Art Every Day Month - Nov 6

A Flash of Color

A Flash of Color - a scrap of birchbark, backlit by a shaft of sunshine in the woods

Source photo

Some things just grab your attention out of nowhere. It had been a generally overcast afternoon, with scattered breaks in the clouds. But the sun broke through while I was photographing in the woods, and it highlighted a scrap of birchbark, which normally looks opaque and pinky-beige. With the sun behind it, the birchbark was now glowing brilliant orange - and all I had to do was crop the image to make it into a fine color arrangement. Such good luck!

Art Every Day Month - Nov 2 -

Fall Atmosphere - River Island 2

River Island - late fall color

Source photo

This is the same location as yesterday's post, it is a spot I go to often. In this photograph, I cropped very little, I enhanced the colors slightly and I applied a little sharpening to bring out the contrast of the white birches against the evergreens and the ripples on the water. You can see that there is a little dusting of snow on the island, and on the sandbar farther out in the river. Winter is on its way, but the atmosphere is still Fall.

Art Every Day Month - Nov 1 -

Black and white landscape - River Island

River Island - Converting a digital photo into a black and white image

Source photo

It's a cool fall day, with drizzle taking the place of yesterday's snow flurries. Colours are dull except where the sun is peeking out and highlighting autumn colors. My original digital photograph appears almost monochrome to start with. 

Back when black and white film was what most folks had to work with, color film arrived as a welcome advance. But sometimes you can see more in a black and white photograph. 

I chose to make this image black and white to remove the immediate sensation of color, and to emphasize the texture of the water and the bare branches of the trees on the island. Winter is on its way, but not yet.

Art Every Day Month - Post 10

Brushstrokes

Brushstrokes - Detail of 11" x 15" Watercolor on Paper -
Study in Making Marks with a Brush

This painting is a study in brushstrokes and making marks, and also in complementary colors -  the yellow-greens and red-violets in various intensities give a sense of depth and shallow distance in the image.

I started the drawing by setting the direction I wanted the marks to flow in and then I followed these faint lines, repeating brushstroke gestures as I went.

Art Every Day Month - Post 9

Brushstrokes

Brushstrokes - Detail of 11" x 15" Watercolor on Paper -
Study in Making Marks with a Brush

In Oriental painting, there is a formal study of brush marks, similar to the calligraphy of Oriental writing. This is not that.

As I was experimenting with this study of  brushstrokes, I became fascinated with the results that a movement of the brush touching the paper and leaving a mark in paint would give. I was amazed at how a sequence of free gestures repeated in a variety of ways could build up into a compelling image suggesting leaves and branches. Rhythm, repetition, shape, direction, flow.

Art Every Day Month - Post 8

Brushstrokes

Brushstrokes - Detail of 11" x 15" Watercolor on Paper -
Study in Making Marks with a Brush

I love the look of watercolor washes. Some watercolor pigments dry with a granular residue that settles in the surface of the paper and enhances its texture, and others when dry appear to float above the rest of the image.

In this brush stroke study, the contrast of the misty blue background washes and the definite shapes of the brush marks gives a quiet landscape feeling to the picture.

Art Every Day Month - Post 7

Brushstrokes

Brushstrokes - Detail of 11" x 15" Watercolor on Paper -
Study in Making Marks with a Brush

I've always been fascinated with Japanese sumi ink drawings, and this experimental series of brushstrokes has a feeling that evokes this style - the various intensities of neutral tones, the suggestion of foliage as subject matter, the flow of the lines in the composition, even the shape of the brush marks. Even the glow of color in the background has a suggestion of natural environment.

Art Every Day Month - Post 6

Brushstrokes

Brushstrokes - Detail of 11" x 15" Watercolor on Paper -
Study in Making Marks with a Brush

Things never turn out the way you expect... this month has been wonderful for opportunities and not so good for routine.

Closing in on the end of this year's Art Every Day Month, I can look back and see I have maintained some of what I pledged to do and fallen back on some other things - I have mostly kept up on the daily walking, and on taking the daily photos, and I have generally not kept up interpretating in paint what I have been observing and posting the results.

So, my 2012 AEDM challenge will stretch a little beyond the end-of-November deadline, and I'm glad I'm able to do it.

Texture Study - Toad in a Jar

Preliminary Drawing

Texture Study - "Toad in a Jar"

Digital drawing, 800px x 600px

Sometimes while you are watching the ugliest things in the world, they become things of great beauty and fascination. Take this toad, for example. Warty and totally unappealing, dumped in a glass jar, no wonder he was so grumpy-looking.

And then, I saw the attractiveness of all those textures, the shininess of those deep, dark eyes.

Don't get me wrong, I still don't want to kiss the fellow, but I was pleased to release him into a friend's garden to start a new career keeping the insects at bay.

And he left me wondering if I could possibly capture the beauty of this creature.

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