"On The Beach" Painting

"On The Beach"

6"x8" oil on Raymar panel

$150
Click here to purchase

 iPad version of On the Beach

Today I started painting using my iPad paintings as a reference. This is my first effort, and it's not a great photo, I'll try to get a better one. I might still tweak it a little, but I don't want to loose the initial freshness, which so often happens. The most obvious thing that hit me is that the zoom on the iPad isn't in my brushes! I think a larger version will be needed to fully use the iPad version information.

I've added a process photo to yesterday's post. There I did an initial sketch and block-in with a higher transparency setting, hoping that it would show through and make the final a little softer. I'll be exploring other ways to do that.

Radishes

Radishes 

digital painting with ArtRage

Other Uses for ArtRage

I'm learning so much using ArtRage! I'd like to show you some other ways I've found it to be useful. Below is the original painting of "Icy Brook". I got some feedback that the ice patches in the brook were reading as shadows and were confusing. So I took a photo of the painting and loaded it into ArtRage. The second image is the painting after I edited it in ArtRage. No longer confusing, right? Then I used the information gained in ArtRage to fix the oil painting.

Original "Icy Brook"

"Icy Brook" after IPad editing

Final "Icy Brook" oil painting (with different white balance) Only the pond was repainted.

Another example is shown below, where I was working on a woodcut. At this stage I had transferred the drawing to the block, and lightly added the values to show me where to cut for each layer, but not done any cutting. I wanted to look at some different color combinations. So I took a photo of the block, loaded it into ArtRage and painted over areas in each of the planned layers to get an idea if the combinations were going to work. The final printed woodcut is here.

Image of "Irish Piper" woodblock with over painting in ArtRage

Below is the first painting I did in ArtRage, done almost 2 years ago, over a photo of one of my previous oil paintings of the pond, which was painted en plein air in summer. The result was pure beginner's luck, with more luck added because I was experimenting, with no expectation that a sale-able painting would be the result. I think that's one of the points of the 30 paintings in 30 days challenge I'm participating in, to encourage artists to experiment, try new mediums, techniques, and subjects, and just see where it takes them and what they can learn. Thanks for joining me on the journey.

Winter Pond

Backdoor to Seal Bay Redux

Backdoor to Seal Bay Redux

digital painting over oil under painting, using ArtRage

This is today's iPad painting. It was a long day at the office, and I didn't have much time, so it's something simple. Some of you will recognize the composition.

On the Beach

On the Beach

digital painting over image of an oil underpainting - ArtRage

This is today's ArtRage painting for Leslie Saeta's 30 Paintings in 30 days challenge, which is on day 6. I think I'm the only artist painting digitally.

This is what's underneath. You'll see that I left out some of the rocks in the foreground.

 

Stick Houses

Stick Houses

8"x8" digital painting using ArtRage on IPad

More fun with ArtRage. I'm really enjoying this! Thank you all for the great feedback, it makes it all worthwhile.

ArtRage 10 Minute Apples

ArtRage apple #4
8.5"x8.5"" digital, all done in ArtRage (no image underneath)

I love Carol Marine's 10 minute apple exercise. It's a great way to get your painting muscles into shape and to learn your tools. Do you think I got better as I progressed from #1 to #4?

I usually set the apple on a green cloth to do this exercise, but I couldn't find the cloth when I started out, so the apple was sitting on a cardboard box. Yuck! Off to look for the cloth again, and I found it. I also raised the surface so I wasn't looking down on the apple as much.

I've had a few questions about ArtRage works, so here goes. I'm using the iPad version, which isn't as full featured as that for a desktop, but it has the advantage that you can touch the screen, and paint with your finger (numbers 1-3 were done that way), or with a special stylus brush made for phones and tablets (number 4). Here's what the app looks like on the iPad screen:

You can see the tools on the left that we use to paint with, and note I was using the brush (it's sticking out a little). On the bottom right is the palette. It's a little hard to get used to, and I learned something doing these apples. You can drag your finger (or the blunt end of the stylus) in the outer wheel to change color, and in the inner wheel to change the value (going around) and the grayness (going in and out). I hadn't used the drag before, and it's very helpful.

Here's the Stylus Brush, by Sensu (available on amazon.com).

I recorded the brush strokes on each of these apples, but I'm going to have to do some research on how to play it back where you all can see it. You need the app to play it back, but that only works on a desktop/laptop. So I'll have to make that happen and then do a screen recording. I'll give it a shot.

"Always Happy to See Me"

"Always Happy to See Me"

6"x8" oil on Raymar panel

I'll be back to digital painting tomorrow, but wanted to show you a recently finished commission. These two sweathearts belong to a dear friend, aren't they the cutest?

Farm Pond Pines in Spring

Farm Pond Pines in Spring

6x6" digital over photograph of painting, using ArtRage

Next in my series using Art Rage. A bit simplified compared to the others, using a bigger "brush", with less detail. This was painted over a photo of the beginnings of a 12"x12" oil painting, not the same 6"x6" finished painting used before. See below for a process photo.

It's interesting to come back to these. In the spring of 2013, I intended to make four 12"x12" oils, one per season. I did the under painting of each one on site, on the same day. I wasn't able to pull off the oils. Only summer, basically a larger version of the original 6" plein air piece, saw the light of day. However, with Art Rage, it's easier to let go and let my imagination take over.

Farm Pond Pines in Fall

Farm Pond Pines in Fall

6"x6" digital over photograph of painting, using ArtRage

Here's another view of the pines at Great Brook State Park in Carlisle, MA. Once again it's a digital painting, using ArtRage over the original painting. Below is an intermediate version, at the stage where just the deciduous foliage was painted digitally, and the trees and sky were still showing the image of the oil painting. My initial use of this was as a way to experiment with a four seasons series of this scene, before attempting it in oils. Now, I'm starting to like the look of the digital painting. Tomorrow I'll go into how it's done in more detail.