beach house

summer / city - how I did it

Because this digitized analog piece was an excellent example of one of the ways I go from analog to digital, because this time the process was clear and clean-cut, and also took a few more steps than usual, I thought it would be an excellent choice to publish as a gallery on my facebook design page. After posting once, then reposting, and not getting a single "like" or comment, I deleted it. Later, maybe.

01. scan



02. canvas



03. outlines



04. color blocks



05. windows



06. flower beds



07. with flowers



08. paving



09. plus words



10. almost



11. copyright / signature

snowy harwich house

beach house, "how I did it"

Processes I use to digitally output an analog drawing or painting are many and varied. They range from a little color correction plus a subtle filter leading to an outcome that for all practical purposes is identical with the original to an intensive, multi-layered process that ends with a final image quite different from the original. This recent "beach house" is fairly characteristic, and as usual, I planned the project for screen display and for digital printing. About three years ago I made a version of the drawing that's similar in many ways yet quite different in others.

Most often my fills are subtle, 2-colour linear gradients; in this beach house all the fills are solid, except for the sun and windows. A few years back I tended to use gradients that were contrasty in colour and value and led to a more dramatic, artistic effect; I may return to that practice soon.

01. first, a scan in 24-bit colour; because the original was about 12" x 8" I scanned this one at 450 dpi:



02. for the window reflections, this time I used a beach photo I took at Columbia Point, Boston, and edited with Photoshop filters:



03. canvas:



04. outlines:



05. colour blocks:



06. plus grass:



07. with sun:



08. windows:



09. almost ready:



10. with copyright / signature in Helvetica Neue ultralight:



The finished "beach house" totals 11 layers, including the signature / copyright. I saved out only 8 selections, which probably is an average number. Just as a couple years ago, I did versions with two different sky colours, but decided to make thistle sky the default.

world drawing day rhino

For World Drawing Day 2012, here's my drawing of a devastatingly endangered rhino:

earth day 2012

draw a bird day 2012

Sunday, 08 April was the annual Draw a Bird Day; here's the Blackbird I drew for the occasion:

guitar recital