Pansies part 2

Pansies part 2. Not done yet. I took some time off and went up to the BridgeBetween Retreat Center. It was cold here, but it was way colder there.

Pansies

A start for another still life. I am never sure any painting will be what I want it to be. I wonder if paintings are like the stories that authors claim write themselves and they don't even know how they will end. Maybe I should just start painting without any plan and see where I get to.

There was a huge storm, and now that its passed, its a simmering 3 degrees F.(-16C)outside. No more pansies until spring.

December 7, 1941

A picture of the beginning of the attack on Pearl Harbor as seen from a Japanese bomber.

The explosion is going off near the U.S.S. Oklahoma.

Somewhere down there, and I think it's on the Oklahoma, is my neighbor's son.

Its an odd feeling to sit at a computer 68 years later, and find a picture of the precise moment when the life of someone you met and knew suddenly changed forever.

Milkweed Pods, part 3

The latest version of this picture. I haven't compared it to the others as I am writing this, and to my eye, I might have gone too floofie with the milkweed fluff. When I post I'll be able to tell. Maybe I'll back it off a bit./// Now that I saw it, I am thinking just a little adjusting here and there and it'll be done. I like the floofie.

Milkweed, part two

This is the second stage this painting, and its coming along pretty well. Its all earth color, if I remember correctly. There is raw sienna, raw umber, trans. red oxide and white, and thats it. Its only about half done, and the challenge will be to get the fluffy milkweed seed painted fluffily enough.

Milkweed Ectoplasm

A start on a still life. Looks sorta like ectoplasm, not that I have ever seen ectoplasm, but if I did see it, I am sure it would look like this. Hope I can make it look like fluffy milkweed parachutes.

Snow (Fameuse) apple

A quick sketch of a Snow apple done this afternoon. I was working with edges, trying to get the illusion of depth. It's 4 x 5 inches and I like that size. Its easy to finish in a day.

Waterfall... better colors

OK, I have a newly calibrated monitor, new settings on Photoshop, and better results on my end. Still paler than it should be but better. Monitors are variable in their pictures so I am hoping for a happy averaged outcome.

Waterfall

The finished waterfall that I started earlier this week. But the question is : Why are these photos showing up with such bad color? Why? I am a good person and this shouldn't be happening to me. I assign the correct {as far as I know} color profile, I tweak the color so it will be more rich, and it still washes out. GAAaaaaahhhhh.

From the Civil War, too

One of the family that fought for the Union in the Civil War. I don't know who it is, but he is rather elegant. His uniform fits so well, it looks tailored. I *think* the rifle is a Springfield 1861.

Veterans Day

Veterans Day. They could do anything, including the impossible. In the United States, they were often first generation Americans, survivors of the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl, sons of immigrants and grandsons of pioneers. All were patriots. They confronted Evil, they overcame it. Now that they are almost all gone, we are so much the poorer for it. I miss them.