30 Mayıs 2012 Çarşamba

Checking values in acrylic paintings

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I’ve been working on a harbor painting for a while now, on and off. It started as a realistic painting, and then it turned into a more contemporary one. Kind of in the middle of that transition I decided I would portray the scene half in the sun, and half in the shade. That’s when I started having value problems
Picture 1 with color
I was using warmer colors in the sunny areas, and cooler ones in the shade, but I soon realized that some warm hues have a darker value than cool ones, and focusing on temperature instead of value can really spoil all you are trying to do. Every painter knows the squinting technique to see values, but squinting has its limitations. What helps me a lot is using the “desaturation tool". Here is how it works: I take a digital photo of the artwork, I download it into my computer, and I desaturate it using Photoshop (many other image editing software can do it too). Then I really see values.

Picture 1 desaturated
What I saw in my desaturated painting was a lot of mid-tone values. It did not have the sun vs. shade look that I was trying to achieve.
I took notes of needed corrections, and went back to the easel.After few changes, I took another photo, and desaturated again. I’ll work more on it, but this is where I am now, you can see it below.




It does not seem like a lot of difference, but I did lighten quite a few areas.









What do you think, am I going on the right direction?
Do you know/use a different technique to check values?


Thanks for visiting,
Love, Robie

Cane Corso, the Italian Mastiff - acrylic dog painting

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"Ettore"9" x 12" Acrylic on canvas panelArt PrintsEttore is avery black dog that belongs to my family in Italy. I hear stories about thissmart and friendly puppy all the time I call home, from what they tell me he’ssuch a handful! My family always had German Shephards, and this is the first “different”dog in the household, his breed is Cane Corso, an Italian tipe of Mastiff. 
Iasked for some pictures of him and he’s so cute that I couldn’t resist paintinghim. The fun part is that I did not use any black paint. I’m curious to hearwhat my family thinks about this portrait, did I get the personality of a dog Inever met?
 We do not see things as they are. Wesee them as we are.Talmud 

The Friday's Painting Group Art Show

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I joined a Open Studio painting group few months ago, and I really enjoyed sharing the creative time with the ladies of the group. We put together a two-hour showing for friends and family, to showcase our favorite pieces of the last year or so, and have some good time together. It turned out to be a wonderful, warm, happy event. Lots of people came, all the smiles, the positiveness, the enthusiastic comments filled the air with wonderful energy. What a delightful experience!
By unanimous decision, we did not have anything for sale, but seeing all our art together, we realized that the level is higher than we thought, and we might even dare to put some prices on our paintings at the next occasion. :)
I think we were all scared of the outcome. What if nobody shows? What if my art is not good enough? etc. But I estimated at least two hundred people came, and our paintings looked amazingly good. I'm so happy we dared!



The only thing we have to fear isfear itself.     Franklin D. Roosevelt 

Daffodils - Acrylic still life painting 'revisited'

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Daffodils12x12 (30.48 cm x 30.48 cm)
Acrylic on canvas
Photography Prints
I liked my Daffodils painting (previous post) but some things did not convince me 100%. When I took it to my painting group's critic day, I received several good comments, and some constructive critiques that confirmed my iffy feelings and made me decide to rework it.

Is it better now? I'm not sure, but I hope so, because there is no way back. :)

Tuscan Hills - Watercolor Painting

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Tuscan Hills, Watercolor, 9" x 12"

I've been going to a Tuesday watercolor group, and I was pretty much the only one working with acrylics. Seeing the wonderful things that the others were creating with watercolors, really inspired me to try some on my own.
I had several pictures saved in my computer from Google street view in Tuscany, and here is the painting of the second of those.
I really enjoy experimenting with watercolors. :)

26 Mayıs 2012 Cumartesi

'Bye lil Bud Bud

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Tomorrow will mark the one month anniversary of the day Ed, I, and many others said good bye to Niko. I have thought long and hard of whether I would write this post and how I would go about it. It pains me to write about it but I want to do it in honor of our beloved best friend.


We were spending the week between Christmas and New Year's at Ed's parents. As I've mentioned in other posts, it truly was Niko's favorite getaway spot. He was familiar with the endless acres of land, the house, and family. In the car rides up, when we said "Grandma and Grandpa's!" his head would pop up and eyes would be alert to look out the window. His tail would wag with excitement as he jumps out of the car to greet everyone and go explore.
The "come when called" command was always a challenge for Niko. Although we had him leashed when we were in urban areas, we made a conscious decision to allow him off leash opportunities in what we believed were safe conditions. Ed's parents house was one of the places because of the open land of fields and woods.  Niko had spent a week full of play, treats, and time with family, including Ed's nephews who adored Niko. In fact, the day before his last, Niko was tired out from spending hours playing with nephew Peter who is 6 years old.


On December 30, 2011, while Ed and I were still asleep, Niko was let outside to go to the bathroom. When called to come inside, he insisted on staying out. It was surreal to be woken up and told Niko was hit by a car and needed to be taken to the vet ASAP. We learned afterward that a lady was driving to work that morning. She caught sight of Niko and slowed down her car. When she saw that he was standing in the lawn by the flagpole, she accelerated, thinking Niko wouldn't move. For whatever reason, Niko darted out at the wrong moment and was hit.


After he was hit, Niko walked around the yard, probably in shock. The driver who was very upset, rang the doorbell to let us know. Ed's father picked Niko up and brought him inside. There were no visible injuries aside from a little blood on his hind leg. Niko walked into a bedroom to lay down. This was something he used to do when he wasn't feeling well and wanted to be alone. Once we found out which animal hospital was open at that time (before 8am), Ed wrapped Niko up in a blanket and brought him to the car. Up to this point, all of us thought he would survive due to the fact that he was able to walk and he wasn't visibly hurt. However, Ed was not optimistic when Niko didn't squirm when he was picked up. I sat with Niko in the backseat. I was silent most of the ride from shock and disbelief. I petted him, held him, and we looked at each other, communicating silently. The ride to the hospital was less than 10 minutes, but I could feel Niko slipping away. He moved his head towards the front of the car where Ed was. Ed petted his head; Niko was reaching out for one last contact with his Dad. Moments later, Niko took his last breath. It happened right before we reached the hospital. I say it was Niko's rebellious way of telling us he had always hated going to the vet. When we arrived, I asked for Niko to be taken inside just to make sure he was gone and the technician confirmed it. We brought Niko back to the house and there was no question that we would bury him in his favorite place. Niko is buried by the tree pictured here that overlooks the fields he used to run in and the woods in the distance is where we used to go hiking with him.

Niko was two and half years old. I feel very sad he was taken from us so quickly. We can't help but wonder if we did the right thing. I will say that Niko lived a very full life, had many experiences, and was loved by all. If we hadn't given him off-leash time, he wouldn't have done and seen half the things he wanted to. My friend Mona captured it well: "Niko was an adventurer and his parents accepted his free spirit." If I had to choose a favorite off-leash experience, it would be the time we went on the canoe/backpacking trip in the Adirondacks a few months ago. The trip was not possible if we did not trust him off the leash. I smile when I think back to how he sat next to me when we had to take a break from transporting the canoe. Off leash, Niko had free reigns to run off, but he chose to stay close to us and wait until we were ready to move again.I had taken the following picture two weeks before NIko's fateful day and had planned on writing a post about this sleeping position. I like how he intricately crosses all four of his paws like that. I'd like to think that he's resting peacefully like so.

Even after a month had passed, we miss Niko every single day. Life is just different without him. We both have dreams of him now, when we did not when he was alive. I especially miss his soft fur and how he cheers me up on bad days. Writing this blog was more fulfilling than I had imagined when I started it and I'm happy it is there for us to reflect on our days with Niko. Through the blog, I found other Shiba Inu bloggers from around the world. You can bet I'll continue reading up on you guys and living vicariously through you. 
I am concluding this blog with a few pictures from when Niko was a puppy to his last Christmas.  And a list of the multiple nicknames we had for him: Niko Peeko, Bud Bud, Bum Bum, Bumblebutt, Pup Pup, and Foxy. Niko lives in our hearts forever.



Making the most out of travel time - pencil sketches

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I just came back from a family vacation, eight wonderful days in Riviera Maya, Mexico. Beach, sun, food, drinks.  Ahhhh, the life! Needless to say no time to paint. I didn't even pretend I was going to, in fact I just brought a sketch pad and pencils.


Turns out it has been a week full of fun and activities, and my art tools did not make it out of the hotel room.

However, while waiting at the airports, I kept myself entertained making quick sketches of few fellow passengers.


On the plane I found some interesting images on the Airline's magazine, and sketched those too.  :)

I loved making use of that otherwise boring time at the airport and plane!



 PS: I brought coloring and writing activities for my kids too, which kept them busy scribbling, so they did not drive daddy crazy. :)
  

Boats of Antibes - Acrylic landscape painting

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"Boats of Antibes"15" x 30" (38.1 cm x 76.2 cm) Acrylic on Canvas(click image for bigger version)Photography PrintsBoats of Antibes has been a personal challenge for two reasons: the big size - at least for my standards - and the fact that I let my instincts guide me in choosing the colors and the brushwork. I startedthe painting looking at the reference photo on my monitor screen, then closed it and balanced my visual memory and my feelings, other than trying to be realistic. My goal was to make it personal, trying to let my intuition lead me. I imagined there was a big cloud that makes half ofthe harbor shady, and getting the values right has been tricky.To help withthe values I took photos of the painting and desaturated them in mycomputer. Looking at the black & white version really helps spotting valueproblems.Now I thinkI’m pretty happy with it, and can finally post it and move on to the nextpersonal challenge.The reference photo is from GoogleStreet View,in Antibes, France. To see it click here.


“I know not how I may seem toothers, but to myself I am but a small child wandering upon the vast shores ofknowledge, every now and then finding a small bright pebble to content myselfwith” Plato 

The Friday's Painting Group Art Show

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I joined a Open Studio painting group few months ago, and I really enjoyed sharing the creative time with the ladies of the group. We put together a two-hour showing for friends and family, to showcase our favorite pieces of the last year or so, and have some good time together. It turned out to be a wonderful, warm, happy event. Lots of people came, all the smiles, the positiveness, the enthusiastic comments filled the air with wonderful energy. What a delightful experience!
By unanimous decision, we did not have anything for sale, but seeing all our art together, we realized that the level is higher than we thought, and we might even dare to put some prices on our paintings at the next occasion. :)
I think we were all scared of the outcome. What if nobody shows? What if my art is not good enough? etc. But I estimated at least two hundred people came, and our paintings looked amazingly good. I'm so happy we dared!



The only thing we have to fear isfear itself.     Franklin D. Roosevelt 

Daffodils - Acrylic still life painting 'revisited'

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Daffodils12x12 (30.48 cm x 30.48 cm)
Acrylic on canvas
Photography Prints
I liked my Daffodils painting (previous post) but some things did not convince me 100%. When I took it to my painting group's critic day, I received several good comments, and some constructive critiques that confirmed my iffy feelings and made me decide to rework it.

Is it better now? I'm not sure, but I hope so, because there is no way back. :)

23 Mayıs 2012 Çarşamba

The Friday's Painting Group Art Show

To contact us Click HERE

I joined a Open Studio painting group few months ago, and I really enjoyed sharing the creative time with the ladies of the group. We put together a two-hour showing for friends and family, to showcase our favorite pieces of the last year or so, and have some good time together. It turned out to be a wonderful, warm, happy event. Lots of people came, all the smiles, the positiveness, the enthusiastic comments filled the air with wonderful energy. What a delightful experience!
By unanimous decision, we did not have anything for sale, but seeing all our art together, we realized that the level is higher than we thought, and we might even dare to put some prices on our paintings at the next occasion. :)
I think we were all scared of the outcome. What if nobody shows? What if my art is not good enough? etc. But I estimated at least two hundred people came, and our paintings looked amazingly good. I'm so happy we dared!



The only thing we have to fear isfear itself.     Franklin D. Roosevelt 

Busy Holidays

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Gotta love the Holidays, they fill your life with so many things to do that routine becomes a foggy memory.  I'm working my way through holiday parties, kids on winter brake, friends visiting, cooking, playing, and house-chores.
In the meanwhile I'm so looking forward to the new year. So many ideas in my head that want to come to life!  Hope this new year has longer days, so I can fit them all.  :)
Hey, I just found my new year's resolution: getting better at time management, finding the time for all I need/want to do, and try to do my best always.
In the meanwhile, Happy Holidays to all!  And may the New Year bring plenty of Love, Joy, and Health in each household.




View on the Olive Grove - acrylic landscape painting

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"Vista sull'Uliveto"Acrylic on Canvas Panel11" x 14" (27.9 x 35.6 cm)Finally my first painting posted for this year!
I painted this entirely from imagination, without any reference photo. It has been such an interesting process; I had fun and I think I learned quite a bit. The idea for the landscape came from memories of Tuscany, and the inspiration for the colors came from some new colors that I bought, very unusual for me - I usually mix my paint from the few basic colors, I did not own any fancy hues. Like a child I was super excited to try them all - you should have seen how psychedelic it looked after the first hour! Then, layer after layer, I toned it down. Now I'm quite happy with it, I find it relaxing, despite the yellow sky. :)


Bouquet of flowers - acrylic still life painting

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"Bouquet of flowers"12" x 12" (30.48 x 30.48 cm)Acrylic on stretched canvas
I'm way past he deadline for this: it was suppose to be for the January's A nos pinceaux painting challenge, but I was not happy with the background, so I kept going it until it made sense to me. I have to admit I ended up looking for ideas online, and getting inspired by Cezanne's background in his Flower's in vase. Now I'm pretty happy with it, and I learned a lot during the all painting process.  :))Evhe has been so nice that she posted it on the challenge's blog even if I was late. :)


"I could paint for a hundred years, a thousandyears without stopping and I would still feel as though I knew nothing."Paul Cezanne

Daffodils - Acrylic still life painting 'revisited'

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Daffodils12x12 (30.48 cm x 30.48 cm)
Acrylic on canvas
Photography Prints
I liked my Daffodils painting (previous post) but some things did not convince me 100%. When I took it to my painting group's critic day, I received several good comments, and some constructive critiques that confirmed my iffy feelings and made me decide to rework it.

Is it better now? I'm not sure, but I hope so, because there is no way back. :)

17 Mayıs 2012 Perşembe

Value does the work, Color gets the credit

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According to the most – some – and a bit rule,
there are six possible variation of combining the value patters .
The smallest area has conveniently been placed on one of the sweet
spots, by the rule of thirds, and becomes the center of interest.

Even though color is the most attractive quality of a painting, believe it or not, value is more important than color to the design and success of a composition .
Since color is most often what viewers of the painting will notice most, the values of color are important in determining...


Read more...

Daffodils - acrylic still life painting

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Daffodils12" x 12" (30.48 cm x 30.48 cm)Acrylic on stretched canvas
Photography PrintsAnother flowery still life painted for the A nos pinceaux challenge. I painted these daffodils, Narcisi in Italian, while it was snowing outside, can't wait for spring!
As usual I did not stick to the original colors, I had fun changing the color of the vase, trying to get a tetrad color scheme going: yellow, orange, violet, and blue.

This is the original photo that Evhe
posted for the painting challenge.

Tetrad color scheme shown on color wheel







Daffodils - Acrylic still life painting 'revisited'

To contact us Click HERE
Daffodils12x12 (30.48 cm x 30.48 cm)
Acrylic on canvas
Photography Prints
I liked my Daffodils painting (previous post) but some things did not convince me 100%. When I took it to my painting group's critic day, I received several good comments, and some constructive critiques that confirmed my iffy feelings and made me decide to rework it.

Is it better now? I'm not sure, but I hope so, because there is no way back. :)

Drawing of roses, ink pen and colored pencils

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Drawing of roses, ink pen and colored pencils

Another drawing from my sketchbook venture. This time the inspiration are the lovely roses posted by Evhe in her blog A Nos Pinceaux. I found her painting challenge photos most inspiring, recently.

 Also, tonight I went to the local Dublin Area Art League (DAAL) meeting and Spring Awakenings Show reception. While I'm quite new to the DAAL, they welcomed me in such a friendly and caring way, that made me very comfortable, and I even got the chance to entered two paintings in the spring art show. Below is a photo of me next to my Daffodils

I have two paintings in the DAAL Spring Art Show; my first "official" show. :)



Italian Landscape - watercolor painting

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Cypress Shadows,  9"x12" Watercolor













One day I was in Google Street View, looking around the Italian Tuscan countryside, and I found so many great views. Besides making me a little homesick, it also inspired me to paint them, so I saved several images in a folder.
This painting is from one of those photos, I don't remember exactly where it was, but surely in the neighborhoods of San Gimignano.
I was inspired to start painting this particular view by the Daily Paint Work challenge of the week: The Shadow Challenge.
It has been fan to play with watercolors again, I think I want to do another one. Hopefully soon. :)


"Constant development is the law oflife, and a man who always tries to maintain his dogmas in order to appearconsistent drives himself into a false position."     - Mohandas K. Gandhi

13 Mayıs 2012 Pazar

Diseases the Japanese maple tree can face

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Any passionate gardener should keep in mind that plants are like any other living organism. They can get diseases if proper care is not shown towards them.

Japanese maple trees can catch some known diseases, but this mostly happens due to some negligence, there is no evidence that suggest that these plants have some track record of genetic ailments. The plant responds back to the any problem either through losing its vibrancy or through other indications. These indicators should not be taken lightly as they are the signs for much bigger trouble ahead.

The most common indication that the plant has caught some ailment is that it starts to wilt and there can be several different reasons behind this symptom ranging from tainted seed, heat stroke, or extra moisturizer in the environment. Most of the time wilting indicates that the water ducts that carry the water to all parts of it have got damaged and as a result the water does not reach to the leaves which then start to lose their vigor. You should not act in a knee jerk fashion to this problem, as sometimes a wrong cure can worsen the whole situation.

Try to analyze where things have gone wrong, what type of negligence you have shown in the past few days.

Knowing where you went wrong solves half of the problem, now after realizing the problem now apply the specific remedy action to fully solve the problem. All the required actions should be taken quickly as unnecessary prolong process can make the situation less likely to cure. After applying the appropriate remedy, try to remove the infected leaves as they can initiate the problem in the future. This can be done in the weekly pruning of the plant to save some time.

Make a habit to provide moisturizers to the plant as clearly many problems arise due to lack of it. You can achieve the required level of moisturizing if you have decided to water the plant on a regular basis.

Pests

There are some known pests that usually feed themselves with the liquid of the plant tissue. As the often camouflage, so it is hard for a naked eye to catch their site. A closer inspection of leaves can reveal their presence on the leaves. This is the reason that the experts suggest closer inspection of the leaves once in a month to avoid such free riders. Once a leaf is infected by these bugs then it usually takes few weeks to show any indication that some alien element is sharing its resources.

Early identification of these bugs can save the leave from total destruction. If the plant is left unnoticed then it is a well known fact that these bugs multiply rapidly and over a very small period of time they will spread across all the leaves of the tree. At that stage they take full control over the resources of the tree and sooner they become a bigger problem for the life of the tree. There are some pesticides available in the market, but they can be useful in the earlier stage of the problem, as statistics reveal that over the period of time it becomes less probable for the tree to sustain. But still if you notice some of them on the leaves then try to analyze complete tree for their presence. If they are present on couple of leaves only then try to remove these leaves immediately.

If you notice that the situation is becoming out of control, then you can ask for professional help that is always available in the nearby nursery. They either will suggest some pesticide or any other appropriate method to solve this problem. As the old golden proverb says, prevention is better than cure, so this is true for this case as well and if you can manage to inspect the leave every once in a while then such encounter with pests can easily be avoided.

6 Mayıs 2012 Pazar

Daffodils - Acrylic still life painting 'revisited'

To contact us Click HERE
Daffodils12x12 (30.48 cm x 30.48 cm)
Acrylic on canvas
Photography Prints
I liked my Daffodils painting (previous post) but some things did not convince me 100%. When I took it to my painting group's critic day, I received several good comments, and some constructive critiques that confirmed my iffy feelings and made me decide to rework it.

Is it better now? I'm not sure, but I hope so, because there is no way back. :)