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Much appreciated!

I appreciate that! I do really think references and subject details are such a huge part of how the art turns out. I feel like lighting is a huge part of it - I am just a sucker for some major contrast and dark shadows! It makes the portrait so much easier to navigate. As always, grateful for the comment!

Haha you’re too kind, thanks for that

I appreciate it!

Appreciate it!

According to the amazon listing (amzn.to/3B9023H), the power bank is 2000 mAh (third bullet point in the description)

When we’ve used it on trips, we typically charged it every day or every other day, depending on how frequently we used it while walking around. Never ran out of battery, but we wanted to be sure. Now though, it’s mostly my kids that use it - one of them keeps it in their backpack and they use it to cool off while waiting for pickup after school. Since it’s only short bursts of use, we haven’t been charging it much at all (maybe every couple of weeks). I don’t know how long it could be used continuously, but we haven’t had any complaints about the battery life

Hello there! Unfortunately, the lights don't really seem to be a great indicator of whether it's connected or not. Just thinking through my first testing with it - first thing that comes to mind is which USB-to-headphone jack connector you're using. Mine came with two; a solid black and a black and gray. The black and gray has to be used with phones, otherwise it won't work (I have no clue what the solid black one is used for). Another thought is, even if the lights don't look right, try recording and check the video playback. I basically plugged in the receiver, clipped the mic to my shirt, started a video and walked into another room away from my phone. Since I wasn't familiar with how the audio sounded, it was the only way I could be sure the audio wasn't picking up directly from my phone instead of the mic. I'm not sure if that helps at all - let me know if it doesn't work, I'd be glad to ponder a bit more and try to troubleshoot based on my experience with this one

@@Amdall thank you so much for your reply and your kindness🙏🏻 So I did use in fact the black and grey cable (it had a little tag on it that says it's the one for phones luckily). I tried recording a couple of times walking away and all, but it seemed to me it was still the audio from my iphone, altho I'll try again! I wonder if it's my phone now, never used a mic with it before... do you use any specific app to record with it? I have an iphone SE 3rd gen if it might help...

@@orsoluna Absolutely - if I can help, I'm glad to do it. I also use an iPhone, so I would hope compatibility would be similar. And I've just been using the default camera app. One thing I've noticed is that sometimes this mic requires some really long button presses to change modes...I wonder if it's the same for syncing? So, another troubleshooting idea - maybe try powering both the receive and mic on at the exact same time. If you've already tried that, you could also do a timed press of the sync button on both at the same time (rectangle symbol and "+" on receiver, rectangle symbol and fuzzy asterisk thing on the mic). With the simultaneous sync press attempt, you might try holding it down for as long as possible - the manual says 3 seconds, but it might take a longer hold.

@@Amdall again big thanks! Unfortunately I tried everything, even customer service doesn't know, it still won't work so I'm sending it back... BUT here's a new piece of information on the lights! Customer service said that when you purchased the solo mic version (no charging case, one RX and one TX) it is normal that you only get one blue light on the RX, the 2nd one would be for the potential 2nd TX. All the best!

You’re welcome! I wonder if your hardware was just defective or something? Hopefully you’re able to find something that works better. Also, thank you for the tip about the lights! That’s great info

There’s definitely some wonkiness with this mic. And since you mentioned the mono vs stereo situation…mine seems to behave oddly too. Right around 06:29 in the video, when I switch from stereo to mono, to my ears the audio started sounding better. And then when I supposedly switched back to stereo, the sound quality continued to sound the same (better than at the start). Despite the lights, I still have no clue it was actually stereo or mono! I still do think this mic is a good inexpensive option for a lapel mic though - some of the other options at this price point definitely seem to have their own quirks and issues (based on amazon reviews). I am curious, did you settle on a different option? I would love to hear what you went with and how it went

@@Amdall well I tried to hold the buttons and the mic went from mono to stereo but the audio was waaay way too high i didn't know how to lower the sensitivity, the voice terrible like 200% audio sensitivity Please give me more tips about the mic

@@filmk36 Were you able to notice the distortion right away on playback? Or is it only when replaying at higher volumes? I've actually had the opposite problem with this mic - my audio is too low, even after clicking the volume up button multiple times. Of course, there's no indication of level anywhere, so who knows if it actually went up. But, for this video I had to increase it in iMovie to 200%. That's the same treatment I give to recordings done on my ipad, but at least it's better than iPhone recordings which I sometimes have to increase 300% or more. Anyhow, it's interesting how different experiences can be with the same hardware. I wish I had more tips, but so far I've only done two full uploaded videos with it - hopefully with more experience I'll get used to some of the quirks.

Thanks very much! Vielen Dank!

Thanks for checking it out! Děkujeme, že jste to zkontrolovali!

I'm glad the video was helpful to you! Also, those neck fans seem really useful - I should pick one up sometime and give it a try. I'm in Texas, so I could certainly use something like that

I did not plan this one very well, sorry about that. It was my first time trying a live stream - I think in hindsight it would have been much better to schedule it in advance (and stick with that). Haha honestly I consider it a win that I even had audio and video right this first time around, hopefully I can tighten up the logistics if I do another one

I appreciate it!

Hello there - I take commissions on a case by case basis, so we’d have to talk over what you had in mind. What were you thinking about?

Thanks very much!

You are too kind, thanks!

It’s so wild, isn’t it? It’s almost like those old whack-a-mole games, you get rid of one just in time for another one to pop up. I just remember how disappointed I was when I first encountered one. I started sharing my paintings about two years ago, had a classic one similar to what you described. Once they got to the “click my link” phase, I finally figured it out. I think a lot of us out there are on to the major scams - sounds like you’ve got your radar up as well. Hopefully some folks who haven’t experienced them stumble on this video and maybe it helps them avoid stuff like this. Also, good to hear from a newer artist! If you don’t mind sharing, what medium(s) are you mostly exploring right now? And how long have you been at it? I’m fairly new myself in the grand scheme of things, at least when it comes to oil paint. I love swapping stories with other folks navigating the learning process

Sorry, did you comment on the wrong video? This is a painting time lapse

Absolutely beautiful ❤️ I love your painting technique ❤❤❤

Thanks @margehaiduc9096, glad you liked this one!

@@Amdall I need to try it 😎 I don't know when... LOL

I’m not sure if it helps or not, but when I first tried wet-on-wet oil painting like this, I basically just bought a cheap oil paint set on Amazon. I think it was a Castle Arts color sampler for like $20 or so. It’s not something that holds up over time, but definitely good for experimenting. You can also get some brushes and textured paper to mess around with, and just see what happens! It’s kind of intimidating (or was for me), but also fun to explore

Thank you for that - I try to to find that balance between acknowledging areas I need to grow/learn while allowing for a personal style to develop. It's a tricky balance sometimes! I appreciate the comment and you checking it out. Hvala vam na tome - pokušavam pronaći ravnotežu između priznavanja područja u kojima trebam rasti/učiti, a istovremeno dopuštam razvoju osobnog stila. Ponekad je to nezgodna ravnoteža! Cijenim komentar i što ga provjeravate

Much appreciated!

Show? Sorry, not quite following - you want to see more of a certain aspect?

I appreciate it!

Much appreciated!

Thank you for the support, very kind of you - Спасибо за поддержку, очень мило с вашей стороны

I appreciate it! Yes, this is all oil paint on paper, no software or computer changes here - Я ценю это! Да, это все масляные краски на бумаге, никаких изменений программного обеспечения или компьютера здесь.

Thank you!

I appreciate that, thank you! Das weiß ich zu schätzen, danke!

You know it! Man, when you get that perfect umber/ultramarine blue blend going - it's more energizing than coffee * * note: please do not drink oil paint

What progress! The clarity, depth, and contrast is phenomenal. Way to go! 🎉🎉

Thanks @emanuelpope210 - I think the contrast in the new version is one of my favorite improvements/changes! It definitely has some better color value distinctions, so that’s an area I feel like I can say has improved in the past year

@@Amdall the effort shows, it’s amazing the commitment to the craft to create 100 portraits and come back to see your progress! I appreciate your videos 🙌🏽

Thanks much for the support, it's always appreciated

I appreciate it!

That is very kind of you - definitely made my day thank you! Это очень любезно с вашей стороны - определенно сделало мне день, спасибо

I appreciate you checking these out! Я ценю, что вы проверили это!

Thanks very much! Большое спасибо!

Definitely not my first thought, but I do appreciate you checking out the painting

@Amdall start asking others, I love the painting..but the orange was an odd choice to me is all. Maybe her favorite color? Who am I to judge...great job

Much appreciated!

Thank you!

The Utrecht and Gamblin blend really well together - I use them interchangeably as I paint, basically just switching in whichever I happen to have on hand when I run out of one. Although, now that I’m thinking about it, I feel like I’m almost always mixing an Utrecht with either another Utrecht or Utrecht with Gamblin. Like my current black is an Utrecht Ultramarine Blue mixed with Gamblin Raw Umber, and another really common one features Utrecht Cadmium Red with a Gamblin Yellow Ochre. In the video, the Gamblin paint is a bit thicker (maybe even chunkier), but in reality I don’t ever notice because it’s almost always blended with an Utrecht. That’s interesting! I hadn’t really thought about that aspect before - thanks for the comment, it was insightful!

@@Amdall because there are scientifically proven formulas for what is needed to get the most commonly used colors, I think a great judgement of an artist quality paint brand is how well it mixes and blends with other brands. This tells you they are following those pre determined formulas. This allows us as artists to know that if our favorite brand is out of stock or just not sold at the store we are at that we can safely buy a different brand with the confidence that it will mix well with the paints we already have . This is especially useful for those of us who paint with a limited palette.

That's very interesting context, thanks for that - I'm glad to report that these two really seem to play well together. I've tried both the artist grade and student grade, definitely seems true of both. I really do need to branch out and try some others like the Windsor and Newton you mentioned, plus some others that have been recommended in various comments. But I really am a creature of habit! Sometimes it's hard to break away when I find something that I feel works well.

Thank you!

@@Amdall of course:] you seem to have an amazing family

That's kind of you, thanks - I am certainly a fan of them haha

@@Amdall that's nice:]

Thank you for that!

I appreciate it!

Thanks for that!

Much appreciated! It will definitely fit 9 x 12 paper, as thats one of the sizes I commonly use for paintings (Strathmore oil paper). I don’t know the exact internal dimensions, but there appears to be a small amount of buffer space in the portfolio to accommodate the right size paper. You might encounter a slight hiccup when it comes to the thickness of your paper though. The portfolio has room for 48 pages (if I remember correctly). But the paper I paint is textured and thick to mimic a canvass’ surface. So I find all that thickness adds up and I typically can’t fill the entire portfolio. I can only get 40ish in there before the portfolio struggles to stay closed

That’s awesome - my favorite art style! If I impressed an impressionist, I chalk that up as a big win. Thanks for checking it out!

Well I am a little biased! Thank you for checking it out

@@Amdallof course:] have an amazing day/night!

You as well!

Thank you!

I do try to use some sort of reference. In this case, it was from a photo my other kiddo took of her. Sometimes though, I’ll use an AI image generator or royalty free stock photos. Even if it’s not a complete recreation of the reference, it still helps me a lot to have something to lean on