21 Day Photo Challenge: Trees

Stacey Merrill posted it on her Facebook page about the 21 Day Photo Challenge over at Elle Moss Photography. The themes are fun and easy and it is a low-stress challenge. So, I decided to participate as much as I can. Above is my photo for day 2 theme: Trees. This is a photo of a papaya tree outside the Flamingo Garden in Ft. Lauderdale. Here is a closer look.

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Light of Lakshmi

I have several of these candle jars which come in a range of beautiful colors and wonderful fragrances. They sit on the mantlepiece above the fireplace in my living room and complement the decor of the room. But the jars themselves are pretty bland on the outside.

I have been toying with a few ideas when I happen to see this beautiful Lakshmi label on the Graphics Fairy. I immediately knew where it belonged. It was like godsend--Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth illuminating the world. I sized and printed several copies on a tracing paper (for instructions on printing on tracing paper, click here)  and glued them around the jar. I also printed several copies of a jasmine perfume label also from the Graphics Fairy and affixed them above the Laksmi pictures. They fit perfectly and the overall effect is divine!

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From Photograph to Painting

I grew up in a big megalopolis and even afer living in the suburbs for the last thirty years, I am still a cityl girl at heart. Cityscapes inspire me. I am too self conscious to park my easel on the street and start painting. So, I do the next best thing. Take photos and then when time permits convert them into painting. Below is one stuch attempt:

The image below is a photo I took of the famous La Concha Hotel in Key West. (Legend has it that Tennessee Williams wrote his most celebrated play, A Streetcar Named Desire, while staying at the hotel.) I don't know how it was during Williams' stay, it now looks like a relic of the past, albeit a well preserved one. Staid and stodgy, it reminds me of Downton Abbey. Yet, I liked the symmetry of the awnings and the uniform shadows they cast over the windows and I felt that I could make it into a painting with some color changes. No way was I recreating that beige and blue glory!

Since there are lots of details in the photo and I wanted to get to the coloring part fast, I took some short cuts.  Here are the steps I used to create the painting (top photo):

Materials used:

Artist canvas
Golden fluid acrylics (shades of yellow, orange and red)
Watercolor/acrylic brushes
Daler and Rowney acrylic inks
Pencil
Printer paper
Picasa (free photo editing software)
Printer


Steps:
1. Using Picasa, I created pencil sketch version of the photo (it is one the effects available on Picasa) and printed a copy of it. The sketch effect is also useful for identifying the light and dark values. I also printed a copy of the original photo in color.

2. I sketchd the image on the canvas using the balck and white print as the guide.

Pencil sketch copy of the photo

4. Using a thin brush and acrylic ink, I went over the lines ( I could have used a sharpie too). Acrylic ink is permanent and the lines will not smudge when color washes are painted on top.

5. Instead of the beige and blue in the original, I decided to use yellow, red and orange color scheme.

6. I layered the colors in various stages, starting with a wash of yellow first. Note: Golden fluid acrylics are very strongly pigmented and a little goes a long way.

7. Here is the finished painting. Now, it looks like it belongs in South Beach, Miami rather than
Key West! Well, I did not set out to make an art deco version but it kind of made itself. The thing about using a photo as a model for the painting is that you have the freedom to alter, add, subtract, edit, colorize in any way you want.  There is nothing that says you have to make an exact copy of the original. The photo represents one version of reality and the painting another and both are true.

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Simple Things

I created the two pieces shown above using a favorite technique of mine (layered printing) and a favorite material (corrugated board). The images  this, this and this came from my favorite website the Graphics Fairy. I have been wanting to use some old, yellowing tracing papers I have had for ages. Since tracing paper is thin, I used a regular printer paper as backing to help it pass through the printer. I used small pieces of masking tape to attach the tracing paper to the printing paper (see below)

For the first layer, I printed a handwriting image on the paper. I passed the same paper again to print the second image (woman) on top of the first layer. (Mind you, you can do this on PSE very easily, but, I wanted to do it the oldfashioned way.) The stencils were done with white gesso. I stitched the printed paper onto a piece of corrugated paper.  Because the paper is translucent, one can actually see the ridges of the board underneath the paper. I don't know what I will do with it--maybe use it as a cover for a coptic stitched journal.

See below for another take on the same technique.

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Zodiac Art Series: Aries

Finished the third one in the Zodiac Art Series last one. The other finished pieces are here and here.

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A Mandala for the Earth

The theme for this week's I am the Diva: Certified Zentangle Teacher is
Earth Day also called Amanda Day by Laura's son Chewie :). I thought I would do my tangle art with minimum of foot print, using impermanent organic materials. I was not breaking any new ground, just borrowing from the Tamil practice of kolam drawing. I did not have the materials that are typically used in Tamilnadu. So, I improvised. I drew the mandala using  rice flour, turmeric and pink vermilion (kumkum) powder on a bamboo cutting board. Because the powders I used were finely ground and smooth (unlike those used in typical kolam drawing), they did not lend to smooth and intricate line drawing. But, I was not aiming for perfection. After it was completed, I gathered the powders and mingled them with the mud in the backyard.

I washed the bamboo board and put it away.

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Zodiac Series: Virgo

Just finished the second piece in the new series combining art, astronomy and astrology using mixed media techniques. The first one is Pisces  which I completed last weekend. So, just ten more to go! The next pair will be Aries/Libra. At some point, they will be in my Etsy shop. Meanwhile, you can check here for updates. More views of Virgo below:

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