Bayfield, Wisconsin Fishing Boat

Time to get back to watercolors.  This is a fishing boat we saw in Bayfield, Wisconsin. A sweet little coastal town right on Lake Superior.  You can take the ferry over to Madeleine Island, which is where all the rich people go--similar to the Hamptons.  Anyway, here's the result.

Have a wonderful, peaceful evening.

Floral Watercolors

Love this time of year. Things are starting to bloom.

Have a great day!

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggidy Jig

We've been home a few day now from our vacation in Florida and came home to beautiful weather.  It's not going to last long as we are expecting cold, rainy weather over Easter weekend.  The hubs was able to get two rounds of golf in, however.

I've been working on birds.  One of the forums I belong to has an artist who is working through painting birds with the use of DAP, Photoshop and many plug-ins, textures, and papers  I thought I would try this out as well.  I have a long way to go, but I'm learning something new.

In addition, one of the artists that participated in the Open Studio; Street Scenes class I recently attended, let us use some of her photos to play with.  This was a food cart that she snapped while on a recent trip to NYCity.

For those of you who celebrate Easter, I hope you have a nice one.  Have a great weekend!

A Beautiful Day In Sunny Florida

Here we are again for our annual venture to sunny Florida.  I've been remiss in posting, but I have been keeping up with the class at Digital art Academy--this being the last week.  I've put together a couple of paintings, one of which I posted to the class.  However, I will be working on another, more comprehensive painting hopefully incorporating everything we've learned so far in class.  Hats off to Karen Bonaker another wonderful Open Studio.

The second painting is for a Mini Challenge at Retouch Pro.

I hope everyone is having an awesome day.

New Watercolors

The hubs just got home from a Golf trip--a well deserved trip--in Palm Desert California. He didn't take many, but there were a few images that he snapped that I thought would work well painted in watercolor. 

I got some good news in that I sold a print in the Art Shoppe.  For those of you who are local, it's located in the old Sears Building on Lake Street and Eliot Av, now called the Global Market. 

We are having wonderful spring weather here--up to 67 degrees today and the snow is melting.  Hope everyone is having a wonderful day.

Still Learning

Wanted to make sure that you knew of a couple classes coming up...some you may be interested in these.  Karen Bonaker at The Digital Art Academy is having an Open Studio Session coming up in March on Painting Street Scenes.  You can get information HERE.  Also, Scott Deardorff has a new teaching DVD out, his second in a series, "Portrait Painting Techniques in Photoshop".  This artist creates the most beautiful portraits and he does it exclusively in Photoshop.  You can read about both of his DVD's HERE.

Here's a few pieces I've been working on.  Still working on watercolor techniques using Photoshop, Topaz Adjust and Simplify.

This is what I love about digital art.  You can reuse your photographs over and over and over and over.......Have a great day!

Practice, Practice, Practice

I've been spending a lot of time recently on trying to perfect my digital watercolors, using older images to play with.  I'm getting very antsy not being able to get out and take pictures of anything.  Not really enough snow to take any decent winter shots. Mind you, I'm not complaining after last year's record snow falls. But I'm restless and need some new images to work with.

Three totally different treatments here, but watercolors none the less.
I hope every is having a beautiful weekend.

Tweaking the Watercolors

I've been working on improving my watercolors by seeking tutorials on some of the forums I belong to.  I'd like to thank Kai and Piker for all their help and the wonderful tuts they have been so generous in giving out.  Here is one that I finished this morning and submitted to a watercolor challenge I participated in recently.

Thanks to Karen Bonaker for the use of her image.  I hope everyone is having an awesome day.

Monday, Monday

Have you ever been glad for Monday's and a normal routine?  Weekends this time of year can be hectic. Just driving in the weather that is thrown at us this time of year can be stressful...the tune, Slip, Sliding Away (Simon and Garfunkel) is so appropriate when navigating the roads here.  But, enough about that stuff.  I was able to spend more time on paintings form our Thanksgiving trip to D.C.  At some point I need to take my camera and start shooting snow scenes...but shoot...it's cold out there.

A sweet little house on the corner near the Eastern Market where artists set up booths each and every weekend to sell handmade items.

Port City Java is a quaint little coffee shop where people sit and people watch those visiting the Eastern Market.  In addition to artists, there's a building where you can buy fresh meats, fish and bakery goods.

The Art Village is located next to Port City Java.  I noticed that it looks vacant.  I would love to set up shop there!

Walking the streets of D.C. is such a treat.  Each little row house has something to offer...eye candy!
I everyone has a happy week.  Christmas is just around the corner!

Thanksgiving in D.C.

We are winding down now, relaxing on our last day here in D.C., returning to Minnesota tomorrow morning.  We had a lovely time here with family, ate way too much but did get out and about quite a bit as well.  For those who have visited D.C., you know that you walk, walk, walk.  I'm not sure I walked enough to counteract all that I ate, but I sure tried.  I'm posting a few images that I took while walk, walk, walking.  My son and his wife were kind enough to get me around so that I could take lots of images.  Here's the first one of my nieces home where we had our feast.

In addition to the usual Thanksgiving fare, we also ate several Filipino dishes as my sister's husband is from the Philippines.  I'd share with you what they were, but I don't know how to spell them.  Maybe next time.

I absolutely love walking the streets of D.C.  There are such wonderful row houses throughout the entire city.  Our weather here was stellar.  The sun was out each and every day.  Just gorgeous here.

  This is all I've been able to put together so far, but I've got plenty of material to work with when I get back to the Cities.

We have so much to be thankful for.  I hope everyone had a beautiful Thanksgiving.  I know I did.

It's almost Thanksgiving

I wanted to make sure I got something posted before I leave town for D.C. to visit our son. We have people driving up from Florida, New York City and Maryland and so it should be a wonderful gathering. I've been working hard on a commissioned piece that, sadly, will not be ready before I leave. It's a particularly difficult one, but I do love a challenge.

Since we going out east, I thought I'd post some paintings taken from images in the D.C. area.

This one is from Mt Vernon where George Washington lived.

I'm not at all sure I'm ready for winter even though we've now had our first snow. So, here's one a painting from just a few weeks ago.

Here's hoping that you have a wonderful holiday.

Pushing The Envelope

I've spent the last few weeks attempting to take my art to another level~~pushing the envelope, so to speak.

I've been utilizing the many digital programs available. Sometimes using 4 or five programs and plugins on each image until I find something I really like.

My favorite programs are Corel Painter 11/12, and Photoshop CS5.  And I'm using other programs as well: Topaz Adjust/Clean/Simplify, Tintii, Fractilius, DAP, Postworkshop and FotoSketcher.

Boosting those colors is a most favorite thing to do.

I can't seem to help myself.  Tintii is very helpful in isolating certain colors and saturating them.

Topaz is coming out with an updated version of Adjust in just a few more days.  It's an incredible program.

Be sure to check out the wonderful talent over at Artists in Blogland for Show and Tell Saturday. There you will see some incredible stuff.  Find then Here. 
Anyway, I hope everyone is having an awesome weekend.

DAP

A few more paintings that include the painting program, Dynamic Auto Painter, as well as Topaz, Fractalius, Photoshop and Corel Painter.

I'm forever surprised at how I can take a very ho-hum image and push it to the extreme with the help of all these wonderful programs.

I remember when I took this image and was so wishing that these cars weren't in the way.  But, with the addition of paint they actually look like they belong.

These are the woods behind my house.  Sadly the leaves are all but gone, except for the yellow maples.

I dread the coming cold and snow!

A beautiful day in the neighborhood!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful day!

It's Still Fall Here

We are fortunate here in Minnesota this year.  We still have tress that are changing color and haven't lost their leaves, yet.  So, I asked the hubs to take me out for another picture shooting tour.  One of my favorite places to go is the cemetery where Mark's mom is buried.  Here are some paintings from some of the images I took in and around the cemetery.

I hope everyone is have an awesome day.

More Fun

I'm continuing to experiment with several programs and plug-ins and really trying to push the envelope with my paintings.  I'm finding that a lot of pre and post processing is also necessary.  My newest toy is DAP.  If interested you can find them here.

This image was taken on a little back road just east of a little town called Stillwater.  We are fairly lucky that we still have fall color here.  Usually by this time, all the leaves are on the ground.

This is from a local cemetery.  Mark's mother is buried in the this cemetery.  It's quite a beautiful place.

I love this effect.  It's almost has a paint chip look to it.

As we get close to Halloween, I hope everyone is having a wonderful day!  BOO!