Happy New Year 2020

I made this video with the Procreate app on my iPad.  The video is based on a simple idea, but I hope the passage of time will bring health and happiness in 2020.

Boulder Scenic Overlook 79

It is time to start another mountain painting, so once again I am looking for inspiration in old photo albums. This is a photo taken at the scenic overlook near Boulder, back in 1979 during a family vacation.  I cleaned up a few scratches, but did a little cropping, but this is pretty close to the original snapshot. I used Painter to do some serious digital edition so I can use this as a photo reference for my next painting, and I will post that in a few days. 

Overlook at Sapphire Point (Acrylic Water Media)

This is the painting I have been working on. This painting was inspired by a snapshot that I took during a family trip to Colorado. We stopped at the Sapphire Point Overlook, with a view of the Blue River.  (The original snapshot is posted here Dec. 16 and a digitally modified version that I used as my reference is posted here on Dec. 18.) Over the past few days, I have made a lot of small changes, but now I am ready to say it is done. And just in time, because tomorrow I am delivering it to Galatea Fine Art in Boston, for the Artist Alcove display in January.

Overlook at Sapphire Point (Painting as of December 26, 2019)

Here is my painting as it looked on December 26th.  That day and the day before I added washes to make areas darker and lighter, trying to get the effects of atmospheric perspective.  I added opaque washes of pale blue to the mountains that were further away, and opaque washes of purple and green to the areas in the foreground.  I also made some small changes to the water near the shoreline.  This is based on a photo that I took during a Colorado trip in the 1980s.  (Original photo and digital photo reference posted here Dec. 16 and 18.) This is getting close to the finish line.

Overlook at Sapphire Point (Painting as of December 21, 2019)

Here is my painting as it looked on December 21. I am painting this scene based on a snapshot taken during a family trip to Breckenridge in the '80s. (The original snapshot is posted here Dec. 16 and a digitally modified photo reference is posted on Dec. 18.) This photo shows additional light on the water, an opaque white wash over the sky, an transparent blue wash over the mountains on the far side of the river, and color added to the mountains in the far distance. To be continued. . . .

Overlook at Sapphire Point (Painting as of Dec. 20, 2019)

This is my current painting as it looked a few days ago, December 20th. This is another of my mountain landscapes. This one was inspired by 1980's era snapshot that I took during a family vacation near Breckenridge. On December 20, I added a lot of color, using the original photo as well as a digitally modified version as a guide.  To be continued. . . .

Mountainside Snow (Digital Drawing)

Yesterday I posted a video of a snowstorm on a mountainside.  I created the video on my iPad with the Procreate program, which captures a an animation as you draw.  This drawing is what the video looked like at the end, though I did clean the letter up a bit in Painter.  Sending this out to wish everyone happiness during the holidays.

Mountainside Snow (Video)

I made this little animation on my iPad today, using the Procreate app.  I am sending it out today to wish everyone a very enjoyable holiday season.

Menorah 2019 (Digital Drawing)

This digital drawing is the final frame of the video I posted yesterday.  I drew this on my iPad with the Procreate app, which captures a video replay as you draw.  Sending this out  with good wishes for a Happy Chanukah to those celebrating and for all my facebookers, good wishes for happiness, light, and freedom.

Menorah 2019 (Video)

I drew a menorah today on my iPad, using Procreate. The Procreate app captures a video replay as you draw. Just press play to light the candles.

Overlook at Sapphire Point (Painting as of December 19, 2019)

This is my painting as it looked on the second day I worked on it (December 19, 2019).  I added pink to the sky (and the sun), and some pink reflections in the water. I used a pattern of brush strokes to suggest trees in the foreground. This painting is inspired by a photo that I took during a trip to Colorado in the 1980s. The snapshot is posted here on December 17, and the digitally altered version that is my photo reference is posted here on December 18, 2019. To be continued. . .

Overlook at Sapphire Point (Painting as of Dec. 18, 2019)

This is my current painting as it looked on December 18, 2019, the first day of painting.  This project was inspired by an old vacation photo that I took during a trip to Breckenridge, Colorado, during the 80s. (Snapshot posted here on December 16th). The snapshot was taken at the Sapphire Point Overlook, near Frisco.  I used Painter to create a digitally modified version of the snapshot to serve as my photo reference (posted here on December 17th). Today's post shows the beginning of the painting process as I roughed in the basic composition with pale blue paint.  To be continued. . . .

Overlook at Sapphire Point (Modified Photo, Painting Reference)

This image began with the photo I posted yesterday, a family snapshot taken in the 1980s during a family trip to Breckenridge, Colorado.  With a bit of searching, I found the location: the Overlook at Sapphire Point, near Frisco, with a view of the Blue River.  To get want I wanted for my painting, I did a bit of digital editing in Painter. I used digital pastel to get the trees out of the way, and then re-drew the lines of the mountains.  (I wasn't going for a finished drawing here, just a guide for the composition of my painting.) Then I used Painter to posterize the image, and did a second crop to get this image. 

Snapshot of Blue River (Near Breckenridge)

Time to start another mountain landscape. I have been looking through family albums for vacation photos of trips to Colorado. Yesterday I found this one and thought it might work as a photo reference. It was not labeled or dated, but from other photos found with it, I could tell this was taken during a trip to Breckenridge with the kids.  With clues from other photos and a bit of help from my Google,  I figured out that this must have been taken at the Sapphire Point Overlook (near Frisco and  Breckenridge), looking down at the Blue River. Now I know this is not a great photo.  Back then, I was not very good at photography, didn't take it seriously, was probably using a bad camera (maybe a throw-away), and was no doubt a very distracted photographer (family vacation, two kids in elementary school). However, when I saw this photo yesterday, I thought had potential: the view of the river, the lines of those mountains. . .But I knew it would take some digital editing to make this work as a reference for a painting. To be continued. . .

"House on Signal Mountain" (Original and Copy)

Yesterday I mailed my "House on Signal Mountain" painting to its new home in Tennessee.  As is often the case with a "house portrait" of a childhood home, the image is important to more than one person.  So before mailing the original painting, I had a copy made, printed on canvasette (thanks to CCI Reprographics here in Beverly, MA). Yesterday I took this photo of the copy placed on top of the original. It made me smile, so I am posting it here. Tomorrow I am sending the copy off to its new home in Mississippi.  

"House on Signal Mountain" Goes to Nashville

Time for one last look at "House on Signal Mountain." This morning I wrapped it up and dropped it off, and it is on its way to its new home in Nashville.

Winter Street Scene (with Prisma filter)

This image began with a photo that I took from my front door, after last week's snow.  I usually find the  telephone wires and passing cars distracting when I am trying to capture a lovely winter scene.  But today I added a Prisma filter to the photo and cropped the image to get this composition. Now I think the car and the telephone wires seem to fit.

Dogwood, Snow, and Patio (with Prisma filter)

This image started with a photo I took on December 11th, the morning after a snowstorm.  The vantage point was an upstairs window with a view of the dogwood tree from above.  Tonight I added a Prisma filter, toned the saturation down in iPhoto, and cropped the image to get this composition.

December Tree

This image began with another photo that I took earlier this week, the morning after a snow storm.  I like the way snow defines the tracery of the branches. Tonight I cropped the original photo to get this composition.

Reposting: "Orange Ridge" (Acrylic Watermedia)

This is one of my "Mountain Daydreams", painted with acrylics used as watermedia.  It was part of my most recent solo show at Galatea Fine Arts, and in fact, was the image used on the 

publicity postcard for the show.  This afternoon I wrapped it up and delivered it to its new owner.

Snowy Branches

It snowed last night and this morning the branches were covered with snow. They stayed that way all day, which is unusual, and very beautiful.  This morning I took a picture of a tree in the front yard. Tonight I cropped the original photo to get this composition.

Early December Snow (with Woodcut Effect)

Today the temperature rose to 50 degrees, here north of Boston, and most of the snow has disappeared.  More is coming, no doubt.  Time for one more look at my recent photo taken on December 3rd.  Today I used Painter to add a woodcut effect, trying for just enough black line to enhance the tracery of the branches.

Early December Snow (Posterized)

This is the photo that I posted yesterday, but I used Painter to add posterizing effect and enhanced the color with iPhoto's editing tools. 

Early December Snow

I took this photo earlier in the week (December 3rd) after it snowed.  Today I cropped the original version to get this composition.

Reposting: Spring in the Mountains (Acrylic Watermedia Painting)

This is the third of three small paintings on display this month at Porter Mill's December showl.  This is acrylic used watermedia on paper, 9 x 12 inches.

Reposting: Front Range Memory (Posterized Photo)

I am reposting this, a posterized version of a photo that I took near Colorado Springs sometime in 2011.  This image was the inspiration for the painting "Colorado Front Range" that I shipped off yesterday to its new owner in Colorado Springs.

Sending "Colorado Front Range" to Colorado

I have posted this painting here before, but am reposting it now because today I mailed it off to its new owner in Colorado Springs! It's nice to think that this painting will end up so close to the Front Range.  It was inspired by a photo that I took during a trip from Denver to Colorado Springs.

Reposting: Indigo Mountains (Acrylic Water Media)

Here is the second of three of my small paintings that are now on display in Porter Mill's December show. The gallery will be open for Open Studies this weekend.This is one of my "Mountain Daydreams," inspired by memories of my home state of Colorado. This is acrylic watermedia on paper, 9" x 12".

Reposting: Bittersweet Mountains (Acrylic Water Media)

This is a small watercolor (9 x 12), based on my memories of Colorado.  I am reposting this because it is one of three of my paintings currently on display at Porter Mill Gallery for our December show.  Stop by for Open Studios (this weekend).

Reposting: Snow on Blue-Violet Range

I am reposting this because this is one of two paintings that I dropped off yesterday for the December show at Galatea Gallery in Boston.  This is acrylic water media on Aquabord, 16 x 20 (with a 2" cradle, which means it is ready to hand, no frame or glass needed.)

Pikes Peak (Acrylic Watermedia) Final

Well, yesterday I said this was finished, but I noticed some things that I wanted to change.  So I worked on this last night and again this morning.  It really is finished now, because this morning I dropped it of at Galatea Fine Arts in Boston for the December show.