Cups and Saucers (Alice in Wonderland project) as of Oct 31, 2024

On October 31, I kept going on this painting for the "Alice in Wonderland" show at Porter Mill Studio. The quotation*  is from the Mad Hatter's Tea Party, which also inspired the for "musical chairs" color scheme for the cups and saucers. I kept going back to this painting throughout the day.  This photo is the last one taken that day; it was already dark so this was photographed under artificial light which makes the colors look different.  At this point, I was going over some of the colors, but my focus had shifted to checking and rechecking shapes and measurements for consistency.  I used white paint to mark things that needed to be fixed, so you can see that at this point I was working on the elipses (circles at the top of the tea cups).  

*Here is the quotation:

"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's very easy to take more than nothing.""

To be continued. . . .

Cups and Saucers (Alice in Wonderland project) as of Oct 30, 2024

On October 30th, I continued working on this painting for  the "Alice in Wonderland" show at Porter Mill Studio. The quotation*  from the Mad Hatter's Tea Party, was was also the inspiration for changing color scheme for the cups and saucers.  At this point I had applied a second coat to the turquoise areas as well as the orange areas, making them lighter and smoother with the secon application.  As I worked, I continued to work on consistency of all the shapes, measuring and making corrections as I went along. 

   And finally I inserted that missing quotation mark in from the top row of text.  I actually didn't notice the error myself; a cousin of mine had to point it out.

*Here is the quotation, as it should be:

"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's very easy to take more than nothing.""

To be continued. . . .

Cups and Saucers (Alice in Wonderland project) as of Oct 29, 2024

On October 29th, I continued working on this painting for  the "Alice in Wonderland" show at Porter Mill Studio. The quotation* is from the Mad Hatter's Tea Party, and that was was also the inspiration for the cups and saucers painted in a changing color scheme.   You can see that I repainted the pink areas. I added some white to the pink to lighten it a bit, but the real goal was to make the paint more opaque so I could get a smooth finish.  I also continued my efforts to make the shapes uniform.  At this point, I was concentrating on making the shapes of the cups the same. Errors waiting to be fixed are marked in white. And no, I still had not realized that a quotation mark was missing from the top row of text. 

*Here is the quotation, as it should be:

"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's very easy to take more than nothing.""

To be continued. . . .

Cups and Saucers (Alice in Wonderland project) as of Oct 28, 2024

I continued working on this painting on October 28th. This is for  the "Alice in Wonderland" show at Porter Mill Studio. The quotation* is taken from the Mad Hatter's Tea Party, which was also the inspiration for the cups and saucers painted in colors that shift in each square On the 28th,  I repainted the orange areas.  I added a bit of white to the orange which lightened it a bit, but the real purpose was to make the paint more opaque for a smoother finish.  I also continued revising lines and shapes for consistency.   Errors waiting to be fixed are marked in white. And no, I still had not realized that a quotation mark was missing from the top row of text. 

*Here is the quotation, as it should be:

"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's very easy to take more than nothing.""

To be continued. . . .

Cups and Saucers (Alice in Wonderland project) as of Oct 27, 2024

Here is my painting for the "Alice in Wonderland" show at Porter Mill Studies as it looked on October 27, 2024. The quotation* is taken from the Mad Hatter's Tea Party, which was also the inspiration for the cups and saucers painted in colors that shift in each square.  At this point, I had just repainted the dark green, but had modified the color by adding white.  This made it lighter and also made the paint more opaque so the application was smoother.  As I proceeded with repainting each color, I also continued to  check my shapes for consistency, marking mistakes with white so that I could find them later and fix them.  

Although I had finally noticed and corrected the mistake in the bottom row of text, and changed "less than nothing" to "more than nothing,"  I still had not noticed the missing quotation mark in the top row of text.

*Here is the quotation, as it should be:

"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's very easy to take more than nothing.""

To be continued. . . .

Showing again: "Pikes Peak in September" (Acrylic Mixed Media painting)

Posting my painting of "Pikes Peak in September" again because it was in another show. On Oct. 27th, we drove into Boston's SOWA district to deliver it for Galatea Fine Art's "Seize the Day" show for display throughout November.  It remains on display on Artsy.

Above Snowmass Village (Acrylic Mixed Media Painting)

This is one of two paintings of Snowmass that make up my panorama or diptyche., two paintings that I worked on side-by-side, to make sure shapes lined up and colors matched. This one is called "Above Snowmass Village," and here is how it looks on its own. This is acrylic and pasted paper on a  16 x 20 on gessoboard, with wooden "cradle" or frame of 2 inches deep.  

Summer Near Snowmass Village (Acrylic Mixed Media)

Here is one of my two Snowmass paintings, as it looks on its own.  (But it also forms part of a 2-painting panorama.) This is 16 x 20 on gessoboard, with wooden "cradle" or frame of 2 inches deep.  

Snowmass Village Panorama (Acrylic Mixed Media Paintings)

Here are my paintings of Snowmass Village as they looked on the day I finished them (October 25th). These paintings were painted together side by side, and designed so they could be displayed together but each can be displayed (and purchased) separately.

 

On October 25th, I adjusted some of the shapes, fiddled about and generally obsessed until I decided the paintings were finished. And this was a good thing, finished in time to be wired, labeled, and delivered to Galatea Fine Arts in Boston two days later (Oct 27th) to be hung in the "Seize the Day" exhibit during November. Although the show closes at the end of November, the paintings continue to be on display and available for sale on Artsy.com.

Two Snowmass Paintings (as of Oct 24, 2024)

Here are my two Snowmass paintings as they looked on Oct 24th.  They are designed so they will each work separately, but can be hung  together, creating a panorama.  I worked on them side by side to make sure everything lined up and the colors match.  On Oct 24, I repainted the sky, incorporating the pasted pink paper as I simplified the shapes and composition.  I added some brighter blues and greens to the mountains and hills.  To be continued.

Cups and Saucers (Alice in Wonderland project) as of Oct 23, 2024

Here is my painting as it looked on October 23rd.  I painted this for the Alice-in-Wonderland themed show at Porter Mill.  The quotation* is from the Mad Hatter's Tea Party, which also inspired the cups and saucers in a color scheme that shifts in each square.  Here the biggest change is that a lightened the purple for the second coat..  I added some white to modify the color but also to make the paint more opaque for a smoother  finish.  As I repainted each of the colors, I also was measuring shapes and lines and making corrections, marking errors in white so I could find them easily against the bright colors.

Yes, I had finally noticed and corrected the mistake in the bottom row of text, and changed "less than nothing" to "more than nothing."  But no, I still had not noticed the missing quotation mark in the top row of text.

*Here is the quotation, as it should be:

"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's very easy to take more than nothing.""

To be continued. . . .

Two Snowmass Paintings (as of Oct 23, 2024)

I continued working on the two Snowmass paintings on October 23nd, placing them side by side to make sure the shapes line up and the colors match.  I designed these two paintings so they can be displayed together (like a panorama) or separately.  On October 23  I began to add pasted paper. I used some pink paper in the sky, green paper on the distant hills, and dark blue in the foreground.  I had time to paint into the green and blue pasted paper, but had not yet gotten to the pink paper in the clouds. The painting on the left is "Above Snowmass Village" and the painting on the right is "Summer in Snowmass Village." To be continued. . . .

Cups and Saucers (Alice in Wonderland project) as of Oct 22, 2024

This is my painting as it looked on October 22nd.  This is for the Alice-in-Wonderland themed show at Porter Mill.  The quotation* is from the Mad Hatter's Tea Party, which also inspired thedmulticolored cups and saucers. Here you can see I was finally resolving some of the problems with the colors.  The biggest change was that I moved the light blue a bit towards purple, making it periwinkle, and lightened it, creating contrast with the turquoise blue.  As I applied the second coat of each color, I was also checking lines and measurements and correcting mistakes.  I used white paint to mark corrections on the cups and saucers.  I had finally noticed and corrected the mistake in the bottom row of text, and changed "less than nothing" to "more than nothing."  However, I still had not noticed the missing quotation mark in the top row of text.

*Here is the quotation, as it should be:

"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's very easy to take more than nothing.""

To be continued. . . .

Two Snowmass Paintings (as of Oct 22, 2024)

I continued working on the two Snowmass paintings on October 22nd.  I am working on these two paintings together, side by side, because they are designed to be displayed together, although each can also be hung on its own.   I continued to work with color, adding some cobalt blue and purple tones to the foreground.  I also worked on the sky.  was beginning to brighten the colors with more saturated blues and greens.  The painting on the left is "Above Snowmass Village" and the painting on the right is "Summer in Snowmass Village." To be continued. . . .

Two Snowmass Paintings (As of Oct 21, 2024)

On October 21st, I continued to work on  my two Snowmass paintings.  These paintings can be hung either separately or together, as a panorama.  I worked on these together, positioned side by side, to help make sure the shapes lined up and the colors matched.  Here I was beginning to brighten the colors with more saturated blues and greens.  The painting on the left is "Above Snowmass Village" and the painting on the right is "Summer in Snowmass Village." To be continued. . . .

Cups and Saucers (Alice in Wonderland project) as of Oct 21, 2024

Here is my painting for Porter Mill's Alice in Wonderland show, as it looked on Oct 21th.  The Mad Hatter's tea party is the source of the quotation* and the inspiration for the  multicolored cups and saucers.  At this point, I continued painting a second coat of the lime green, which is lighter and smoother this time.  As I repainted, I fixed as many mistakes as I could. I also worked on cleaning up the white borders, and FINALLY corrected the mistake in the last row of text, changing "less than nothing" to "more than nothing."  But I still hadn't noticed the missing quotation mark in the first row. . 

*Here is the quotation, as it should be:

"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's very easy to take more than nothing.""

To be continued. . . .

Two Snowmass Paintings (as of Oct 20, 2024)

Here are my two Snowmass paintings as they looked on October 20th.  These paintings are intended for display either separately or together, as a panorama (or diptyche, for art history folks).  I painted them side by side,  just like this.  At this point, I was adding more color and texture to the foreground.  The painting on the left is "Above Snowmass Village" and the painting on the right is "Summer in Snowmass Village." To be continued. . . .

Cups and Saucers (Alice in Wonderland project as of Oct 20, 2024)

Here is my painting for Porter Mill's Alice in Wonderland show , as it looked on Oct 20th.  The multicolored cups and saucers and the quotation* are inspired by the Mad Hatter's tea party.  At this point, I was doing a second coat of each of the colors, changing some of them for more contrast, and for all of them adding a bit of white paint to increase opacity for a smoother look.  Here I think I had just repainted the lime green (starting with cup number 2), trying to straighten lines and fix mistakes as I went along.  And notice the two mistakes in the text are still there: a missing quotation mark after tea  in the first row of text, and a mistake in the last three words in the bottom row, which should read "more than nothing."  

*Here is the quotation, as it should be:

"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's very easy to take more than nothing.""

To be continued. . . .

Two Snowmass Paintings (As of Oct 19, 2024)

Here are my two Snowmass paintings as they looked on October 19th.  These are designed to be displayed either together or separately, as a panorama or diptyche (for art history buffs).  I painted them on a table, just like this, side by side, to make sure the shapes aligned and the colors matched.  A red sun has always been part of my mountain paintings. This time, I put the sun behind a cloud so its glow could be in both scenes.   The painting on the left is "Above Snowmass Village" and the painting on the right is "Summer in Snowmass Village." To be continued. . . .

Cups and Saucers (Alice in Wonderland project) as of Oct 19, 2024

At this point, I was multitasking big time.  I continued to work on this painting for the Alice-in-Wonderland themed show at Porter Mill.  The cups and saucers in changing colors are a reference to the Mad Hatter's wacko tea party, as is the quotation.* At this point I was beginning to apply a second coat of each color, starting with pink (cup number one) as you see here.  I had already planned to modify a few if the colors quite a bit to get more contrast.  But even the ones I was pretty happy with -- including the hot pink -- needed just a bit of white mixed in for the second coat,  just to make them more opaque so I could get a smoother look.  And I was concentrating so hard on the colors that I STILL didn't notice two mistakes in the text: a missing quotation mark in the top row (after tea), and an incorrect word in the bottom row (which should read "more than nothing.)"  

*Here is the quotation, as it should be:

"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's very easy to take more than nothing.""

To be continued. . . .

Above Snowmass Village (Painting as of Oct 18, 2024)

This is the second of the two Snowmass paintings I have been working on, as it looked on Oct. 18th. The paintings are designed to be displayed either together (as a panorama or diptyche) or individually.  At this point, I was creating a rough sketch with acrylic paint.

Summer in Snowmass Village (Painting as of Oct 18, 2024)

Yesterday I posted a pair of paintings I have been working on, as they looked on Oct 18th.  The paintings are designed to be displayed either together (as a panorama or diptyche) or individually.  Here is one of those two paintings as it looked on its own (still on Oct 18th.

Two Snowmass Paintings (as of Oct 18, 2024)

On October 18, I continued to work on my Snowmass paintings, guided by my photo references.  I designed these paintings so they could be displayed together or separately.  However, I worked on them together, positioned much like in this photo, to make sure the lines would connect seamlessly and the colors would match. Here I am roughing in the shapes with acrylic paint. I usually paint the sun in my mountain paintings.  This time, I decided to paint the glow of the sun from behind the clouds, positioned so it would appear in both paintings.  To be continued. . . .

Cups and Saucers (Alice in Wonderland Project) as of Oct 18, 2024

On Oct. 18th,  I continued to work on this painting for the "Alice in Wonderland" show at Porter Mill Studios.  This piece combines a quotation* from the Mad Hatter's tea party with teacups and saucers. presented in a changing multicolored and random pattern, influenced by the "musical chairs" aspect of the tea party everyone moves from chair to chair.  At this point, I had just completed the first coat for all nine colors. I wasn't yet worrying about precision because I knew I would need a second coat.  My goal was to make sure that all the colors would work together.  And as you can see here, in some cases, they did not. (For example, the light blue and the turquoise don't contrast enough.) So I would need to change some of the colors as I painted the second coat.  And no,  I STILL hadn't noticed two mistakes in the text: a missing quotation mark in the top row (after tea), and an incorrrect word in the bottom row (which should read "more than nothing.)"  

*Here is the quotation, as it should be:

"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's very easy to take more than nothing.""

To be continued. . . .

Cups and Saucers (Alice in Wondersland project) as of Oct 17, 2024

On October 17th, although I was also painting mountains, I continued to work on this painting for the "Alice in Wonderland" show at Porter Mill Studios.  The multicolored teacups and saucers and the quotation refer to the Mad Hatter's tea party.  I continued adding colors.  The idea for a changing colorscheme was inspired by the "musical chairs" aspect of the tea part.   At this point, I was just putting down a first coat, to make sure all the colors would work together. I wasn't yet worrying about precision because I knew a second coat would be needed.  And no,  I still hadn't noticed two mistakes in the text: a missing quotation mark in the top row (after tea), and an incorrrect word in the bottom row (which should read "more than nothing.)"  

Here is the quotation, as it should be:

"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's very easy to take more than nothing.""

To be continued. . . .

Two Paintings of Snowmass as of Oct 17, 2024

I have been posting images of each of two paintings of Snowmass.  These are intended to be displayed either individually or together (as a panorama or a diptyche).  I painted them at the same time, positioned together side-by-side. Here is how they looked on Oct. 17 in my conte-crayon sketch on aquabord.

Summer in Snowmass Village (as of Oct 17, 2024)

This is the second of my two paintings of Snowmass Village, (Colorado), as of October 17.  Using my painting reference,  I sketched the composition on the gessoboard, using blue conte crayon.  These two paintings are designed to be displayed individually or together, like a panorama if you are into photography or a diptych if you are into art history.),

Above Snowmass Village (As of October 17, 2024)

On October 17th, I started working on two paintings of Snowmass, Colorado.  The plan is for each painting to work on its own, but for the two paintings to be able to be hung together, like a panorama (or like a diptych if you like art history).  Here you can see that I started to sketch the composition in blue conte crayon.  To be continued. . . .

Above Snowmass Village (Reference Photo for Painting)

I recently posted my photo of Snowmass Village, taken in 1987 during a trip to Colorado.  (Posted here Oct. 14.)  After many unsucessful attempts to crop that image to use for a painting, I finally decided to divide it and make it into two paintings.  So here is the first of two reference photos that I created from the one  1987 photo. 

Near Snowmass Village (Painting Reference)

This is the second painting reference that I created by cropping my 1987 photo of Snowmass Village (Posted here October 14).  I used Painter to simplify the foreground.  The two cropped images will be references for two paintings that can be hung together. 

Cups and Saucers (Alice in Wonderland project), painting as of Oct. 16, 2024

Here is my painting as it looked on Oct. 16th.  This is for an upcoming "Alice in Wonderland" show at Porter Mill Studios.  The multicolored teacups and saucers and the quotation are references to the Mad Hatter's tea party.  I continued adding colors, and this time it was red. (There are nine colors, each going into five spaces: outiside of cup, inside of cup, outer ring of saucer, inner circle of saucer, and background.)  At this point, I was just putting down a first coat, to make sure all the colors would work together.  I still hadn't noticed two mistakes in the text: a missing quotation mark in the top row (after tea), and an incorrrect word in the bottom row (which should read "more than nothing."  I was still concentrating on painting those colors; it would take a long time for me to notice the errors in the text.

Here is the quotation, as it should be:

"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's very easy to take more than nothing.""

To be continued. . . .

Cups and Saucers (Alice in Wonderland project), painting as of Oct 14, 2024

Here is my painting as it looked on October 14.  I am painting these cups and saucers for a special "Alice in Wonderland" show at Porter Mill..  The changing color scheme and multi-colored cups and saucers are inspired by the "musical chairs" aspect of the Mad Hatter's tea party,  where guests move around the table sampling (and not sampling) the tea.  I began adding one color at a time. (There are nine colors, and each color goes into five shapes: outside of cup, inside of cup, outer rim of saucer, center of saucer,  and background.)  This is just the first coat, trying to make sure the colors will work. (I was already noticing that the paint I was using was not opaque enough. . . )

The quotation is also from the Mad Hatter's tea party: At this point, I still hadn't noticed that I had made a mistake in transcribing the quotation. (The last line should read "more than nothing,", not "less than nothing.")  

Here is the quotation, as it should be:

"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's very easy to take more than nothing.""

To be continued. . . .

Near Snowmass 1987 (Photo inspiration for painting)

I came across this photo while looking for some mountains to paint for an upcoming show.  This photo was taken in 1987 during a trip to Colorado.  We drove into the mountains and stayed in Snowmass Village for a couple of days.  In the past,  I have considered using this photo as a painting reference, but was never able to come up with a composition that I liked  when I cropped it.  But this time, I had an idea;  I would crop this photo into two images, and create two paintings that could be displayed together (AKA a diptyche in art history classes).  

Cups and Saucers (Alice in Wonderland project), painting as of Oct 12, 2024

Here is my painting as it looked by Oct. 12th.  This is for an upcoming "Alice in Wonderland" themed show at Porter Mill.  My painting is inspired by the Mad Hatter's tea party, hence the teacups and saucers and the "musical chairs" organization for the color scheme.  The quotation* is also from the tea party.  The style is a nod to the flat colorfield painting that I did in college.  Because I didn't want to be trying to mix colors, I bought most of the colors premixed, individual tubes.  This turned out to have some drawbacks (more later), but at this point I was just laying in the first coat, one color at a time.  At this point, I still hadn't noticed the mistake in the quotation.  (The last line should read "more than nothing,", not "less than nothing.")  

Here is the quotation, as it should be:

"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's very easy to take more than nothing.""

Cups and Saucers (Alice in Wonderland project), painting as of Oct 11, 2024

Here is my painting as it looked on October 11th.  This is for Porter Mill's upcoming "Alice in Wonderland" show.  I began applying the first coat of color, beginning with hot pink.  There are 9 colors, and each color goes into 5 shapes, as you can see here: cup, outside of saucer, inside of saucer, elipse (inside cup) and background.  The cups, saucers, and  changeable color scheme is inspired by the Mad Hatter's tea part.  I also worked on the lettering for the quotation: 

"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's very easy to take more than nothing.""

And yes, I carefully lettered the mistake I had made. (The last three words should be "more than nothing," rather than "less than nothing.")  It took a long time for me to notice. . . .

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. 

Cups and Saucers (Alice in Wonderland project) painting Oct 10, 2024

On October 10th, I kept going on this project for the November "Alice in Wonderland" show at Porter Mill. This multicolored collection of  teacups and saucers is inspired by the Mad Hatter's tea party.  The colors change in each square,  reminiscent of the the "musical chairs" organization of the tea party Alice attended, with characters moving around the table. The color scheme was determined by numbering the spaces: see my sketch posted here Sept. 20th.) And the images of cups and saucers are combined with a quote from the novel.* On October 10th, I finally started applying color to the text, dark blue to resemble ink.  The text came first because I needed to make sure it would all fit as planned.  At this point, the mistake in the last line is still there on the canvas.  (The last three words should be "more than nothing," rather than "less than nothing.")  How long do you think it took me to see it?

In case you can't read the quotation, here 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's very easy to take more than nothing.""

Cups and Saucers (Alice in Wonderland project), sketch on canvas (Oct. 9, 2024)

On October 9th, I continued to work on this project for the upcoming "Alice in Wonderland" show at Porter Mill. My painting of teacups and saucers is inspired by the Mad Hatter's tea party.  I am using a changeable color scheme inspired by the "musical chairs" aspect of the tea party itself, as the characters move around the table. I worked the colors scheme out with markers in my sketch on paper ahead of time with Sharpie markers (posted here Sept. 20th).  The cups and saucers are combined with a quotation from the novel.* On October 9th, my focus was placement of the text for the quotation.  You can see I am roughing it in with blue conte crayon.  Perhaps you might notice that I made a mistake.  (The last three words should be "more than nothing," rather than "less than nothing."  It took me a long time to notice that I had made a mistake!  To be continued.

In case you can't read the quotation, here 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's very easy to take more than nothing.""

Cups and Saucers (Alice in Wonderland project) sketch on canvas (Oct. 6, 2024)

On October 6th, I kept going with my project for the upcoming "Alice in Wonderland" themed show at Porter Mill. I am painting teacups and saucers (inspired by the Mad Hatter's tea party) with a quotation from the novel.*  I am using a crazy color scheme organized somewhat like the "musical chairs" structure of  the tea party itself.  I worked the colors out ahead of time with Sharpie markers on paper. (posted here Sept. 20th).  I started working on the actual canvas on October 5th, establishing the layout with conte crayon.  The next day (October 6th) I continued to sketch my idea onto the canvas with  conte crayon, adding the cups and saucers..  

       In case you can't read the quotation here 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's very easy to take more than nothing."" 

(NOTE the mistake in the last line, which says "less than nothing," but should say "more than nothing."}

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.

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."

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.