Friday, October 11, 2024

October Hydrangeas (with Prisma filter)



When I took this picture a few weeks ago, I found myself thinking “I should save this to post it for Yom Kippur”. Wait, but why? I started thinking about it…


I didn’t know about hydrangeas until I moved to Massachusetts, where they are everywhere: big, spectacular blossoms  that change color with the seasons.  (Some varieties change from blue to pink over the summer and then turn purple in the fall; other kinds change from cream to pale pink in the summer, and then dusty rose the fall). In the winter, with leaves gone, they are discouraging collections of dry sticks poking up through the snow, perhaps with a faded blossom or two still hanging on.   


A few years ago, I finally planted some hydrangeas in my yard and here’s the what I learned: with hydrangeas, you have to think about the year ahead. What you do in the fall influences what will happen the rest of the year. Do you remove the fading blossoms? Should you prune and if so when? If you prune at the wrong  place or at the wrong time or even prune the wrong variety of hydrangeas, you may not have any blossoms at all the next year. And how you treat the soil may influence whether or not the blossoms change color like they are supposed to. (Some people put copper pennies in the ground nearby. Or coffee grounds. It’s a thing. There are Youtube videos.) And sometimes hydrangeas don’t bloom at all (which I found out) if there’s a late frost at the wrong time. Because you can’t control everything.


With hydrangeas, even more than with other plants, the decisions you make in the fall influence what happens the rest of the year. Which is kind of the point of Yom Kippur as well. So today I am sending out my October hydrangeas as a Yom Kippur greeting and to wish everyone a sweet year ahead. 

Sunday, October 06, 2024

L'Shana Tova (Bring Them Home!) Digital drawing



A few days ago, I posted a drawing video that I created on my iPad with the Procreate app while I made this drawing.  (Procreate captures a stroke-by-stroke aniimation as you draw.)  The last frame of the video is a jpeg (still image).  Today I took that last frame and opened the image on my computer and cleaned it up (centered it), and used Painter to clean up the lettering.   Now it is ready to go out into the world, with hopes for a good year ahead for everyone.

Saturday, October 05, 2024

Cups and Saucers (Alice in Wonderland project), sketch on canvas (Oct. 5, 2024)



This is how my "Alice in Wonderland" project looked on October 5th, when I began to sketch out the layout on the canvas, using pencil and conte crayone. This is for the "Alice in Wonderland" show at Porter Mill Studios. The painting will be a quotation from the novel* combined with teacups and saucers for the Mad Hatter's tea party. I have already worked out the color scheme in a sketch made with sharpies (Posted here Sept. 20, 2024). I am using a  "musical chairs" color scheme, which I planned by choosing nine colors and then "counting off" each of the areas in each square (cup, cup interior, saucer, saucer edge, background).  At this point, it is hard to read the text, but my goal was just setting up nine squares (for cups and saucers) and the placement of the words.  To be continued. . . .

*In case you can't read the quotation, it is: "Take some more tea," the March Hare said to Alice, very earnestly. "I've had nothing yet, "Alice replied in an offended tone, "so I can't take more." "You mean you can't take less," said the Hatter. "It is very easy to take more than nothing."

Wednesday, October 02, 2024

L'Shana Tova (Bring Them Home) Drawing video






Today I used the Procreate app on my Ipad to make this little drawing video today for the Jewish New Year (starts at sundown tonight).  Seems a bit harder to be festive this year, so I kept this simple. The Hebrew words on the yellow ribbon mean "a good year" or "Happy New Year."  And bringing the hostages home would mean a better year for everyone.

Sunday, September 29, 2024

Two Paintings in Galatea's "Time and Place" Show


Here are two of my paintings, on display at Galatea Fine Art, on display in September in the "Time and Place" show.  Painting on left is "Toward the Mountains," and the painting on the right is "Pikes Peak in September". I took this picture just before the show closed (on September 29th).

Friday, September 20, 2024

Cups and Saucers (Alice in Wonderland project), Color sketch



I am getting ready to paint for the "Alice in Wonderland" show at Porter Mill Studios. This is the sketch for the painting:  a quotation from the book* combined with teacups and saucers for the Mad Hatter's tea party.  I am planning a "musical chairs" color scheme,  which I determined by selecting nine colors and then "counting off" each of the areas in each square (cup, cup interior, saucer, saucer edge, background),  To complete this sketch, I had written the numbers and colors at the bottom of the page in pencil, and then added the colors with marker.  I had included my numbering scheme in an earlier post, but this time, I cropped the sketch to show just the actual plan for the painting.  (You can still see the numbering in this sketch, but the numbers won't show in the painting.) 
*In case you can't read the quotation, it is:  "Take some more tea," the March Hare said to Alice, very earnestly. "I've had nothing yet, "Alice replied in an offended tone, "so I can't take more." "You mean you can't take less," said the Hatter. "It is very easy to take more than  nothing."

Thursday, September 19, 2024

Cups and Saucers (Alice in Wonderland project) color sketch with numbers as of Sept. 18, 2024




This is the sketch for the painting I am planning for Porter Mill's upcoming "Alice in Wonderland" show. I am combining a quotation about the Mad Hatter's tea party with a repeated pattern of tea cups and saucers.  Yesterday I finished laying out the color, following the numbered color scheme seen here in pencil below the sketch.  (I simply numbered each shape in every position, so the colors of each area change in each square, mirroring the "music chairs" aspect of the tea party in the novel.) I used Sharpies and Sharpies creative markers for the color, and then used some white conte crayon to lighten and soften some of the colors.  When I complete the actual painting with this design, I will have more control over the colors.  So I plan to use this basic color scheme.  I was worried that in some cases there would not be enough contrast between some of the colors, but but I decided that I would solve that in each square by using a darker version of the saucer's color to outline where needed.  Perhaps you can see that I did that in this sketch.  So now I am feeling confident that this will work.  The next step is to get the canvas. . . .