Crab Apples (Long Hill Gardens) Posterized Version

Yesterday I posted a closeup photo of crab apples, taken during a recent walk at Long Hill Gardens, here in Beverly, MA.  Tonight I opened the image in Painter and did a bit of cleanup with digital pastel, and then added posterizing.

Crab Apples (Long Hill Gardens)

Last Thursday, we went to Long Hill Gardens and walked down to see the fruit trees lining the road. There was a lot to see: apple trees, berries, and crap apples. I cropped this closeup from a photo of a crab apple tree.

Another Heart Shaped Box as of Sept. 28, 2015

Today I went to Porter Mill Studios and worked for a while on this project. I am covering a heart-shaped candy box with collage designs created rom printed metallic ribbon. I am still and forever working on the top of the box. The orange and purple stripes are almost done. Although I am still filling in little gaps in the stripes, I decided to work on the gold border too, to make this more fun. I call this "Another Heart Shaped Box" because this isn't the only one I have made. If you want to see how my first heart-shaped box turned out, follow this link: www.flickr.com/photos/randiart/albums/72157632769935420

Another View of the Road (Long Hill Gardens)

Here's another photo from a recent trip to Long Hill Gardens, here in Beverly, MA. The late afternoon light was beautiful and I loved the dappled light on the path, so I took another picture. Tonight I edited the original, cropping the image to line up the edges of the path with the bottom of the photo.

Road at Long Hill Gardens

On Thursday, we took an afternoon walk at Long Hill Gardens, here in Beverly, MA. The light was beautiful and I took a lot of pictures.  This one is a photo of the road leading from the apple orchard to up to the main house and gardens.  I especially like the dappled light on the road (newly paved!).  I think I might try to paint this scene.  Tonight I used Painter to obscure a sign with some digital pastel, and then cropped the image to line up the edges of the road with the corners of the image.

View Through the Trees (Lynch Park)

We've had some nice weather for walks, which also means opportunities to take pictures. Here's one from a recent walk at Lynch Park, here in Beverly, MA. I liked the play of light and dark, so I took this picture. Tonight I cropped the original photo to get this composition.

Apple Tree on the Wall

Here's a quirky little photo that I took yesterday, looking up from Goat Hill Beach to the neighborhood park above. I was surprised to see a beautiful apple tree, with a bonus of an extra set of branches growing out near the ground. It looked kind of biblical, made me think of the hanging gardens of Babylon. Anyway, I liked the combination of textures (chain-link fence, stone, apples and foliage), so I took a picture. Later I cropped the image to get this composition.

Patterns in Water and Sky (Goat Hill Beach)

I took this photo yesterday during a walk at Goat Hill Beach, here in Beverly, MA. Our dog goes nuts when she sees the water, so it is hard to concentrate on taking photos. But I liked the way the water looked, so I took a couple of quick pictures. Because I was shooting towards the sun, the exposure was wrong, a real rookie mistake: easy to make and easy to correct these days, with iPhoto or Photo Shop. But I took a second look at the photo and decided not to correct the mistake because it revealed some interesting patterns in the water and sky, and those patterns disappear when the "mistake" is corrected.

L'Shana Tova (Final Version)

For Rosh Hashanah, I created a version of this image, using the Brushes app on my iPad, and posted it here. The Brushes app captures a stroke-by-stroke animation as you draw, so I also posted that for the second day of Rosh Hashanah. When you draw on an iPad, you are basically drawing with your fingertips and it is hard to be precise. Today I decided to go back to the iPad drawing and open in it Painter (on my desktop) so that I could try to clean it up. In Painter, I threw a grid over the image, and used cut-and-paste to rearrange some of the letters and solve a few placement problems. Then I did a whole lot of general cleanup with digital pastel, fixing many, many tiny problems. And then I corrected the format by adding 50 pixels to right and left and adding the same background color. But It's still not perfect, but I think it looks better. I think that in art (and in life) better is better than perfect. So I am post this new version today to say Happy New Year to friends and family on Yom Kippur and to wish everyone health and happiness in the days ahead.

Ocean from Salem Willows Pier (Digitally Modified)

Here's one last image from a recent trip to Salem Willows. I took a photo looking out toward the ocean from the pier. The sky was amazing that day. Although I was happy with the photo, there was a metal pipe under one of the rails of the pier. It was a bit of a distraction, so tonight I decided to see if I could do something about it. Tonight I opened the image in Painter and used a combination of digital pastel and some cut-and-paste to get rid of that pipe.

Wall at Salem Willows (Edited and Posterized)

Here's another image from last week's outing at Salem Willows Park. I love this old sea wall overlooking the water, so I took some pictures. In the original photo, the wall is broken, and in a place that was distracting from the composition I was after. So today I opened the image in Painter and used cut-and-paste and digital pastel to do a little masonry. While I was at it, I trimmed some weeds. Then I added a bit of posterizing to cover my tracks.

Sailboats at Salem Willows

Here's another image from our recent trip to Salem Willows. The light was very interesting, a cloudy sky with a backdrop of blue. And the water was a luminous gray-blue. I took this picture from the pier, looking at a line of sailboats. That's Beverly, MA, on the other shore. Tonight I edited the original version in iPhoto, cropping it to get this composition.

Blue Horizon (Salem Willows)

Last week, we took an afternoon walk at Salem Willows Park. The light was great and the sky was beautiful, so I took a lot of pictures. In this photo, I like the band of pale blue near the horizon. Tonight I used iPhoto to make some small adjustments and then cropped the original image to get the composition.

Path at the Pond (Posterized and Edited Photo)

Yesterday I posted a recent photo that I took of the path at the Cummings Center Pond, here in Beverly, MA.  I have been thinking about painting that scene, so tonight I opened the photo in Painter and worked through some issues to get it ready.  The lines of the path were disappearing in the strong sun, so I modified the color of the path at that point, and changed the adjacent color to make the path easier to see.  Then I cropped the photo to get a better composition and a square format.  I darkened some of the branches at the top of the image.  Then I posterized the image.  I think this is going to be the next scene I paint.

Path at the Pond

Here's another photo from a recent walk at the Cummings Center Pond, here in Beverly, MA. I liked the dappled light on the path. Today I edited this in iPhoto. I might try to do more of it in Painter because I think I might want to paint this scene sometime.

Crab Apples (Digitally Edited and Posterized Photo)

During a recent walk at the Cummings Center Pond, I had a chance to photograph some crab apples at eye level. Some of the leaves had been pretty badly torn up, but tonight I used Painter's digital pastel to do make some quick repairs, and then added the posterize effect.

L'Shana Tova Animation

Yesterday I posted a digital drawing of apples and honey (for Rosh Hashanah) that I made on my iPad with the Brushes app. As you draw, the Brushes app captures a stroke-by-stroke video as you draw, resulting in a little animation. In this case, you can watch as I struggle and fail and try again to get things right. Sending this out to say Happy New Year (L'Shana Tova) to those celebrating Rosh Hashanah, and to wish everyone health and happiness in the days ahead.

L'Shana Tova

This is a little drawing of apples and honey for Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year). I have been working on it today, using the Brushes app on my iPad. I am basically drawing with my fingertips. It is easy to make mistakes. But in art and in life, perfection is out of reach. It is time to stop (for now) and post this because I am sending this out to wish everyone a good year ahead, no matter which calendar they follow.

Idea for Rosh Hashanah Image

Today I had an idea for an image for Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year), which is coming right up.  This is a simple image of apples and honey on a plate, but I want some visual puns in the drawing: the face of a clock, the sphere of the earth.  I made a quick little sketch of the idea in ballpoint pen on an envelope.  Later, I started to create the image in the Brushes app on my iPad.  I hope to post it tomorrow.

World Trade Center July 2001 (Pink Digital Woodcut)

In July of 2001, we went to New York to visit. My cousin suggested it would be fun to take a walk over the Brooklyn Bridge, so we did, and it was lovely, and I took a lot of pictures of that beautiful bridge. And in the background, I was capturing some pictures of the World Trade Center. Although that wasn't my main intent at the time, now I feel lucky about that little excursion because the towers fell just a few months later. This image is a "digital woodcut" that I created from one of the photos from that day. September 11, 2001, was a reminder that life can shock you with sudden losses. And we don't always have a warning or any say in the matter. However, what we can decide to do is to remember and honor and be inspired by what has been lost.

Face of the Model (Detail of Ghost Drawing)

I have been posted details of faces cropped from some of my figure drawings.  I found these drawings in a sketchbook that I used a few years ago in a figure drawing workshop at Porter Mill.   I am ending this little series with this one. This is graphite bar on paper, done in a style that I call "ghost drawings".  I turn the graphite bar on its side to draw, so I get wide bands of shadow rather than fine lines.  For the face, I do use a few lines drawn with the tip or edge of the graphite bar.

Face of Woman with Harp (Detail of Ghost Drawing)

This week I am posting closeup photos of some of my figure drawings, to focus on the faces. All these drawings were done at Porter Mill Studio in a figure drawing workshop. This is another view of the model playing a harp as in the line drawing I posted a few days ago, but this time the style is what I call a "ghost drawing". I use graphite bar, but work in on its side, concentrating on positive and negative space. For a few fine lines in the face, I use the tip of the graphite bar.

Woman with Long Hair (Detail of Ghost Drawing)

This week I am posting some of my drawings of faces. These are all cropped from some figure drawings in a sketchbook that I came across this week. These drawings were all done in figure drawing sessions at Porter Mill. In figure drawing, there is limited time to deal with the face, and besides, the drawings are almost always timed. This drawing is graphite bar on paper, and done in a style I call ghost drawings. For this style, I use the graphite bar on its side, and focus on negative space to create the figure. For the face, I make just a few strokes with the edge of the graphite bar.

Woman's Face (Detail of Ghost Drawing)

This image is cropped from one of the drawings in the sketchbook I came across recently. The sketchbook contains drawings from figure drawing sessions held at Porter Mill Studios a couple of years ago. So the other day I decided to photograph details of the faces, which are always challenging because they have to be done quickly because figure drawings are often timed. This drawing was done in a different style than the line drawings that I posted here yesterday and the day before. For this style, I use a graphite bar, holding it on its side. So I am drawing shapes instead of lines, often concentrating on negative space rather than positive space. For the face, I use the tip or corner edge of the graphite bar and make just a few marks to define the features. I started drawing this way in Lawrence, Kansas, and almost immediately started to call this style "ghost drawings" because the shapes are less defined than my line drawings, yet I have often been surprised at how much I was able to capture.

Face of Harpist (Detail of Drawing)

Yesterday I found some drawings in a sketchbook that I used in some figure drawing sessions at Porter Mill.  I decided to take photos of the drawings to get images of the faces. This one is a detail of a drawing of a model who was using a harp for a prop. Like the drawing I posted yesterday, this was a timed drawing, and also is another line drawing done with pencil.

Face of Woman in Chair (Detail of Drawing)

Today, looking through sketchbooks, I found a series of drawings from figure drawing sessions held a couple of years ago at Porter Mill Studios. I liked the faces in the drawings and I decided to take closeups photos of the drawings to show them.  It is always challenging to draw the face, because these drawings are always timed, and it is always a challenge to get the face in a hurry.  I hope these closeups give you a sense of my drawing styles and the joy and the challenge that I find in drawing. I like these (cropped) drawings of faces as they are.  However, at some point, I hope to create a private album of my figure drawings with a link/password to share with galleries and interested contacts. This would be a big job because I have so many figure drawings, starting in high school with clothed figures, then in college, courses that required drawing from life. In Lawrence, Kansas, I was in a drawing group called "Artists and Models"; we met weekly to draw from models and had group shows. Since then, I have taken a figure drawing classes, workshops and drawing sessions when I can. For me, it's the most difficult kind of drawing there is.)

Chrysanthemum Close-up (Digital Woodcut)

Here's one more version of my chrysanthemum photo. For this one, I applied Painter's woodcut effect. I played around with the controls until I got the amount of black line that I wanted.

Chrysanthemum Close-up (Posterized)

Yesterday I published a close-up photo of a pink chrysanthemum (part of a little bouquet from Trader Joe's). This is another version. I used Painter to apply a posterized effect, which heightens the colors and simplifies shapes.

Chysanthemum Close-up

I have a little bouquet that I picked up last weekend during a Trader Joe's run. There are just a few flowers, chrysanthemums and lilies, but the blossoms are large. I liked the pattern of the petals in this pink chrysanthemum, so I took a quick picture with my cellphone. Later I noticed that there was a distracting gap between two of the petals, so I opened the image in Painter and drew in the missing petal. While I was in Painter, I made a posterized version of this photo, as well as a digital woodcut, and I plan to post them soon.

Another Heart Shaped Box as of Sept. 1, 2015

This morning I went to Porter Mill and worked for a while on this project. I am covering this heart-shaped candy box with designs created from bits of printed metallic ribbon. It's been a couple of months since I worked on this project. (It has been a busy summer.) I am still working on the stripes on the top of the box. The purple stripes are close to done, but there are a lot of gaps in the orange stripes, and filling them is slow, tedious, and mind-numbing. I decided to work on the gold border at the same time which should break up the monotony and give me additional motivation. I call this "Another Heart-Shaped Box" because this isn't the first heart-shaped box I have done. Looking at the first one also motivates me to keep going. If you want to see the first heart-shaped box I made, follow this link: www.flickr.com/photos/randiart/albums/72157632769935420