Evening Sky

Evening Sky, a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

Last night we went to Obear Park to walk the dog. After 7:30 PM, dogs are allowed in Beverly's waterfront parks. It's a great little park, and it has the best views of the sunset in town, because you can look west and see the sunset reflected in the water.We arrived around 7:40, which is when I took this picture. The sun was heading toward the horizon and the sky and water were apricot and blue. Tonight I cropped the original photo to get this composition.

Heading into Boston (Digital Woodcut)

Heading into Boston (Digital Woodcut), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

This image began with a photo that I took yesterday on the way into Boston (heading to the MFA to see the Alex Katz exhibit). I had the luxury of being a passenger, so I got out my iPhone camera and tried to capture Boston. I love the Zakim Bridge, never get tired of it, and never get tired of trying to photograph it. In this shot, we are headed up the Leverett Connector with the bridge in sight . Tonight I took the original photo and used Painter 12 to posterize it and then apply the woodcut effect. I did a lot of fiddling with the controls and used the selection tools to try to get the effects to land where I wanted them to be. Then I did some more editing in iPhoto, quieting the colors a bit. I considered straightening the image out, but I like it as it is. It captures the feeling of being following the rapid curves of Leverett Connector, careening towards Boston.

Alex Katz Banners at the MFA

Alex Katz Banners at the MFA, a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

I took this quick photo this afternoon on the way into Boston's Museum of Fine Arts to see the Alex Katz show. It was almost noon when my daughter called to say this was the last day of the show. This was something that we had talked about doing, but the closing date came as a surprise. It was too impractical to just scrap everything else and drive into Boston at the last minute. But that is precisely what we did.

Chicken Collage Day 25 (July 28, 2012)

Chicken Collage Day 25 (July 28, 2012), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

Today I went to the studio and worked for a while on this collage, an image of a chicken made up of patterns. (The idea for this chicken was hatched while I was watching some real live chickens and admiring the patterns in their feathers.) Today I spent most of the time fitting tiny little pieces of black and white polka-dot pattern into the tail feathers. This part is excruciatingly slow because the remaining spaces are so small. And I also pasted in another row of white triangles above the wing. That part was very quick because the pieces are bigger and easier to handle.

Many Pink and Blue Squares

Many Pink and Blue Squares, a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

Yesterday's post was a "digital print" made with Painter 12's pattern pen and a pattern that I created from one of my photos. (The original photo was of a square concrete and metal grid, posted here June 28, 2012). Today I decided to use yesterday's post and see what it would look like as another pattern. (So if you are following this logic, I am making a second pattern from an image I made with the original pattern.) Anyway. I used Painter 12 to "capture" yesterday's image as a pattern, and then used the paintbucket tool to fill a new image with that pattern. I fussed with it a bit to get the right size pattern, then I cropped and posterized it. I like the result, and might try to make things with it on Zazzle. Anyway, I decided to do this today because in a few minutes I plan to update Painter 12, and when I do that, I usually loose any patterns I have "captured" and have to recreate them (not hard, just annoying).

Pink and Blue Composition with Square Grid (Digital Print)

Pink and Blue Composition with Square Grid (Digital Print), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

Tonight I decided to make another image with my square grid pattern, which I created from a photo of a concrete and metal grate. (I posted the original photo here on June 28, 2012, and have done a lot with it since.) I "captured" a pattern from the image in Painter 12, and tonight I used a pattern pen and selected my square grid pattern. I hike the brush size way up and then just make a few strokes in different colors, and then I posterized the result. (These aren't really prints, but they kind of look like mono prints, and using that great big pattern pen reminds me of using an inked brayer.) It took many tries to get the strokes where I wanted them, and after than, I cropped the image at least six times to get to this composition. Sometimes you have to take more trouble with something simple if you want it to look good. When I began to feel peaceful about this image, I decided it was done. So here it is.

Liberty Marina in Danvers

Liberty Marina in Danvers, a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

Today it seemed like all my time was already spoken for when I woke up (it was), and I spent most of the day working against the clock to meet deadlines. But I did have an appointment to get my haircut which is always relaxing and a nice break. For some reason, there wasn't much traffic today so I arrived 15 minutes early. So I decided to use the time for a micro-vacation and check out the nearby marina (Liberty Marina in Danvers). The weather was great and I liked the view, so I took a few pictures. It was hard to get a good angle for the shot. Tonight I picked this one to edit in iPhoto and did some careful cropping to get a good composition.

Boats on the Water (Digital Woodcut)

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

Here is one last version of my photo of boats on the water (at Independence Park, here in Beverly, MA). Last night I used Painter to apply a woodcut effect to the image. (That sounds simple, but I had to do several tries and fiddle with the controls to get the right amount of black to show up where I wanted it.) I also cropped it just a bit to get a little bit more balance in the composition.

Boats on the Water (Posterized)

Boats on the Water (Posterized), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

This is a posterized version of the image I published here last night, a picture of boats on the water (taken in early June at Independence Park here in Beverly, MA). I opened the original version in Painter tonight, adjusted the focus and contrast, and then posterized it. Somewhat better, or at least a little more interesting. What I really like is the composition; I also cropped it just a bit in iPhoto and I think that helped a bit. Tonight I also used the image to create a digital woodcut, which I plan to post here tomorrow.

Boats on the Water (Independence Park)

Boats on the Water (Independence Park), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

This is something simple, just a photo I took in early June, of boats on the water at Independence Park, here in Beverly, MA. The boats looked very peaceful, so I took a picture. I used the zoom on my iPhone camera. I captured the composition, but the image isn't as clear as I would like it to be. I could certainly paint from this image, even as it is. But I am thinking that later this week, I might try to see what I can do with the image in Painter.

Bright Circles Lines Rectangles

Bright Circles Lines Rectangles, a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

This is another little digital image that I made with the Brushes app on my iPhone. (I made this image while I was in a waiting room, waiting for an appointment at the doctor's.) This image is very similar to one that I posted just a few days ago (on July 17). I made this one the same way, but with a brighter color palette. (As with the other version, I kept the original iPhone format because I may try to make an iPhone case with this design on Zazzle.) I was interested in the overlapping shapes and transparent layers of color. I am using this image to send happy birthday wishes to several family members with overlapping birthdays.

For Colorado

For Colorado, a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

Thinking of my home state tonight.

After the Storm

After the Storm, a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

Here north of Boston, yesterday we had big loud thunderstorms and heavy downpours starting in the afternoon. But by 4 PM, it had cleared up, so the trip to the author's expo at the Danver's Yacht Club was back on. Afterwards, we walked around outside. I liked the line of tall grasses setting off the rest of the scene, so I took some pictures. I think this is the best one.

Kindle Case with Stone Spiral Design

Kindle Case with Stone Spiral Design, a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

I recently used one of my images to create this Kindle case (on Zazzle.com). The image is called "Stone Spiral (Digital Woodcut)," made from one of my photos. I decided to order the case as a birthday gift. The package arrived today, and I decided to take a photograph before delivering the case to its rightful owner. If you want to see the image I used, it is posted here on June 6, 2012 -- or you can follow this link www.flickr.com/photos/randiart/7350043454/

Circles Squares Lines

Circles Squares Lines, a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

Tonight I made this digital drawing using the Brushes app on my iPhone. I used four different digital brushes to get the geometric patterns. I might usually consider cropping the image to get a more traditional format. However, I am thinking I might be able to use this pattern to make an iPhone case on Zazzle, so I left it alone. Because I used Brushes on my iPhone instead of my iPad, there's no stroke-by-stroke video for this one.

Ripening Berries (Mapleleaf Vibernum)

Ripening Berries (Mapleleaf Vibernum), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

This morning we stopped at the Starbucks to get a coffee and took a very brief walk with the dog in the tiny park beside the Bass River. This was a nice little break at the beginning of a hectic day. I stopped to take a picture of a some beautiful berries. Tonight I tried to find out what they are by searching images on Google. I thought they were bunchberries, but the leaf shape looked wrong. But when I put "maple leaf" and "red berries" into the search engine, I got some matching images for Mapleleaf Verbenum. Tonight I used iPhoto to do a little retouching and then cropped the image to get this composition.

Crazy Daisies (Digital Sketch)

Crazy Daisies (Digital Sketch), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

Life has been too busy and my schedule has been crazy. But I will be crazy too if I don't make art. So tonight I decided to do a quick digital sketch with Painter 12, working from my imagination. These are just some crazy little daisies drawn with digital pastel on a dark brown background. I worked on this for about an hour. I am still struggling to get the hand of drawing with a track pad, instead of a mouse. When I was about done, I tried posterizing the sketch and it made the colors pop, and I liked it. These crazy little daisies make me smile.

Ripples in the Water at Sunset

Ripples in the Water at Sunset, a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

This is another photo taken at Obear Park, here in Beverly, MA, as the sun was setting. I was interested in the patterns made by ripples in the water, so I took this photo. This image is very close to the way it came out of my iPhone camera, but I used iPhoto to lighten the shadows just a hair, and then cropped the image just a bit at the top.

Necklace with Wood Beads in Blue and Blond

Necklace with Wood Beads in Blue and Blond, a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

This is a necklace that I made today. I used round wooden beads stained a soft blue and light-colore...

Wrist Purse with "Nine White Roses"

Wrist Purse with "Nine White Roses", a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

I used my image of "Nine White Roses" to create this wrist purse on Zazzle. I ordered it as a gift for my daughter's birthday. It came in the mail today, and I took this photograph before I delivered it. The original image began with a photo of a rose which I made into a pattern in Painter, and then posterized. If you want to see the image I used to make this, it is posted here on July 26, 2011 -- or follow this link www.flickr.com/photos/randiart/5979971138/