (I think)
I assume in GIMP the Background is a Layer. If so, then add another Layer and use that in place of the current Layer. Or just make the current Background Layer white. Is this feasible? Disclaimer: I am not a GIMP expert, but I am familiar with many desktop CAD and Graphics apps and most use Layers.
April 11, 2024 at 11:52 PM
I assume in GIMP the Background is a Layer. If so, then add another Layer and use that in place of the current Layer. Or just make the current Background Layer white. Is this feasible? Disclaimer: I am not a GIMP expert, but I am familiar with many desktop CAD and Graphics apps and most use Layers.
Keep it up and keep improving and at some point we will start calling you Saskya Audubon.
April 10, 2024 at 9:42 PM
Keep it up and keep improving and at some point we will start calling you Saskya Audubon.