Check Out Hydrangea (Posterized Photo)

This is the last of the images from my recent photoshoot in the checkout line at the grocery store. (I was in a very slow line, but next to a flower display, so I took photos with my iPhone camera.) The original version of this photo showed a couple of women with shopping carts and some shelves of canned goods in the background. I used Painter's digital pastel to simplify the background, and then posterized the photo to get this image.

Grocery Hydrangea (Posterized)

One more image from my recent photo shoot at the supermarket. The checkout line was not moving. I saw that I was standing next to a flower display, so I pulled out my iPhone and took some pictures. The original photo of this hydrangea needed some work, because the upper part of the photo had captured some bits of the supermarket that I didn't want in my picture. So I opened the image in Painter and used digital pastel to create a plain purple background. Then i applied some posterizing effect, working one section at a time to get what I wanted.

Flowers and Polka Dots

I was planning to post something else tonight but I am changing over to a new computer and it is taking a long time. So I decided to sketch something on my iPhone with the Brushes app.

Yellow and Green Daisies

One more image from my recent photo shoot in the checkout line at Market Basket! I was next to the flower display and the line was not moving, so I got out my cellphone. You can find beauty just about anywhere, if you look! I cropped the original version to get this composition.

Pink Mums at Market Basket

Here's another picture from the little set of photos that I took yesterday at the grocery store. I was standing in a slow-moving line and realized that the line was next to a display of flowers for sale. So I took out my iPhone took some pictures. Today I cropped this one to improve the composition.

White Daisies for Sale

Today I was in a slow-moving line at the grocery store. But I was standing right next to a flower display, so I started taking pictures with my iPhone camera. Here is one of the pictures, white daisies with green centers..

Hamentaschen Blues

Even though Purim is over, I decided to play a bit more with my hamentaschen pattern. (Hamentaschen are triangular filled cookies eaten on the Jewish holiday of Purim.)  So here is another riff on Hamentaschen. For this version, I used a blue background and Painter's pattern pen. 

Composition with Hamentaschen (Digital Woodcut)

Yesterday's post was a revision of a digital drawing of hamentaschen (a filled triangular cookie eaten on the Jewish holiday of Purim). I created the drawing in Painter and also updated the pattern I had made from the image r. Well, it is still Purim, so today I made this image, using Painter's pattern pen and the woodcut effect.

Hamentashen (Digital Woodcut)

This image is an update of a Purim classic. In 2012, I created a a digital drawing of hamentaschen, a triangular filled cookie eaten on the Jewish holiday of Purim. In 2012, I used the drawing as an illustration for a Hamentaschen recipe on our foodblog, seasoningforeverypalate.wordpress.com. Today I updated the original drawing by adding Painter's woodcut effect. Purim is a holiday that celebrates freedom from oppression based on religion. It's old, but it is a classic, still very relevant today.

Flowers (Pencil Sketch)

Today I came across a drawing of flowers in one of my sketchbooks. I liked the drawing but it was done in pencil with a very light touch, so light that the lines were hard to see. So this morning I decided to trace over the original line with darker pencil. I kept every line and didn't try to change anything or correct mistakes.

Spring Snow on Blueberry Bush

We had snow overnight. Everyone says this is the last snow of the season, but you never know. The temperatures were due to rise quickly, so I took some photos this morning, and cropped this image out of one of them. I love the way the snow outlines the tracery of the blueberry bushes.

Irish Daydream (Mixed Media Drawing)

Yesterday I went back to the Irish landscape drawing that I started on March 17th. I drew this from imagination and from memories of the short time I spent on the emerald isle. So yesterday I drew back into my sketch, using colored conte pencils over the marker to smooth out the colors and to modify a few of them. This is just about as far as I can go with this, apart from minor cleanup. Maybe I will use it on Zazzle (perhaps a St. Patrick's Day card for next year).. But I also think I might turn this into a painting sometime.

Another Heart-Shaped Box (Front and Back) Mar 16, 2016

On Wednesday, I went to Porter Mill Studios and worked on this project. I am covering a heart-shaped candy box with collage designs made from printed metallic ribbon. Yesterday's post was the front (top) of the box which I am covering with orange and purple stripes, and currently working on the gold border. But on Wednesday, I also decided what to do with the back of the box, and began to paste ribbon pieces in brown with tiny flowers in pink and gold. So here is a picture of the front and back. The back doesn't look like much yet. But if you want to see where this project is headed, take a look at my first heart-shaped box by following this link: www.flickr.com/photos/randiart/albums/72157632769935420

Another Heart Shaped Box (as of Mar 16, 2016)

On Wednesday, I went to the studio at Porter Mill and worked on this project. (It's been a LONG time!) I am covering this heart-shaped candy box with collaged designs created from pieces of printed metallic ribbon. It has taken me approximately forever to get this far with the top of the box, but the purple and orange stripes are just about finished, so I spent time filling in some gaps in the stripes, and I also worked on the gold border. While I was working, I suddenly figured out how I want the bottom of the box to look and decided to go ahead and get that started. (More about that tomorrow.) I call this "Another Heart-Shaped Box" because it isn't my first one. If you want to see my first heart-shaped box project, follow this link:

www.flickr.com/photos/randiart/albums/72157632769935420

Irish Daydream (As of Mar. 17, 2016)

I started this sketch late this afternoon, working from my imagination and from memories from the short amount of time I have spent on the Emerald Isle. There really are places that look like this, bright green squares of land, like a quilt. I worked on this drawing with colored Sharpies and some conte crayon. It took a lot longer than I thought it would, and it still isn't finished. But I am posting it now because they say everybody is Irish today.

Views of an Elephant (Sketch for Cartoon)

Earlier this week, I was looking through an old sketchbook and found a set of sketches for cartoons. I drew these sketches a few years ago because I was asked to come up with illustrations for a workshop on ethics and accountability. The cartoons were never finalized because plans for the workshop changed. But I like the sketches and decided to post them here. (As with the others, I did some minimal digital cleanup in Painter to make them presentable.) Anyway, this was to illustrate the parable of the blind man and the elephant, the point of which is that how you perceive something (a problem, an issue, an organization) depends on your point of view.

Fork in the Road (Sketch for Cartoon)

This sketch is part of a little set that I found recently while I was going through an old sketchbook. I drew a series of sketches for cartoons that were to be used in a workshop. (The presentation was to be on ethics and accountability.) As you can see, this sketch is not finished. The cartoons were never finalized because plans for the workshop were changed. But it was fun to draw them anyway.

Old Dogs New Tricks (Sketch for Cartoon)

Here's another cartoon from the set that I found this week while looking through one of my old sketchbooks. I was asked to draw cartoons for a workshop on ethics in public sector administration. Even though plans for the workshop changed and the cartoons were never finalized, I enjoyed drawing them.

Signpost and Compass (Sketch for Cartoon)

Here's another of the cartoons I found in a sketchbook the other day. These were for a workshop on ethics and accountability. The audience was to have been administrators in the public sector, which is why these characters are wearing suits and ties with their shorts and hiking boots. But even in your best business clothes, you can feel lost and need to find a sense of direction. The cartoons were never finished because plans for the workshop changed, but I still enjoyed drawing them. Today I used Painter to do just enough cleanup to make this presentable and legible.

Too Much Baggage (Sketch for Cartoon)

This is one of the cartoons I found yesterday when I was looking through some old sketchbooks. I drew these cartoons a few years ago to illustrate a workshop presentation. The topic was ethics, accountability or some such: "multiple, diverse, and conflicting expectations." Yesterday's post was a bunch of cartoon faces that I drew to practice. Then I started to work out my ideas. I am particularly fond of this one, even though it is very rough. (The cartoons never made it to final form because plans for the workshop were changed.) Tonight I did just a tiny bit of cleanup in Painter to make all the writing legible.

Funny Faces (Sketching for Cartoons)

Today I was looking through some old sketchbooks, and I found this. A few years ago, I was asked to come up with some cartoons for a workshop presentation. (I am not sure, but I think the topic was ethics and accountability, or some such.) I had ideas for the cartoons, but first I needed to practice drawing the faces because I don't draw cartoons very often. So I started by drawing a whole page of funny faces. Today I also found several sketches for the cartoons as well. They never made it to finished form because plans for the presentation were changed. But I do like the cartoon sketches anyway, and I am glad I found them. I hope to post some of them here over the next few days.

Little Pen and Ink Bouquet

This afternoon I drew this little bouquet, using a fine-line pen on a 4 x 4 inch piece of paper. It was a good drawing exercise, and a nice break in my day.

Grocery Store Tulips Digital Woodcut

Here's one more version of my photo of grocery store tulips. This time, in addition to using Painter posterizing the photo, I added a woodcut effect. It took a bit of trial and error to figure out how many colors to use and how much black line to add.

Grocery Store Tulips (Posterized Photo)

Tonight I went back to my recent photo of tulips on display at the grocery store (posted here day before yesterday). I opened the image in Painter and used some cut-and-paste and digital pastel to get rid of a bit of distracting cellophane decoration that I hadn't noticed before. Then I applied a posterizing effect at level 8 (pretty strong) and got some nice colors.

More Grocery Store Tulips

Yesterday I saw some tulips on display in the grocery store and I took some pictures.  I posted one of the photos here last night.  Tonight I cropped this image from another of the photos that I took.

Grocery Store Tulips

Even though warmer temperatures are on the way, here north of Boston there is still snow on the ground. So sometimes you have to find spring where you can, and sometimes that is in the grocery store. Today I saw some tulips on display in the grocery store, so I took some pictures. Tonight I edited one of those photos to get this image.

Snow on Beverly Common (Digital Woodcut)

Last night I posted a photo of Beverly Common. I took the photo yesterday from my daughter's car while were stopped at a red light on the way back from Salem. I liked the tracery of the branches and the snow so I took a picture. Tonight I decided to use Painter to add a woodcut effect and I think I like it.

Snow on Beverly Commons

It snowed today. But as snowstorms go, this wasn't too bad: snow coating the tree branches, but not really sticking on roads and sidewalks. I took this photo from the passenger seat of my daughter's car. We were on the way back from Salem and hit a red light just at Beverly Common, so I took a picture through the car window. The original version needed a little help, so tonight I edited to get this image.

Four Roses (Digital Print)

I made this image on the computer tonight using Painter. I used the pattern pen loaded up with a pattern I created recently with a rose against a striped background. I used a very large brush and a pink background. Then I posterized the image and used some digital pastel to simplify the composition. When I make images this way, I call them "digital prints". Actually, they aren't really prints at all, but the process reminds me of printmaking.

Dappled Light and Footbridge

Here's another image from yesterday's walk at the Cummings Center Pond here in Beverly, MA. Tonight I edited the original photo to get this image. This pond is in the middle of an office park (Cummings Center), but you forget that as you follow the path around the pond. If you walk far enough, you see surprises, such as dappled light on the path and this little wooden footbridge.

Branches at the Pond

We had great weather yesterday, warm enough for a walk at the Cummings Center Pond. It's not really spring yet, but after last year's winter, we will take it. I took a few pictures. This scene is simple but it caught my eye: bare branches against the ripples on the water.