Many Quick Menorahs

Many Quick Menorahs, a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

Tonight I used Painter 12 to "capture" a pattern, using the image I posted here yesterday. (That image was my digital drawing of a menorah with a blue border. I drew the menorah using the Brushes app on my iPhone, then used Painter 12 to add the border.) All of my Chanukah patterns have disappeared from my pattern library in Painter 12, which seems to happen any time I upgrade my software. That isn't a big problem because it is easy to recreate the patterns as long as I have the original images stored in iPhoto, and you bet I do. But it is always more fun to make something new, and besides, I was curious to see how this image would look as a pattern. I like the result. Maybe I can use this to wrapping packages (small ones), or maybe this will end up as a tie on Zazzle.

Quick Menorah with Border

Quick Menorah with Border, a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

Here's the little digital menorah that I posted last night (created on my iPhone with Brushes), but this time with a border. I used Painter to add the border last night to compensate for the unusual format.

Quick Menorah

Quick Menorah, a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

Hanukah can sneak up on a person, especially when it comes so early in December. (Wasn't it just Thanksgiving five minutes ago?) Well, it certainly snuck up on me! Tonight I decided to make a very quick little digital drawing of a menorah, using the Brushes app on my iPhone -- finished just in time to say Happy Hanukah!

Swirls (Digital Woodcut)

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

I was in the studio last night for First Thursdays (which means studios are open for visitors). I felt like drawing but it needed to be simple and fast because every so often people were stopping by to look and to talk. So I just took out a pen and a sketchpad and started making swirls. It was quick and very relaxing, just letting the motion take me. I did six or seven versions of this idea, trying to find an arrangement that I liked. This one is the best of the bunch. Tonight I used Painter to create a digital woodcut of the design to try to get the lines to show up.

The Other Side of the Sunset (Digitally Modified and Posterized Photo)

The Other Side of the Sunset (Digitally Modified and Posterized Photo), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

Last night's post was a photo of the sunset, seen from Lynch Park, here in Beverly, MA. It was a great sunset! But the sky was beautiful in the other direction too, not the setting sun itself, but reflected light in the sky. So I took some pictures of that, too. But when I got some of those photos into my computer, I noticed that along with these beautiful clouds I had captured a lamppost and a volleyball net, a picnic table, and three innocent bystanders. Much of this wasn't noticeable until I tried to lighten the shadows, and then it was dead obvious. So I opened the image in Painter and used some cut and paste and digital pastel to clear the scene of all that. Then I did some selective posterizing, and cropped it in iPhoto to get this composition.

Sunset from Lynch Park

Sunset from Lynch Park, a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

Late afternoon errands put us close to Lynch Park around 4:30, so we decided to stop at the park to see the sunset. It was a good idea. This is one of the photos I took today. This is the view from the cove, looking south and slightly west, looking back at Beverly and Salem, further south. Tonight I used iPhoto to adjust the shadows a bit and then cropped the original photo to get this composition.

X and Grid Pattern

X and Grid Pattern, a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

Last night I published an image of my X on grid pattern, digitally revised and posterized using Painter 12. While I was in Painter, I used the "capture pattern" control to make a repeated pattern with the image. Then I used the paint bucket tool to fill a new image with it. I kind of like the look of it, and may use it for something on Zazzle.

Grid with X-Pattern (Revised and Posterized)

Grid with X-Pattern (Revised and Posterized), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

Tonight I went back to the little digital image I posted yesterday, an x-pattern drawn over simulated grid paper, created in my new iPhone app called "Papers". I was curious about what the grid paper would look like posterized. I liked it so much that I decided to clean up the drawing and use it. So I neatened up some of the strokes with digital pastel and here it is. I also captured the whole image to use as a digital pattern, and I plan to post that here tomorrow.

Grid with X-Pattern

Grid with X-Pattern, a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

This has been a crazy weekend but tonight I took a few minutes to experiment with a iPhone app that I downloaded a few weeks ago. The app is called "Papers" and it is basically a tool form creating handwritten notes and basic diagrams and sketches that can be e-mailed. Its much more basic that Brushes, my favorite drawing app on iPhone. But what Papers has that is unique is the chance to choose backgrounds that simulate different kinds of paper. One of the choices is graph paper (which I love) so tonight I tried out the app by making this little digital pattern. I had to do a little digital cleanup in Painter and then cropped it in iPhoto. I like the playful strokes of color against the precision of the graph paper.

To Vail (Small Works Show, Porter Mill Gallery)

To Vail (Small Works Show, Porter Mill Gallery), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

I spent the day at Porter Mill because it was open studios today. At 4 PM, I went downstairs to the gallery for a reception for the "Small Works Show" because two of my little Colorado drawings are on display. My own cell phone battery died just as I was trying to take some pictures, so this photo is courtesy of my daughter.

Dusting of Snow on Sapphire Berries (Digital Woodcut)

Dusting of Snow on Sapphire Berries (Digital Woodcut), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

Yesterday I published my image of snow on sapphire berries. I was pretty happy with it, and have already used it to made some cards on Zazzle. But I have been wondering how it would look as a digital woodcut, so tonight I opened the image in Painter, and after a lot of trial and errors with the controls, this is the result.

Dusting of Snow on Sapphire Berries

Dusting of Snow on Sapphire Berries, a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

Today I added a little more digital snow to this image, a photo of sapphire berries that I took at Long Hill Gardens back in October (when there was no snow). I was trying out Painter's Fairy Dust brush (no kidding). It was fun to try. Now I think this might be ready.

Snow on Sapphire Berries (Digitally Modified Photo)

Snow on Sapphire Berries (Digitally Modified Photo), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

Tonight I decided to try adding a little snow to my sapphire berry scene (posted here yesterday). You might see this with a October snowstorm because that's when you see sapphire berries. But there was no snow when I took this picture a few months ago, so I tonight I created some snow in Painter with digital airbrush and color overlays. Then I posterized the whole image.

Sapphire Berries (Posterized Photo)

Sapphire Berries (Posterized Photo), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

I had a request for a greeting card with a photo of sapphire berries. So tonight I found a photo that I took during a walk at Long Hill Gardens in October. I wanted a cooler color scheme, so I adjusted the color to add a bit more blue, and added color overlay to yellow areas of the leaves. Then I posterized it. I like the blue-green color scheme.

Colorado Drawings: To Vail (Framed)

Colorado Drawings: To Vail (Framed), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

Here is the second of two pieces that I framed yesterday. Both were small drawings, part of a series of drawings based on my old sketchbook from a trip back to Colorado in the 1980s. These were small line drawings of the mountains, sometimes with the place noted. Recently I have been copying the sketches into a new sketchbook and adding color. This one is called "To Vail". It is only 5 x 8 inches. Today I delivered this piece and the one that I posted here yesterday to the gallery at Porter Mill because they are going to be shown in the "Small Works" show.

Colorado Drawings: Aspen (Framed)

Colorado Drawings: Aspen (Framed), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

Today I framed two pieces that  are going into the Small Works Show (in the gallery at Porter Mill Studios.) I need to drop them off tomorrow. Both pieces are "Colorado Drawings" from the series I am working on. (These are drawings based on a sketchbook that I took along on a trip back home, back in the 1980s.) This one is "Aspen," and the drawing itself is only 5 x 8 inches.

Branches and Berries

Branches and Berries, a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

Two days ago I posted a little digital painting of berries on a branch (created in Painter with digital gouache). I have been wondering what the image would look like as a pattern, and tonight I decided to find out. I "captured" the pattern in Painter, and then filled a new image with it, using the paint bucket tool, fiddling with the controls until I got this image.

Colorado Drawings: Georgetown (version 2)

Colorado Drawings: Georgetown (version 2), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

I am working on a series of small drawings based on quick sketches of the Colorado mountains. On a trip back to my home state in the 1980's, I took along a small 5 x 8 inch sketchbook and when I was in the passenger seat, I pulled it out and made simple line drawings of the mountains. I often noted the rough location. I have been copying those old sketches and adding color with dry media. This drawing is based on a sketch I made near Georgetown, Colorado. (The sketch is posted, November 10, 2012). I made an earlier version of this last week (posted here November 16, 2012). The color scheme is similar, but I prefer the composition of this one because the lines of the mountains are higher up on the page..

Branch with Red Berries (Digital Gouache)

Branch with Red Berries (Digital Gouache), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

Tonight I made this little digital drawing with Painter's digital gouache, just concentrating on a simple pattern with lines and dots. Here north of Boston, most of the bright fall leaves are gone. The consolation is being able to see beautiful red and orange berries on some of the trees. This is a little playful celebration of a branch with red berries.

Orange Oopsie Daisies (Digital Print)

Orange Oopsie Daisies (Digital Print), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

Tonight I decided to make some more images with this pattern (created from my little digital drawing called "Oopsie Daisies). I used Painter's pattern pen and chose a very large size for the digital "brush". Then I put the pattern on by moving the mouse, and it reminds me of using a brayer. Then I posterized the image and added some selective color overlay to balance out the composition.