Crabapple blossoms with the new Canon t3i

I bought a new camera, a Canon t3i, my first dslr! And I'm taking a 6 week photography class @ the Red Bluff community center to help me learn to use it. This week the assignment is to learn how to set the TV and AV modes. Yay! I get it! [Pats self on head]
Here is a shot of our crabapple tree in bloom; thankfully the rain took a break today so I went out to shoot a bit.

flowering quince with bokeh

if i set the "scene" to "macro" and focus on something close it sometimes comes out nice like this.

Soft sky with branches photo

I think branches against the sky create a lovely pattern. This photo has been processed with the colored pencil filter in pse 9 to give it softness; razor sharp focus and brilliant color is not always preferable to me.

Nature dried flower

A natural dried weed flower found on a walk. I used pse 9 to add vignetting; I think it brings out the subject nicely. My camera, a Nikon coolpix, takes pix @ a 16:9 ratio, this does not translate fluidly into print sizes but would look good on my monitor. This crop is ok as a 6x4". I wonder if photo labs will add a paper size that works better with the 16:9 aspect ratio?

I am lichen this one

lichen on a rock today. so decorative, almost like a pattern on fabric.

shadow me with leaves

or could be called "Shadowbox". I call it expressive. makes me want to see more ;^)

clouds are fun, too

Oooh more fun with pse9 and Perfect Photo Suite 6, with Pandora radio for sound.

love puddles love taking photos love playing in photo software love a monday off love Pandora radio love this photo I took today.

fun with my photos and photoshop elements and Perfect photo Suite 6. Addictive but legal.

Moonrise backyard

Fun fiddling with fotos. tho technically a poor photo, I like the way it looks.

Nice abstract look at reflections in our Lake California, down by the boat launch/clubhouse area.

yay! photoshop elements 9 has layer masks. i wanted more dimension on the birds and wires so used some photoshop magic, but then it seemed so typically "birds on the wires"that i used a layer mask to erase one section of the filtered effect and liked the result. i just got a new wacom create tablet and pse 9 came with it. my creative juices have been stirred; another yay!

sun in a puddle

weather in a puddle, sun and clouds with concrete. trying to see more abstractly and create an interesting photo. added warming filter in photoshop and cropped to 8x5", an atypical proportion.

A little breeze

A chilly breeze and some overcast clouds from the backporch on a sat aft. been trying to photograph "weather" recently. used the soft focus adjustment in picasa 3.

jan 26 park and ride

went for the b/w pattern against late aft clouds.

A lovely winter walk

Took my camera for a walk this eve. then did some processing in picnik and picasa just for FUN!

Zucchini leaves

From my garden, some impressive leaves! wow, really simple to add the picture from Picasa web albums. I am using google/picasa for my online storage of photos.

Drawn Inside 1, gradation of Value

Attempted to post using IE9 but publish post button was not working, so I am trying Chrome.

After watching a Grant Fuller video on http://artistnetwork.tv I have re-realized that drawing can have lost and found edges, too, like painting. It was fun to do and I don't know why I don't do more!

Catching Up

My 3 year old Toshiba laptop died a few weeks ago, and I ordered a desktop from Dell which arrived 2 weeks earlier than expected, Yay! This new computer has plenty of power and a large monitor; using Corel Painter has become enjoyable! No lagging and room to paint with all the palettes handy.
Also have found some better online storage options. The latest version of Picasa has a much improved uploader and Google sells 20 gb of storage for $5 a year. so its much more feasible to use the web albums for backup photo storage.
TTFN =)

More fun with the sun-set oil painting!

I am working on improving my composition sense and simplifying brushstrokes to make stronger paintings. This is oil, 9x12" on masonite from a photo on WetCanvas! in the reference image library. Also showing a couple of possible compositions I drew in my sketchbook. One reason I chose this particular photo is that it is of Chincoteague Island; one of my fav books as a child was "Misty of Chincoteague" about the wild horses that live there. It was written and illustrated by Marguerite Henry and Wesley Dennis and I would love to have a copy of it!

Sunset Oil Painting

My blog should be called "A painting occasionally"; but yay! today was occasionally. From a photo
9x12" oil on panel

Acrylic landscape edge of the yard

Fun in the am. 9*12" on gessoed Masonite.

Pic test

A photo taken yesterday, posted via my new Android smartphone.

Storm Clouds Above Lake Ca acrylic painting

Took some photos with my new Nikon last spring; we get some great stormy weather out here. It's lovely to paint a cool scene like this when the weather is summer-hot outside!
Chroma acrylics on cradled birch panel, 18"x12".

$235.00 thru Pay Pal with free shipping in USA.

Art project

A fun project is available to artists here. it's an arty calendar for 2011 and each page is decorated by a different artist; it's free to join in but the deadline is July 1st for images so be quick! I chose my daughter's birthday as my page to design, Jan 3rd. Artists can put a website or blog address on their submission so it's a bit of advertising as well. http://www.fantazya.ca/diary2011.html

"Clouds over Mountains" acrylic landscape

A light and airy piece using acrylic like watercolor; painted en plein air near the community garden in Lake California. The interactive acrylics are versatile and fun! 11"x14" on artfully wrinkled mulberry paper mounted on masonite.

"Top of River View Drive" acrylic landscape painting

My fav plein aire piece so far this year, I painted, appropriately, from the top of River View Drive in my community, Lake California. I used the interactive acrylics on a collaged paper surface on masonite. 11"x14"

acrylic landscape painting Lake California

Another in my new series of acrylic landscapes using Chroma Interactive Acrylics. This was painted near the equestrian center in Lake California. The surface is collaged paper on masonite, 11"x14". An honest plein aire painting, no tweaking at home.

acrylic landscape study and studio painting

I have been working with the interactive acrylics lately, am beginning to really like them. They are versatile, spontaneous yet changeable. I bought a stay-wet palette which helps to keep the paint at a workable consistency. Did this study at Discovery Park in Red Bluff, then did a larger studio piece
from that.
study 9x12" on w/c paper
painting 16x20" pintura painting panel

morning photos

A lovely cloudy morning in Lake California; unusual for this time of year and perfect for taking photos. In this photo I like the tall onion stalks and flower bulbs against the diagonal box board, wood chips and my garden behind. I would have preferred to focus on the onions, but didn't set the focus correctly. Anyway, I had an hour of fun taking pictures this a.m. and for that I am grateful!

Near Red Bluff Acrylic Landscape Painting

Got a chance to go out to paint in a Red Bluff park; used the Chroma Interactive acrylics and really enjoyed the whole experience! Life has been really hectic this year, a high school graduation/college selection process, a wedding and moving house have sucked much of my free time away. This painting took about an hour, it's 8x10" on Ampersand Clayboard.

Oil Painting Chloe the Sheltie

Just finished in time for Xmas, a commissioned oil painting, 16"x12" of a relative's adorable Sheltie. Chloe is beyond cute and full of life; she even enjoys posing for photos! What a good girl!

Orchard Paintings Accepted into Show

My two olive orchard paintings done for the Extraordinary Ordinary Show at Avenue 9 Gallery were accepted by the owners, yay! The show runs from Dec. 11 thru Jan 16th. Avenue 9 Gallery is located on ninth ave, just off the Esplanade, in Chico, Ca.
Both oil paintings are 8"x10" done on masonite and will be for sale at the show.

2 oil paintings, after the workshop

Created a new version of the lighted path in Cohasset painting and went out this a.m. to paint in my community, Lake California. Both 6"x8", oil on Yupo synthetic paper which I prepared with 2 coats of acrylic gesso. A smaller size than normal for me; and I like it!
I did drawings first to test ideas, maybe 10 min each. Both paintings were completed using a limited palette of Cad Yellow Lemon, Quin Red, Ultramarine Blue, Ivory Black and Quick Dry White. I tried to pay attention to shapes and intervals and values, oh my. This old dog seems to be learning a few new tricks, hurray!

"Lighted Path, Cohasset"
"Top of River View Dr, Lake California"

Lenn Goldmann Painting Workshop

I attended an awesome painting workshop this week, sponsored by Avenue 9 Gallery in Chico as a part of this year's paint-out event. The workshop was held at a beautiful estate in Cohasset, a tiny community in the mountains about 20 minutes from Chico. The instructor, Lenn Goldmann is a highly qualified successful artist and teacher with 40 years painting experience; as if that were not impressive enough, he brought an artist friend, Waif Mullins, who is an accomplished pastelist and oil painter, to help out. The class was primarily about design; Lenn lectured for 30 or 40 min, gave us some great handouts explaining how to create pathways in our paintings, etc. Then we chose a spot on the grounds and painted or drew for a couple of hours. Lenn and Waif came around to each of us, offering suggestions. After a lunch break, some of us chose another location for a second painting; soon we gathered together for a critique session. There were about 8 people in the workshop and everyone chimed in with ideas, it was a pretty relaxed, friendly group. I feel this workshop has re-energized me in regard to my painting work, am planning to do a lot of painting this weekend. On Sunday I'm going to a paint-out on a ranch in Orland, yippee! The photos are the paintings I did, tho the lamp one I re-worked @ home.

Color permanancy test Hansa Yellow Light

A couple of years ago, I began using Hansa Yellow Light in my paintings. It is semi-transparent and I like the way it mixes with other colors. Soon after I started using it, I heard some reports that this pigment has a tendency to fade, but couldn't really tell from the pix on the web how much. So I decided to give it a test myself. I painted a swatch on a piece of gessoed Masonite; when dry I covered a section with opaque paper and hung it on the wall. The room it is in gets a few hours of sunlight per day, tho I have a translucent curtain over the window, and the sun does not directly shine in. About a year ago I checked the swatch and it looked ok to me; I just checked it again and I am sorry to say the fading is definitely noticeable. Although it just occurred to me that the paint under the paper may have darkened. I'll try painting a fresh swatch nearby to see if it matches either. I may be replacing this pigment on my palette.
The photos do not show the extent of the difference that is discernible by the eye.

UPDATE: I had to paint some gesso over the spot where the scotch tape holding the paper pulled it off, sheesh. Then painted some Hansa Yellow light over the new gesso, below the 2 year old HYL paint swatches. it's had a week or more to dry, and to the eye there is a definite difference. the new paint swatch is very saturated, while the older swatches seem duller and the paint under the paper has become an orangey yellow.
I am now using Cadmium Lemon Yellow on my palette; it is more expensive but has proven it's reliability over time.

Collage Landscape Postcards from Lake California

Postcards from Lake California, small treats made from art, scrap and recycled paper. Each about 4"x6" with torn and deckle edges, glued to 140# watercolor paper. Available in my Etsy Shop, $15
each. Handmade, unique, fun!