Workshop Photos on my iPad

I know that ALL of you blog readers have taken many workshops (me too) and that many of you have GIVEN workshops (me too).

But once in a while there just seems to be one that initiates that amazing kind of electricity in anticipation that you can't quite define.

So it is that I anticipate a week long workshop with John Lovett (Australian watercolorist) beginning a week from today.

If you are a reader of International Artist Magazine, he writes columns in that magazine regularly, has made many DVDs and leads international workshops all over the world. Now he is coming to Lac du Flambeau, WI????? I know. I am amazed too. 15 minutes away from my tiny little cabin practically hidden in the woods. If you google Dillman's Resort you will find out more about where this magical spot is. And if you click on workshops you can find John's class description. (You will also find a plethora of very fine artists teaching there!)

I am sorry that I have only really a week to enjoy the anticipation and get ready. As you can tell from previous blogs, part of the week is taken up with just finding where my supplies have gone to and dusting off the studio and finding the supply list...yadda yadda yadda.

Thus the first photo of the initial supplies... finding just the right watercolors, gouache, gesso, pens, inks, pastel pencils, watercolor pencils, rice papers, and acrylics along with just the right brushes (almost all flats). I tore 3 sheets of Arches 140 cold press into quarter sheets this morning. I found that for the most part...I had everything I needed. He uses some very small flats for details but I dug some up.

One problem...I couldn't find any charcoal pencils in any of my catalogs. I am sure they are somewhere, but it seemed only in sets and I am asked to bring only black and brown. Sigh. Hopefully, he'll have some for sale? If anyone knows where you can buy these separately let me know. It'll be too late for the workshop...but maybe later.

I have decided to bring my photo references to the workshop on my iPad.

I sorted those I wanted to bring on my desk top into an album.

Then I synced the two devices and downloaded the album to the iPad. Voila.

You can see what the album looks like opened up with small photos. And I enlarged one to full screen to give you the idea. It'll be much nicer than trying to print it off on my inkjet and also much easier on the pocket book in terms of printer ink. The color on the iPad is splendid.

The battery is good for 10 hours so I should be good to go.

I'll let you know how that works out!!

I may do a few sketches from the iPad this week as our weather forecast is totally gloomy for the entire week!!!

Flower and Garden Show at Epcot

What a beautiful day on Tuesday (March 22) in central Florida. It was 85 and sunny and Greg and I had a delightful time looking at the flowers, attending a workshop, browsing in the butterfly house, eating lunch in Norway, and taking lots of photos!

Here we are on the boat ride between Hollywood Studios and Epcot.

This weekend my artist friend Durinda will be painting (in Italy) at Epcot. I think she'll have dry weather for her en plein air work although I do see 89 for Sunday! Going to be a little hot.

We had a wonderful LONG spell of warm and dry weather here to a fire danger point, actually.

And so my daughter is arriving from Chicago tomorrow evening. And now the rain comes!

Sigh. It could have waited just a few more days!

A Canoe Ride in northern WI in October

Our canoe ride this afternoon was quite magical.

Little Lake Tippecanoe is settling down now to wait for winter.

The reds have turned to rust and the yellows have turned to pale raw siennas. Oak leaves in burnt siennas float down around us like confetti and float like a million tiny boats all over the lake.

A late turtle hangs out on a log and a lone eagle circles above us.

The sky is cloudless and a heavy silence lays over the lake...
A lone fisherman fishes in the cove as we paddle silently by. The loons are long gone. So are most of the ducks (we find a small flock of 7 still beside one of the islands).

Piers are piled along the shore line.

Somewhere in the distance we hear a hammer...a neighbor is putting on new roof before winter comes howling down the lake.

Most of us are summer folk...headed now to warmer climes. But about half a dozen homeowners stay year round. They split their logs now in preparation for the snowy days and make sure the snow plows and snow mobiles and skis and skates are nearby.

We make our tour around and between the islands enjoying the last of the water lilies and listening for the call of the geese.

We lean lazy on our paddles now and then and see the world upside down in the reflections. The sun beats thinly on our heads now with long shadows coming early in the afternoon as the days grow shorter.

We have a week to bid our lake farewell before we head to Florida for the winter. Today was a jewel to slip into the memory box.

PhotoShop

My friend, Lou Fitton, in Canada was talking by email to me the other day about "posterizing" a photo and then using it as a useful tool for creating a painting.

So this evening I booted up my photoshop to see if I could play with some images.

I used my 14 year old grandson, Nate, for the portrait image.

There are a ton of ways to posterize the image...this top one is just one of hundreds of ways. It boggles the mind.

The second image is called "ink sketch" and the last one is "colored pencil" . Each of these images can be tweaked about 50 different ways also.

I am sure many many of the friends of this blog have used Photoshop in tons of ways to enhance a photo for inspiration.

If anyone has a favorite one or can give me (and Lou) a heads up on any good art tips based on photoshop, let us know.

Looking at these makes my fingers itchy to get started!

Meanwhile I am preparing to head out in the morning to Woodruff, WI to teaching an acrylic class in paper painting. Photos to follow.

Feelin' Spicey

I was in the grocery yesterday and when I went by the peppers they just knocked my socks off with the color.

There is something about fall harvest, isn't there? Pumpkins, gourds, apples, pears, vegetables. Wow.

If I bought these for a still life I figure it would have cost me about $10!

So, cheapskate that I am, I arranged them right there in the produce section and photographed them.

This is a promo for having a camera so small it fits in your purse! You never know when something will come up!!!

Garage sales is another really nice place for photos of old rockers, antique toys, and beautiful tea pots without having to spend a cent!!!

I am thinking of using these in my Wed class for paper painting. More to follow on that.

Hard Freeze in Central Florida again Tonight!

We are in trouble in Florida. Another HARD freeze tonight. We didn't see snow but Greg thinks he heard sleet on the roof during the night. OH my gosh. (We are about an hour from Orlando). We may lose our oranges on this one. Just be glad you didn't pay for tickets to a theme park for today. Can you even imagine! It was 33 and raining this morning! Never got to 40 all day! I cannot ever remember anything like this before!!!

We have been nursing a tiny little pineapple that we planted ourselves several years ago and finally this fall...up it came. We were so excited. But when we heard the weather again tonight...Greg cut it and brought it in.

It's only 4.5" high. Just a baby. Probably all green inside but I took a ton of photos of it...such an interesting little guy...I have never painted one before and was really intrigued by the amazing textures on the surface. Painting makes you pay attention, doesn't it? I think it's time to put this little guy into a real painting.

Stay warm guys.

Mary Warren: Photographer

I said before in a previous post that I have two friends who are photographers. This one is Mary Warren, from Wheaton, Illinois. Mary and I went to undergraduate school together (Beloit College in Wisconsin) and so have known each other for over 50 years. GASP!

Mary says "I got more interested in photography as I was preparing to go on an African photo safari to Tanzania and Kenya in the fall of 2007. The digital camera I selected (Panasonic DMC-TZ3) has a great lens and a 10X optical zoom, both of which I needed for capturing wildlife photos. Since then I've really enjoyed going on photo shoots, most often in the Chicago area where I live. "

Mary's love of photography came after retirement just as my love of painting did. Now she is getting 45,000 views on her Flickr site!! I love to click on sets, then on slide show, and just sit back and enjoy!!!

The Art of Photography: Fred Noer

I have several friends who are marvelous photographers. I mean marvelous. Fred Noer is one.

He works primarily in black and white as shown here. I am always reminded of the "value studies" so many of us do in working with paint. These are like THE most ultimate value studies!!! When he writes about his photography I am reminded too of the hard physical work of finding, composing and recording landscapes. Fred is out in ALL weather to take shots.

His online gallery is full of amazing prints and cards for sale. Do take a look.

These three are taken of an area of Wisconsin where I used to live near Lake Geneva. (southeast WI). Many of his photos include the lake in it's many moods.

This year for Christmas he gifted me with a box of his cards. WHAT a treat. Thank you Fred!!!