To Brighter Days Ahead (Video)

 

Sending this out to wish everyone brighter days ahead in 2022!

I created this today on my iPad with the Procreate app, which creates a video replay as you draw.

Mountain Road (To Breckenridge): Acrylic Mixed Media Painting

Here is my "Mountain Road" painting as it looked on December 25th, which is when I finished it. As usual, I made a lot of very small changes as the painting neared completion (and I may make a few more as I clean up stray marks, etc.). But the main thing I did to finish this was to resolve the shapes on the right side of the canvas to eliminate some unwanted confusion. And then I made sure that the major lines extended all the way to the edges of the canvas. I think I might use this painting to publicize my next show of mountain landscapes (coming up in March at Galatea Fine Arts).)

Mountain Road (To Breckenridge): Painting as of December 23, 2021

Here is my mountain road painting as it looked on Thursday, December 23td.  I spent two days working on the right side of the foreground: the trees and the snow.  I was trying to get the textures and shapes right.  When I took this picture, I was finally happy with the texture of that stand of trees, but I was still not happy with some of the shapes.  To be continued. . .

Mountain Road (To Breckenridge): Painting as of December 21, 2021

Here is my mountain landscape as it looked on December 21 (last Tuesday). I did some more work on the sky, and also worked on the foreground. My painting reference is a (digitally altered) photo (posted here on December 12th). I took the original photo back in July of 2018 during a trip to Colorado and then used Painter to create the snow.  To be continued. . . .

Pink Apples on a Branch (Oil Bar Painting)

Here is my painting of apples, which I finished on Tuesday, December 21st.  I enjoyed getting lost in the detail of leaves and branches, sunlight and shadow.  I spent the past few days sealing the edges, and as soon as I have a chance, I will take it to Porter Mill to hang in the studio.  This is part of my branches series, oil bar paintings on canvas, 8 x 10 inches.

Mountain Road (To Breckenridge): Painting as of December 20, 2021

Here is my latest landscape as it looked on Monday, December 20th.  I was concentrating on the sky, creating more clouds out of tissue paper, as well as the foreground.  This is acrylic paint and pasted paper on Aquabord, 16 x 20 inches.

Birds Say "Enjoy the Season" (Digital Drawing)

Yesterday I drew this scene on my iPad with the Procreate app, which creates a little frame-by-frame animation as you draw, and posted the video here. Today I took the drawing from the last frame of the Procreate video and imported the image into Painter to clean things up.  I was able to zoom in and add eyes and beaks to all those birds.  Here is the end result.  Wishing everyone happy times and bright days ahead.

Birds Say "Enjoy the Season"

 

 

I drew this on my iPad with the Procreate app, which captures a "stroke-by-stroke" video as you draw.  I am sending this out to everyone and joy this chorus of birds in hoping you will enjoy the season!

Pink Apples on a Branch (Painting as of December 20, 2021)

Here is my painting of apples, still a work-in-progress, but almost finished.  On the 20th, I was continuing to add light and shadows to the canvas, as well as defining leaves and twigs where possible.  Almost there. . .

Mountain Road (To Breckenridge): Painting as of December 19, 2021

Here is my mountain landscape as it looked on Sunday, December 19th.  I am creating this with acrylic paint and pasted tissue paper (on Aquabord), using a photo that I took in 2018 as a reference.  I am experimenting with combining pasted paper and paint, and for the sky, I decided to apply the paint first, and then apply the paper to see how it would look.  That's how I found myself creating clouds out of tissue paper.  I also did a little work on the foreground. To be continued. . . .

Pink Apples on a Branch (Painting as of December 19, 2021)

Here is my painting in progress as it looked on Sunday the 19th.  I continued to work with light and dark, trying to define shapes of leaves and twigs as I go.  Like the other paintings in my "Branches" series, this is oil bar on a small canvas (8 x 10 inches).

Mountain Road (To Breckenridge): Painting as of December 18, 2021

Here is my mountain landscape as it looked on December 18th.  I adjusted the color of the darker shapes to provide more contrast.  I also adjusted some of the shapes.  To be continued. . .

Pink Apples on a Branch (Painting as of December 18, 2021)

Here is my oil bar painting-in-progress as it looked on December 18th.  I had been having trouble with the shape of one of the apples but finally corrected the problem by studying my photo reference (posted here October 17th). As I continue to paint the leaves, I am trying to create the same diagonal as in the photo reference, with yellow-green leaves dominating the top left part of the canvas, and dark leaves in shadow dominating the lower right.

Mountain Road (To Breckenridge): Painting as of December 17, 2021

Here is my landscape-in-progress as it looked yesterday.  I worked on the sky, and then painted into some of the other areas, adjusting the colors.  I am figuring out what to as I figure out what to do.  This is acrylic paint with pasted tissue paper on Aquabord, 16 x 20 inches.

Pink Apples on a Branch (Painting as of December 17, 2021)

I returned to this painting today. This is oil bar on a small canvas (8 x 10 inches).  I used brown and green to add dark areas, especially to the bottom right corner, and added some highlights to the apples.  To be continued. . . .

Mountain Road (To Breckenridge): Painting as of December 12, 2021

Here is my current work-in-progress as it looked on December 12th.  This is acrylic paint and pasted tissue paper on Aquabord, 16 x 20 inches. I am working from a photo that I took during a trip back home to Colorado in 2018. (My photo reference is posted here on December 12th.) I am using the pasted paper to define shapes as well as to create colors when layered with the paint.  On Sunday, when I used silver tissue paper to define the shape of the road and the mountain, I was very happy with the outcome and felt much more confident about the process.

Mountain Road (To Breckenridge): Painting as of December 11, 2021)

Here is the mountain landscape I am working on as it looked on December 11th (though I actually photographed it the next morning.)  As with my most recent mountain painting, I am using acrylic paint and pasted paper. I am using colored tissue paper to establish shapes, based on my photo reference (posted here December 12th). Working this way puts the emphasis on strong, simple shapes that I then paint into.  In addition, I am also using the pasted paper for color mixing. For example,  that dark green (the darkest area) began with pasted maroon tissue paper, which I then painted into with a medium green (Hooker's Green).  Working in a new way is exciting but scary.  I take courage because this method worked well for my last painting ("Near Colorado Springs," posted here November 20th.)

Pink Apples on a Branch (Painting as of December 14, 2021)

I haven't forgotten about this little painting.  Here is how it looked after today's painting session.  I am adding leaves and twigs to the composition.  This is oil bar on an 8 x 10 inch canvas.

Mountain Road (to Breckenridge) Sketch on Canvas

Over the weekend, I made a quick start on my painting by sketching out the composition with conte right on the canvas. I decided to start with a sketch because I am going to be using pasted paper and it helps to have the composition already in place.  To be continued. . .

Mountain Road (to Breckenridge): Painting Reference

Yesterday's post was the photo that gave me the idea for my next painting. Today I am posting the photo reference I created from that photo.  I used Painter to get rid of two cars, traffic signs, etc.  The original photo was taken in June.  In Colorado, it is not uncommon to see snow in the summer at high elevations.  But inspired by the snow, I decided to add more, so I used Painter's tools to add more and create a winter scene.  I liked the result, so I cropped the image one more time, and this is the result.

Mountain Road (to Breckenridge) (Photo)

This photo is the inspiration for my next painting.  I took this photo in June of 2018. We we were visiting my home state of Colorado and doing some sight-seeing with old friends. This was taken on the day we went to Breckenridge and I loved seeing the snow on the ski trails, even though it was summer. This photo brings back lovely memories, but it is not  quite ready to be a photo reference: two cars, road signs, construction barriers.   So I opened the image in Painter and got to work.  To be continued. . .

Pink Apples on a Branch (Painting as of December 10, 2021)

Today I worked on this painting again. I am working from a photo that I took back in 2018. I posted my photo reference here on October 17th. This afternoon, using my reference photo, I marked some of the darkest areas.  I also began to suggest some of the smaller branches. This is oil bar on a small canvas (8 x 10 inches).

Pink Apples on a Branch (Painting as of December 9, 2021)

I worked on this painting this afternoon. My photo reference is posted here, October 17; it is a photo that I took a few years ago near the apple trees at Long Hill Gardens.  This is a small painting (8 x 10) with oil bar.  It is been a while since I have done an oil bar painting, so I rehabilitating my brushes and sorting out the colors as I go to see which are still in good shape.  I am enjoying the oil bars, but it is such a different way to paint. I am using a palette knife to get the paint on the canvas, and then following with a brush.  It is bit of a struggle but I think it is a good struggle.

Pink Apples on a Branch (Painting as of December 8, 2021)

This is my latest project, which I had planned to get to several weeks ago, but today I actually started painting. My photo reference (posted here October 17th) is a photo that I took back in 2018. I am using oil bar on small canvas, just 8 x 10. This is part of my "Branches" series. It was lovely to get back to oil bars. I haven't used them in a while, so as I was painting, I was also freshening up my tools: soaking brushes and going through the oil bars to see what is still usable. I started with just a few colors applied with palette knife, and then switched to a brush.  At this point, I am defining the composition, and counting the apples to make sure I get them all in.

Pink Apples on a Branch (Sketch on Canvas as of December 7, 2021)

I finally got this painting started today by sketching the composition on the canvas (with conte crayon).  My painting reference is posted here October 17th, and  at the time, I thought I could work on three paintings at once and finish this one in time for Open Studios at Porter Mill. But life got hectic and that didn't happen. Although I wasn't able to get to this project,  I was able to work on two paintings at once -- an acrylic mountain landscape (now on display at Galatea Fine Art) and a commissioned pet portrait (now on its way to its new home).  Well, better late than never.  I am getting this one started now. This is going to be oil bar on a small canvas, 8 x 10 inches.

Reposting: Light the menorah

Reposting as Chanukah post for night number 8.  I created this back in 2011, using the Brushes app on my iPad.  Sending this out to say "Happy Chanukah" to those celebrating.

Reposting: Hurry Up Chanukah Menorah (Stroke-by-Stroke Video)

For Chanukah Day 7, I am reposting another little animation.  I created this one using the Brushes app on my iPad back in 2015.   I must have been in a hurry (seems to happen a lot around Chanukah).  Just press play to watch those candles light up.

Reposting: Tree of Life Menorah (2018)

I created this in 2018, to remember those lost in the attack on the Tree of Life Synagogue that year.  I drew this on my iPad with the Procreate app, which captures a video replay of each stroke as you draw.

Vinnie (Portait)

I have been making a lot of tiny changes to this painting, but now I am ready to say this is finished.  I have enjoyed getting to know this lovely cat, but it is time to send this portrait off to the person who commissioned it, and who will present it to Vinnie's owner as a Christmas surprise.  This is acrylic on canvas, 8 x 10 inches.

Reposting: Menorah_2019 (stroke-by-stroke video)

Here's my post for the fifth night of Chanukah.  I created this in 2019 using the Procreate app on my iPad. The Procreate app captures a stroke-by-stroke video playback as you draw. Wishing everyone light, freedom, and every once in a while, a little miracle.

Vinnie (Painting as of November 29, 2021)

Here is my painting of Vinnie as it looked on Monday.  This is basically the portrait. It is time to "seal the edges" and get it ready to mail.  As I do that, I usually clean up any little problems that are bothering me. I don't plan to make changes to the face. But I need to do some minor adjustments to the body and background, and cleanup some stray marks.  Nearly there. . .

Reposting: Lighting Menorah Video

Here is another menorah for Chanukah day 4.  I created this one back in 2010 I think, drawing on my iPad.