New Year Skating Rink (Video)

I created this little animation on my iPad using the Procreate app, which captures a video replay as you draw.  I am sending this out today to wish everyone happy times and safe travels as the calendar changes to 2019.

December Flowers (Posterized Photo)

During a recent trip to Tendercrop Farms to pick up bread, fruit, and lettuce, I stopped to admire the bouquets on sale.  And of course  I took pictures.  Today I cropped this image out of one of those photos, and then posterized it. I generally like what happens to cellophane in a posterized photo, but in this case, I did a bit of retouching where the cellophane was a distraction.  

Chelsea (with Prisma Filter)

I love my Prisma app, but ever since the last iOS upgrade, it has been on the fritz, both on my iPhone and iPad.  I have been trying to figure out why.  When I open the app, it usually freezes on the camera screen and that is that.  I have tried deleting and reinstalling the app, usually to no avail.  But recently, a reinstall allowed the app to work for maybe about 3 minutues, just long enough for me to take a picture of the nearest subject (which was our Chelsea), and to apply a filter.  After that, the app was kaput again.*  But I am glad to have this image of Chelsea, nonetheless.

*I have reported this to Prisma, and was told is that this is a known issue associated with the latest iOS and that they are working on it.

Three Little Girls (Rescued and Posterized Snapshot)

This image began with a snapshot recently found among my Dad's photos. (A few weeks ago, my cousin sent me two boxes of my father's old pictures.) The small color snapshot we found shows my daughter (on the left) with two of her cousins.  The snapshot itself was in awful shape. I was only half joking when I said that it looked like someone had driven a car over the photo and had then spilled spaghetti sauce on it.  But I liked the picture and my daughter wanted a clean copy.  So I scanned the image into my computer and did some basic retouching in iPhoto.  Then I opened the image in Painter and used digital pastel to clean up the image, sampling color repeatedly and using a very opague digital brush so I could draw into/over the image without creating a flat texture.  I was pretty happy with the rescued snapshot and sent it to my daughter.  And as I cleaned it up, I liked it more and more. So I decided to also created this "artsy" version by adding Painter's posterizing effect. I also cropped the image to get this composition. 

Vase with Pink Flowers (Procreate Video Playback)

Yesterday I posted a digital drawing. I was using the Procreate app on my iPad, trying out a new brush called "hexavector".  As you draw, the Procreate captures each stroke, and here is the little playback video of yesterday's drawing.  

Vase with Pink Flowers (Procreate Drawing with Hexavector Brush)

I have been using the Procreate app on my iPad to create digital drawings and animations for the holidays. I love doing that, and will do more.  But when I am making an animation, my focus is on the sequence of what I draw, and I usually rely on just two or three brushes, and it all works. But today I decided to explore a bit because I am still learning what this drawing program can do.  I looked in the "abstract brushes" and found one called "hexavector".  I didn't know what it was, but of course, the brush is hexagon-shaped.  I had no idea what it would do, but I tried it.  This is what I came up with.  Of course, Procreate also made a video replay of the drawing, and I plan to post it tomorrow.

Bunny Says Happy Holidays! (Digital Drawing)

This digital drawing is the final frame of a video I posted yesterday, inspired by the bunnies who live in our back yard and occasionally let us see them.  I used a drawing app on my iPad to create the video. The app is called Procreate and it captures a stroke-by-stroke video as you draw.  I cleaned up the drawing a bit and am posting it today to wish everyone happy times and safe travels during the holiday season. 

Bunny Says Happy Holidays (Video)

I created this little animation earlier in the week, using the Procreate app on my iPad.  Procreate is a drawing program, and as you draw, it captures a stroke-by-stroke video. This was inspired by the bunnies that live in our back yard. I am sending this out to wish everyone lovely holidays!

Two Paintings in Galatea's December Show

Today I finally had a chance to get into Boston to see the December show at Galatea Fine Arts.  This show features work from all Galatea artists and it is up for another week. I enjoyed seeing the work of the other Galatea artists.  I have two paintings in the show, "Blue Layers" and "Snow-Capped Mountains," both acrylic watermedia on Aquaboard.  I liked the way they looked on the wall, so I took this picture.

Water's Edge at Sundown

Here's another picture from Wednesday's photo shoot at Lynch Park as the sun was setting.  The water was iridescent.  I tried to take a picture of the multicolor effects in the ripples.  This is the best I could do.

Sunset Reflections (Lynch Park)

On Wednesday afternoon, my daughter and I were running errands. We were at the Beverly Cove Community Center around 4:30 and a light show began as the sun began to set. So we started taking pictures.  Then we took the "scenic route" back to her place, which took as past Lynch Park.  From the road we looked down at the park and saw the sunset reflected in the water. So we changed our plans, turned into the park, got out of the car, and took more pictures.  This was taken at 4:40 pm. The colors in the water were great! Tonight I cropped the original photo to get this composition. 

December Silhouette

Yesterday afternoon, my daughter and I were running errands, and around 4:30 the sun began to set and there was a light show in the sky.  Here is a photo that I took near the Beverly Cove Community Center. Tonight I cropped the original to get this composition.

Late Afternoon Sky

On Wednesdays, late in the afternoon, my daughter and I run errands together.  Today it was cold but the sky was clear. And around 4:30, the sky began to turn gorgeous colors.  This is a picture I took at the Cove Community Center here in Beverly. Tonight I cropped the original photo to get this composition.

Bouquet with Pine Needles (Posterized Photo)

Today's errands included a stop at "Tendercrop Farm," a lovely little grocery store here in Beverly, MA. We had to pick up eggs, bread, fruit, and lettuce.  But there were also had some lovely bouquets on display, so I stopped to take some pictures.  I cropped this image out of one of my photos, and used Painter to add posterizing effect. 

December Window (With Prisma FIlter)

I have been concentrating on black-and-white photos for a week. It is a great exercise because it emphasizes line and pattern. But I am ready for color again.  Here is a peek through my window blinds, in color.  I used my Prisma app to add a filter.

Black and White Photo Day 7

This is my seventh black-and-white photo, part of a challenge to post a black-and-white photo every day for a week, with no people and no commentary.  So this is the last one.

Black and White Photo Day 6

This is my sixth black-and-white photo, part of a challenge to post a black-and-white photo every day for a week, with no people and no commentary.  

Black and White Photo Day 5

Here is my fifth black-and-white photo, part of a challenge to post a black-and-white photo daily for a week, with no people and no commentary.  

Black and White Photo Day 4

Here is another photo, part of a challenge to post a black-and-white photo every day for seven days, with no people and no commentary.  This is my fourth photo.

Black and White Photo Day 3

This is part of a challenge, to post a black and white photo every day for seven days, with no people and no commentary.  This is my third photo.

Black and White Photo Day 2

I have been challenged to post a black and white photo every day for seven days.  There are to be no people in the photo, and no commentary about the photo.  This is the second one.

Black and White Photo Day 1

I have been challenged to post a black and white photo every day for seven days.  There are to be no people in the photo, and no commentary about the photo.  This is the first one.

Reposting: Menorah in the Window (Video)

For the last night of Chanukah, one more menorah. This is a little animation that I created back in 2016, using my iPad. If you want to light the candles, just press play.

Guest Artist David Fitterman: Mindy's Menorah

My cousin David makes metal menorahs, and he made this one for his sister Mindy (my cousin). If you look closely, you can see the Hebrew letter aleph in this design. 

Reposting: Hopeful Menorah

This image was originally posted here back in November of 2012. (At the time, I was working on images for Chanukah cards.) This is a digital revision of the Chanukah collage menorah that I posted here two days ago.  I had decided to use the same image and change the colors on the computer.  I don't know why I called it a "Hopeful Menorah." The colors do look more festive than the original, and but I think my high hopes had more to do with November 2012 election results. But I am not sure it matters why; menorahs are always hopeful. 

Guest Artist Herman Susser: Wooden Menorah

This menorah was made by Herman Susser,  my friend since forever, or at least since kindergarten.  Herman creates a lot of woodworking projects, and when I saw a photo of this menorah, I begged and pleaded and kvetched until he sent me one. I love the pattern, quite modern and very unusual, and this menorah is adjustable. It even folds flat so you can store it easily. And it is very special to have a menorah made by a friend.

Reposting: Chanukah Collage (Paper Menorah)

Here's another Chanukah classic, a collage I made back in 2006.  This one is very simple, but it was fun to make.  Later I created a digital version of this image with a different color scheme, and then used it to make a giftwrap pattern.

Reposting: Chanukah Dreidel (Digital Drawing)

I am reposting this little Chanukah classic, last posted here in 2005. I made this little dreidel not out of clay but out of pixels, using my very first Painter program. In fact, this was one of my first attempts at digital art. I have used this little dreidel for holiday cards, gift wrap, and e-mail greetings, and it still makes me smile. So I thought I would take it out today and give it another spin. Happy Chanukah!

Tree of Life Menorah (Digital Drawing)

It's the second night of Chanukah! Yesterday I posted a little animation that I created on my iPad with the Procreate app.  My idea was to start with an image of the "Tree of Life" and then transform the tree into a menorah,  in honor of those lost in the shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburg. (I make these videos by drawing on my iPad with the Procreate app, and the video is created as I draw.)  The video is posted here, on Dec. 2nd. This drawing was the final frame of the video. Today I opened the image in Painter and used some digital pastel to clean it up just a bit.  So "Happy Chanukah" again to those celebrating. Although Chanukah is best known for potato pancakes, jelly doughnuts, and wooden tops, it really is a holiday that celebrates religious freedom.  And to quote that ancient text, "Fiddler on the Roof," "G d would like us to be joyful even when our hearts lie panting on the floor." So it seems appropriate to remember Pittsburg even as we celebrate Chanukah.

Tree of Life Menorah (Video)

It's Chanukah tonight! I have been thinking about an idea for a Chanukah video, and I had the idea of making a "Tree of Life" menorah in honor of those lost in the shooting in Pittsburg. My idea was to start with an image of the "Tree of Life" and then transform the tree into a menorah.  (I make these videos by drawing on my iPad with the Procreate app, and the video is created as I draw.)  Well, the Procreate app has a stylus, but it was out of battery.  But I was eager to get started, so while the stylus was charging, I decided to do a trial run on Procreate, sketching the idea with my finger instead of a stylus (something I used to do all the time with the Brushes app).  But I was able to get through the whole video sequence without any big mistakes or problems (a small miracle in itself), and I liked this brave little menorah.  So I decided that my "trial run" would become the final version.  Sending this out to say "Happy Chanukah" to those celebrating, and for all my lovely Facebookers, no matter what calendar you follow, I wish you courage, freedom, and light.

Two Blue Poinsettias

Here's another of the photos that I took during a recent trip to the grocery store. I saw a few blue poinsettias on display and I took a few pictures.  I have seen plenty of red and white poinsettias, but never blue.  And these were beautiful, with iridescent blue and purple petals.