Evergreen (Acrylic Water Media as of Feb. 28, 2014)

Evergreen (Acrylic Water Media as of Feb. 28, 2014), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

I started this painting today, and it is still a work in progress. This is acrylic paint used with water on watercolor paper, somewhat like watercolor painting although acrylic paint behaves quite differently. These mountain paintings are created from my imagination and memories of the Rocky Mountains in my home state of Colorado. Although there really is a town called Evergreen in Colorado (and an Evergreen Mountain), I wasn't thinking of just one specific location. I have lots of great memories of forests in the mountains. This morning, I was using a forest green and was experimenting with textures, painting though a net with diamond shaped openings, and the result looked a bit like evergreen trees in the mountains, so I decided to call it Evergreen. I don't think this painting is finished yet, so I will say to be continued.

Cherry Swirl Necklace

Cherry Swirl Necklace, a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

I started this necklace yesterday and finally finished it today. (I modified the design and then restrung the beads three times to get what I wanted, but it was worth it.) I started with large wooden beads, about the size and color of bing cherries, and then added wooden beads in other colors. I had a lot of fun with the incised beads in three different patterns.

Felt Beads on Choker Wires

Felt Beads on Choker Wires, a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

Today I made some more jewelry. I spent a lot of time on a necklace, but I plan to restring it and post it tomorrow. Instead, I am posting two necklaces that I put together today. I already had the large beads. I made them out of felt, and then decorated the surface with tiny beads. Over the weekend, I bought some choker wires, so I put my beads on them to see how they would look.

Pendant with Blue Violet Gemstone Circle, Wooden Bead, and Three Bells

Pendant with Blue Violet Gemstone Circle, Wooden Bead, and Three Bells, a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

I made this necklace late this afternoon. I recently picked out the blue-violet gemstone circle and some brass bells at the bead store in Salem (part of a recent birthday gift); I combined them with one wooden bead on a leather cord. I tried to keep the pieces loose enough so that the bells would be able to move and ring a little bit.

Oak Tree Green Leaves (Digital Woodcut)

Oak Tree Green Leaves (Digital Woodcut), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

Yesterday's project was to create an image of an oak tree that could be used as an illustration on a blog. I started by searching my photos and found a few photographs of oak trees. The one that I liked best was a photo of an oak tree in from of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. It was posted here on Nov. 18, 2011. The only problem was that it taken in autumn and the leaves were yellow and brown, but for this project I needed an image of an oak tree in spring or summer. Instead of waiting for the arrival of spring, I decided to try to modify the picture I had. I opened the image in Painter and cropped it to get the composition I wanted. Then I used some color overlay, some digital pastel, and finally some selective color adjustments to get green leaves and a light blue sky. Finally, I applied a digital woodcut effect, and after several attempts, got the amount of black outline that I wanted.

Felt Bead with Blue Swirl on a Black Cord

Felt Bead with Blue Swirl on a Black Cord, a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

I haven't made jewelry in a while, but it is time to get going. Yesterday I made a bead out of pink felt, and then covered it in tiny blue and pink beads arranged in a swirl pattern. It's been a while since I did this, and it took longer than I anticipated. I almost gave up, but I kept going and I am glad I did.

Detail from Red Canyon (Acrylic Water Media)

Detail from Red Canyon (Acrylic Water Media), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

This is a bit of detail from the painting I posted yesterday, "Red Canyon." I used acrylic paints but with water on heavy watercolor paper. You can see in this closeup view that I was experimenting with texture.

Red Canyon (Acrylic Water Media)

Red Canyon (Acrylic Water Media), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

This painting is done with acrylic paint used as water media, on heavy watercolor paper. I painted this a few days ago (February 18, 2014) and finished it in one day, a morning and an afternoon painting session. I worked from imagination and memories of my home state of Colorado, where you can find deep canyons and red earth (though not quite this red). In July some of my paintings will be part of a show at Galatea Fine Arts in Boston. Participating artists were asked to submit an image that can be used for publicity, and I sent this one.

Another Heart Shaped Box as of February 20, 2014

Another Heart Shaped Box as of February 20, 2014, a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

Late this afternoon, I went to Porter Mill Studios and worked for a while on this project. I am covering this heart-shaped candy box with collaged designs made from pieces of printed metallic ribbon. I have been working on the top of the box, creating orange and purple stripes. Time was short this afternoon and the light was fading fast, but I managed to make a little progress. The stripes are starting to show up more clearly. By the time I finished working, it was getting too dark to take a photo in daylight, so I turned on the lights in the studio to take this picture. I like the way the little pieces of ribbon reflect the light from above. I call this project "Another Heart--Shaped Box" because it isn't my first. So if you want to see where this is headed, you can see a similar project that I already completed. Just follow this link: www.flickr.com/photos/randiart/sets/72157632769935420/

Winter Mountains (Acrylic Water Media)

Winter Mountains (Acrylic Water Media), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

This is the painting I started two days ago, on February 17. Although I was pretty happy with the composition of the painting, I wanted to modify the color of the mountains, to get a little more contrast with the sky. I was afraid of losing what I already had, and I knew that with water media, trial and error with paint on paper can lead to muddled or muddy colors. So I decided to try a digital "dress rehearsal." I already had a photo of the painting in the computer, so I made four copies. I opened each file in Painter and tried adding transparent color overlays to each copy, using a different color each time: one was purple, one was rose, one was darker blue, and one was ice blue. Then I compared the four files to make a choice. In the end, I decided on ice blue. So then I returned to my paints, mixed up some ice blue, and went to work applying a slightly opaque ice blue wash. I also added additional texture to the mountain peaks, painting through my mesh grid. And then I was happy and the painting was finished.

Colorado Colors (Acrylic Water Media)

Colorado Colors (Acrylic Water Media), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

This week, I am working on a few mountain landscapes, painted with acrylics used as water media. I am working from imagination and memories of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado, my home state. Here is one that I finished yesterday. There wasn't much to do; I had decided that there wasn't quite enough contrast between the sky and the outline of the mountains, so I used an opaque white wash to lighten the sky in a few places. Now it is done.

Winter Mountains (Acrylic Water Media as of Feb. 17, 2014)

Winter Mountains (Acrylic Water Media as of Feb. 17, 2014), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

I started this painting this afternoon, another mountain landscape. This is acrylic paint, used with water. I am painting from imagination and memories of the Colorado mountains. This is still a work in progress. I am pretty happy with the sky, and I like the composition. But I think I want to do some more with those mountains.

Colorado Colors (Acrylic Water Media as of Feb. 16, 2014)

Colorado Colors (Acrylic Water Media as of Feb. 16, 2014), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

In July, some of my acrylic mountain paintings are going to be included in a show, and this morning I started working on some new paintings for it. This is one that I started today. This is acrylic used as water media, and it is on watercolor paper, 18 x 24 inches. I am working from imagination and memories of my home state of Colorado. I call this one "Colorado Colors" because of the bright blue sky, the red earth tones, and the sage green vegetation. I have been experimenting with adding texture by painting over (or should I say through) pieces of netting. I think this one is almost finished.

Pink Soup (Illustration)

Pink Soup (Illustration), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

This drawing is going to be an illustration for a recipe on our food blog, seasoningforeverypalate.wordpress.com. (I am going to use this to illustrate a recipe for a beet borscht.) I thought this was finished yesterday, but this morning I decided to do some cleanup with colored pencil and colored conte crayon. And tonight, I decided to make a few little corrections using the computer. So I opened the image in Painter X3 and used digital pastel to make some very tiny corrections in the shape of the bowl and in the shape of the one of the letters. Then I sharpened the image by 1%. And that's it. This is the final version. I plan to publish the recipe in the next few days.

Pink Soup (Illustration as of Feb. 14, 2014)

Pink Soup (Illustration as of Feb. 14, 2014), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

This morning I worked on this project again. This drawing is going to be an illustration for a recipe for beet borscht and will appear in our food blog, seasoningsforeverypalate.wordpress.com. This morning I made a lot of small changes. I added a hint of pink to the blue bowl, made the base of the bowl dark blue, and changed the color of the spoon. Then I used and dark blue colored pencil to outline and define the lines, including the lettering. Of course I may see something that I want to change, but I think this is just about ready to go.

Pink Soup (Illustration as of Feb. 13, 2014)

Pink Soup (Illustration as of Feb. 13, 2014), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

This is a work in progress, a drawing that I have been working on this week. It is going to be used in our food blog, http://seasoningforeverypalate.wordpress.com, to illustrate a recipe for beet borscht. This morning I worked out the color for the background, pale gray leaning toward purple. I layered purple conte crayon with gray colored pencil to get this color. I also added a little more color to the lettering. I am considering adding a little bit of pink to the bowl, but apart from that, I think the color scheme is set. But I still need to do some cleanup and sharpen up the lines.

Pink Soup (Illustration as of Feb. 12, 2014)

Pink Soup (Illustration as of Feb. 12, 2014), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

I worked on this project this afternoon. This little drawing is going to be an illustration of a recipe for a beet soup, to be published in our food blog, seasoningsforeverypalate.com. Today I worked on the table-top. I was going for the color of beets; I used both conte crayon and colored pencil to get this color. To be continued. . . .

Pink Soup (Illustration as of Feb. 11, 2014)

Pink Soup (Illustration as of Feb. 11, 2014), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

This morning I worked for a while on this drawing, which is going to be an illustration for a recipe. This is going to be a recipe for beef borscht that I plan to post on our food blog, seasoningforeverypalate.com. This morning I worked on the bowl, using both colored pencil and colored conte crayon to get the colors I wanted. I also worked on some ideas for the rest of the color scheme, trying out color combinations in the margins of the drawing pad.

Pink Soup (Illustration as of February 10, 2014)

Pink Soup (Illustration as of February 10, 2014), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

This is a work in progress, an illustration for a recipe for our food blog. Today I worked on getting the color right for the soup (beet borscht). I added colored conte crayon to colored pencil to get the color I was after. And then I tried to get the same color for the lettering. To be continued. . .

Pink Soup (Illustration as of Feb. 9, 2014)

Pink Soup (Illustration as of Feb. 9, 2014), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

This is a pencil sketch for a project that I started today, an illustration for a recipe that will be posted on our food blog. (This is for my recipe for beet borscht, which is the most fantastic color!) When I sat down to draw this afternoon, I already had the idea worked out, but the execution was still a challenge. As usual, trying to get the ellipses to behave was the hardest part. To be continued. . .

Mill at Night (Photo in Porter Mill Gallery)

Mill at Night (Photo in Porter Mill Gallery), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

This is the second piece that I have on display at in the "Depth of Field" show at Porter Mill Gallery. (I took this picture at the opening on Thursday night.) This is another posterized photo that I took in Manchester, New Hampshire a few years back. This one was of one of the old mill buildings at night, looking out through the window blinds from another mill building. Both of these photos were originally part of a solo show of my paintings and photographs of the old mill area in Manchester, New Hampshire.

Through a Manchester Window (Photo at Porter Mill Gallery)

Through a Manchester Window (Photo at Porter Mill Gallery), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

Last night I went to the opening of "Depth of Field," a photography show at Porter Mill. This is one of the photos that I have in the show. (This is a posterized photo that I took in Manchester, New Hampshire a few years back. It was part of a solo show of paintings and photographs of the old mill area in Manchester.) I thought it would be interesting to display this photo at Porter Mill, which is also an old brick building with an industrial history.

Golden Hour (February 6, 2014)

Golden Hour (February 6, 2014), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

Today we had bright snow on the ground, with blue skies and bright sunshine, a combination that always reminds me of winter in Colorado. Everything looked beautiful all day. Then around four o'clock, it got even better as the late afternoon light hit the trees, so I took some pictures. I cropped the best of them to get this composition. I call this "Golden Hour" because that's what painters and photographers call the first and last hour of sunlight. Sometimes the term "Magic Hour" is used instead. Either way, it fits. The light was beautiful, the hour was golden, and the day was magical.

February Mountains

February Mountains, a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

This is a little digital drawing that I creating this afternoon. I downloaded Painter X3 today, so once I had it installed, I stopped to try it out. I have been using Painter for over 20 years, but each version is a little different, so I wanted to make sure it was going to work. And besides, it is just plain fun to draw. So I did this little image of the mountains, using digital pastel.

Dogwood, Blue Spruce, and Falling Snow

Dogwood, Blue Spruce, and Falling Snow, a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

Today I edited some photos that I took with my iPhone camera, back on January 18 while it was snowing. This shot shows the tracery of the snow on the dogwood tree, and the dark spruce branches provide a backdrop for the that was still falling as I took that picture. It snowed the next day as well, so I have plenty of snow scenes to edit. And I had better try to catch up! It is supposed to snow again tonight.

Red Trees and Green Field (Mini-Painting as of Jan. 31, 2014)

Red Trees and Green Field (Mini-Painting as of Jan. 31, 2014), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

Here is one more of the miniature paintings that I worked on a few days ago (January 31). I added more green to the foreground and some red accents to the trees. I also straightened out the road, and fixed some little problems with the perspective. But of course, everything is little with this painting, because the canvas is only 3 inches square.

Golden Mountains (Mini-Painting as of Jan. 31, 2014)

Golden Mountains (Mini-Painting as of Jan. 31, 2014), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

Here's another of my mini-paintings as it looked a few days ago. I added a little bit of blue to the sky, fixed a couple of wayward lines, and now I am ready to say that it is finished. This is oil bar on a canvas that is 3 inches square.

Another Heart Shaped Box as of February 1, 2014

Another Heart Shaped Box as of February 1, 2014, a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

I spent a little time at Porter Mill Studios today, working on this project. This was once a candy box (filled with Turtles, to be exact). I am covering it with collaged designs made with printed metallic ribbon. I have been working on the top of the box, creating purple and orange stripes, which are just beginning to appear. Progress is slow, but this is coming along. This is called "Another Heart Shaped Box" because it is not the first one I have made. So if you want to see where this is headed, follow this link to my first heart-shaped box: http://www.flickr.com/photos/randiart/sets/72157632769935420/