Comforted by Flowers (Drawing as of Nov 30, 2024)

This is the second of two small drawings for Porter Mill's Small Works Show.  At this point, I was happy with this one, but it was not quite balanced.   This is Sharpie Creative Marker on paper. To be continued. . .

The Courage of Flowers (Drawing as of Nov 30, 2024)

I decided to make a couple of new drawings for the upcoming Small Works Show at Porter Mill. This is a show for all members of Porter Mill and will be on display during Open Studios this weekend and through December. The size limit was 13" in any dimension.  I didn't have anything that small at the ready, so I decided to do some small drawings of flowers.  I got out a small drawing pad and my Sharpie creative markers and got to work.  I had a lovely time drawing these undaunted flowers.  This drawing is about 5.5 x 8.5 inches, and a good fit for an 8x10 inch frame.. Here is how it looked on the 30th of November. I thought this drawing was finished, but later I decided it wasn't quite. . .To be continued. . . 

Woods Near Long Hill (Photo with Prisma filter)

This image started with a photo that I took at Long Hill Gardens here in Beverly, on a late fall day.  I added the Prisma filter to enhance the colors.  Sending this out today to wish everyone a happy Thanksgiving.  "I thank the Lord for the people I have found."  (Elton John)

Teacups and Saucers (Alice in Wonderland project), Painting

Here is how my painting looked on Nov. 4th when I had to declare it finished, not because it was perfect, but because it was time to stop.  I needed to put a wire on the back of the painting, label it, and get it ready to deliver to Porter Mill Studios the next day. (In fact, even after I took this picture, I continued to fix very small errors until it was time to put it in the car and drop it off.  But like I said before, it is hard to make something simple look good.) 

I painted this for the "Alice in Wonderland" show at Porter Mill Studios here in Beverly, MA. The basic idea came to me as soon as I heard about the show. The painting combines a  quotation*  from the Mad Hatter's Tea Party with teacups and saucers in a changing color scheme that evoke the "musical chairs" aspect of that crazy tea party, as guests move around the table for no apparent reason. 

*Here is the quotation:

"Take some more tea," the March Hare said to Alice, very earnestly. "I've had nothing yet," Alice replied in an offended tone, so I can't take more." "You mean you can't take less," said the Hatter, "It's very easy to take more than nothing.""

Cups and Saucers (Alice in Wonderland project) as of Nov 3, 2024

On November 3th, I kept going on my "Alice in Wonderland" painting for the show at Porter Mill Studios.  The painting combines a  quotation*  from the Mad Hatter's Tea Party with teacups and saucers in a changing color scheme. At this point, all the work I had done correcting errors was beginning to pay off, and the cups and saucers were looking much better, even though I continued to find things to fix. I was also working on cleaning up the text and the white background and  repainted the last line of text (bottom of canvas) because the lettering wasn't in a straight line. I began to think this was almost finished, which was good, because I had to turn it in at Porter Mill on November  5th.

*Here is the quotation:

"Take some more tea," the March Hare said to Alice, very earnestly. "I've had nothing yet," Alice replied in an offended tone, so I can't take more." "You mean you can't take less," said the Hatter, "It's very easy to take more than nothing.""

To be continued. . . ..  

Reposting: School Picture of My Mother

I posted this photo before, back in 2005, but it is a classic, and I decided to post it again. One of my favorite family photos is this image of my mother. standing in front of Central Grade School, which I also attended decades later -- one of the ways that I have retraced her steps. The original photo is black and white, but back in 2005,  I scanned the image into my computer, cropped it, and added some color with Painter IX's digital watercolor. I am posting this again today in memory of my mother, who was born on November 2nd.

Cups and Saucers (Alice in Wonderland project) as of Nov 2, 2024

On November 2nd, I continued to work on my painting for the "Alice in Wonderland" show at Porter Mill Studio. I used a  quotation*  from the Mad Hatter's Tea Party,  an event which also inspired the "musical chairs" changing color scheme for the cups and saucers. You can see here that I continued checking the shapes of the cups and saucers, marking things to fix with areas of white paint. From where those marks are, you can see that I was checking the position and shape of the cup handles, the shapes of the teacups, and rechecking the circular shapes of the saucers.  I kept finding mistakes and fixing them.  It might seem obsessive, but it is necessary because it is actually difficult to make something simple look good. 

*Here is the quotation:

"Take some more tea," the March Hare said to Alice, very earnestly. "I've had nothing yet," Alice replied in an offended tone, so I can't take more." "You mean you can't take less," said the Hatter, "It's very easy to take more than nothing.""

To be continued. . . ..  

Cups and Saucers (Alice in Wonderland project) as of Nov 1, 2024

Here is my painting as of November 1. This is for the "Alice in Wonderland" show at Porter Mill Studio. The quotation*  is from the Mad Hatter's Tea Party,  also the inspiration for the changing   color scheme for the cups and saucers.

At this point I was happy with the colors. My focus continued to be correcting mistakes and making shapes consistent. I made little white marks on the cups and saucers to help me correct errors and line things up. This was slow going, and I was feeling the time pressure because the plan was to turn this in by November 4th.  Like the Whte Rabbit, I didn't want to be late.

*Here is the quotation:

"Take some more tea," the March Hare said to Alice, very earnestly. "I've had nothing yet," Alice replied in an offended tone, so I can't take more." "You mean you can't take less," said the Hatter, "It's very easy to take more than nothing.""

To be continued. . . ..