Houses in Porto Stroke-by-Stroke Video

Houses in Porto stroke-by-stroke
Originally uploaded by randubnick

This is a stroke-by-stroke video of the drawing I made yesterday with the Brushes app on my iPad. These happy little houses are inspired by my recent trip to Portugal. Tonight I had the usual problems bringing the video into my computer (stops short of completion, etc.), so I used iMovie to add the still image to the end of the file. I was drawing this image on an airplane during a slightly bumpy transatlantic flight, and my struggles to control the image are evident in this little video.

Houses in Porto

Houses in Porto
Originally uploaded by randubnick

I have been traveling for the past few weeks in Europe (5 countries in 17 days), and just got back tonight. With hundreds of photos, it is hard to know where to begin. So I decided to begin with a digital drawing that I made today during a somewhat bumpy transatlantic flight. The plane's entertainment system wasn't very entertaining; in fact, it was frustrating, so I decided to use my iPad to draw with the Brushes app. This image is inspired by the old houses that line Porto's Douro river. I used bright colors to try to communicate the happiness of my trip to Porto. Brushes captures a stroke-by-stroke video as you draw, and I plan to post that tomorrow.

Cascading White Flowers

Cascading White Flowers, a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

This is a photo that I took last year (May 12, 2011). I was leaving for a trip to Europe the next day, and despite having a lot of errands to run, I took a break to go to Long Hill Gardens (here in Beverly, MA) with my daughter to see the flowers. It was a lovely break and a good idea. The flowers were in bloom, and I got some great pictures. I uploaded them into my Flickr account, hoping to post them to my blog while I was on the road, but that turned out to be pretty complicated. I posted some of them when I got back, but time got away from me and I didn't finish the task. But now that flowers are blooming again, I decided it is time to catch up.

Spring Trees at Long Hill

Spring Trees at Long Hill, a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

This image is cropped from a photograph that I took at Long Hill Gardens (here in Beverly, MA) back on May 12th, during an outing to see the trees in bloom. I like the way the trees look alongside the road that leads to the main house. In the original version of this photo, you can see more of the road and trees on both sides, but unfortunately you can also see a car coming down the road. Today* I decided to crop the photo which got rid of the car, so I used Flickr's Picnic to do the editing on line. (*Today is June 10, but I am backdating my posts for May; I had planned to post during my trip, but it was harder than I thought to get internet access.)

Sunlight on White Blossoms

Sunlight on White Blossoms, a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

Here is another photo from the set of pictures that I took back on May 12. We went to Longhill Gardens here in Beverly, MA, to see the flowering trees and lilacs that were in bloom. (I was leaving for a trip the next day and decided to fit in this little excursion because spring doesn't wait!) I liked the way the sunlight hit the white blossoms, so I took a picture. I took quite a few pictures that day, and had planned to post them from the road while I was travelling, but the internet connection turned out to be a problem. So I am posting them now, and back-dating them. Today I used Flickr's Picnic to adjust the exposure and crop the image a little bit.

Lilacs and Blue Sky

Lilacs and Blue Sky, a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

I took this picture of lilacs against a blue sky on May 12, 2011, during a trip to Long Hill Gardens to see lilacs and blossoming trees. We were trying to fit this in because I was leaving for Europe the following day. I uploaded several pictures from this outing to Flickr and planned to post them to my blog while I was on the road. But getting on-line to do while I was traveling proved to be more complicated than I anticipated. Besides, I was busy on an amazing trip! After I got home, I didn't finish posting this set, but now that lilacs are in bloom again, I thought I would try to finish the set and fill in the gaps in my photo stream and blog. So I am backdating the post to May 16, 2011.

Light and Shade on Flowering Trees

Light and Shade on Flowering Trees, a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

This is another photograph from the group of pictures I took back on May 12, the day before I left for my trip to Europe. It was a wonderful idea to go to see the flowers in bloom at Long Hill Gardens. In this photo, I was trying to capture the play of light on the trees. Today I used Flickr's Picnic to edit the photo online. (I had uploaded this set before I left, with the intention of posting "from the road," but it was too hard to find a connection.

Looking Up at White Blossoms

Originally uploaded by: randubnick

This is another photograph that I took on May 12th, the day before I left for a trip to Europe. Everything was in bloom at Long Hill Gardens, so I went to see the flowers, even though I had a lot to do to get ready for my trip the next day. Seeing the flowers was wonderful and I am glad I didn't miss it. This is one of the flowering trees that you can see along the edges of the main road as you enter the property.

Flowering Trees at Long Hill Gardens

Originally uploaded by: randubnick

This is a photograph that I took during a visit to Long Hill Gardens in Beverly, Massachusetts, back on May 12, the day before I left on a two-week trip to Europe. I took lots of pictures of the flowering trees, and planned to post them while I was "on the road." Well, that turned out to be too complicated, so I am posting those photos now. (This format of this post might look different today: for some reason Flickr is not "talking to" Blogger today. Lots of questions about this problem are posted on the help page, but so far, no resolution. So I am posting directly from Blogger.)

Pink Blossoms on the Tree

Pink Blossoms on the Tree
Originally uploaded by randubnick

This is a photo that I took on May 12 at Long Hill Gardens, here in Beverly, MA. I was leaving for a trip to Europe the following day. I had so much to do to get ready. Should I really take the time to go to Long Hill to look at the spring flowers? I didn't want to miss the spring blossoms or the lilacs, so I decided to go. Well, it turned out to be a great idea. The flowering trees were all in bloom, and I couldn't stop taking pictures. Suddenly I was able to calm down and focus on the present moment. Later that day, I uploaded a number of the photos to Flickr, and marked them as private (temporarily), and planned to my blog during my trip. But it was too hard to get an internet connection during the trip, so I decided to post these images after I got home. (Both Flickr and Blogger allow editing the date of posting.) This is the first of this set, and I plan to one or two every day until I "catch up." Meanwhile, I will also organize my trip photos so I can start posting those too. So thanks to digital technology, I am turning back the clock to post this image as my "daily" post for May 12!

Pear Tree at the Pond

Pear Tree at the Pond
Originally uploaded by randubnick

This is a photograph that I took over the weekend during a walk at the Cummings Center Pond (aka Shoe Pond) here in Beverly, MA. The pear tree was in bloom and it was beautiful. I liked the white blossoms against the blue sky, so I used my iPhone camera to take this picture. Apart from brightening the image a bit in iPhoto, this is the image as it came out of the camera.

Daffodils at Long Hill (Posterized Photograph)

Daffodils at Long Hill (Posterized Photograph)
Originally uploaded by randubnick

This image began with one of the pictures I took back on May 1 during a walk at Long Hill Gardens here in Beverly, MA. Signs were posted announcing that it was "Daffodil Sunday" and signs were also posted pointing toward the "daffodil path." So instead of the usual walk up the hill towards the house and formal gardens, we followed the daffodil path downhill towards the children's garden, the barns, chickens, and the fields. I used my iPhone camera to take lots of pictures of the daffodils. Tonight I cropped this image out of one of the best photos. I liked the contrast of the daffodils and the barn in the background. I used iPhoto for basic adjustments, and used Painter to posterize the image.

Mom and Me (Digital Woodcut)

Mom and Me (Digital Woodcut)
Originally uploaded by randubnick

Yesterday I managed to digitally restore a photo taken by my uncle, Ike Fitterman, starting with an old negative that I came across. It was wonderful to see my uncle's photo! I cropped it and posted the result yesterday, for Mother's Day. (I used a digital camera, a computer screen, Painter, and iPhoto to do that; if you want details on how I restored the image from a negative, see yesterday's post.) Then I used my Painter software to create the image you see here. I used the digital woodcut effect on the photo, with very little black, and then posterized the result, to add more color. Working on this project was a way to bring my mom into the present tense; this project was also a way to collaborate with my uncle, and a great reminder of what a talented photographer he was.

Mom and Me (Digitally Restored Photo from Negative)

Mom and Me (Digitally Restored Photo from Negative)
Originally uploaded by randubnick

Today I wanted to make a Mother's Day image, so I was looking for a photo of my mother. She was camera-shy, so pictures of her are hard to find. I found an envelope of negatives of family photos taken by my uncle, Ike Fitterman. (My uncle had a photography studio in Pueblo, Jay Phillips Studio) In one of the negatives, I thought I saw an image of my mom holding me on her lap. I didn't think that I had ever seen a picture from this negative. Although I now plan to get this negative developed professionally, I was excited and wanted to see this today. I tried and failed to capture the negative image with a scanner; the result was too dark and I couldn't turn it into a good image no matter what I did with it afterward. Finally I had an idea. I slipped the negative under the edge of my computer screen, and then used my iPhone to photograph the back-lit negative. I got a clear image of the negative, which I e-mailed to myself, and downloaded. Then I opened the image in Painter, where I was able to produce a "negative" effect, and suddenly the positive image appeared! I did a little digital sharpening and cropped the image to get this composition. Then I transferred the result into iPhoto and made the image into a black and white photo. I was excited to see the photo that my uncle took, and here it is, cropped just a bit! I also used this image to create a piece of digital art which I plan to post here tomorrow, a collaboration with my Uncle Ike Fitterman.

Photo Display at Beverly Farms

Photo Display at Beverly Farms
Originally uploaded by randubnick

After I finished setting up my art show at Beverly Farms Library, I took some pictures. I usually hang my photographs on the wall. But these frames aren't sufficiently to work with the hanging system that the library uses. (The weight of the art work makes the hook engage and hold tight against the metal rod.) I didn't want to re-frame the photographs, so I decided to display the photos on a table (in this case, two library tables pushed together). I bought some very simple black metal stands at Michaels that seem very stable. The hardest part was arranging the display. Each photo can be seen without obscuring the other photos, but viewers have to lean in and get involved to get a really good look.

Pink Peonies for Mother's Day

Pink Peonies for Mother's Day
Originally uploaded by randubnick

Today I received an early Mother's Day gift: a beautiful arrangement of pink peonies in a glass vase. Of course, I took pictures. This close-in view of the huge blossoms was the best of the photos that I took this morning.

Photo of New England Landscapes show

Photo of New England Landscapes show
Originally uploaded by randubnick

This afternoon I took this photo of some of my oil bar paintings on display at the Beverly Farms Library. The light there is very nice in the late afternoon. The library has a pretty interesting hanging system of metal rods that hang from the moulding. There are hooks on the rods that slide up and down so you can adjust the height of the painting. (At first, they were sliding when I DIDN'T want that to happen.) It's a very efficient system, but it took me a while to "get the hang of it".

Beverly Farms Library (Digital Woodcut)

Beverly Farms Library (Digital Woodcut)
Originally uploaded by randubnick

Tonight I used my Painter program (and a lot of trial and error) to create this digital woodcut. I used the photo of the Beverly Farms Library that I took yesterday. (I was there to hang paintings for my art show.) The library is charming and so is the little town of Beverly Farms!

Beverly Farms Library (Vine Street Entrance)

Beverly Farms Library (Vine Street Entrance)
Originally uploaded by randubnick

I spent much of yesterday hanging my art work at the Beverly Farms Library. It was a lot of work to get everything ready, but Beverly Farms is an adorable little town and I always enjoy being there. On my trips back and forth to the car for loading and unloading, I caught myself admiring this charming little library, so I stopped to take a picture of the Vine Street entrance with my iPhone camera. Tonight I cropped the original photo to get this composition. I think it would make a nice digital woodcut. To be continued. . . .

Magnolias and Fence (Digital Woodcut)

Magnolias and Fence (Digital Woodcut)
Originally uploaded by randubnick

I recently published a posterized version of a photo that I took of pink magnolias against a wooden fence. I also used Painter to create this digital woodcut of the same image.

Morning Light in New Hampshire (Posterized Photo)

Morning Light in New Hampshire (Posterized Photo)
Originally uploaded by randubnick

Tonight I am re-publishing this posterized version of a photo that I took back in 2009 of the woods on campus at the University of New Hampshire at Durham. I created this version back in late December of 2009 and used it as a reference photo for a painting. I am going to include the posterized photos in my upcoming art show of New England landscapes. In fact, this very image is framed, in my studio, and today I packed it up for the show. I have been searching for this in my photostream and although I can find it in iPhoto on my computer, I can't seem to find the posterized version published here. So this may be a duplication, but I am uploading it again tonight. After losing too much time searching my Flickr photostream for it, I just decided to upload it again and add it to the set of photos that are in the show. I am using Flickr's sets and collections to make an online version of the art show for far-flung friends and family.