Pablo Had A Hand In This!

Pablo's Surprise really was unexpected: I was playing with the stylus again, and started with a really bad photo in which Cassie's marks were out of focus against a crepe myrtle in the yard. The leaf pattern was much too busy, so the intent was to draw over the marks, invert the image, and then erase what was left of the background. I intended to then fill the blank space with color. What I didn't realize was that my "eraser color" wasn't pure white, so when a gradient was applied, my eraser marks showed as random scribbles. It looked very "Picasso" to me; reminds me of the "Bullfighter" that appears in our "Daily Picasso" at the bottom of this column.


Be sure to check that feature today: my physical therapist would have her work cut out with the poor guy! Makes me hurt to look at him. Maybe that was the intention?

Storm Door April, #2

I liked #1 so much that I decided to play with it some more. This is the first alteration - a different gradient was applied, which totally changed the feel of the work. The printed version really glows!

Summer has replaced spring here with a vengeance. It's probably 90 out there at the moment; when it's that hot, Miss Cassie prefers snoozing in the AC to doing anything outdoors. Until evening, that is. I can't believe we have a yard full of toads already (minus 2 last night!). Since the dog is now 10, I seriously doubt she'll ever learn to leave 'em alone. It's going to be a looong season.

Fired Up!

Wow - have I ever had a productive spurt here! After I cleaned the windows and door last week, Cassie was taking her time getting back to business, but once the deer made a reappearance, there was art on the glass again! For this one (Storm Door April, #1), I decided to angle the shot so her marks would be visible against the porch support for contrast. Since the mark was "ghostly" again, the stylus was used first to capture the strokes, and then I posterized it and applied my favorite custom gradient. I love the colors, especially that yellow! Cassie gives it her seal of approval (give her enough Goldfish and she'll approve anything!). Got at least three more to post, so stay tuned!

Now for a warning for all you dog people out there: do NOT visit a site called "Laurel Canyon Animal Company." Supposedly they make CDs of music for animals and people, and had a video on YouTube of a dog named Eliza Dolittle tearing up plastic bags, which were photographed and processed in a similar manner as "PiCassieO" art (not nearly as good!). BUT- their email is bogus, and the links section is full of attack sites. My firewall got me out of there, thank goodness. Just passing the word along - I hate to see the bad guys get their kicks at the expense of others.

All Stirred Up!

Yeah, I know this looks a little different, with the signature and all, but "All Stirred Up" is one of those really versatile works that can be stretched and cut and otherwise altered to fit some fun stuff like mugs and dog bowls at our Cafe Press store (that's http://www.CafePress.com/airedale_art), so we really hope you like it!

The resolution is high, so you need to click on it to get the sharper image. Sorry about that. By the way, check out our "Picasso of the Day" at the bottom. And some folks think he couldn't draw...

Far Out!

Here we go again: sometimes I just keep going in for a closer and closer look, and then BOOM! - a surprise pops up! This little jewel is from one I posted two weeks ago. It has the appearance of "something" (a horned creature, maybe?), but is really a celebration of color and interesting shapes. I used it as a sketch for a square canvas that had been gathering dust in the corner, so we'll see what happens now.

Cassie has now reached the venerable age of 10, as of April 12th. She got a pink bunny (needs surgery already) and a green teddy (lost an eye yesterday), and the usual love and adoration. Who could resist a face like that?

(Photo courtesy of Lukas Johnson, www.zoto.com/site/#USR.photopoetry )

Going Green!

I am having 'way too much fun with my new toy! Green Strokes could also be Porch Spirits, since Cassie drew them on the storm door at the front. That porch is keeping the sun off the door and I'm so far unable to photograph her latest efforts - would hate to lose all that work, so I need to figure out a way to capture them.


As I worked on this one, I had to zoom in to see what was happening with the stylus, and discovered some really interesting abstracts hiding there. Figured this would happen at some point, that my dormant passion for using real, messy, wet paint would surface again, so I'm off to get physical with it.


Hey - don't forget our daily Picasso (down below)!