A Mysterious Path

 

I made this image for October 31st.  I started with a photo that I took last fall on the path around Kelleher Pond.  It was afternoon and the leaves were bright orange and yellow that day.  But today I edited the original photo, creating a black and white version. I changed the exposure to make everything darker, and then emphasized the shadows. 

Near Colorado Springs (Painting as of October 29, 2021)

This is my painting-in-progress as it looked last night when I finished working on it.  I am working from a photo that I took during a trip to Colorado in 2018. (My painting reference is posted here, October 19.)  I am experimenting with adding collage elements (torn tissue paper) and then painting into them (so maybe I should call this "mixed media"). In any case, there is a lot of learning going on, figuring out how to blend the collage with the paint, how the paint interacts with the pasted paper, etc. But last night I finally started to see the path ahead as the mountains began to look the way I want them to look.

Vinnie (Digitally Modified Photo, Reference for Portrait)

A few days ago, I posted a photo of Vinnie, the subject of my next pet portrait.  The photo was sent to me by the person who is commissioning the portrait. Today I used Painter to digitally modify the photo for use as a photo reference.  First, I changed the composition by adding "blank space" at the top and matching the background color with digital pastel.  Then I cropped the image at the bottom so that the cat's paw fit nicely into the corner.  I checked to make sure I had a ration that would work for an 8 x 10 format.  Then I simplified the background with digital pastel, and in the process, created an additional diagonal line. 

Near Colorado Springs (Painting as of October 28, 2021)

Here is the latest view of my current painting.  I added some more pink areas to indicate rock outcropping.  I am trying out using some collage elements, hoping to get the hang of it.  This is inspired by a photo that I took in Colorado in 2018.

Near Colorado Springs (Painting as of October 27, 2021)

I worked on this painting this afternoon.  I am experimenting with adding some collage.  I used dark blue tissue paper and cobalt blue paint to build the shapes of the mountains. I am beginning to think this might work. . .

Near Colorado Springs (Painting as of October 26, 2021)

I worked on this painting today. This is based on a photo that I took during a trip to Colorado in 2018.  This is acrylic used with water on Aquabord, 16 x 20 inches.  My photo reference is posted here on October 19th.   At this point I am concentrating on establishing major shapes and colors.  If you look closely, you can also see that I am adding a bit of collage (colored tissue paper). That's a bit of an experiment so stay tuned. . .

Send Off for "Apples on the Tree" (Oil Bar Painting)

This is a small oil bar painting, 8 x 10 inches. I painting it several years ago and it has been hanging in my studio at Porter Mill. Today I shipped it off to its new owners in Colorado. 

Vinnie: Photo for Pet Portrait

Meet Vinnie, the subject of my next pet portrait.  The person who commissioned the portrait sent me this photo and told me a bit about this charming cat. I will use this photo as the basis for my painting, though I am going to make a few little adjustments to the composition and background. 

Near Colorado Springs (Painting as of October 23, 2021)

Today I got started on this new painting.  I roughed in the composition with blue (and a red sun, of course.) This is based on a photo that I took in Colorado in June of 2018. (Painting reference posted here October 19, 2021.)

"Please Enjoy this Public Way" and We Did

I took this picture on October 12th, during a late afternoon walk here in Beverly, MA.  We walked along Lothrop Street, between Independence Park and Dane Street Beach.  Lothrop is a residential street with amazing ocean-front homes.  But the city of Beverly had the wisdom to create several "public ways" along between the houses, one every block or so.  Each "public way" is like a little garden, with benches, flowers, a path, and stairs down to the beach. And each is marked with a sign saying, "Please Enjoy this Public Way." And we did. The weather was great, the sea was shining, and the sky was beautiful, so I took this picture. Tonight I cropped the original photo to get this composition.

Near Colorado Springs (Digitally Modified Photo for Painting Reference)

This is a digitally altered version of a photo I published here on October 18, a photo that I took during a 2018 trip to Colorado.  This will be the basis for my next mountain painting. To get my photo ready to be a photo reference, I opened the image in Painter and  added some posterizing effect to get more color contrast, especially some purple tones.  In the original photo, you can see a big airplane apparently suspended just above the ground. In fact, it is the Air Force Academy's B-52 display.  But for a more natural and timeless scene, I obscured it using Painter's editing tools. 

Near Colorado Springs (Photo for Painting)

I am getting ready to paint so have been looking through my photos and found this, a photo that I took in 2018. We were traveling with old friends from Brazil that we met in 1968 in Boulder, on a kind of "reunion tour" to celebrate 50 years of friendship. It was also our fiftieth wedding anniversary that day and we were going to Colorado Springs to visit friends from Pueblo that we have known even longer! The ride from Denver into the Springs is beautiful. The location of this photo is north of the city, near the Air Force Academy.  If you look closely, you can see an airplane in the foothills, and that is the Academy's B-52. Today I cropped this photo to get a height/width ratio close enough to 16 x 20 (the size the painting will be).  But to get this ready to be my photo reference, I had to do a little more work on it in Painter. I plan to post the results here tomorrow.  

Reposting: Pink Apples on Branch (Posterized Photo)

This is a posterized photo that I created in September of 2018.  I am reposting it here because I have decided to use it as a painting reference for an oil bar painting.

Windowbox in Gloucester (with Prisma filter)

Here's another image from last Sunday's trip to Gloucester. 

I saw this lovely windowbox outside a restaurant downtown, so I took a picture. Later I added the "Watercolor" filter with my Prisma app.

Pink Dahlia in Gloucester (with Prisma filter)

Yesterday I posted a photo of pink dahlia that I saw in Gloucester over the weekend. Today I used my Prisma app to add the "Disco" filter.  

Pink Dahlia (in Gloucester)

On Sunday, I had an expected invitation to go to Gloucester, just up the road. There are always so many interesting things to see there: the ocean, the boardwalk, the working waterfront, the charming downtown, so of course I said yes! The outing itself was unexpected, but the biggest surprise was an amazing garden blooming with dahlias, all along Gloucester Harbor Stacy Boulevard. These gardens are a relatively new addition,  the Stacy Boulevard Gardens begun in 2016-2017 as part of the seawall reconstruction.  But I have been to Gloucester several times since 2016, and I have never seen flowers like this! I guess the gardens have just taken off.  We saw lots of flowers, predominantly dahlias of all types and colors, so bright and beautiful that I almost forgot to look at the ocean.  This blossom was huge, and I love bright pink, so I took a picture.  

August Flowers (Framed)

Since mid-September, my house and my home studio have been turned upside-down because we installed mini-split system (heating and cooling). Now I will finally have reliable heat in my home studio! But it has taken me a while to get the studio put back together and usable.  Today I used my newly reorganized space to frame this little drawing. I plan to send it off tomorrow, a belated birthday gift for a friend.  The drawing is called "August Flowers," and it is 6 x 6 inches, Sharpie fine-line markers on paper.

Blue Sky Red Leaves at Lynch Park

Here's another image from last Wednesday's walk at Lynch Park.  The red leaves made the sky look bluer and the blue sky made the leaves look even redder.  I cropped the original photo to get this composition.

Red Leaves at Lynch Park

Here north of Boston, we have been having warm days with temperatures in the high sixties and low seventies. But the nights are cooler, and this creates interesting combinations. Some summer flowers are still in bloom, but we are also seeing a few red leaves.   I took this picture on Wednesday, during a walk at Lynch Park, where just a few trees have turned bright red.

Best of Summer Flowers: Vanderbilt Campus (with Prisma filter)

For the best of the summer flowers, I have to include this lovely garden on the Vanderbilt campus, in Nashville. I took this photo during our visit in July. This week I cropped the original and used the Prisma app to add the "Watercolor" filter.  

Best of Summer Flowers: Rose-of-Sharon (with Prisma filter)

This image began with photo that I took during a walk in the neighborhood, back on August 8th.  The Rose-of-Sharon was growing right over the fence.  Today I cropped the original to get this composition and also used the Prisma app to add a filter ("Watercolor"). 

Best of Summer Flowers: New Hydrangea (with Prisma filter)

New addition this summer:  hydrangeas in the front yard.  They turn from blue to purple to pink.  Here is a closeup of one of the blossoms.  I used the Prisma app to add a filter (called "Rainbow")

Edited in Prisma app with Rainbow

Best of Summer Flowers: Wild Roses on the Fence

These wild roses are volunteers and they come back every year, gracing our chain-link fence. They are a treat for all the senses.

Best of Summer Flowers: Hydrangeas and Fence

Here's another photo of the best of summer flowers. I took this photo on August 6th during a walk in the neighborhood.  When I was a kid, we called this a "snowball bush," but actually these are hydrangeas.  I wonder if they have turned pink by now.  I should take another walk and check.

Best of Summer Flowers: Windowbox

I know, I know, it is the first of October, and time to think about fall. And yes, autumn has its own kind of beauty.  But first I want to celebrate the best of summer flowers.  I took this photo on July 16th.  We planted window boxes on the deck, something we haven't done for several years, and I really enjoyed them.  The lovely striped petunias are already gone, but the pink impatients and the marigolds are still hanging in there. . .