Wednesday, May 28, 2008

The Lost Parrot


What do you do when your parrot disappears and you can't find her anywhere?
You look in the cupboard, of course!

Sunday, May 25, 2008

Spring at the Park


Spring is really here. The golfers across from the park are in full force today. Meanwhile this side of the park stays on the less groomed, but still on the pretty side.(like some dogs I could mention)

Saturday, May 24, 2008

Pear Tree II


The same pear tree as in an earlier post. It got more beautiful!

Ghost #2


Yup. Another *ghost* picture. Same place as the last one. On the one hand, I think its just a combination of light and branches, on the other hand, I dunno. I've taken pictures there before and since, and I haven't found anything even remotely spooky in any of them. And the place doesn't feel spooky either, at least to me it doesn't.

Friday, May 23, 2008

Louie at the park


Too nice to stay in today( are you noticing a trend here?). So Louie and me went to the park to see what we could see. I took some pictures, and Louie did a little swimming. This him on the upper path to the meadow.

Thursday, May 22, 2008

Peach Study


This is a fast gouache study for a new still life I want to try, but I think I'm going to change the composition a little for the final painting. The bottle is still too central for my liking and the background too warm. Move everything a little to the right, cool down the background and it'll look much better. ( I hope.) I was using the golden section to determine the proportions, or trying to anyway. I need more practice with that, I think. It took about 90 minutes to paint, and it'll help to determine the final picture that I want to do in oil. If I ever get it all working together, I think it'll be a nice painting.
The problem with using fresh fruit is that it never stays fresh for long, and I don't always want to work that fast. On the other hand, it was really tasty. Next time I'll bake a shortcake to go with it.

Sunday, May 18, 2008

Ghost


OK. This is my ghost picture. It's taken at a cemetery for nuns and priests. I didn't notice anything until I downloaded to my computer. To the left of the arrow, it looks like there is a nun hovering over the headstones. She has what appears to be a traditional habit, with a long dark veil and seems to be looking a little to the right side of the picture. All I can say there was no one around when I took the picture. Besides I think she'd be about 15 feet tall, if she was real, that is. I think that it is partly a trick of the eye. I think that the light and branches combined to create the illusion of a nun. On the other hand, what are the odds that this particular illusion would occur in a nun's cemetery? In the end,I don't quite know what to make of it.

Saturday, May 17, 2008

Fallen tree


Today was just one of those perfect Spring days. Warm, but not too warm. Sunny but with a few nifty clouds to keep it interesting. So the dog and me went to the park to paint. This is a different park from the dog park, but dogs are allowed anyway. It's located on the St. Francis Seminary grounds. Its a lovely little woods with bridges and a stream running through it. The buildings on the grounds include the Archbishops palace, a seminary, a former girls school that has been turned into a really interesting collection of non-profit businesses and a nun's retirement home. It's also supposedly haunted.
I sat down, used water from the stream for the paint, and painted this picture. Louie the dog helped by being cute, laying next to me and offering an occasional comment. He did a good job, I think.

Friday, May 16, 2008

Pear tree



It's spring and the trees are blooming. I went to the Bridge Between because I had to get out into the real country, and there it was, a real live blooming pear tree. It'll make a great drawing. The Bridge is getting ready for the growing season, mulching and planting seeds. Everything they grow is organic, including the homegrown eggs. It's all wonderfully tasty, too.
I personally am at war with the weed called Creeping Charlie or Gill Over the Ground. Since all's fair in love and war, chemicals are shortly going to make an appearance. If anyone can tell me how to kill off this stuff, please, I'm begging you. It's everywhere.

Wednesday, May 07, 2008

More Gouache


This is titled "Hall of the Mountain King", and it is an imaginary scene done in more of the that glurpy gouache. I'm starting to like painting with it more and more. This was an exercise in composition for a class I'm taking, I was supposed to get the viewers eye to move around the picture. Maybe I did and maybe I didn't, but I'll tell you a secret, I'm really really happy with the way this turned out. I hope it shows well on other monitors, the colors are rich but not garish.

Its Spring!

I found these in a garden center, nestled in the Astilbe.