Still Life for a Good Year (Digital Drawing)

I recently posted a drawing video that I made on my iPad. This is just a little still life for Rosh Hashana. I used the "Procreate" program, which captures a  stroke-by-stroke video as you draw, and also makes the final frame of your video a jpeg of thw drawing. But the final frame is usually a little rough, and it was in this case. So to make the image you see here, I shared the jpeg to the iCloud, opened it in the Painter program on my computer. Then I cleaned up the image with digital pastel, and straightened out the lettering.  Now I can use the image to wish everyone a sweet year ahead.

Still Life For A Good Year (Drawing Video)

Still Life for a Good Year (Drawing Video):  

Watch this drawing video: 

I made this  little animation this morning using Procreate on my iPad.  It's a little early but I had so much trouble getting this to post that I am gonna leave it here now.*  I also realize that I have drawn something similar a few years ago.  But then, there's nothing new about Rosh Hashana. And this time, there are pomegranates. 

Sending this out to wish those celebrating L'Shana Tova, and to wish everyone a sweet year ahead.

*I couldn't get it to post directly to Blogger, but you can follow the link above to see it.

Face to Face (My Dad and Me): Rescued Photo

A few days ago, while I was looking through a bunch of family photos, I came across a picture of me and my Dad. This was one of many wedding pictures taken by my Uncle Ike Fitterman, a very talented photographer.  He always did a great job of capturing people's faces and he certainly did that in this case. It was great to see myself face to face with my father.  But I could see why the photo hadn't made the cut for reprinting or framing.   This was taken in the Rabbi's office before the wedding began.  Unfortunately in the original photo, the background included a framed abstract painting, part of a wooden door, baseboard, and an electric outlet and wire.  I decided to try to rescue the photo.  I scanned it into my computer and opened it in Painter and simplified the background by drawing into the image with digital pastel, and finished up with some posterizing effect.  It was great to remember this moment, and also to feel that I was collaborating with my Uncle Ike. I suppose I could have saved this image to post next June for my wedding anniversary or on Father's Day. But I am posting this today to remember my  father, who was born on August 28.  

Reposting "Spring at Kelleher Pond" on display at the Bower Gallery

This painting was on display in July at the Bower Gallery in Beverly, MA.  This is oil bar and acrylic, based on my photograph of a neighborhood pon. I took this picture at the Bower when I was downtown on July 21st.  

"Teacups and Saucers" Heading to New Home

This painting is going to its new home.  I painted this in 2024 for a special "Alice in Wonderland" show at Porter Mill Studios. This is inspired by the Mad Hatter's Tea Party and the text is from the book by Lewis Carroll. Most recently this painting was on display in Boston's TAG gallery, which also posted it on Artsy. From there, it sold to a far-away buyer and is now on its way to Oregon.  

Early Mother's Day Flowers (photo)

These beautiful flowers were delivered a few days early so I could enjoy them all Mother's Day weekend, and I certainly am!

Flora, the Flowering Cod

Here is Flora, the Flowering Cod, my decorated wooden codfish   This is the final photo that I took before I delivered her to back to Marblehead to be an entry in the annual Cod and Whale Auction. In this event, local artists decorate pre-made fish cutouts which are then displayed and auctioned off to benefit Marblehead Festival of Art. Since the day before, I of course had done a lot of cleanup and added additional coats of paint where needed.  But I also added some more leaves at the edges of the fish, to make the rows of flowers more symmetrical. Then of course I painted the sides (gold) and back (white), signed the back, and added hanging hardware.  Flora was ready to go to Marblehead.

Flora, the Flowering Cod (as of April 29, 2026)

Here is my decorated wooden codfish form as of April 29th.  This is for the annual Cod and Whale Auction in which local artists decorate pre-made fish cutouts which are then displayed and auctioned off to benefit Marblehead Festival of Art.  At this point, Flora was pretty close to my initial idea, which was to transform the "flowering cod", a real species, in rose gold flowers and polkadots.  At this point had colored in the leaves with a mix of gold and green acrylic paint.  I had straightened out the lines on the fins and repainted them with a mix of gold paint that was slightly darker.  I had also painted the sides with the same color.  I thought I was finished, but I was wrong.

Flora, The Flowering Cod (as of April 24, 2026)

Here is my entry for the annual Cod Auction as of April 24, 2026

Every year, some 50 area artists pick up wooden fish cutouts in Marblehead, decorate them, and then deliver them to be displayed and then auctioned online to benefit Marblehead Festival of Art.  This year, my codfish was inspired by some  pretty uninspiring photos of a "flowering codfish", a species with rows of brown markings shaped only vaguely like blossoms, against a stippled background.  I decided to make the markings look more  specifically floral, use rose-gold instead of brown, and turn the stiples into a polka-dot background.  Once I had the idea and sketched out the design, this project went pretty smoothly.   Here you can see I have added the polka dots and markings on the fins, using gold-colored marker.  These will match the edges of the fish, also to be painted gold. I also sketched in some leaves.  To be continued. . . .

Flora, The Flowering Cod (as of April 22, 2026)

Here is my Cod project as it looked on Aprill 22. This is for the  annual Cod Auction to raise money for Marblehead Festival of Art. I had already sketched my design onto the gessoed wooden form, using pencil.  It was time to start painting.  There were a lot of rational ways to begin, but I went directly to the flowers because I wanted to try my idea of painting them a kind of rose gold color, instead of the brown seen on the markings of the actual species, Flowering Cod.  So I mixed some acrylic metallic gold with some pink.  This wasn't the final color, but close enough to convince me that my idea would work.

Flora, The Flowering Cod (as of April 21, 2026)

This is my entry for the annual Cod Auction to benefit Marblehead Festival of Arts as it looked on April 21st. Some 50 artists decorate wooden cutouts of codfish which are displayed in Marblehead and then auctioned. This year I was inspired by photos of a species of cod called "flowering cod."  Actually, the name was more inspiring to me than the actual appearance of the fish:  rows of brown shapes that only vaguely look like flowers, against a stippled skin.  But then the idea came to me: I would make rows of shapes that acctually looked like flowers, I would shift the color from brown to rose-gold, and would replace the stippled markings with polka dots.  Once I had the idea, the design came quickly.  I drew a mock-up on paper posted here recently.   And on April 21,  as you can see, I sketched  the design onto the wooden cutout. 

"Chicken Collage" in Porter Mill's "Beastie Show"

I created this chicken collage back in 2012, inspired by some interesting chickens that I had seen at Long Hill Gardens.  This collage has been in my studio ever since.  My chicken is now on display at Porter Mill in the "Beastie" show.  This was a surprise to me (and to the chicken I suppose), because I had drawn a blank for ideas for this event.  But on April 20th, at the last minute, even as the show was going up, it occurred to me to submit my Chicken Collage. So I did, and now it is in the vitrine at Porter Mill, among some of the other "beasties" in the show.

Flora, The Flowering Cod (Sketch as of April 18, 2026)

Every year I decorate a wooden cod for the Marblehead Cod Auction, to benefit the Marblehead Festival of Arts.  I had been thinking of what to do this year.  I started looking though pictures of different kinds of codfish.  I found one called "the flowering cod."  Although the name sounded promising, the photos of the actual fish were not.  The fish has brown markings which vaguely resemble flowers, against a lighter background of stipled skin.  That didn't sound appealing. But I kept thinking about it. What if the markings actually looked like flowers? What if I substituted a pink-tinted gold for brown? What if the stippled skin became polka-dots? So I drew this sketch of a codfish decorated with flowers and polkadots. . I traced my wooden cod cut-out onto a big piece of paper and drew this sketch.  I would call her Flora.

Colors of Colorado (Near Manitou Springs) Acrylic Painting

This is the final version of my painting, started in early January.  I went back to it on February 28.  This was shortly before I was due to take all the paintings for my solo show to Boston.  I spent a few days getting them ready to go, and I reviewed each of them before I did the final tasks of wiring, labeling, and wrapping.  This was a little different from my usual workflow, but I was happy with the result.  In this case, I added more light to the sky, and made the colors more vibrant over all.  So this is how the painting looked when I delivered it to my solo show in March.  The solo show is long over, but this painting is still on display on Artsy: <a href="https://www.artsy.net/artwork/randa-dubnick-colors-of-colorado-near-manitou-springs" rel="noreferrer nofollow">www.artsy.net/artwork/randa-dubnick-colors-of-colorado-ne...</a>

"Mountains of Home" (paintings on display at Porter Mill)

On February 5th, some of my mountain paintings were hung in the lobby of Porter Mill Studios here in Beverly, MA..  The title of this show is "Mountains of Home," all paintings of my home state of Colorado. After all my were on the wall, I took this video.  

Colors of Colorado (Near Manitou Springs): Painting as of January 6, 2026

Here is my painting as it looked on January 6th when I had finished working on it.  The color scheme and composition were the same, but I added more white clouds to the sky.  I used highlighting to suggest sunlight hitting the mountain tops, adding more definition to the shapes.  I had a lot of painting to do for my solo show in March, so I was glad that this painting came to together so quickly, So I  put it aside for a while and started another painting. But it wouldn't really be finished for a while.  To be continued. . .

Colors of Colorado (Near Manitou Springs): Painting as of January 4, 2026

Recently I have posted the photos that inspired this painting, so now I am finally posting an image of my painting as it looked on January 4th.  I did a good amount on this for the first day.  I managed to establish the composition and color scheme, and even paint the sky.  This was coming together quickly that day, maybe because I was thinking about getting things done for my solo show in March..  In any case, I kept working on it throughout the day, and here is how it looked after my last painting session that day.  To be continued. . . .

Painting Progress: Colors of Colorado (Near Colorado Springs) Reference for Painting

I previously posted a rough 2011 photo taken near Manitou Springs that was the inspiration for a painting.. It was January 3rd 2026 whenI cropped that photo to get this composition, used Painter to downplay the wires, simplified the foreground, and enhanced the color with digital pastel and posterizing effect.  This was the image I used as a reference for painting.

Painting Progress: Colors of Colorado (Near Manitou Springs) Inspiration for Painting

This view of the mountains is cropped from the background of a photo that I took in 2011 during a visit to Colorado Springs. This was taken from a parking lot, not too far from the Broadmoor.   This is a very rough photo; you can see rooftops, electric lights, and a yield sign, not to mention all those electric wires in the sky. This was the inspiration of a painting that I began early in 2026.  To be continued. 

"Winter Sunrise" (Drawing Video)

Yesterday I created this little drawing video on my iPad. I am sending this out to wish everyone peace, love, health, and hope in 2026.