Light the Candles (Digital Drawing)

Light the Candles (Digital Drawing), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

A couple of days ago, I used the Brushes app on my iPad to make this drawing of a menorah for Chanukah. The Brushes app captures a stroke-by-stroke video as you draw. And if plan ahead a little bit, it is possible to use that feature to create a little bit of animation. In this case, I drew the menorah, the candles, and the background: but no flames on the candles. At the end, I added the flames, one at a time so they would appear to light up in the stroke-by-stroke video. Then I added some highlights to suggest candlelight. Here is how the drawing looked when I was finished. (I posted the stroke-by-stroke video here yesterday, if you want to see the candles light up.)

Light the Candles (Stroke-by-Stroke Brushes Video)

Light the Candles (Stroke-by-Stroke Brushes Video) a video by randubnick on Flickr.

Just press play and watch the candles light up! Last night I used the Brushes app on my iPad to draw this little menorah. Brushes captures a stroke-by-stroke video while you draw, so I used that feature to create this little animation. Happy Hanukkah!

Four-Thirty Sky

Four-Thirty Sky, a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

This is a photograph that I took late this afternoon (4:39 PM to be exact). We stopped off at Starbucks to get a hot chocolate. There are only two Starbucks here in Beverly, MA, and this one is right on the Bass River. Right behind the drive-thru, there's a tiny park and a little river-side path, great for a little walk with the dog. As I pulled into the parking space, I noticed the colors of the sky, subtle but beautiful, so I took a few pictures with my iPhone camera. Tonight I edited the best of them in iPhoto and cropped it to get this composition.

Intersections of Color

Intersections of Color, a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

Tonight I did this little drawing exercise using the Brushes app on my iPhone. I was waiting around for something, so I decide to pass the time by drawing. I started by just drawing four simple lines in dark blue. Then I discovered "layers" accidentally by hitting the wrong button, so I decided to create a light blue layer for the background. Then I started filling in the areas created by the intersecting lines. I used two different brushes with different textures and sizes, and three different colors. Once I transferred the image into my computer, I used iPhoto to crop it to get this composition.

Necklace with Green Shells and Beads

Necklace with Green Shells and Beads, a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

This is the necklace I made tonight. I had two kinds of beads in jewel-tone green, so I put them together, and I liked the contrasting shapes: disks made of shell and cubes made of glass. I strung them on a knotted cotton cord. I tied a knot on either sides of each bead, leaving just a little bit of room to allow the beads to move, especially the shell disks.

Tree and Fence in Snowstorm (Digital Woodcut)

Tree and Fence in Snowstorm (Digital Woodcut), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

Yesterday I modified my photo of a tree in a snowstorm (taken in 2006); I used Painter to simplify the foreground with a combination of cut-and-paste and digital pastel. I also used Painter to create another version of the image, the digital woodcut that you see here. As an afterthought, I adjusted the color (in iPhoto), moving it a bit toward red.

Tree and Fence in Snowstorm (Posterized Photograph)

Tree and Fence in Snowstorm (Posterized Photograph), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

The weather outside is definitely not frightful; in fact, it is rather warm for mid-December. But I have been looking through some photos that I took a few years ago and found one that I took on February 12, 2006 of a tree in my yard during a big snowstorm. Today I wondered why I had never used that photo. The tree looked great in the snow! But I guess it must have been the foreground which was cluttered with grasses or perhaps the wayward branch that obscured the line of the fence. Tonight I decided to see what I could do about those problems. I copied the image and opened in Painter. I increased the resolution, and then got to work. I used a combination of cut and paste and digital pastel to simplify the foreground and eliminated the branch to get a clearer view of the fence. Then I posterized it, using trial and error to get the best color scheme, and this is the result. I also went on to create a digital woodcut, which I plan to post here tomorrow.

Pendant with Wood, Copper, and Green Glass

Pendant with Wood, Copper, and Green Glass, a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

I made this pendant tonight. After a stressful day, I was looking for an easy project, something relaxing. But making something simple is not always as easy as it looks. Tonight it took a good amount of trial and error to get a good combination of shapes, textures, and colors. (When I make jewelry, I find myself thinking about what I learned in sculpture class, all those years ago.) When I finished, I used my digital camera to photograph the necklace.

Colorado Color Field (Posterized)

Colorado Color Field (Posterized), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

Last night I posted a sketch of the Colorado mountains drawn with digital pastel, done in the style of color field painting: very flat color, with lots of color contrast. I also created a second version of the image, this time with some texture and color variation added through posterizing. I also added the pink clouds and put dark green in the foreground.

Colorado Color Field

Colorado Color Field, a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

This is a digital sketch that I drew tonight using Painter's digital pastel. I was drawing from imagination, inspired by memories of the mountains of Colorado, my home state. I started with layered silhouettes of mountains, and worked with colors that make me think of Colorado. I kept the colors fairly flat, and didn't use modeling. Then I decided to outline the mountain shapes, just a little at first. I found myself remembering doing color field painting in my college art classes in Pueblo, and then later at the University of Colorado at Boulder. (Color field painting is very flat with lots of play with color theory.) I still admire color field painting, and learned a lot from Professor Daigle, who taught me to do it, but I used to paint big canvases on the floor, on my hands and knees. These days, if I am going to do color field paintings at all, it is going to be on the computer! As I thought about all this, I decided to call this image "Colorado Color Field" and that made me smile again. I also created a posterized version of this image, which I plan to post tomorrow.

New Hampshire Sky (Posterized Photograph)

New Hampshire Sky (Posterized Photograph), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

Here's one more image from the drive up to New Hampshire last week. Although I had been taking pictures through the passenger side window, the sun was setting on the driver's side. It was hard to get a clear view, but I did my best, photographing around the driver, the dashboard, the transponder, and the Garmin. (I guess I could have moved the Garmin, as has been suggested, had I thought quickly enough.) Anyway, last night I cropped this image out of the background. Then I opened the image in Painter, and posterized it. I did one final crop in iPhoto to get this composition.

New Hampshire Sunset (Digitally Modified Photo)

New Hampshire Sunset (Digitally Modified Photo), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

Yesterday I posted a photograph that I took during a recent drive up to New Hampshire, a view of the moon over the water. I took the picture through the car window on the passenger side. But the view through the driver's side window was even better, an intense sunset reflected in the water. I wanted to photograph it, but it was impossible to get a clear shot. The the view was obscured by the steering wheel, the transponder, and the Garmin on the dashboard. But I decided to try anyway, and took some pictures. Tonight I opened the most promising of those photos in Painter. I did a basic crop to define an area in the background that I wanted. After I resized the image, I used cut-and-paste as well as digital pastel to obscure the Garmin, which was overlapping the shore line. Then I did a little bit of very light posterizing, and this is the result. I think it was worth the trouble because I would like to paint this scene, and this would make a good reference photo.

Moon in New Hampshire

Moon in New Hampshire, a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

I took this photo during a ride up to Durham, New Hampshire. It's a beautiful drive with lots of bridges, sometimes with water on both sides. I like to be in the passenger seat so I can take pictures. I took this photo around 4:30 PM. The moon was already visible and I liked the way it looked reflected in the water. Later, once I got the image into my computer, I just straightened it a little bit with iPhoto, and cropped it just a little. But the colors are just as they came out of the camera.

Double Swirl (Posterized)

Double Swirl (Posterized), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

Last week, I made this geometric image on my iPad to use as an illustration for a recipe for barbecue sauce. It's pretty simple, but I think it would make a nice pattern. The recipe is simple too. Click here If you want to see the recipe, 'Ol' Pokerface Barbecue Sauce' on Seasonings for Every Palate.

Very Quick Bouquet (Final Version)

Very Quick Bouquet (Final Version), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

Last night I posted my digital drawing of a bouquet that I drew with digital pastel in Painter. Even though it was a very quick little drawing, I was very happy with it. This afternoon, I worked on it just a little bit more. I corrected a few mistakes, and made some minor changes to create a more balanced composition.

Very Quick Bouquet

Very Quick Bouquet, a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

This is a digital drawing that I created tonight using Painter. I had intended to do try to figure out a technical problem with using layers. But I decided that what I really wanted to do was just relax and draw for fun, and so I did this little bouquet with digital pastel, working from my imagination.

Lacy Branches (Digital Woodcut)

Lacy Branches (Digital Woodcut), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

Well, even though the temperature was near sixty degrees today, tonight I have been spending time tonight working on this image of snow on branches. I have been thinking about images with a winter theme for the holidays, but we have only had the one snowstorm so far here in Boston. (NOTE: This is fine by me! I am not complaining!) So I poked around in last year's photos and found one I wanted to work on, a photo of snow-covered branches against a shadowy background. I took the original picture because I liked the lacy effect of the branches, but the image was too dark, dim, and didn't have enough contrast. So tonight I opened the image in Painter. I adjusted the lighting, contrast, and focus. Then I created a digital woodcut, fooling around with the controls until I had the amount of black I wanted to see. Then I did a little post-production on it, posterizing again and making the image brighter. Then I cropped it to get this composition.

Winter Tree with Red Berries (Digital Woodcut)

Winter Tree with Red Berries (Digital Woodcut), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

This image started with a photo that I took back in 2005, with a low-resolution cell-phone camera. (I posted it here on December 19, 2005.) People seem to like that little photo, and I have been thinking about using it for holiday cards. Tonight I found the old jpeg on my computer, and imported it into iPhoto. Then I opened it in Painter for editing. The image was very small, so I resized the canvas. Then I posterized the image and changed the resolution. After that, I adjusted the brightness and sharpened the focus. Then I started turning this into a "digital woodcut", experimenting until I had the colors I wanted to see and the right amount of black. Finally I cropped it just a bit to get the composition that you see here.

Winter Sky at Sunset

Winter Sky at Sunset, a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

Yesterday I posted a photograph that I took last week, a picture of the sun setting over the Bass River here in Beverly, MA. There's a Starbucks near the river, and we had stopped to get coffee at the drive-thru and walk the dog on the little riverside path. It was late afternoon, around 4:30 PM, and while we were there, the sun started to set. The scene was beautiful, so I took a picture. The sky kept changing every few minutes, so I took some more pictures. This was one of the best. Tonight I cropped the original image to get this composition, but apart from that, this is the image just as it came out of the (iPhone) camera.

Sunset and River (Posterized)

Sunset and River (Posterized), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

This is a photograph that I took last week. After running errands, we stopped at Starbucks near the Bass River, here in Beverly. (There's a nice little path behind Starbucks and it's a nice place to take a walk with the dog.) It was about 4:30 when we got there, but the sky began to change rapidly as the sun went down. The sky was amazing, so I took some pictures, and this is one of the best. Tonight I used Painter to do some selective posterizing of the commercial buildings in the background. I also lightened some of the shadows with iPhoto. I think it would be fun to try to paint this sometime.

At Snowmass (Small Works Show, Porter Mill)

At Snowmass (Small Works Show, Porter Mill), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

Tonight I attended the preview party for the Small Works Show, a juried exhibit at Porter Mill Studio. One of my drawings, "To Snowmass," was accepted for the show, and it is very small, only 5 x 8 inches. This is one of the Colorado drawings I have been creating, basing them on a little sketchbook that I took along on a trip to Colorado in the 1980s. Last week, I learned that this piece had been accepted for the Small Works Show, so I framed it and turned it in. But I forgot to take a picture of it in its frame, so tonight, before I left the preview party, I used my iPhone camera to take a quick photo of my piece on the gallery wall.

Fog at Obear Park

Fog at Obear Park, a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

This is a photograph that I took on Sunday afternoon during a walk at Obear Park here in Beverly, MA. It was very foggy, so much so that at some points you couldn't see much past the shore line. But I managed to get this photo, looking toward the old drawbridge that links Beverly's Ryal Side neighborhood to Salem. Tonight I used iPhoto's retouch tool to remove a straw from the bush and a piece of plastic from the beach. Then I cropped the image to get this composition.

Manchester-by-the-Sea (Posterized Photo)

Manchester-by-the-Sea (Posterized Photo), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

This image began with a photo that I took a few weeks ago, on November 14. It was a beautiful afternoon. After a trip to the vet with the dog, we decided to take a very long and indirect way home and took a ride down Rt 127, a beautiful road which goes down the coast to Beverly. We stopped at Manchester-by-the-Sea and took a little walk by the harbor. The colors were astounding, so I took some pictures. Tonight I edited the original in Painter, using some cut and paste as well as digital pastel to cover up a couple of private homes. Then I used some selective posterizing. The composition is a bit quirky, but I like it. I think I would like to paint this scene sometime.

Chicken Collage Day 13 (November 28, 2011)

Chicken Collage Day 13 (November 28, 2011), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

I was in the studio on Sunday afternoon, and worked on this collage for a while. It is an image of a chicken made out of patterns. (This idea was inspired by the beautiful patterns I saw last summer while admiring some real live chickens over at Long Hill Gardens.) Yesterday I finally finished putting legs and feet on this poor bird! Then I added a few more pieces of black and white polka-dot pattern to the tail. It's hard to take life (or yourself) too seriously when you are working on a chicken collage!

Pink and Yellow Autumn Leaves (Digital Woodcut)

Pink and Yellow Autumn Leaves (Digital Woodcut), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

This is the last of three related images of pink and yellow autumn leaves. The first image was the original photo that I took last week out at Long Hill Gardens, here in Beverly, MA. The second image was a posterized version of the original photo, which simplified shapes and heightened the colors. (See yesterday's post.) This version, the third, is a digital woodcut that I made from the posterized photo, using my Painter software. But the yellow on the leaves was replaced with white. I didn't want to increase the number of colors to try to get the yellow back in, so instead I added selective color overlays in pale yellow.

Pink and Yellow Autumn Leaves (Posterized)

Pink and Yellow Autumn Leaves (Posterized), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

Yesterday I posted a photo of pink and yellow autumn leaves. This is the posterized version of the image, created last night using Painter. The posterizing effect simplifies the shapes and enhances the colors. I have also been working on a digital woodcut of this image, and I plan to post it here tomorrow.

Pink and Yellow Autumn Leaves

Pink and Yellow Autumn Leaves, a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

Last week we went over to Long Hill Gardens to see more autumn leaves before they were all gone. It was a good idea! There were lots of beautiful leaves. I had already taken lots of pictures by the time I saw these pink and yellow leaves, but they stopped me in my tracks and I had to photograph them. The color and composition of this image are just as they were when the photo came out of the camera, although I did repair one torn leaf with iPhoto's retouch tool.

Bright Leaves in November (Digital Woodcut)

Bright Leaves in November (Digital Woodcut), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

This image began with a photo that I took recently at Long Hill Gardens, here in Beverly, MA. I posted it on Tuesday, and also published the posterized version the next day. Last night I also created this version of the image, a digital woodcut created with my Painter program.

Bright Leaves in November (Posterized Photo)

Bright Leaves in November (Posterized Photo), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

Tonight I used Painter to create this posterized version of the image I posted yesterday, bright November leaves that I photographed during a recent walk at Long Hill Gardens here in Beverly, MA. I also created a "digital woodcut" from the same image, and I plan to post it here tomorrow.

Bright Leaves in November

Bright Leaves in November, a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

This is a photograph that I took two days ago (November 20) on a Sunday afternoon walk at Long Hill Gardens, here in Beverly, Massachusetts. I saw these bright pink, red, and orange leaves on the edge of the garden, backlit by the afternoon sun. I took some photos with my iPhone camera and tonight I used iPhoto to crop this image out of the original.

Fridge Goes Boom!

Fridge Goes Boom!, a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

Several weeks ago, I did this pen-and-ink drawing as an illustration for a blog post on "Seasonings for Every Palate", a food blog that we started recently. This was an illustration for an essay about how full your refrigerator gets when you join a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture), and I was asked to draw an exploding refrigerator. (If you want to see the post, click here.) Well, today I have been contemplating Thanksgiving and the challenge of trying to fit a turkey and all the trimmings in my refrigerator, and this little drawing came to mind, so I thought I would post this tonight.

Oak Leaves (Posterized Photo)

Oak Leaves (Posterized Photo), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

Yesterday and the day before, I posted photos of an oak tree that I saw as I was leaving Boston's Museum of Fine Arts on Friday afternoon. The bright leaves were beautiful against the blue sky. But the view great when I looked down as well, and saw all these leaves on the ground. The colors were more subtle, but I liked the shapes so I took a picture. Last night I used Painter to posterize the original.

Oak Tree in November

Oak Tree in November, a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

This is another photograph that I took yesterday. As I was leaving Boston's Museum of Fine Arts, I noticed a beautiful oak tree near the Fenway entrance. I liked the contrast of leaves and sky so I took a picture. Tonight I edited this image in iPhoto.

Autumn Leaves on Oak Tree

Autumn Leaves on Oak Tree, a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

Today I went to the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston to see the Degas exhibit. As I was leaving the museum, I saw some beautiful oak trees right in front of the Fenway entrance. I stopped and took some pictures with my iPhone camera. For this one, I looked up and tried to capture the yellow leaves against the bright blue sky. Tonight I used iPhoto to crop the original photograph to get this composition.

Bright Orange Leaves (Posterized)

Bright Orange Leaves (Posterized), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

Every day, there are fewer leaves on the trees, but the ones that are left are beautiful! This image began with a photo that I took yesterday of a view that I saw through a window. Tonight I used Painter to posterize the image, and then cropped and cropped again until I got this composition.

Chicken Collage Day 12 (November 16, 2011)

Chicken Collage Day 12 (November 16, 2011), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

This is a collage in progress, an image of a chicken done in patterns. The idea for this image popped into my head a few months ago when I was trying to take pictures of some real live chickens over at Long Hill Gardens. Today, at the studio, I finished the comb, filled in some gaps on the body and head of the bird, and also added to the tail.

Path at Bradley Palmer (Posterized Photograph)

Path at Bradley Palmer (Posterized Photograph), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

This image started with a photo that I took during a recent walk at Bradley Palmer State Park here in Massachusetts. When I took the picture, I was trying to capture the bright foliage in the original photograph, but I the lighting was wrong. I was shooting toward the sunlight, and so the trees looked very dark in the photo. Tonight I opened the image in Painter and adjusted the brightness and contrast. The color was starting to improve, so I posterized the image. (Through trial and error, I found the amount of posterizing effect that I wanted.) Then I added a little color overlay in the sky, and cropped several times to get the composition I wanted. I transferred the image back into iPhoto, and decided to hit the "enhance" button. The posterizing effect was still there, but the colors were just a bit better. Then I straightened the image and cropped just a little bit more. I think all this was worth it, because through all this digital editing, I was able to find my way back to the way the scene looked when I was standing there with my camera.

Colorado Drawings To Snowmass (Final)

Colorado Drawings To Snowmass (Final), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

Last week I posted an earlier version of this drawing (posted here November 9), but I went back to it tonight and worked on it some more. This drawing is based on a pencil sketch that I found in an old sketchbook (5 x 8 inches) that I took along on a trip to Colorado in the 1980s. I was drawing in the car (when it wasn't my turn to drive), and some of these sketches identify the location, as this one does ("To Snowmass"). I recently started a series of drawings based on those little Colorado sketches. I am scanning the originals into my computer, printing out copies, and transferring them into a new sketchbook with graphite paper. Then I draw into them with conte crayon, colored pencil, and fine-line marker. The version that I posted last week was fine, but I am trying to create a series, so to make this image fit in to the set, I wanted to soften the colors and make them more subtle. That is what I worked on tonight, and now I think this is finished (but I have been wrong before).

Golden Light on Japanese Maple (Posterized Photo)

Golden Light on Japanese Maple (Posterized Photo), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

This is a tree that I noticed last week during an afternoon walk. This is a Japanese maple, and it looked so spectacular in the autumn sunshine that I took some pictures. The sunlight behind the tree seemed to create a golden glow. Tonight I used Painter to posterize the image and then cropped this composition out of the original.

Scarlet Leaves (Digital Woodcut)

Scarlet Leaves (Digital Woodcut), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

Day before yesterday (November 10) I posted a photo that I took of the bright red leaves on a burning bush hedge. Tonight I used my Painter program to transform my photo into this digital woodcut. I fiddled with the controls until I got just enough black outline to emphasize the lines and shapes of these leaves.

Chicken Collage Day 11 (November 11, 2011)

Chicken Collage Day 11 (November 11, 2011), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

This morning I went to the studio and worked on this project, a collage of a chicken created out of patterns. Today I added some detail to the head: a beak and the red comb. Once I had the bright red pasted down, I decided I wanted to see that color somewhere else, so I added some bright red areas to the tail feathers. I also started the legs just to see how the colors would look.

Scarlet Leaves (Burning Bush Hedge)

Scarlet Leaves (Burning Bush), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

I love the bright colors of autumn leaves, but red leaves are my favorite. For some reason, the leaves are late to turn red this year, but it is finally starting to happen. Of course, you can always count on the 'burning bush' shrubs to turn red, and here's one that I photographed a few days ago during an afternoon walk at the Cummings Center Pond (AKA Shoe Pond) here in Beverly, MA. Tonight I used iPhoto to do a little retouching and to crop the image to get this composition.

Colorado Drawings To Snowmass

Colorado Drawings To Snowmass, a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

Yesterday I posted a sketch taken from an old 5 x 8 inch sketchbook that I took along on a trip to Colorado in the 1980s. I am doing a series of drawings based on the sketchbook, so today I traced over a print-out of the original sketch so I could use graphite paper to transfer it into my new sketchbook (also 5 x 8 inches). Then I added a few lines with pencil and ruler, as well as the words "To Snowmass," which appear in the original sketch. Then I began to draw into it, first with fine-line marker, and then with a combination of conte crayon and some soft colored pencils.

Colorado Sketchbook To Snowmass

Colorado Sketchbook To Snowmass, a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

This is another sketch taken from a small (5 x 8 inch) sketchbook that I took along on a trip to Colorado, back in the 1980s. I used pencil to capture quick impressions of the landscape, very quick because I was a passenger in a moving car at the time. The writing on this one says "To Snowmass". This sketchbook recently resurfaced, and I am working on a set of multimedia drawings based on these sketches. Today I scanned this drawing in to the computer, and did a little retouching to get rid of some stray marks. I printed out a copy that I will use (tomorrow, I hope) to transfer the image, using graphite paper, to a new sketchbook. After that, I will start draw back into the image with conte crayon, fine-line marker, and colored pencil.

Oak Leaves and Chain Link Fence

Oak Leaves and Chain Link Fence, a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

At the end of last week, I took my car in for maintenance. But for the past few days, the maintenance light in the dashboard has been coming on, so this morning I had to go back to the dealership for a re-set. While I was waiting in the parking lot with my car, I noticed these beautiful leaves, and decided to take a picture. At first, I thought of the chain-link fence as being in the way, but I got interested in the pattern and color of the rusty fence as part of the image. So with that perspective, I took some more pictures. Tonight I cropped this image out of one of the photos. Sometimes you have to take beauty where you find it.

Still LIfe with Vegetables

Still LIfe with Vegetables, a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

This is a photograph that I took on October 27. We had just come back from picking up our vegetables at the Food Project, which has a weekly pickup at Long Hill Gardens. I looked inside one of the bags and was surprised to see beautiful light and colors. So I got out my iPhone camera, and made sure the flash was off. Then I put the iPhone right inside the bag and took some pictures. This was the best of them. I did a little retouching with iPhoto, and cropped the image to get this composition. I used this photo as an illustration for our new food blog. The blog is called "Seasoning for Every Palate," and you can see the post if you click here.

Detail of Chicken Collage as of November 3, 2011

Detail of Chicken Collage as of November 3, 2011, a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

This is a closeup of a collage that I have been working on, an image of a chicken made up of patterns. This idea was inspired by the patterns in the feathers of some real live chickens. Yesterday, I posted a photo of the collage as it looked on November 3rd. This close-up photo that I took the same day shows some details of the tail feathers.

Chicken Collage Day 10 (November 4, 2011)

Chicken Collage Day 10 (November 4, 2011), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

Yesterday, at the studio, I worked on this collage for a while, an image of a chicken created out of pattern. I got this idea a few months ago while I was looking at some chickens (at Long Hill Gardens), and I noticed the beautiful patterns in their feathers. I am still concentrating on the feathers in the tail. The black and white patterns are from the border print on the cover of an Arches watercolor block. This is slow going, like doing a jig-saw puzzle.

Family Snapshot Backyard at Katzes October 43

Family Snapshot Backyard at Katzes October 43, a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

Yesterday I posted a digital image based on this snapshot of my mom, taken in 1943. I came across the snapshot yesterday when I was looking for pictures of her, and finally found some among photos given to me by one of my dad's sisters, a few years after he died. On the back of the photo are the words "Backyard at Katzes" and "October '43" -- in my mother's handwriting. I hadn't seen this photo in any of the other family albums, so I wonder if it was a photo taken to send to him. (They married in April of 1943, and by October, he was overseas.) Anyway, the photo was in great shape, but so small that I couldn't see it very well. So I scanned it into the computer, and this is what it looked like when I enlarged it.

Backyard at Katzes October 1943

In Katzes' Backyard Oct 43, a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

I was looking for pictures of my mom today, and they are hard to find because she hated to have her picture taken. But I finally found a nice snapshot among photos that had been my Dad's (given to me after he died). Well, of course! She was willing to have pictures taken of her so she could send them to him when he was overseas during World War II! Well, I was glad to find this picture of her, taken in the backyard of the house that she grew up in (as did I). The label on the back of the picture says "Backyard at Katzes" and "Late October 43." I recognized the flowers: pink cosmos, which were still growing there when I was a kid. Apparently they were still blooming in October. Anyway, I was happy to find this snapshot. I scanned it into the computer and kept a copy of the original. (I will post it tomorrow.) Then I opened the image in Painter and used digital pastel, color overlays, and posterizing. I worked hard to get the effect I wanted: October light, the haze of memory, and the magic of dreams. It was nice to spend time working on this, spending time thinking about my mom, because her birthday was November 2nd.

Autumn Trees at Long Hill (Posterized Photo)

Autumn Trees at Long Hill (Posterized Photo), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

This image started with a photo that I took today during another late afternoon walk at Long Hill Gardens. Although there was a little snow on the ground from last weekend's storm, the trees still seem to think it is still mid-October. Most of the trees are covered in golden leaves. (Not much red yet, though.) I liked the play of light and dark in this scene, so I took a picture. Tonight I cropped this composition out of the original photo. Then I used a little color overlay and posterized the image.