Reposting: Tree of Life Menorah (2018)

I created this in 2018 and here is what I said at the time: " My idea was to start with an image of the "Tree of Life" and then transform the tree into a menorah,  in honor of those lost in the shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburg. (I make these videos by drawing on my iPad with the Procreate app, and the video is created as I draw.) "

Yellow Ribbon Menorah 2024

Here is my "menorah" video for this year! Finally had a chance to try to work out my idea.  I wanted to see if I could base the menorah on the the yellow ribbon worn to remember the hostages.  And here it is. I drew this on my iPad with the Procreate app.  Spread a little light!  Just press play.

Reposting: Light the Candles (2011)

This is the final frame of a video I created on my iPad back in 2011, using the Brushes app.  (I would post the video but am unable to upload it to Blogger for some reason.) When the Brushes app was no longer available, I switched to Procreate, which also creates a stroke by stroke video as you draw.  Anyway, this style of menorah reminds me of the inexpensive and portable versions used in Sunday Schools.  It doesn't matter what the menorah looks like.  (People can get very creative with their menorahs.) It's the light that counts.

Reposting: Light the Menorah (2023)

This is from 2023.  For some reason I am not able to post the video on Blogger, so I am posting the final frame (Jpg) instead.  We still need a little more light. So go ahead.  Just press play.

Reposting: Menorah in Window (from 2016)

Here is a menorah in the window, created on my iPad with the Brushed app n 2016.  Lots of things have happened since then -- Covid, October 7th, and more -- but we can still light the menorah and spread a little light. For some reason Blogger won't let me post the video, so here is the still image (last frame)

Reposting: Quick_Little_Menorah

Reposting from 2021 when Chanukah came right after Thanksgiving.  But Blogger won't let me post the video so I am posting the mpeg.  Here is what I said in  2021."This is my Chanukah post for the first night.  Yikes! We are still eating Thanksgiving pie and it is already Chanukah!  Everything seems too rushed, and was thinking that maybe I don't have time to make a Chanukah video this year.  And then I thought, maybe I do.  So I opened my Procreate app on my iPad and drew this little menorah.  It's not fancy; I didn't even use a stylus.  But still it makes me happy and I am glad I did this. So if you want to see the candles light up, just press play."

Reposting: Menorah 2019

I hope to post menorahs all week.  Here is one from 2019, created on my iPad with Procreate.  So go ahead. and press play to see the candles light up.  Spread some light.  Happy Chanukah.

Reposting: Squirrel (Still) Says Happy Holidays

I created this on my iPad several years ago.  I know I have posted this before, but I am very partial to this squirrel.  Sending this out to wish everyone happy times and safe travels over the holidays.

Colorado Front Range in Autumn (Acrylic Mixed Media Painting)

I took this picture after I finished this painting (on December 23, 2024).  I made a lot of small (probably imperceptible) changes. Over time I have figured out that this means I am almost finished with the painting.  I made some changes to the foreground, adding some shadows, and modified some of the shapes in the foothills.  But the most important change:  I made sure the top line of the mountains in the distance extended all the way to the edges of the painting.  Then I was done, and I signed the painting.  Good timing, because in just a few days I needed to take it to Boston for Galatea's All Members Show. 

Colorado Front Range in Autumn (Painting as of Dec 22, 2024)

Here is my painting as it looked on December 22, 2024.  At this point, I had already added the pasted paper, and was now refining the painting, which included painting back into the areas that contained collage.  I added some dark blue-violet shadows to the mountains, and added some touches of red  (from my red sun) to indicate places where the sunlight would hit.  I did that on the distant mountains, and then continued to do that on the areas just below the sun, from the topes of the foothills to all the areas below, including the stripes on the road.  At the edge of the road, I used some rough brush strokes to suggest vegetation.  Almost finished!  To be continued.

Colorado Front Range in Autumn (Painting as of Dec 21, 2024)

Here is my painting as it looked on December 21st.  I added a layer of blue wash to the sky, and continued the color over the purple mountains.  I painted into the pasted paper on the foothills.  I added pasted paper to brown area toward the lower part of the canvas, creating light and dark areas that I could see on my reference photo.  Getting there!  To be continued. . .

Colorado Front Range in Autumn (Painting as of Dec 20, 2024)

Here is my painting as of December 20th.  I had a bit more time that day, and was able to start applying some pasted paper to modify colors and shapes.  You can see this at the top line of the mountains, at the base of the brown foothills, and in general on the peach colored strip just below.  Still a lot to do, but this is getting closer to my plan.

Colorado Front Range in Autumn (Painting as of Dec 19, 2024)

On December 19, I continued working on this painting.  I toned down the yellow, going over it with a kind of golden apricot color that let some of that yellow show through.  I used a soft purple to paint in some mountains, and used a similar color for the road.  I put down a coat of pale blue for the sky, with some peach-colored clouds.  And of course, added red to the sun.  Although the brown areas look pretty rough, I left them alone for now because the color wasn't too far off. At this point, there was a lot to fix, but the color scheme was closer to what I wanted.  To be continued. . . .

Colorado Front Range in Autumn, painting as of December 18, 2024

I finally had a chance to begin this painting.  Although it was late in the day and nearly time to stop, I quickly applied a couple of "placeholder" colors to my sketch, just to indicate the shapes that I considered the most important in this composition:  the dark shadows and the strips of yellow light.  The colors you see here are not the final colors.  In the case of the yellow, not even close.  But it was good to get started.  To be continued. . .

Colorado Front Range in Autumn (Sketch on board) as of Dec 18, 2024

I was finally able to get this painting starred on December 18.  This is the sketch I made with blue conte crayon, working directly on the gesso board panel, working from my reference photo. 

View of Mill Through Window (Oil Bar) ready for trip to new home

I painted this in 2008 for a special solo show at the University of New Hampshire Graduate program in Manchester. The show was called "Mill and River." I took photos of the old mill buildings, and then created a series of oil bar paintings that were displayed  along with the photos.  This painting is very different from the rest, a view of a mill building seen through a window, the only interior view in the show. Today this painting is on its way to its new home in Tennessee. I had planned to just reseal the edges and spiff it up a bit before sending it, but of course I noticed one little line that was not quite straight.  And then another. So I decided to check and fixed all the lines. These were very small revisions but I think it was worth the effort and I was very happy with the result.  This is how it looked just before I wrapped it up for shipping.

Colorado Front Range in Autumn (Reference Photo)

Getting ready to paint!  I used Painter to modify the snapshot that I had chosen as inspiration for my next painting (see yesterday's post).  I cropped the photo to get the right proportions for my painting, and as I did so I eliminated the car's interior and the other car on the road, seen through the front windshield.  Then I used some cut and paste and digital pastel to get rid of some poles and power lines.  I did a little selective posterizing to cover my tracks, and then I was ready to print this out.

Colorado Front Range in Autumn (Photo), Inspiration for Painting

Time for another painting, and time to look for inspiration in my photo albums.  I found this image, a photo that I took from the passenger's seat on a trip back home to Colorado.  I am not sure of the year, but this was in the fall, sometime around 1990s, on a drive between Pueblo and Colorado Springs. Most of my trips home involve driving up and down the Front Range. I liked the bright strips of yellow light contrasting with the dark shadows.  I decided to base my next painting on this photograph.

Two Small Flower Drawings (Framed)

Here are my two small flower drawings as they looked on December 3 when I framed them.  They are now on display in the Small Works Show at Porter Mill Studios in Beverly, MA.

Comforted by Flowers (Drawing)

This is the second of two drawings that I started on November 30th, both small sketches of flowers made with Sharpie Creative Markers on paper.   This is how it looked finished on Dec 2nd. That day I added some more orange and red flowers to balance the composition.  Then I signed it and framed it so I could take it to Porter Mill Studios for the Small Works Show.  (It is 5.5 x 8.5 inches.)

The Courage of Flowers (Drawing)

This is the drawing that I started on November 30th, a little sketch of flowers made with Sharpie Creative Markers on paper.   I thought it needed a few more leaves, and then it was ready.  I signed it and framed it so I could deliver it to Porter Mill Studios for the Small Works Show.  (It is 5.5 x 8.5 inches.)