Porto Hillside Near San Luis Bridge (Watercolor) as of July 10, 2020

I worked on this painting again today.  My inspiration is a photo taken by Mauro Maschkvich last July during our walk over the San Luis Bridge.  Today I began by changing the color of the peach-colored house.  I struggled to get the color right and am admitting here that I "cheated" by using some opaque white acrylic paint on that house so I could cover up the previous color and begin again.  After that I began to relax and have fun, feeling like I was wandering through this complicated landscape.  I added some boats docked on the Douro River, and some of the big "Port houses" on the opposite bank (Vila Nova de Gaia), and continued work on the many, many vine-covered walls on the Porto side.

Porto Hillside Near San Luis Bridge (Watercolor) as of July 9, 2020

This morning I continued work on this watercolor, based a lovely memory of Portugal from my trip last summer, a walk over the San Luis Bridge in Porto with Mauro Maschkvich, whose photo inspired this painting.

Porto Hillside Near San Luis Bridge (Watercolor) as of July 8, 2020

With this painting, I am returning to my "Watercolors of Portugal" series, drawing from photos from last summer's visit, as well as previous trips. One of the highlights of my last trip was a walk over the San Luis Bridge in Porto. A photo taken by Mauro Maschkvich during that walk is the inspiration for this painting. I modified the photo on the computer to turn it into a painting reference, posted here July 6.  Yesterday's post shows my sketch of the composition for this painting. Today I finally started painting.

Porto Hillside from San Luis Bridge (Composition for Painting)

I am getting ready to paint a watercolor from my trip to Portugal last summer, continuing a series "Watercolors of Portugal".  Last night and this morning, working from my photo reference (posted here yesterday), I sketched in the composition, using pencil on watercolor paper.  Tomorrow I hope to start painting.

Porto from Bridge (Digitally Modified Photo for Painting Reference)

I am planning to return to my "Watercolors of Portugal" series.  There is plenty of material in the photos from last year's trip, as well as from the trip before that.  Last summer, I walked over the San Luis Bridge (still amazed that I did that) and was rewarded with this view of the houses on the hills in Porto. The original version of this photo, taken by Mauro Maschkvich, will be the inspiration for my next painting. To turn the original photo into a painting reference, I used my Painter software to remove some graffiti on the hillside walls, a few skyscrapers in the distance, as well as an image of myself, in a bright pink windbreaker, transfixed by the view.

Picnic Cake (photo with Prisma filter)

Two days ago, I finished the drawing that will be an illustration for "Grandma Aptaker's Picnic Cake" in our food blog, Seasoning for Every Palate.  Yesterday, I baked this cake using Grandma's recipe (delicious!).  I took a picture and added a Prisma filter.  I plan to use this photo for the blog post as well.

Reposting: Fourth of July

Reposting this little animation that I created on my iPad several years ago.  Sending this out to wish everyone a safe and happy holiday, and a safe and happy holiday for pets, too!

Picnic Cake (Recipe Illustration)

This is the final version of my recipe illustration for Grandma Aptaker's Picnic Cake.  Today I used Painter to clean up the image and add a border. I plan to post this soon, along with the recipe, on our food blog, Seasoning for Every Palate. But first, I think I will bake a cake. . . .

Picnic Cake (Recipe Illustration) as of July 2, 2020

This is the project I have been working on, an illustration for a recipe to be published in our food blog, Seasoning for Every Palate . Today, I added the changes that I tried yesterday on the computer.  Then I finished applying color with conte and sharpies.  I would pronounce this finished, but I am still planning to make corrections on the computer.  Now, I need to bake that cake. . . .

Picnic Cake (Digital Trial Run)

I have been working on this recipe illustration for our food blog, Seasoning for Every Palate  For several days,  I have been thinking of added to the background of the drawing, but wasn't sure how the composition and color scheme would work. So before making changes on the actual drawing, today I used Painter to do a digital trial run. What you see here is a hybrid image, a photo of my drawing with proposed  background changes and other details sketched in on the computer with Painter's digital pastel.  This was definitely worth doing. I decided that I like the changes, so tomorrow will make the changes on the actual drawing.

Picnic Cake (Recipe Illustration) as of June 30, 2020

This is the illustration I have been working on for our food blog, Seasoning for Every Palate.  Today I started using conte crayon to add areas of color.  To be continued. . .

Picnic Cake (Recipe Illustration) as of June 29, 2020

I worked on this project today. This is going to be a recipe illustration for our food blog, Seasoning for Every Palate .  Today I did the rest of the work with Sharpie fine-line markers.  I will add the rest of the color with colored conte crayon.  To be continued. . . .

Picnic Cake (Recipe Illustration) as of June 28, 2020

Today I worked on this project, a recipe illustration for our food blog, Seasoning for Every Palate . I am still working out the color scheme, thought about it all day.  But when I first got this idea, the tablecloth was red checkered, so I am going with that, with red-violet to show shadow.

Picnic Cake (Recipe Illustration) as of June 27, 2020

Yesterday's post was a rough sketch of my idea for a recipe illustration for our food blog, Seasoning For Every Palate.  Today I refined the idea and started drawing the actual illustration.  This drawing involves a checkered tablecloth, and I put in the dots to show where the darker squares should go.

Picnic Cake (Sketch for Illustration)

This is a sketch for a recipe illustration for our food blog, Seasoning for Every Palate. The recipe is for Grandma Aptaker's Picnic Cake. For a few weeks,  I had the idea of showing the cake on a checkered tablecloth.  I couldn't quite get the illustration to work out until finally today I thought of a table with an umbrella.  To be continued. . . .

Still Life with Colander (with Prisma filter)

Today I was poking around in my Prisma app and tried out the "Daily" filter, called Crown.  It is wild and very unusual filter, with very strong colors and textures.  It was overwhelming many of my recent photos (mostly delicate spring flowers), but I tried it on this photo (Still Life with Colander) posted here at the end of May, With simple shapes and strong colors, this filter is great and I love the result.

Happy Birthday Heather (with Prisma filter)

Today is my daughter's birthday and we bought her an ice-cream cake.  It looked so good that I took a picture.  Later, I added this Prisma filter, fittingly named "Gelato".

Red Bench in the Yard (with Prisma filter)

Last year, we were given this bench and had it painted red. I love it. Even though I rarely have time to sit on it, I look at it every day, and it looks good in every season. The other day, I took a picture of it, and then added a Prisma filter.

Hosta Leaves (with Prisma filter)

Here's another photo of the hosta leaves in my yard, this time with a Prima filter added.

Reposting: Me and My Dad (colorized family photo)

I am reposting this family classic in honor of Father's day. This image began long ago, as a black and white photo of me and my dad, taken by my Uncle Ike,  who was a talented photographer and also a great dad himself.  Back in 2006, I scanned the photo into my computer and colorized it in Painter. This is one of my all time favorites.  As I said when I first posted this, "This was a good project for Father's Day.  It was fun to 'collaborate' with my uncle across time and space, and also a way to spend some time with my dad, through the blessing of memory and the magic of art.  I was lucky to have a father who always knew how to make me feel like a million bucks."