Birds Skating on the Pond

Birds Skating on the Pond, a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

This afternoon, we stopped at the Cummings Center Pond for a walk. It was partially frozen over, and there were lots of geese as well as some seagulls who seemed to be walking around on the ice. I tried to take some pictures, but I had nearly no battery left in my iPhone. I tried anyway, zooming in to get the best shot I could. Tonight I cropped and edited this image in iPhoto to get this image. There is more to do; I plan to edit this in Painter and see what I can do with it. But I am currently between versions, switching from Painter 11 to Painter 12 (hoorah)! So I plan to come back to this in a couple of days.

Irish Landscape (Revised and Posterized)

Irish Landscape (Revised and Posterized), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

This is a small watercolor of an Irish hillside that I painted in Belfast after a road trip to the Irish Republic several years ago. I posted the original version here back on August 5, 2007. Today I came across it while I was looking for images of Ireland. I wanted to use it for greeting cards and gifts for next month, so I knew I would need to revise it a bit because it was small and low resolution. I opened the original in Painter and changed the size and resolution. Then I posterized it a bit, which looked good on everything but the sky. So I used some digital pastel to smooth out the problems and posterized again. It looked better. Then I cropped the image to this format, which seems easier to use. Later, I did upload this version into Zazzle, and it worked pretty well. So it was worth the time. And it is always a pleasure to remember my trips to the Emerald Isle.

Happy Hamentashen (Posterized)

Happy Hamentashen (Posterized), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

A couple of years ago, I created the original version of this image (posted February 27, 2010). I used Painter to create a digital drawing of hamentashen, filled triangular cookies eaten at Purim (a Jewish holiday). I recently found the image again because I wanted to upload the image to Zazzle.com to be used on some holiday items. I am still learning how to do this, but I knew I was going to have to make some adjustments because the original version was small and the resolution was very low. So I opened the image in Painter, enlarged the image, and increased the resolution. Then I did a little clean-up with some digital pastel. Because I had also increased the resolution, I posterized the image for a better result. I used trial and error to get amount of posterizing effect that I wanted. (To see some of the things I made with this image, you can go to Zazzle and put my name in the search box.)

Chicken Collage Day 16 (February 11, 2012)

Chicken Collage Day 16 (February 11, 2012), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

Yesterday I decided to take my drawing materials back to the studio. While I was there, I decided to work for a while on this project, a collage of a chicken made up of patterns. I added the white triangles to the bird's back, added a piece of red paper to mark the end of the wing, and added a few pieces of black and white polka-dots to the tail feathers.

Five-Minute Sketch (Detail) from Feb. 8 Drawing Session

Five-Minute Sketch (Detail) from Feb. 8 Drawing Session, a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

This detail is cropped from a five-minute sketch that I did Wednesday night at a figure drawing group at Porter Mill Studios. I used a Sharpie but didn't realize it was blue till I started to draw. In the interests of full disclosure, when I saw this image on my computer screen, I noticed a couple of very distracting "loop de loops" that I made with the pen. Although I wanted to maintain the spontaneity of the line, I decided to clean up these distractions by using a little cut-and-paste in Painter.

Snow Scene at Bradley Palmer

Snow Scene at Bradley Palmer, a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

No, it hasn't snowed here. (It is supposed to snow on Saturday; maybe it will look like this. ) This is a photo that I took at Bradley Palmer State Park back on January 23. I have been editing it in iPhoto, and tonight I decided to post it. I was interested in the textures of the grass against the snow, and the subtle colors of the lichens or mosses on the tree trunks.

Time for a Tree (Final)

Time for a Tree (Final) a video by randubnick on Flickr.

Yesterday I used the Brushes app on my iPad to make a digital drawing of a tree. I posted the little drawing last night in honor of Tu B'shevat (a Jewish holiday called New Year of the Trees.) As you draw, Brushes captures a stroke-by-stroke video, and I used that feature to create this little animation of a tree going through time. (The sketch I posted last night is the final image of the video.)

Time for a Tree

Time for a Tree, a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

It's the New Year of the Trees (Tu B'Shevat), one of my favorite Jewish holidays. I loved the idea as a kid, and I still do! Last year at this time, I made a sketch of a tree in four seasons on my iPad with the Brushes app, and because Brushes captures a stroke-by-stroke video as you draw, the result was an animation. Today I decided to do another one, so I got out my trusty iPad. I plan to post the video tomorrow showing this tree going through time, but for now, here is the final image, the last frame in the stroke-by-stroke video.

View from Pope's Landing (Posterized Photo)

View from Pope's Landing (Posterized Photo), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

Here is where my birthday celebrations began today, having coffee and chocolate eclairs at the water's edge and then taking a walk with my daughter and our dog at Pope's Landing in Danvers. We have been wanting to do this for a long time, and finally we did today. I like having little adventures on my birthday, and this was the first of many treats and surprises that happened today. The water was a briliiant blue in the original photo, but tonight I did some selective posterizing to enhance the colors.

Ducks (Digitally Edited and Posterized)

Ducks (Digitally Edited and Posterized), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

This image started with a photo that I took last Monday at the Cummings Center Pond. We had stopped there to walk the dog late in the afternoon. I was surprised to see these ducks right at the edge of the pond, so I got out my camera. I had to photograph them through the grass. There was a lot of grass, more than you see here! For the past few days, I have been working on this image in Painter, carefully obscuring some of the blades of grass with digital pastel, so that more can be seen of the ducks. In some cases, I could only remove a little bit of grass, because without having to start inventing visual information. (I did color matching with the closest color.) I did this little by little, and it seem to work. Then I used Painter to posterize the image, and then cropped it to get this composition. I am happier with the image, and although this little project was time-consuming, it was good practice.

Rumba (Digital Pastel Sketch)

Rumba (Digital Pastel Sketch), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

I came home late from a ballroom studio dance, happy but tired. I sat down at the computer, opened Painter, and was trying to work on editing a photo, but decided it was too complicated for tonight and I am too tired to do it justice. So I put it aside for now and instead opened a new file. I decided to do a drawing that reflected what I was thinking about, which was dancing. So I used some digital pastel to draw this little sketch using curves inspired by the twirling moves of the rhumba. And here it is.

Road at Long Hill (Posterized and Digitally Modified Photo)

Road at Long Hill (Posterized and Digitally Modified Photo), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

This image began with a photo that I took a few days ago, during a late afternoon walk at Long Hill Gardens here in Beverly, MA. I liked the golden light and the curve of the road. I took a picture even though I knew I would probably need to do something about the road, which is asphalt (known as 'hot top' here in Boston). Obviously many, many efforts have been made to fill cracks in this road with tar, so there are little trails of black line all over the road. Because I like the composition well enough to use for a painting sometime, I decided to see if I could do some digital road repair myself! I opened the image in Painter and used some digital airbrush on the road, just enough to make the black lines less distracting. Then I did some posterizing with the selection tool so I could control how much posterizing effect to use with each area. Once I got the image back into iPhoto, I used the slider to warm up the "temperature" a little bit, to emphasize the golden glow of the four o'clock light.

Detail, Drawing from Drawing Group Session on Feb. 1, 2012

Detail, Drawing from Drawing Group Session on Feb. 1, 2012, a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

Last night I went to a new figure drawing group organized by one of the artists at Porter Mill Studios. When I lived in Lawrence, Kansas, I was part of a drawing group that met every week. It was great practice and we even had group shows. Since then, I have taken several classes in drawing and painting the figure, but it has been a couple of years. So I was pretty rusty, and pretty nervous at first, especially with quick (5 minute poses). But as the poses went to 10 and then 20 minutes, I began to relax and things got somewhat better. Nonetheless I remained frustrated with what I was creating. But when I looked at the drawings today, I was actually happy with a few of them. This is a detail (head and shoulders) of one of the best ones, done with pencil on heavy paper.

Chicken Collage Day 15 (February 1, 2012)

Chicken Collage Day 15 (February 1, 2012), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

Today I had a chance to get to the studio and work on this collage for a while. I am making a chicken made up of patterns, an idea that suddenly popped into my head while I was watching some beautiful chickens and admiring their plumage. I like the face on this chicken, and don't want to do too much to it. But I have been trying to figure out what to do with the neck and back. Early this morning, I looked on the internet for photos of different chicken breeds to get some ideas, and saw that some chickens have a kind of ruff around the neck. So I decided to try that, as you can see. I think this approach will work. I also filled in some more of the tail feathers with black and white polka dot pattern.

Snow Falling on the Hedge

Snow Falling on the Hedge, a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

Yesterday it started snowing around 8 AM. I decided I had better run out to the garage and bring in some supplies in case this turned into a big storm. By the time I had my boots on, the snow was coming down hard and starting to cover the sidewalk. On my way back to the house from the garage, the snow was falling on the hedge and it was so beautiful that I had to put down my bag of paper towels, frozen pizza, and bottled water so I could take some pictures. This is one of the best. Tonight I cropped it in iPhoto, and used the retouch tool to obscure neighboring houses just a bit. Well, it was about 8:15 AM when I took this photo. By 9 AM, the snow had stopped. By 11 AM, the snow was all gone. Is this really Massachusetts?

Sunlight on Snowy Branches (Digital Woodcut)

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

Here's one last look at this snow-covered tree, a digital woodcut. I used Painter to apply the woodcut effect. I used trial and error to get the number of colors and amount of black line that I wanted. The colors are more subdued, but the woodcut effect emphasizes the lines.

Sunlight on Snowy Branches (Posterized Photo)

Sunlight on Snowy Branches (Posterized Photo), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

I used Painter to create this posterized version of the image I published here yesterday, a photograph of snowy branches in the morning sun. I also used iPhoto to increase the color saturation just a bit. Tomorrow I will post a digital woodcut that I made from the same image. (Here north of Boston, we haven't had very little snow this year. I am just trying to make the most of the snow we had.)

Sunlight on Snowy Branches

Sunlight on Snowy Branches, a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

It snowed last Friday, and this is the scene I saw when I looked outside. I took this picture through an upstairs window about ten past 8 AM. I was trying to capture the morning light on this scene. This photo has been digitally modified, but very slightly: I used Painter to clear up a little distraction on one of the branches with some digital pastel. I also used iPhoto to crop and adjust the contrast just a bit.

Paper Roses Collage (Posterized Version)

Paper Roses Collage (Posterized Version), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

This image began with a collage of paper roses that I made almost five years ago (final version posted here April 13, 2007). This week, I loaded my photo of the original version into Zazzle to use for a greeting card and other items, but the resolution was too low to get a good size image and well, it just didn't look good. The cast shadows of pasted paper look good when the collage is seen on its own, but become distracting when the image is imposed on another surface. So tonight I opened the photo of the original image in Painter, and changed the resolution. Then I used some digital pastel to cover some of the dark shadows cast by the pasted paper. Then I posterized the result, experimenting with the amount of posterizing effect till I got what I want it. I am happy with the result. l think it will look better in e-mail greetings, and I hope it will work better for making paper cards, as well.

Snow, Field, and Trees (Digital Woodcut)

Snow, Field, and Trees (Digital Woodcut), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

Last night I used Painter to apply a woodcut effect to the photo that I took recently at Bradley Palmer State Park. Today I decided it needed some color, so I used iPhoto to adjust the red and blue tint.

Snow, Field, and Trees (Posterized Photo)

Snow, Field, and Trees (Posterized Photo), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

Tonight I used Painter to posterize the photo I published here yesterday, a picture that I took recently at Bradley Palmer State Park, in Topsfield, MA. I thought posterizing might add some interesting effects to the trees and grasses. I experimented with exposure as well as the amount of posterizing effect until I got the look I wanted. I also created a digital woodcut version of this image and plan to post it here tomorrow.

Snow, Field, and Trees

Snow, Field, and Trees, a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

This is a photograph that a took a couple of days ago during a walk at Bradley Palmer State Park, in Topsfield, MA. We had stopped for a quick walk with the dog after a visit to the vet. I liked the way the grasses and trees looked against the snow, so I took some pictures with my iPhone camera. Tonight I used iPhoto to do some light editing on this one: straightening, adjusting the exposure, and then cropping to get this composition.

Chicken Collage Day 14 (January 23, 2012)

Chicken Collage Day 14 (January 23, 2012), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

After too many weeks away from this project, I finally had a chance to work on my chicken collage today! (The idea for this project popped into my head early this year while I was admiring some chickens at Long Hill Gardens. The patterns in their feathers were wonderful, and I suddenly thought about creating a picture of a chicken made up of patterns.) Today I finally filled in the remaining gaps in the body. Then I added a few more pieces to the wing. Finally, I filled in some more polka dot pattern in the tail feathers. As I worked on this, I began to smile. There is something about this little chicken that makes me happy. (Or maybe it's just the joy of making art.)

Snow on Blueberry Bushes

Snow on Blueberry Bushes, a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

Here north of Boston, we finally got some snow! The first snowfall was on Friday morning, and despite the cold, I went out to take some pictures with my iPhone camera because I knew the snow would be gone soon (and I was right). I was admiring the way the new snow looked on the blueberry bushes in the morning light, so I took some photographs. Tonight I used iPhoto to crop the best one to get this composition. But apart from cropping, this is the image just as it looked when it came out of the camera.

Pink Flowers (Digital Pastel Day 3)

Pink Flowers (Digital Pastel Day 3), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

Tonight I went back to the digital drawing I have been working on (in Painter, on my Mac). I wanted to add some definition to the flowers. But I had cornered myself by creating flowers that seemed to have three petals. Even though I am working from my imagination, I wanted to do a little research so I Googled flowers with three petals, and found some. But in the end I decided to go with a shape that suggested a bud surrounded by opening petals. I drew a few lines on one of the flowers and decided I could make that work. Then I added highlights and shadows to the flowers and flowerpot, added a few more leaves, and put some soil into the flower pot. Then I spent some time cleaning up, straightening lines, etc. Finally, I cropped the image one more time. I think this is pretty much done, although no doubt I will find mistakes that I will want to fix.

Pink Flowers (Digital Pastel Day 2)

Pink Flowers (Digital Pastel Day 2), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

Today I worked on the digital drawing that I started last night, a little still life in Painter's digital pastel. First I changed the shape of the container (using a grid to keep it centered). Then I drew a line to indicate the table-top, and used yellow to add light and complement the dark purple background. Then I put in a little bit of shadow and highlight. Finally I cropped the image to get a better composition. This is still a work in progress. To be continued. . . .

Pink Flowers (Digital Pastel Day 1)

Pink Flowers (Digital Pastel Day 1), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

This is a work in progress. Tonight I decided to do another drawing on the computer, because it is fun and good practice. I thought I might draw more flowers, easy to do when I am drawing from imagination. I started a new file in Painter and chose a dark background, and used digital pastel. The dark background really made the digital pastel "texture" show up, and it kind of felt like I was drawing with chalk on a chalkboard. I started with pink circles, and went from there. I used a grid overlay to straighten out the lines. I worked for about an hour, but couldn't spend any more time on this tonight. So this is what the drawing looks like now. I plan to continue tomorrow. . . .

Snow Across the River (Digital Woodcut)

Snow Across the River (Digital Woodcut), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

Yesterday's image was a posterized version of a recent photo that I took of a riverbank here in Beverly, MA (from the vantage point of a walking path behind a local Starbucks). Tonight I decided to see what the image would look like as a digital woodcut. So I copied the photo and opened it in Painter. It took a lot of trial and error (including adjusting brightness and adding posterizing) and fiddling with the controls to get the right textures in the right places. I transferred the image back into iPhoto. I decided to adjust the tint (more blue, more red) to get more interesting color. Anyway, here is the final result.

Snow Across the River (Posterized Photo)

Snow Across the River (Posterized Photo), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

It snowed this morning (finally), just an inch or so, and the temperature was rising into the mid-thirties. But I was on the run and didn't get a chance to take pictures until late afternoon, when we stopped to walk the dog on the path by the Bass River, behind the Starbucks here in Beverly. There were still some traces of snow accentuating the line of the riverbank, so I took some pictures. This was the best of the bunch, so I opened it in Painter, cleaned up some distractions in the foreground with digital pastel as well as some cut-and-paste, and then did some selective posterizing. Then I cropped it to get this composition.

Sky in the Water (Digitally Modified Photo)

Sky in the Water (Digitally Modified Photo), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

This image began with a picture that I took during a walk at the Cummings Center Pond here in Beverly, MA, back on January 10. The air was clear and you could see the clouds reflected in the water, along with the ripples in the pond. So I took some pictures. Last night I opened the original photo in Painter. I used digital pastel to obscure the houses behind the trees, as well as to hide a series of flagpoles. Then I posterized the image and cropped it to get this composition.

Pixel Posies (Posterized)

Pixel Posies (Posterized), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

Last night I used Painter to create this posterized version of the image I posted yesterday, a little drawing of roses and violets that I created on the computer. The posterizing adds some interesting textures and brightens the color, but I prefer yesterday's version, and that's the one I am more likely to use.

Pixel Posies (Roses and Violets)

Pixel Posies (Roses and Violets), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

Yesterday I started this little digital drawing in Painter, beginning with some squiggles and working for a couple of hours until I had a drawing of digital posies. All day I was thinking about changes I wanted to make. Tonight I used Painter to do a lot of clean-up and definition, but I only made one real change: I added yellow to the centers of blue-violet flowers to yellow so they would be the right color for violets. So now I have red roses and blue violets. So I am thinking of using this for a greeting card on Zazzle. (February 14 is just a month away.) I also created a posterized version of this, just out of curiousity. I will post it tomorrow.

Pixel Posies

Pixel Posies, a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

Tonight I decided that I felt like drawing something in Painter on my Mac, but I didn't have anything specific in mind. I decided to start with a doodle. I used soft digital pastel, and just made some purple swirls, and then some pink ones. I intended to make a quick drawing, but I kept going for two hours, and this is what it looked like at 11:30 PM. (Time to go to bed.) Maybe I will do more with it tomorrow, but I think I am done . . . for tonight, at least.

Powdered Sugar Morning (Digital Woodcut)

Powdered Sugar Morning (Digital Woodcut), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

We had a light dusting of snow a few days ago, and in the morning it looked just like powdered sugar. I took a picture of the this tree in the morning light and posted it here a few days ago. Yesterday I published the posterized version. This version is a "digital woodcut". I used Painter to apply the "woodcut" effect to the photo. ( I used a lot of trial and error to get the colors I wanted as well as the amount of black line.) Afterwards I edited it in iPhoto, increasing the yellow and pink tones just a bit, to capture the look of the morning sunlight.

Powdered Sugar Morning (Posterized)

Powdered Sugar Morning (Posterized), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

Yesterday it finally snowed, just a light dusting. I took a picture through the window and posted it last night. Tonight I used Painter to create this posterized version of it. I also created a digital woodcut which I plan to post tomorrow.

Powdered Sugar Morning

Powdered Sugar Morning, a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

This morning, I was surprised when I looked out the window and saw snow on the ground. Why the surprise? It is January 10, and this is only the second snow of the year, both of them pretty light. This time, it was just a little dusting of snow. The forecast was for a quick rise in temperature today, so I knew the snow wouldn't last. I liked the way the morning light looked on one of my favorite trees, so I took this picture through a window with my iPhone camera. Tonight I edited the original image in iPhoto, straightening it and cropping it to get this quirky composition.

Pineapple Stroke-by-Stroke

Pineapple Stroke-by-Stroke a video by randubnick on Flickr.

For the past two days, I have been posted my little drawing of a pineapple, created on my iPad with the Brushes app. Brushes captures a "stroke-by-stroke" video as you draw, so here it is. I used iMovie to add the still of the final drawing at the end.

Pineapple Revised - Cropped

Pineapple Revised - Cropped, a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

Yesterday I used the Brushes app on my iPad to draw a picture of a pineapple, and posted it here. I thought it was finished, but I guess it wasn't. When I saw the image on the computer screen, I decided I wasn't satisfied with the background. And I saw a few other things I wanted to change. Oh well, I could let that go. But then I had the idea of adding more pattern, and that sounded like fun. So I got the iPad out, and started making changes. I added pink polka dot texture to the wall in the background, and purple stripes to the table top. I also added more definition to the leaves, and added more color to the pineapple. I am happier with it now (though the background still looks different on the computer screen than on my iPad.) Brushes captures a stroke-by-stroke video, so tomorrow I plan to post a little animation of this pineapple coming into existence.

Pineapple Drawing - Final

Pineapple Drawing - Final, a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

I went to Starbucks late this afternoon and took my iPad along. I decided to draw with the Brushes app while I had a hot chocolate. That gave me enough time to get this drawing started. I was just drawing to draw, no purpose in mind, and for some reason decided to draw a pineapple. (I had been to the grocery store about an hour earlier, but I didn't look at the pineapples.) I worked from imagination and memory. I didn't have time to finish, but after dinner, I worked on it some more. Once I got the drawing into iPhoto, I cropped it just a bit to center the image. Brushes captures a stroke-by-stroke video as you draw, and I hope to post my little pineapple video tomorrow.

Tall Winter Grasses (Digital Woodcut)

Tall Winter Grasses (Digital Woodcut), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

Tonight I used Painter to turn my photo of winter grasses into a "digital woodcut" by applying the woodcut effect. At first, I was losing the soft yellow no matter what I did with the woodcut controls. So I decided to apply a soft yellow overlay to the whole image, and then tried the woodcut effect again. That seemed to solve the problem and I was able to get some soft yellow highlights.

Tall Winter Grasses (Posterized Photo)

Tall Winter Grasses (Posterized Photo), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

Here is another image from the New Year's Day walk at Obear Park, here in Beverly, MA. I liked the golden winter light on the tall grasses, so I took some pictures. This version was posterized in Painter and cropped to get this composition. It seems odd to be taking so many pictures of beach grass! But we haven't much snow at all this winter, so less snow means more access to the beach, and a clearer view of the grass.

Toward Salem (Digital Woodcut)

Toward Salem (Digital Woodcut), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

This image began with a photo that I took on New Year's Day at Obear Park, here in Beverly, MA. I took the picture looking toward the old drawbridge to Salem. (It still works) I liked the look of the tall grasses and the shapes of the tree branches and shore line. Yesterday I published the posterized version of the photo that I created in Painter. I also created this digital woodcut from the same image.

Toward Salem (Posterized Photo)

Toward Salem (Posterized Photo), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

Yesterday I posted a photo that I took on New Year's Day during an afternoon walk at Obear Park, the view of the drawbridge to Salem. Tonight I used Painter to create this posterized version of the photo. I also created a digital "woodcut" which I plan to post tomorrow.

Toward Salem

Toward Salem, a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

The weather was great yesterday so we took the dog and went to Obear Park, here in Beverly, MA. This time we took a different way into the park, and this was the view, looking toward the old drawbridge (still in use) that goes to Salem. (You can see the bridge in the upper left-hand corner of the photo.) I liked the texture of the tall grasses, so I started taking pictures, and got interested in this slightly quirky compositiion.

Champagne (Digital Drawing)

Champagne (Digital Drawing), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

Last night, New Year's Eve, I posted an animation of a champagne glass being filled. This was a stroke-by-stroke video created in the iPad's Brushes app as you draw. Tonight I am posting the drawing as it looked when I was finished.

Champagne New Year (Stroke-by-stroke video)

Champagne New Year (Stroke-by-stroke video) a video by randubnick on Flickr.

This morning I had an idea for a little animation, and caught myself thinking about how to do it all day long. So tonight I got out my iPad and tried it. I made a drawing with the Brushes app, which captures a "stroke-by-stroke" video as you draw. As usual, there were problems and hiccups with the video as it was downloaded, so I did a little post-production editing in iMovie, and added the still image of the finished drawing.

Rising Sun Through Window Screen (Digital Woodcut)

Rising Sun Through Window Screen (Digital Woodcut), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

I was looking through some of the images I have used in the past, and came across some photos that I took in 2008, pictures of the winter sunrise, seen through a screened window. I had already used the photo to create a posterized version, posted here December 23, 2008. But I thought it would be interesting to see what the image looked like as a digital woodcut. So tonight I opened the original photo in Painter, posterized it, cropped it, and adjusted the brightness. Then I applied the woodcut effect, adjusting the number of colors until I got enough yellow. I liked the way the woodcut effect emphasized the lines of the screen. So then I moved the image back into iPhoto where I straightened it and cropped it one more time to get this image.

Necklace with Jade and Red Wooden Beads

Necklace with Jade and Red Wooden Beads, a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

I finally finished this necklace tonight. I have been working on it over the past few days; tonight was the third try stringing it, and I finally got the proportions right and the knots in the right places. The beads are carved Chinese jade and red wood, strung on a cotton cord.

Across the Water (Digital Woodcut)

Across the Water (Digital Woodcut), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

This image began with a photo that I took last week at one of Beverly's beach-front parks. I liked the way this scene looked in the late afternoon, so I took some pictures. Tonight I used Painter's woodcut effect to transform the original image, along with some color overlays and posterizing to change the appearance of the houses just a pit. Then I used iPhoto to adjust the color to emphasize the December light.

Silhouette Grasses and Pond (Digital Woodcut)

Silhouette Grasses and Pond (Digital Woodcut), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

A few days ago (December 23), I published a posterized photo of grasses at the pond, from a picture I had taken at the Cummings Center Pond in early December. I also created a digital woodcut of the image in Painter, and here it is. Tonight I cropped it to show a closer view and to emphasize the silhouettes of the grasses against the water.

Snow Through the Window (Digital Drawing)

Snow Through the Window (Digital Drawing), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

Last night I posted an animation of a snowstorm seen through a window, a stroke-by-stroke video captured by the Brushes app as I drew on my iPad. Tonight I am posting the drawing as it looked when I was finished.

Snow Through the Window

Snow Through the Window a video by randubnick on Flickr.

I had an idea for a little animation of a snowstorm, so today I got out my iPad and did a little drawing in Brushes. As you draw, Brushes captures a "stroke-by-stroke" video, and that is how I was able to make it snow. I am going to use this as a little electronic holiday greeting.

Grasses at the Pond (Digitally Modified and Posterized Photo)

Grasses at the Pond (Digitally Modified and Posterized Photo), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

Yesterday I found some photos that were still on my iPhone camera, pictures of grasses against the backdrop of a pond. (These were photos that I took on December 5, during a late afternoon walk at the Cummings Center.) Yesterday's image of beach grasses made me think about these photos, and tonight I decided to do something with them. I took the best of the photos and cropped it a bit. I liked the composition, but there were a few dead leaves in the water that were a little distracting, especially since I wanted the composition to emphasize that deep blue. So I opened the image in Painter and did a little clean-up with digital pastel. Then I posterized the image, and cropped again to get this image.

Beach Grasses in December (Digital Woodcut)

Beach Grasses in December (Digital Woodcut), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

It was warm today, fifty degrees! This is unusual weather in December, here north of Boston. We couldn't pass up a chance to take a walk at the beach so we went to a little beach-front park. There is always a lot to see, but today I was struck by the winter light on the beach grasses. I took lots of pictures. I edited them tonight, and although this looks like a simple image, it was fairly difficult to get. I did a lot of cropping and discarding until I arrived at this composition. Then I used Painter to do a little bit of clean up, and then applied the "woodcut" effect to emphasize the texture of the grasses.