Blog
Tech thoughts, workflow notes and digital-life observations.
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The 2021 M1 Pro MacBook Pro: 5 years In
Most hardware reviews usually drop after a few days or weeks after a new product release. I view most of these as “first impressions” rather than a review. My review of the late 2021 14” M1 Pro MacBook Pro is being written after nearly five years of daily driving one. This is my sixth Apple…
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April Showers Bring Malware Flowers (and How I Fixed My Site with AI)
April must be the month of website problems for me. First, it was my portfolio site. Yesterday, it was this site (again). To their credit, Bluehost reached out via text and email to inform me that pcweenies.com was dispensing malware. This wasn’t a complete surprise, given what had already occurred a few weeks back. I…
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My Favorite Sites for 4K and Higher Desktop Wallpaper Backgrounds
Desktop wallpapers are a terrific way to customize your computer. But great wallpaper sites are like hidden gems. You’ve really gotta look around to find the best ones. Good news for you! I’ve scoured the web (high and low) to find the absolute best places to find high quality 4K wallpaper, and lived to tell…
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Secrets to Digitally Drawing Temples
The topic for my latest video tutorial was inspired by a question posed by one of my students earlier this week. Temples and other layered buildings can be daunting to draw, until you understand the underlying volumetric shapes at work. For my own illustration work, I take advantage of three core techniques: new layers duplication…
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Automating with Keyboard Maestro
Automation options are plentiful on the Mac. It’s one of the main reasons I prefer using macOS over other platforms. Automating tasks saves me time. With a little upfront work in setting up an automation, I can make tedious or routine tasks go much faster. Apple includes a few free automation utilities in the…
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My Essential Mac Software Stack for Digital Illustration
I always enjoy learning about other artists’ digital illustration software stack, so I thought I would share my own, for anyone who is interested. My main software tools for illustration are Photoshop and Illustrator. I spend most of my time in Photoshop, using Illustrator only sparingly for creating custom vector assets (type and shape-based…
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Are Browser Bookmarks Still Relevant?
When was the last time you visited a bookmarked site from your web browser’s Bookmarks menu? For me, it’s been so long that I can’t even remember. I still have a large list of browser bookmarks, each meticulously organized into appropriate folders. But I never go through them. Pre-smartphone, I relied on my browser’s Bookmarks…
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Web Hosting in 2026
Web hosting is something I haven’t really given much thought to, until this week. As I wrote about earlier, nearly 16 years of content evaporated as a result of a successful hacking attempt on PC WEENIES. Rebuilding will take some time, but I was able to get the basics of my site up and running…
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Refbox is a Boon for Digital Artists
Refbox has been a game-changer for my digital art workflow. In my latest video, I go over some of my favorite features. Refbox works on both Mac and Windows, and retails for $29US. A trial is available. One week after using Refbox, I find it to be absolutely indispensable. Prior to Refbox, I would…
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Apple: The First 50 Years
April 1st, 2026 marked Apple’s 50th anniversary, and if you’re anything like me, you were excited about all of the news and stories being published commemorating the occasion. One piece of media in particular got the party started early: “Apple: The First 50 Years” by David Pogue. If the author’s name sounds familiar, chances…