Today I started my next painting. This mountain landscape will be based on a 1978 photo taken during a family trip to Colorado. On the back, the photo says "Loveland Pass, July". (You can still see snow in the Colorado Mountains in midsummer.) The photo is posted here February 26. This morning I roughed in the composition. The S-curve of that road is a challenge to drive, and I think it is also going to be a challenge to paint. . . .
Saturday, February 29, 2020
Friday, February 28, 2020
Layers of Green (Painting) (Final Version)
I finished this painting a couple of weeks ago, but over the last few days I cleaned it up and changed a line or two in this process. This is the version I sent off to be used to publicize my upcoming show in at Galatea in May.
Thursday, February 27, 2020
"Purple Mountains Majesty" (REVISED) Acrylic Water Media
Although I already pronounced this painting finished a few days ago, my daughter recently suggested adding some yellow or orange to balance all the purple tones. I knew she was right, so today I mixed up some very pale yellow to use as highlights (to suggest sunlight on the mountains) and some pale orange (nearly pink) to suggest the red earth of Colorado. I think the colors are more balanced now, and I think the painting was improved by the suggestion.
Wednesday, February 26, 2020
Loveland Pass July 1978 (Reference Photo)
This morning, I looked through family photo albums and found a snapshot to use as a reference for my next painting. (I am working on a series of mountain paintings from family snapshots from trips to Colorado.) On the back of this one, I had written "Loveland Pass, July", and barely visible in the corner was a watermark giving the date as August 1978 (the date the photo was developed.) This was from a trip to Colorado with the kids. Today scanned the photo into the computer, cleaned it up with the retouching tool, and adjusted the color to remove a pink cast. I straightened it just a bit. I thought about cropping it, but decided to leave it as it is.
Tuesday, February 25, 2020
Two Faces (Digital Woodcut)
This image started with an old double-exposed snapshot of my mother and my aunt. I really like the photo. Last year I posted earlier attempts to add some special effects in Painter. It was really hard to get it right because a lot of visual information was missing in the original photo. Well, today I had a chance to have a long phone call with my aunt. It had been a while so I was very glad to talk to her. Since my mom died (in 1984), it seems that when I want to talk to my mother, I call my aunt, who is now almost 101! Anyway, all that got me thinking about this photo today and I decided to give it yet another go. I opened the image in Painter and drew into the image just a bit where visual information was missing or hard to see. Then I selected sections to posterize. Finally I added a digital woodcut effect.
Monday, February 24, 2020
Lynch Park Beach in October (with Prisma filter)
This image began with a photo that I took in October at Lynch Park, a beach-front park here in Beverly, MA. Tonight I added the Prisma filter.
Sunday, February 23, 2020
Purple Mountains Majesty (Acrylic Watermedia)
This is the painting I have been working on, inspired by a photo from a 1980s trip to Colorado. I modified it on the computer to bring out purple colors and have been using it as a painting reference (posted here January 16). Today I concentrated on the foreground, trying to make a stronger connection with the rest of the painting. Then I began to make a lot of very small changes, which is always a clue that I am nearing the finish line. Now I am ready to say that this painting is finished.
Saturday, February 22, 2020
Purple Mountains Majesty (Painting as of February 22, 2020)
I kept going with this painting today. My reference is posted here January 16, a digitally altered snapshot from a Colorado trip back in the 1980s. Today I changed a few shapes that seemed to be working against the perspective. I smoothed out the sky a bit, and added some shapes to the foreground. Almost at the finish line with this one.
Friday, February 21, 2020
Purple Mountains Majesty (Painting as of February 21, 2020)
I worked on this painting again today. I am trying to add more light to some of the areas, using my painting reference as a guide, as well as the original photo. (This painting is inspired by a snapshot taken on a family trip to Colorado; I modified the original photo to highlight purple tones.) This is getting close to where I want it to be, but there are still a few changes I want to make.
Thursday, February 20, 2020
Purple Mountains Majesty (Painting as of February 20, 2020)
I worked on this painting again today. My painting reference is an old snapshot from a family trip to Colorado, digitally modified to emphasize purple tones (posted here January 16). Today, I used my photo reference to correct some of the lines and shapes in the painting. I also began to lighten some of the areas, and I plan to continue that tomorrow.
Wednesday, February 19, 2020
Purple Mountains Majesty (Painting as of February 19, 2020)
This is my current project, a painting inspired by a Colorado vacation photo from years ago. To use my snapshot as a painting reference, I modified it with Painter to bring out purple colors. (Painting reference is posted here, January 16.) Today I kept going, refining some of the lines, and trying to create some contrast between each mountain and the next.
Tuesday, February 18, 2020
Purple Mountains Majesty (Painting as of February 18, 2020)
I worked on this painting again today. My painting reference (posted here January 18) is a snapshot from a trip to Colorado, digitally altered to enhance purple tones. Today, using my reference as a rough guide, I used washes of pale purple and phthalo green to adjust light and dark areas. I also worked on the foreground a bit.
Monday, February 17, 2020
Purple Mountains Majesty (as of February 17, 2020)
Today I did a bit of work on this painting that I started a couple of days ago. My painting reference (posted here January 16) is a snapshot from a family vacation near Breckenridge, Colorado. (I digitally adjusted the colors of the original snapshot to create a purple color scheme.) Today I adjusted some lines for the mountain contours, and also adjusted the shapes in the foreground on the left-hand side. To be continued. . . .
Sunday, February 16, 2020
Purple Mountains Majesty (Painting as of February 16, 2020)
This is the painting I started yesterday. Like the last painting, this is based on a photo taken somewhere near Breckenridge during a family trip, decades ago. (Painting reference posted here January 16, 2020.) Today I added more color and texture to the mountains.
Saturday, February 15, 2020
Purple Mountains Majesty (Painting as of February 15, 2020)
I started a new painting today. Like the painting I just finished, this is inspired by the vacation snapshot, but this time I am using the whole photo, not just a crop from the background, and the colors will be mainly purple. (See painting reference posted here January 16) Today I sketched in the composition, and then painted the sky.
Friday, February 14, 2020
Red Rose Surprise (with Prisma filter)
This was today's surprise, a dozen red roses! I put them in a pitcher and photographed them. Later I added a Prisma filter
Thursday, February 13, 2020
Daffodils on the Counter (with Prisma filter)
Yesterday my daughter brought me this bunch of daffodils. I liked the way they looked on the counter, so I took a picture. Today I added a Prisma filter.
Wednesday, February 12, 2020
Layers of Green (FINAL) Acrylic Watermedia
I know, I know. Yesterday I said this was finished. But today I decided that in adding touches of pink throughout - one of the last changes I made - I had overdone it on the largest mountain, and the turquoise areas that I liked had all but disappeared. So today I fixed that by using some washes of phalo green to get that turquoise color back, using a small brush so I could leave a bit of pink showing. Now this is finished, finally.
Tuesday, February 11, 2020
Layers of Green (Acrylic Watermedia Painting)
Today I worked on this painting, on and off through the day. My reference for this painting is posted here, January 15; a crop from the background of a family vacation snapshot taken near Breckenridge, decades ago. Today I modified shapes and colors with layers of transparent color. Now I am ready to say this is done.
Monday, February 10, 2020
Layers of Green (Painting as of February 10, 2020)
I worked on this painting again today. This image began with a vacation photo taken decades ago in Colorado; I cropped a bit out of the background to use as a painting reference (posted here January 15). Today I added a translucent layer of white to the sky to bring the color and value down. Then I added layers of green to the two mountain slopes in the foreground. I am trying to create a progression of greens, from yellow-green and dark to blue-green and light. At this point, I think the painting just needs a bit of "detailing" so I hope to finish tomorrow or perhaps the day after that.
Sunday, February 09, 2020
Reposting: Squirrel and Tree
I usually post a little video for Tu B'shvat (Jewish holiday, New Year for Trees). Two years ago, I added a squirrel to my video because I am fond of squirrels, and they are amusing. But there is a serious point. People need trees to live, but so do the animals, as the recent tragic fires in Australia have shown. So I am reposting "Squirrel and Tree." Plant a tree, help the animals, save the earth.
Saturday, February 08, 2020
Layers of Green (Painting as of February 8, 2020)
This morning I working on this painting for a bit. This was inspired by a family photo taken in Colorado several decades ago. I cropped a bit of the background to use as my painting reference (posted here January 15th). Today I added some light and dark areas to the mountains, and add the mountain range in the distance. What's left: add light and dark washes to adjust hue and value, trying to achieve a progression. To be continued. . . .
Friday, February 07, 2020
Layers of Green (Painting as of February 7, 2020)
Today I worked a bit on this painting. My reference for this painting (posted here January 15) is a close crop of the background from a vacation photo, taken decades ago during a family trip to Breckenridge, Colorado. Today I added green shadows to mountains five and six. What I hope to achieve is a progression of greens. Right now I am working on the different colors of green, and then will adjust to try for a progression of dark to light. To be continued. . . .
Reposting: Self-Portrait with Bridal Veil
I have posted this before (in 2005, I think), but am reposting it today for my 72nd birthday. This is what I said about it in 2005: "This collaged self-portrait was part of an assignment in a collage class a few years ago. We were to create three self-portraits from materials that reflected our identities. This is the first of the series. . . . The four images at the bottom are pictures of me at different stages of my life, and were the basis of the whole series. I sketched the image of myself under the veil, using the most recent photo as a reference (me, in my fifties). The plastic veil actually lifts up. This collage is meant to be funny, but it has its serious side. First: marriage is a decision to go through time with someone. Second: the woman under the veil, the baby in the bonnet, and the woman with gray hair are one and the same. And third, if you are getting married, don't forget the ring, but even more important, don't forget your sense of humor."
Fifteen years later, I would just add that we change and we learn as we go through time but somehow remain the same inside.
Wednesday, February 05, 2020
Layers of Green (Painting as of February 5, 2020)
This is the painting I have been working on. It is inspired by a close crop from the background of a vacation photo that I took several decades ago during a family trip to Breckenridge, Colorado. (My painting reference is posted here, January 15th.) Today I added another layer of translucent sky, and added dark blues and greens to add shadows to the 3rd and 4th mountain ranges. I am trying to create a kind of progression of colors here.
Tuesday, February 04, 2020
Layers of Green (Painting as of February 4, 2020)
I only had a short time to paint today, but I did a little work on this project. This painting is based on a bit of background cropped from a snapshot taken several decades ago during a Colorado vacation. (Photo reference is posted here January 15th.) Today I lightened the sky with a layer of translucent white. Then I worked on the two mountain slopes in the foreground, adding some layers of green to each.
Monday, February 03, 2020
Layers of Green (Painting as of February 3, 2020)
This is my current project, a painting inspired by the Colorado mountains of my home state. My photo reference (posted here January 15) is a bit of background cropped from a family vacation photo taken near Breckenridge, back in the 1980s. Today I added more pink to the sky, and then began adding lighter areas to the mountains, to add dimension. This is acrylic used as watermedia on Aquabord, 16 x 20. To be continued. . . .
Sunday, February 02, 2020
Through Harvard's Gates (with Prisma filter)
This is a photo that I took a while back, a view of campus seen through Harvard's gates. Yesterday I decided to try it with a Prisma filter.
Saturday, February 01, 2020
Layers of Green (Painting as of February 1, 2020)
I worked on this project for a bit this afternoon. For this painting, I am working from a close crop of a snapshot I took years ago during a vacation in Colorado. (See reference photo posted here January 15.) Today I added some layers of color (mostly blue, but some pink and green), and at the same time, made some adjustments to the composition. These are not the final colors, but I think the composition is set now. To be continued. . . .
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