Lilacs Close to Home (Posterized Photo)

Yesterday I posted a photograph of lilacs growing in my yard, against the backdrop of the house next door.  Tonight I used Painter to do some digital cleanup and then cropped the image to get this composition.

Lilacs Close to Home

I have been taking lots of pictures of lilacs this spring.  The other day, I took pictures of lilacs in my own yard.  Tonight I edited one of the best of the photos, and cropped it to get this composition.

Red Mountain, Pink Sky (Framed)

This is the painting I posted here yesterday. Earlier in the week, I painted this small landscape with acrylics. Yesterday I framed it, and this is how it looks.  Today I delivered it to Galatea Fine Arts (Boston, MA) where it will be on display during June. You can find out more about Galatea at their website : http://galateafineart.com

Red Mountain, Pink Sky (Acrylic Water Media)

This landscape is painted with acrylics used with water on watercolor paper.  This is another of my "mountain daydreams" inspired by memories of the Rocky Mountains of Colorado.  This is a small painting (9" x 12"); I started it as while I was still working on a larger painting, and finished it in one session.  

Blue Canyon (Acrylic Water Media)

This is the painting I have been working on.  This landscape is painted with acrylic paint used with water on watercolor paper. I am painting from imagination and memories of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado, my home state. I usual don't use any sources for these "mountain daydreams" but in this case, I did spend a few minutes this morning looking at photos of Boulder Canyon, Lefthand Canyon, and Glenwood Canyon.  I was pretty happy with the painting as it was yesterday, but I wanted to create the effect of sunlight towards the top of the canyon and darkness below, so I used some pale blue and pink washes at the top, and some brown and red at the base. I also cleaned up some problems that were bothering me.  Now I am ready to say this is finished.

Blue Canyons (as of May 26, 2014)

This morning I took a few minutes to look at photos of canyons in Colorado (Boulder, Glenwood, and Lefthand Canyon) just to refresh my visual memory before I went back to this painting. First, I added more of the textured red areas by painting through a net.  I let it dry for a few minutes, then did some wash off.  Then I used brown to add more naturalistic shapes to the cliffs.  Then I used a pale blue wash over the cliffs. While I was at it, I reworked this sky.  This is not finished, but it is getting closer to the way I want it to look. Tomorrow I hope to be able to add more light to the canyon and intensify the blue.  

Gray Morning in Maine (Posterized Photo)

I spent part of the weekend in Maine to attend a wedding. This image began as a photo that I took this morning on the coast somewhere near York, Maine.    I took this picture from inside a car, but it was hard to get a good shot because I was on the wrong side of the car. But I liked the lines of the ocean and the rocky coast and the heavy clouds, so I took a picture anyway.  Tonight I cropped this image out of the original, and then used Painter to posterize it.  This sure didn't look like great weather for a wedding, but by noon, the sun came up and the bride and groom had sunshine for their wedding.

Blue Canyons as of May 24, 2014

Today I was short on time so I just added a blue wash to the painting I started yesterday. Tonight I am trying to learn how to post from my cell phone, which is why this may look different.

Blue Canyons as of May 21, 2014

This is a photo of a work-in-progress. This is a painting that I started on May 21, 2014.  I had just finished another painting that day, so all I had time to do was to establish the basic idea and the composition.  I am using acrylic paint with water on watercolor paper.  This is going to be another one of my "Mountain Daydreams" painted from my imagination and inspired by memories of the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. 

Another Heart-Shaped Box as of May 23, 2014

Today I went to the studio at Porter Mill and worked on this project for a while. I am covering this heart-shaped candy box with collaged designs made from printed metallic ribbon. I have been working on the top of the box, which will have purple and orange stripes and a gold border.  The stripes are finally beginning to appear. This is my second heart-shaped box (hence the title); if you want to see the first one, you can follow this link: https://www.flickr.com/photos/randiart/sets/72157632769935420/

Lilacs and Chain Link Fence

It pays to be on the lookout for lilacs.  The other day, we spotted some during a walk in my daughter's new neighborhood. They were fragrant and beautiful and I took some pictures.  They were growing next to a chain link fence.  My plan was to crop it out of the final photo when I edited the image, but I decided that I liked the contrasting textures. 

Two Pink Mountains (Water Media Painting)

This is the painting I started yesterday, a mountain landscape painted with acrylic paint used as water media.  This morning I corrected some things that were bothering, including fixing some of the lines and adding a few washes to make sure the colors were where I wanted them to be. Now it is finished.

Two Pink Mountains as of May 20, 2014

I started a new painting this morning. This is acrylic used as water media paint. This landscape is part of my "Mountain Daydreams" series,  painting from my imagination and my memories of the Rocky Mountains in my home state of Colorado. You may think pink is a crazy color for mountains, but I have seen the mountains turn pink as the sun comes up. (Okay, maybe not this pink.)  I think this painting is almost finished, but there are still a few things I want to change, so I will say "to be continued".

Lilacs Starting to Open

On May 14, we took a ride to Long Hill Gardens (here in Beverly, MA) to see if the lilacs were in bloom.  Well, it's been a cool spring, so the answer was "not quite" but some of them were starting to open. They already smelled great and looked beautiful, so I took some pictures.  Tonight I cropped this image out of one of the best photos.

Red and Orange Mountains (Acrylic Water Media)

This morning I worked on the painting I started yesterday, a landscape inspired by memories of the Colorado Rockies.  This is acrylic paint used as water media, on watercolor paper.  The difference between the red mountain and the orange mountain had disappeared as I worked yesterday, so this morning I used a red wash on one mountain and an orange wash on the other one.  While I was at it, I added a pale pink wash to the sky.  Then I cleaned up some little problems, and now I am willing to say that it is done.

Red and Orange Mountains as of May 17, 2014

I started another mountain painting today.  This is acrylic paint used as water media on watercolor paper. I am painting from memory and imagination, inspired by the Rocky Mountains in my home state of Colorado. When I started painting this morning, I had one orange mountain range and one red one.  Right now, it is hard to tell the difference between them, but I plan to fix that tomorrow with some transparent washes.

Forsythia (Digital Woodcut)

Yesterday I posted a photograph, taken on May 4th, of forsythia in bloom at Long Hill Gardens, here in Beverly, MA.  Last night I used Painter to add a woodcut effect to that photo, and here it is.

Forsythia at Long Hill

Here's another photo that I took during a walk at Long Hill on May 4th.  Tonight I cropped this image out of the original photo.  I also used Painter to create a digital woodcut from this photo, and I plan to post that here tomorrow.

Weeping Cherry at Long Hill

I am finally catching up on editing some photos that I took on May 4th, during a walk at Long Hill, right here in Beverly, MA.  (Long Hill  -- aka Sedgwick Gardens -- used to be a private estate but is now owned  by the Trustees of the Reservation and is open to the public.) We were having a warm spell, and lots of trees and flowers were already blooming. One of my favorite trees is a beautiful weeping cherry. It was blooming that day, so I took several pictures.  One of the best was this one, with the main house in the background.  This was an interesting one to edit because when I tried to straighten the image, the composition didn't work as well.  

Bouquet for Mother's Day (Digital Woodcut)

Yesterday I posted a photo of the flowers that I received for Mother's Day.  I also used Painter to apply a woodcut effect to the image, and then cropped it to get this composition.