Leaving Central City (Reference for Painting)

This is a photo from our 2018 trip to Colorado. (We were traveling the state with the Brazilian couple that we met in Boulder in 1968. This was a 50th anniversary celebration for both couples and a celebration of 50 years of friendship.)  I cropped this image out of one of the photos I took as we left Central City.  I liked the layers of mountains and the curving road.  I had originally intended to include the poles, but decided against it.  This was the reference for the painting that is being used to advertise my solo show, opening November 3 at Galatea Fine Art.

Cheyenne Lake, Broadmoor (Painting as of Sept. 14, 2023)

Here is my painting of Cheyenne Lake as it looked on September 14th.  The biggest change I made was to the shape of the shore in the lower right corner.  I made a few changes to the water and the shore line, to add depth, and also added more blue to the mountains in the background. To be continued. . .

Together (Double Portrait)

Here is the final version of the double portrait, finished earlier this week.  It is now on the way to its new home in Tennessee, and should get there today.

Cheyenne Lake, Broadmoor (Painting as of September 13, 2023)

Here is my painting of Cheyenne Lake at the Broadmoor as of September 13.  I began painting back in to the layers of pasted paper, using my reference photo as a guide.  To be continued. . .

Art in Transit: "Pencil Sketch for Double Portrait" and "Together (Double Portrait)

I took this photo yesterday, just before I packed up the painted portrait for mailing, and also tucked the pencil sketch into the package.  Now they are both in transit, on the way to Tennesse

Cheyenne Lake, Broadmoor (as of September 12, 2023)

My reference for this is a photo taken back in 1991, during a visit to Colorado. I met family and friends for lunch at the Broadmoor Hotel, and we walked along the lake behind the hotel. On September 12th, I began to paint this scene with acrylics in the morning, working from my reference photo, and in the afternoon, began to add pasted paper. Here is how it looked at the end of the day.  I believe this was my first attempt to use collaged paper to represent water.

Twin Towers from Brooklyn Bridge (with Prisma’s “Aqua”filter)

 In July of 2011, we walked over the Brooklyn Bridge and I took a picture of the Twin Towers. I didn’t know it would be my last photo of them and that they would be destroyed in a few months. Today I added Prisma’s “Aqua” filter to my 2011 photo, taken that last summer in July.

Cheyenne Lake, Broadmoor (Posterized) Painting Reference

This photo is one of the painting references I have been using. I have been painting mountains again, specifically the mountains of my home state of Colorado.  I am drawing on photos, some from old family albums, and some taken on trips back to my home state.  I cropped this from a photo that I took back in 1991 during a visit to Colorado to see friends and family.  We got together at the Broadmoor in Colorado Springs for lunch. This was taken from the hotel grounds, looking across Cheyenne like towards the mountains in the distance.

Together (Double Portrait) as of August 30, 2023

Here is my painting as of August 30th.  I continued to work on this double portrait as the likenesses continued to go in and out of focus and back again.  At this point, I began to try out an idea for the background: a big flowering tree where my son proposed.

My Dad at 21 (Rescued Photo)

This photo of my father was among a batch of pictures given to me by my Aunt Celia, a few years after my father's death.  I keep those photos in a little album, and this picture is usually inserted into the front of the album, to serva as a cover.  I was looking for a picture of my father today, and decided to take this one out of the album and scan it in to the computer.  It's a nice photo, this point had lots of deep cracks and small marks. I decided to see if I could rescue it.  Once I opened the image in iPhoto, I was able to fix the marks and small cracks, and once that was done, it was possible to enhance the contrast a bit. There is not much information on the back of the photo: just Feb 11 1929, Hy.  So my father was 21 at the time. I don't know who took this picture -- I wondered if it was my Uncle Ike. Possible, I guess, but it seems unlikely that they would have already known each other.   In any case, the photographer did a great job. It's nice to have this portrait of my father as a young man.  I am posting this today because he was born on August 28.

Together (Double Portrait) as of August 27, 2023

Here is the double portrait as of August 27, 2023.  I continued to work on the faces, and began to work on the clothing.

Together (Double Portrait) as of August 26, 2023

Here is the double portrait as it looked on August 26th.  During the preceeding days, I struggled to get to likeness for both portraits,  I measured my reference photo, I measured the canvas, I used multiple colors to mark changes, I turned the canvas upside-down, I looked at it in the mirror.  I opened the reference photo in painter and traced a rough outline of the main features, and then compare that to the painting.  All of these things helped, and at this point, my optimism returned as  l began to see two familiar faces on the canvas.  To be continued. . . .

Together (Double Portrait), sketch on canvas as of August 19, 2023

Here is the double portrait as it looked on August 19th.  I was already seeing a bit of likeness in both faces. This is still a sketch with conte crayon, blended to indicate shading.  I sketched in trees for the background.  I tend to use different colors of conte crayon to make it easy to see what I am doing as I make changes in a portrait. That helps me to see but can make the colors look a bit garish at this stage, so I have muted the saturation here for posting.

Together (Double Portrait), sketch on canvas as of August 17, 2023

I was finally able to get back to this project in mid-August, a little over 4 weeks since I fell and broke a bone in my right arm  (the radial head, which at first I miss-heard as Radio Head.) Anyway, by August 17, I had enough movement, control, and confidence in my right arm to return to this double portrait. I started by just roughing in the features with more conte crayon

Vine-Covered Shed (Digital Drawing as of August 15, 2023)

Here is my digital drawing as of August 15, 2023.  I had used layers in Procreate to trace elements from one of my photos, resulting in the drawing I posted here yesterday.  But then I decided that I wanted to adjust the composition, so I went back to Procreate, and extended the bushes in the foreground to the edge of the image. I also made a few minor changes,. Now I am happier with the composition. 

Vine-Covered Shed (Digital Drawing as of August 14, 2023)

Here is my digital drawing of the vine-covered shed as it looked on August 14th.  I used the Procreate app on my iPad for this drawing.  I have been spending some time trying to work out the best way to create line drawings from my photos.  This time, I used Procreate's layers and did some selective tracing to capture the lines I wanted to have in my drawing.  This was good practice because I have only rarely used layers.*  And for the first time, I used the "drawing assist" function to draw the straight lines of the building and roof.  (Seems fair, since you can't really use a ruler to draw on your eye pad.)  Anyway, I was happy enough with the result, but decided I wanted to make some changes to the composition. (To be continued.)

*It was also practice in general because as I am returning to drawing from last month's arm injury.

Vine-Covered Shed (Photo)

Late in October of last year, I took a photo of this little vine-covered shed that I noticed during a walk in the neighborhood.  I liked the lines and textures and thought I might like to do something with the photo some day.  Someday came yesterday when I decided to use the image as the basis for a line drawing.  To be continued. . .

Memories of the Mountains, Photo 2 (Porter Mill Vitrine Show 2023)

I am so grateful to Porter Mill for asking me to show my work again this year! Last Thursday, August 10, I delivered ten of my mountain landscapes to be hung in the big display window (vitrine) in the lobby of Porter Mill. By the next day, I received photos of how the display looks, and I was so pleased! This is the second of two photos. The exhibit will be up through September.

Memories of the Mountains, Photo 1 (Porter Mill Vitrine Show 2023)

I am very pleased to have been invited to show my mountain paintings at Porter Mill again this year!  Last Thursday (August 10), I delivered ten of my mountain landscapes to be hung in the big display window (the vitrine).  I wasn't able to stay to watch them be hung, but the next day, I received photos of the exhibit and I am very pleased with how they are displayed.  This is the first of two photos.  

Iris and Fence (Line Drawing from Photo)

Today I used Procreate to create this line drawing, based on one of my photos.