Tag: tree

Le Grand Pin

Another composite image taken with the Fuji X100V. This little camera is very capable, and I don’t even know all it can do. Basically, I am lazy! However, I do know the areas that, for me, are the parts of a camera I want to know the most. The thing that drew me to the Fuji X100V was its fixed focal length, film simulations, and the fact it can be manual, shutter, and aperture priority. Add to that, it shoots square pictures, and that is a big plus in my book. I think I like the 1:1 ratio the best.

Fiery Sunrise

This Labor Day weekend has been hotter than hell, setting records for heat (121 F in Los Angeles), and creating havoc. Fires are everywhere in California. So far we have been spared – but the smoke is filling the sky from fires hundreds of miles away, and ash is falling. The sunrises are beautiful because of it, but breathing it is not so beautiful! This morning, the sky was murky with a few clouds. Through it all came a fiery red sun.

I was a bit torn about editing this photo as I did – the sky is more lavender here than in reality. However, I am of the thought that the unreal quality I saw this morning is better expressed in unreal colors . . .

Rush Creek in 15 Minutes

Seemed appropriate that a 15-minute study should be of a place called Rush Creek up in the Eastern Sierras!

Aspens, calm water, reflections, and done. I also used this as an opportunity to check out a new spray fixative (for me). This is an acrylic semi-gloss.

The problem with pastels is they smear if touched, so storing them and framing them can be a bit tricky. Smearing was attenuated well here, but it did take about 8 applications, some of which were a single coat, and the last about 4 or 5, back and forth, out of impatience.

Fixatives often dull colors or darken them, and whites can be especially vulnerable. This one seems to have done okay, perhaps turning the white of the aspen trunks to a creamy color, but the white trunks on the middle right seem to be doing okay.

Interesting thoughts arise . . .

About Dionysos’ Pond

Another painting done primarily with a hake brush.

This painting was done on the reverse of a previously painted piece of Arches 16×20 CP 140#. I wet the paper initially, taping it only in the corners, and was rather pleased to see how the paper relaxed once wet. I moved the tape as needed to keep the paper flat.

Anyway, the work here was themed on wet-in-wet, use of an excessively large brush (for me!), and standing up, rather than seated. The results were interesting – standing up allowed for more freedom of brush stroke. Getting the paper wet and letting it set a bit before starting the washes also helped.

Compositionally, I think it is a bit bland – really very little to lead the eye. However, this was not my focus here; rather, I wanted to use the hake brush to create sky and foliage as well as broader swaths of color. The nature of the soft brush allows for thin lines, rough splotches of color with white or underlying colors to show through, as well as washes of subtle beauty. From there I used a rigger to create branches, trunks, and some more calligraphic and suggestive lines.