I recently finished painting a portrait for my friends, and decided to return to the preliminary pencil sketch that I made before painting, and finish it. Today I worked on the background and the clothing, but also modified the shape of the face and the hairline, bringing them closer to the photo I am using as a source. I also added some shadows to the face.
Even though my art show doesn't official start until February 1, I was offered the chance to hang the show today, and I was glad to do it. So early this morning, I took a photo of this pastel with my digital camera because I realized that I have digital images of all the pastels in the show except this one. Anyway, everything went according to plan and by noon, I had all the art up on the wall. But tonight, as I was posting the digital image, I saw some problems caused by photographing a matted piece through glass. So I opened the image in Painter IX and did some very gentle editing with a light dusting of digital pastel.
I guess it is time for another Colorado picture. This is one of the first images I made with my Clie handheld paint program, and of course, I drew a mountain, working from my imagination and my memories of Colorado. Tonight I opened the image in PainterIX and cleaned it up with a little digital pastel.
Here is a nice memory from Lawrence, Kansas, a photo of the Natural History Museum at KU. My children enjoyed this museum when they were growing up, and so did I. I took this photo in spring, as you can tell, and the red-bud trees on campus are amazing. I had a great time when we lived in Lawrence, and have wonderful memories of and strong connections to the people I met there.
Even though it was cold today, we had sun and bright blue sky. I had a lot of work to do today, but while I was at the computer, I found myself looking up at the tree outside the window. I liked the way the tree looked against the shapes created by the window's frame. I decided to take a few pictures with my phonecam. Tonight I edited them on the computer, and this is the one I like the best.
I recently finished the portrait that I have been painting for my friends. Now that the painting is done, I decided to go back and finish the preliminary sketch I made back in mid-September (and posted here on September 14 and September 22, 2005.) Today I worked on the background, and this is what it looks like tonight.
When I woke up, it was snowing and we had more snow on the ground this morning. After my son and I finished shoveling, I went back outside with my digital camera and took pictures. I took this photo from below, standing under the tree and looking up. I was intrigued by the intricate tracery of the snow-covered branch against the white sky.
This is a piece of digital art that I made tonight. When I opened a new document in Painter IX, I didn't have a specific plan. Earlier today I had spent some time matting and framing pastels for my art show next week. I guess all that time spent with rectangles might explain why began this by creating some rectangles within rectangles in black and white. I had a vague idea about filling shapes with patterns to make a digital collage, but by chance I opened the image hose brush, a tool I almost never use. I decided to try it out, and chose the passion flower nozzle. I adjusted the size of the nozzle and put in some individual flowers. I liked the design, so I kept going. Then I added some passion flower leaves, too, in various sizes. This was just an experiment, but I decided that I like it well enough to post.
It snowed today, so this morning I used my digital camera to take some pictures. The blue spruce provided contrast for the falling snow, as well as for the lacy snow-covered branches of the dogwood tree. I took several photographs of this, then later I cropped and edited them to get the composition right. This is the one I like the best.
I took this photo two years ago in early January during a visit to Northern Ireland. Justin, Mel's colleague at Queen's, invited us to come to Enniskillen, and arranged for us to stay on the shore of Loch Erne in an old manor house that is now a hotel. The morning light on the lake was amazing, so I took this picture. I decided to post this today because Justin is visiting the U.S. and will give a talk tomorrow at UNH. Tonight we met him at Logan Airport and took him out to dinner.
For the past few days, we have been having another spell of warm temperatures, in the forties and fifties. Yesterday we took advantage of the weather and walked on the beach at Lynch Park. I used my phonecam to take this picture, a view of Beverly seen from the beach. For this image, I had to adjust the color and the contrast on the computer afterwards. The amount of detail is sometimes limited with the phonecam, especially with a landscape, but the spontaneity is great and it does a good job of capturing the composition. Later on, I might use a photo like this as the basis for a painting.
Time for another picture from Portugal. This image began as a photo that I took in Cascais, Portugal, during a July visit a few years ago. I loved the sunny streets of Cascais, and was attracted to the yellow house on the corner. I call this a fantasy because it is digitally modified, and I have changed the colors by using Painter IX's digital watercolor. As I decide on colors to apply, I look at the original color and try to intensify it if I can, but then as I get going, I let my imagination take over. But I want to point out that the one color that I have not modified at all is the bright yellow house on the corner. Sometimes the reality of Portugal is more fantastic than than anything I could imagine.
The other night, I started sketching on the computer (with Painter IX's digital chalk) and realized I was sketching hats, apparently inspired by my visit with my friend Pam. She has a collection of terrific hats. It is always fun to see her hats, and I love the way she looks in them!
Here is the pastel drawing of carnations, as it looks tonight. Today I adjusted the elipse at the base of the pitcher, and the position of the spout. I worked on the background and added some shadows, within the bouquet and on the table. There isn't too much more to do, which is good because the carnations on my kitchen table won't last too much longer. . . .
This is a digital watercolor that I painted several years ago, based on memories of the Colorado mountains. I have been thinking about Colorado because today I had a chance to see a friend that I have been close to since high school back in Colorado. She has been visiting Colorado recently, and today returned to Maine via Boston, so we had a chance to get together.
Late this afternoon, I had a chance to work on this pastel again. I did a little more checking and correcting of the underlying geometry, using T-square and ruler. Then I worked on balancing the composition and adding more color and depth to the carnations. This is still a work in progress. . . .
It is very cold and windy tonight, but earlier in the week we had a January thaw, several days with high temperatures in the fifties, and no snow on the ground. So we took advantage of the opportunity to go to Long Hill Gardens to walk the dogs. I grew up in Colorado, and am still surprised to see green in January here in Massachusetts: green grass and bright green rhododendron and azalea leaves peeking out from under melting snow. While we were walking around the gardens, I noticed these little plants, and I used my phonecam to take a picture. Tonight I cropped the image to get the composition I wanted. I don't know what these plants are, but I was impressed by their color, their pattern, and their optimism.
This is the portrait I have been working on for my friends. Today I made a few small adjustments to the mouth, then modified the shadows on the shirt. I think it is just about there, so I signed it. But if it turns out that there is something I need to correct, I won't mind because I have really enjoyed painting this portrait.
Since two days ago when I last posted this work in progress, I used a ruler, to check the lines and most important, the elipses. I worked on this drawing in daylight for better light. I added some detail to the pitcher and flowers, and deepened the background for contrast. This still needs a bit more work, so I will say to be continued. . .
Here's another image of Portugal. This is from my very first trip there. I cropped this from a picture I took of Rio Lima as we drove across the bridge, headed north from Porto to Vigo, Spain. Tonight, I adjusted the brightness, contrast, and saturation to try to make it possible to see both the bridge and behind it, the scenery and its reflection in the river. We see so much of life from moving cars. It isn't always possible to stop to take a picture, so I decided long ago to take a picture if I really want to, even when it seems unlikely that it will come out. Sometimes I am disappointed with the result, but sometimes I am pleasantly surprised.
