Dusting of Snow on Sapphire Berries (Digital Woodcut)

Dusting of Snow on Sapphire Berries (Digital Woodcut), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

Yesterday I published my image of snow on sapphire berries. I was pretty happy with it, and have already used it to made some cards on Zazzle. But I have been wondering how it would look as a digital woodcut, so tonight I opened the image in Painter, and after a lot of trial and errors with the controls, this is the result.

Dusting of Snow on Sapphire Berries

Dusting of Snow on Sapphire Berries, a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

Today I added a little more digital snow to this image, a photo of sapphire berries that I took at Long Hill Gardens back in October (when there was no snow). I was trying out Painter's Fairy Dust brush (no kidding). It was fun to try. Now I think this might be ready.

Snow on Sapphire Berries (Digitally Modified Photo)

Snow on Sapphire Berries (Digitally Modified Photo), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

Tonight I decided to try adding a little snow to my sapphire berry scene (posted here yesterday). You might see this with a October snowstorm because that's when you see sapphire berries. But there was no snow when I took this picture a few months ago, so I tonight I created some snow in Painter with digital airbrush and color overlays. Then I posterized the whole image.

Sapphire Berries (Posterized Photo)

Sapphire Berries (Posterized Photo), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

I had a request for a greeting card with a photo of sapphire berries. So tonight I found a photo that I took during a walk at Long Hill Gardens in October. I wanted a cooler color scheme, so I adjusted the color to add a bit more blue, and added color overlay to yellow areas of the leaves. Then I posterized it. I like the blue-green color scheme.

Colorado Drawings: To Vail (Framed)

Colorado Drawings: To Vail (Framed), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

Here is the second of two pieces that I framed yesterday. Both were small drawings, part of a series of drawings based on my old sketchbook from a trip back to Colorado in the 1980s. These were small line drawings of the mountains, sometimes with the place noted. Recently I have been copying the sketches into a new sketchbook and adding color. This one is called "To Vail". It is only 5 x 8 inches. Today I delivered this piece and the one that I posted here yesterday to the gallery at Porter Mill because they are going to be shown in the "Small Works" show.

Colorado Drawings: Aspen (Framed)

Colorado Drawings: Aspen (Framed), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

Today I framed two pieces that  are going into the Small Works Show (in the gallery at Porter Mill Studios.) I need to drop them off tomorrow. Both pieces are "Colorado Drawings" from the series I am working on. (These are drawings based on a sketchbook that I took along on a trip back home, back in the 1980s.) This one is "Aspen," and the drawing itself is only 5 x 8 inches.

Branches and Berries

Branches and Berries, a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

Two days ago I posted a little digital painting of berries on a branch (created in Painter with digital gouache). I have been wondering what the image would look like as a pattern, and tonight I decided to find out. I "captured" the pattern in Painter, and then filled a new image with it, using the paint bucket tool, fiddling with the controls until I got this image.

Colorado Drawings: Georgetown (version 2)

Colorado Drawings: Georgetown (version 2), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

I am working on a series of small drawings based on quick sketches of the Colorado mountains. On a trip back to my home state in the 1980's, I took along a small 5 x 8 inch sketchbook and when I was in the passenger seat, I pulled it out and made simple line drawings of the mountains. I often noted the rough location. I have been copying those old sketches and adding color with dry media. This drawing is based on a sketch I made near Georgetown, Colorado. (The sketch is posted, November 10, 2012). I made an earlier version of this last week (posted here November 16, 2012). The color scheme is similar, but I prefer the composition of this one because the lines of the mountains are higher up on the page..

Branch with Red Berries (Digital Gouache)

Branch with Red Berries (Digital Gouache), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

Tonight I made this little digital drawing with Painter's digital gouache, just concentrating on a simple pattern with lines and dots. Here north of Boston, most of the bright fall leaves are gone. The consolation is being able to see beautiful red and orange berries on some of the trees. This is a little playful celebration of a branch with red berries.

Orange Oopsie Daisies (Digital Print)

Orange Oopsie Daisies (Digital Print), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

Tonight I decided to make some more images with this pattern (created from my little digital drawing called "Oopsie Daisies). I used Painter's pattern pen and chose a very large size for the digital "brush". Then I put the pattern on by moving the mouse, and it reminds me of using a brayer. Then I posterized the image and added some selective color overlay to balance out the composition.

Roof Top and Trees in Snow Storm (Digital Woodcut)

Roof Top and Trees in Snow Storm (Digital Woodcut), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

Last night I was looking through my files to find images to use for holiday cards. I searched for images of snow, and found a posterized photo of a neighbor's rooftop in a snowstorm, posted here on March 18, 2007. I opened the image in Painter to check the size, and of course the resolution and size were too small to use to make cards on Zazzle.com. So I duplicated the file and enlarged the canvas and increased the resolution. But as expected, making the image bigger created a lot of pixilation on the surface (kind of like watching an old movie on high definition television). So I decided to add a digital woodcut effect, which smooths out the surface. The result looks different from the earlier version, but I liked it, and I used it to make a card. (If you want to see the card, go to www.zazzle.com/rooftop_and_snow_holiday_greetings_card-13...)

Hopeful Menorah

Hopeful Menorah, a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

What am I doing posting a menorah? It seems too early to think about Chanukah, but I want to make some cards, and have to get on it pronto! Tonight I searched my images for "menorah" and found one of my favorites, a simple collage of a menorah, posted here December 15, 2006. But the background color wasn't right for a card, and besides, the resolution is too low and dimensions are too small to upload to Zazzle, which is where this is headed. So I opened the image in Painter and resized it. Then I used some digital pastel to change the background to blue, and added some outlining with selective color overays. Then I posterized the whole thing at a low level just to bring the resolution up. So maybe this the right time for a menorah: a little more light, a little more freedom, a little more hope for peace.

Digital "Print" with Daisies

Digital "Print" with Daisies, a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

Earlier in the week, I worked on a digital drawing called "Oopsie Daisies" (final version posted here on November 14.) Tonight I decided to see how it would work as a pattern, so I opened the image in Painter 12 and "captured" it for my pattern library. Then I used it to create this image, using the largest size brush possible, so I can roll the pattern on as if it were a brayer. When I had the strokes where I wanted them, I used the magic wand control to add color overlay that included the plain areas of the "canvas" as well as part of the background of the pattern. Then I posterized it and cropped it to get this image.

Sunset from Lynch Park

Sunset from Lynch Park, a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

This is a photo that I took at Lynch Park on Wednesday, around 4:20 PM. We were out doing errands, including a stop at the Beverly Cove Community Center to pick up fish from our fish CSA By then, the air was chilly and it was already getting dark, but we were minutes away from the park, so we stopped to walk the dog. The minute I parked the car, I saw this sunset and I was glad we came. Our dog seemed to agree, suddenly becoming uncharacteristically bouncy and playful in the sand. She is a 14-year-old Schipperke, and that doesn't happen very often, so it was clear that we had made the right decision. I took this photo from the beach in the cove, looking west, back toward downtown Beverly. Tonight I used iPhoto to do some basic editing and cropped the photo to get this composition.

Colorado Drawings: To Georgetown

Colorado Drawings: To Georgetown, a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

Tonight I finally had a chance to get back to drawing, part of a project I am working on. I am making a series of little drawings based on an old sketchbook that I had with me on a trip through the Colorado mountains back in the 1980s. I made very quick sketches from the passenger seat of a moving car, and sometimes noted approximately where we were (Georgetown, Colorado for example). I am scanning the original pencil sketches into my computer, printing them out and tracing the lines into a new sketchbook, and drawing back into the sketch with pastels, conte crayon, marker, etc. Last week I scanned the original sketch into my computer and posted it here (on November 10th). Today I traced the image into the new sketchbook and started adding color. This is what I came up with. I like this one, though it still needs some clean-up. I did a lot of work to get the colors right. Even so, I may try to do another version because I would like to get the mountains higher up on the page (as in the original sketch).

Sketch of Pink Mountain (Digital Sketch)

Sketch of Pink Mountain (Digital Sketch), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

Last night I downloaded a new iPhone app called "Paper". It has simple drawing tools and allows you to choose simulated papers, ranging from graph paper to rice paper to brown paper bag. I think it is really meant for writing hand-written notes or sketching out ideas (graphs, etc.) I saw a video demo some time ago (at least I think it is the same program). I think it will work well for making quick (rough) sketches of ideas for paintings, as well as for sending handwritten notes to people. But tonight I decided to see if I could use it to draw. So I went to my standard "try-out" mode for such situations, and drew a mountain. I was happy with the result, although I still can't figure the controls. Anyway, I did figure out that I can transfer the image into my computer and save it as a jpeg. I like it and it is always good to have another tool, but for drawing, it's hard to top the Brushes app.

Oopsie Daisies (Final Version)

Oopsie Daisies (Final Version), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

I promise that this is the final version of this digital drawing! Tonight I opened the image in Painter 12 again and used digital pastel to clean up some more of the mistakes that were bothering me, fixing things like petal shape and size, leaves in the wrong place, etc. I worked on it for almost an hour and I cleaned up a lot of problems. There are a lot of mistakes left, of course, but I am not shooting for perfect. With all their flaws, I am partial to these little daisies. I might use them on Zazzle.

Oopsie Daisies (Revised)

Oopsie Daisies (Revised), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

Tonight I worked on the image that I posted here yesterday, a digital image that I made with Painter 12, using digital pastel. Although I liked the little drawing, there were a lot of mistakes, so I called it "Oopsie Daisies." Tonight I opened the image in Painter and fixed some of the mistakes that were bothering me (and created a few new ones in the process). So these are still "Oopsie Daisies" but improved just a bit. It was fun, and good practice drawing with the mouse. Don't know if I am done, but I do know that I am done for tonight.

Oopsie Daisies

Oopsie Daisies, a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

This is a digital image that I made on the computer tonight with Painter 12. I wanted to unwind and started this drawing with digital pastel. I kept going longer than I intended. There is something that I like about this little flowers, even though there are lots of mistakes. Hence the title.

Dad in England WWII (Rescued and Posterized Snapshot)

Dad in England WWII (Rescued and Posterized Snapshot), a photo by randubnick on Flickr.

This image began with a snapshot that I found in my mom's old album today. She married my dad right before he went overseas in 1943. While he was away, she created a photo album with the pictures he sent to her, as well as the photos that she took back home in Pueblo, Colorado. During the war he was stationed in England and in France. There are little clues in the pictures about what he was doing with the military: in a foxhole, in front of a tent, holding ammunition. But most of the photos he sent my mom were the lighter side of the experience: playing accordion and piano for the army band, and seeing London during some time off, as in this photo. No doubt the photographer was one of his army buddies. Today I scanned the photo into my computer and used iPhoto to do some basic editing and retouching, and then used Painter 12 to posterize it. So here's to my dad on Veteran's Day. And here's to all those dads, uncles, granddads, moms, sisters, daughters, sons who have gone off to war.