Friday, June 22, 2012

beach house

beach house, 2012 version 6

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

scan original

02. canvas

canvas

03. outlines

outlines

04. color blocks

color blocks

05. windows

windows

06. flower beds

flower beds

07. with flowers

with flowers

08. paving

paving

09. plus words

plus words

10. almost

almost ready

11. copyright / signature

with copyright / signature

Monday, June 11, 2012

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:

beach house scan

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

beach house windows

03. canvas:

beach house canvas

04. outlines:

beach house outlines

05. colour blocks:

beach house colour blocks

06. plus grass:

beach house plus grass

07. with sun:

beach house with sun

08. windows:

beach house and windows

09. almost ready:

beach house almost read

10. with copyright / signature in Helvetica Neue ultralight:

beach house with copyright

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.

Saturday, June 02, 2012

world drawing day rhino

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

world drawing day 2012 rhino

Tuesday, April 10, 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:

draw a bird day 2012 blackbird