Author: -N-

Along the Italian Coast

This was a rather fun painting to do just because it forced me to really rethink using white.

The ocean was the problem.  I thought I had put it in so it would be fairly light, particularly toward the distant shore.  Instead, when it dried, it was darker than I wanted.  The trees on the hill in the midground were essentially the same value as the water!  This was quite an eye-opener.  In the end, I put plain white (zinc) onto the paper, and kept blending it in until I got it where it was acceptable.

From there, it was back to the background.  It was also too bright.  I toned that down, and greyed it up a bit.  The background shore was too bright.  More work.  Then, back to the midground, foreground, buildings and boats.  I painted – with oodles of white! – the buildings, making them abstract shapes and then adding slightly darker shades to make the buildings seem 3-D.  More trees.  Finally, reflections, boats, and their reflections.

While I don’t consider this to be one of my better paintings, it is certainly one filled with lessons, in particular the usage of white (lots!), perhaps in the future check the colors on a separate piece of paper to see how light or dark they will dry, and finally deliberately trying to create abstract color blobs for buildings and trees that are discernible as such, but still indistinct in the distance.

I am ordering more white today!

In the Park

Another image from the roll of Ilford Super XP 400, a C-41 process black and white film.  Again, with the Welta Weltur from 1937.  And, once more, I am so impressed by the Xenar lens!

I took the Weltur out in a number of situations, using the Sunny 16 rule for the most part.  I expect I shot this at 1/250 as it was a bright, sunny day.  I also brought my light meter with me, but tried to guess before I measured.  I also think I may have used f/8.  The reason?  More light for the detail in the trunk.  Maybe I should write things down so I can see how things really work out – not just guess at how things work out.  Shouldn’t be too hard for 12 – 18 pictures!

Cliffside Flowers, Pt. Lobos

I took a lot of photos – digital, film – while on vacation in Monterey, California.  Trees, flowers, streets, room.  This is what I saw along the trail at Whalers Cove in Pt. Lobos, California.  The cliffs are sandy and crumbly, but there are bits of very dark dirt, from black to grey.  I wonder if this area had volcanic activity at some point.  The color contrast of the soil and cliffs, along with the tenacious hold of the flowers, made for some rather lovely bits of bright color in late summer.

Container Jungle

Part of my container garden this summer in the Dog Free Zone.  I grew hot chilis, herbs, flowers, and, in particular, milkweed.  You can see the milkweed seed pods have opened, and the seeds are waiting to blown away by the wind.  The milkweed is food that is important to Monarch butterflies, but I have heard that the milkweed with colored flowers is not good for the butterflies.  I want to do a bit of research on this – what if all is for naught?

Once more, this is a photo using my 1937 Welta Weltur and Ilford XP Super 400 film.  The Xenar lens is stunning, with lovely detail and softness at the same time.  I really like what it can do.