Flowers for Celina (Portrait as of April 14, 2024)

Here is my portrait of Celina as it looked on April 14, 2024.  That day I worked on the figure, revising the position of legs and feet.  I also touched up the face a bit. To be continued. . . .

Reposting: Matza Flowers (Flourless)

I originally posted this on April 9, 2009.  I made the design using Painter's pattern pen, using a matzah pattern I had created the night before.  In addition to the matzahs around the edges, every brush stroke of the flowers is made from the matzah pattern. Sending this out to say "Happy Passover" to those celebrating, and wishing everyone peace and freedom.

Flowers for Celina (Portrait as of April 10, 2024)

Here is my portrait of Celina as it looked on April 10, 2024.  I made a few small changes to the face, but spent most of my time working on the flowers, trying to fill out the foliage a bit.  And as I painted, I was thinking about Celina and realized that I am painting  flowers of gratitude.

Flowers for Celina (Portrait as of April 9, 2024)

Here is my portrait of Celina as it looked on April 9th.  I made a few changes to the figure (mostly at the shoulders).  I also continued to work on the background, figuring out placement of the rows of plants and the placement of the blossoms. To be continued. . . .

Flowers for Celina (Portrait as of April 5, 2024)

Here is my portrait of Celina as it looked on April 5, 2024.  I didn't do too much to the face that day, but I did modify the figure.  I realized that the legs were a bit too long (Celina was very petite) so I shortened them and repainted the feet.  I also worked on the background.  I continued to build the structure for all those rosebushes, sketching in branches so I can tell where they should go.  Later I will fill in with foliage.  To be continued. . . .

Flowers for Celina (Portrait as of April 4, 2024)

Here is my portrait of Celina as it looked on April 4th.  I made some small changes to the figure and the face, beginning to add a little color.  I continued work on the background. I used some basic lines and shapes to sketch out branches and leaves.  This is not the way the background will look when I am done. But at this point, I am using very simple lines and shapes just to establish placement of all  those rose bushes. To be continued. . . 

Flowers for Celina (Portrait as of April 2, 2024)

Here is my portrait of Celina as it looked on April 2, 2024.  I was still struggling to see detail in my reference photo.  Sometimes I use my Painter program to help with this by putting a filter over the reference photo to emphasize shapes, highlights, shadows, etc.  I was planning to do that with this portriat, but suddenly had a better idea: I used the Prisma app* on my phone to do the same thing.  I chose a black-and-white filter with delicate lines and the result made it much easier to see details like the shadows on the dark blouse. As a bonus, the filter made it easier to check the shape and placement of the facial features. So with the aide of my reference photo (with new filter), I was able to revise the shadows on the blouse.  The result was encouraging so I began to add color.  I also made some changes to the face that brought the portrait closer to a likeness.  Not there yet, but much closer.  To be continued. . . .

*I often use Prisma filters to add interest to a photographic image.  This was the first time I used it as an aid to painting. Why didn't I think of that sooner? 

Flowers for Celina (Portrait as of March 31, 2024)

Here is my portrait of Celina as it looked on March 31st.  That day, I made a few small changes to the face.  And I began to set up the composition of the background.  From looking at the reference photo, I have concluded Celina was standing in a rose farm.  Although this was somewhere in Brazil, I did a general internet search for photos of rose farms, and the images I found seemed to offer confirmation.  The photos of rose farms helped me to see how they are organized.  So I began to sketch in an idea for placement of the rose bushes, to check out the composition and the perspective. 

"Mr. and Mrs. Hy" (updated with Prisma filter)

My parents married on April 4, 1943, and I am posting this image to mark their anniversary.  This image began as a small black and white snapshot of  my parents, taken on their honeymoon in Brooklyn, in my Grandma Zagon's back yard.  It is one of my favorite photos of them.  Back in 2014, I posted a different version, a colorized "digital woodcut" created from the snapshot with Painter.  Here is what I said about the image in 2014: "My folks were married on April 4, 1943, and I usually create an image to celebrate the date.  My dad was born in Brooklyn, NY, but met my mother in Pueblo, Colorado where he was stationed during WW II before going off to Europe . My parents met at a USO dance and married just a few weeks later, and took a brief honeymoon to  New York just before he went overseas for two years. While he was away, my mother kept an album that began with their first date, their wedding, and honeymoon, and then pictures he sent her back from Europe as well as pictures of her doings back home in Pueblo. This morning I chose this snapshot, part of the honeymoon series in my mom's album.  I don't know who took the picture, but it was probably one of my father's sisters.I scanned the snapshot into the computer, and used Painter software to add color with color overlays and digital pastel, and tried to get a little distance with a digital woodcut effect. It was fun working on this today. My mother labeled each picture (with ink on black paper) and she called this one "Mr. and Mrs. Hy." Today, in 2024, I went back to the image and decided  to update it.  I loaded the colorized version into the Prisma app and tried out some filters. I chose one called "Trendy" (which I wouldn't say describes my parents, but then love is never out of date).  

Flowers for Celina (Portrait as of March 30, 2024)

Here is my portrait of Celina as it looked on March 30, 2024.  I continued working on the face, making a lot of small changes. I am getting closer to likeness. I am still not adding color to the face, just working with white and brown until I am happy with the likeness.

Flowers for Celina (Portrait as of March 29, 204)

Here is my portrait of Celina as it looked on March 29th.  I made som small changes to the face, especially the hairline, which is surprisingly important in how we recognize a person. I also made some changes to the figure, specifically the position of the shoulders.  At this point, I am looking hard for mistakes, and trying hard to correct them so I don't end up enshrining my mistakes in paint.