Photo Art Update

According to that Label thingie on the right, this will my twelfth blog post where I mention Photo Art. Something I've not written about since May of this year. Admittedly, I do tend to get a bit lax (cough) in posting to this blog. It appears that I've been just as lax in updating the Photo Art gallery on my Smugmug site.


But I am doing my part to correct that by writing this post as well as just having updated the Photo Art gallery with about 40 new digital paintings and watercolours. To entice you to pay the gallery a visit, I'm posting a small sample of the digital art images that were uploaded.


Peace Garden

Portland Head Light

The Crypt

The Lake

Saint Enfant Jesus

Moored





Clicking on any of the above images will bring you to their RedBubble page where they are available for purchase as Greeting Cards, Matted Prints, Laminated Prints, Mounted Prints, Canvas Prints, Framed Prints and Posters. These and other digital paintings can be seen in my Smugmug Photo Art gallery where you will find a link to my RedBubble site where they may also be purchased in various formats.

Please feel free to leave comments here on the blog, in my Guestbook or in the photo gallery.

Thanks for looking. And please stop by again.

Montreal's Exterior staircases

Laurier avenue East, Montreal

One of the unique features of Montreal architecture and often commented on by visitors to the city is the abundance of exterior staircases.

Rue Henri-Julien, Montreal

It is difficult to find the exact reasons why this architectural feature is so prevalent, but two reasons do get mentioned most often.

Rue Henri-Julien, Montreal

One reason often cited is cost savings. You don't heat exterior stair cases thus save money.

232 Laurier East, Montreal

But the reason most often cited and actually given by the City of Montreal on one of their websites is that this all started because of a by-law trying to improve the city's green space.

Back in the 19th century (Think I read somewhere it was 1840) Montreal passed a by-law requiring all new buildings to be so many feet back from the sidewalk. This meant smaller buildings on the lot, so to compensate and maximize the living space in the building, staircases were placed outside over the required green space.

Rue Drolet, Montreal

Another oft asked question is why are the staircases open? Obviously only asked by people who have never spent a winter in Montreal. With an average annual snowfall of 210 cm (86 inches) the open thread makes snow removal a bit easier.


Back stairs - rue Le Jeune, Montreal


Thanks for stopping by. If you are interested you can see other photos taken on my walkabout the Plateau area of Montreal in my Walkabout the Plateau - 30 August 2011 gallery.

Remember that clicking on any image on this page will open the image in my Smugmug site where you can view a larger version.

These and other images may be purchased in various formats on my RedBubble site.

Please feel free to leave comments here on the blog, in my Guestbook or in the photo gallery.

Thanks for looking. And please stop by again.

New Product at RedBubble

Last week RedBubble announced a new product -- iPhone 4 cases

Within the first 24 hours, 2400 plus case designs were uploaded by RedBubble members. As of today, some 4 days later, there are almost 10,000 designs offered for sale on the site. Not sure if there's yet to be a single sale, but the membership is certainly prepared should there be a rush on iPhone 4 cases .

And in case there is, I uploaded a few designs of my own. Below are nine (9) designs for your viewing pleasure.


Clicking on any of the above designs will open their RedBubble page. If you would like to see all my iPhone 4 case designs, you can see them here.

Thanks for stopping by. Please feel free to leave a comment. I'd be happy to hear from you.

Lilium and other lilies

According to Wikipedia, Lilium, a true lily, comprise a genus of about 110 species in the lily family (Liliaceae). Many other plants exist with "lily" in the common English name, some of which are quite unrelated to the true lilies. For instance, the Daylily (Hemerocallis) is not considered a 'true' lily. Nor are Peruvian Lilies (Alstroemeria) true lilies.

But for today, I consider all these to be lilies -- beautiful, colourful lilies. Hope you find them pleasing.

Orange Daylilies

Orange lilies (Lilium maculatum)

Yellow Daylilies

Burgundy Daylily and friend

Red Daylily

Orange Daylily

Salmon coloured Lilies

Red Daylilies


I hope you enjoyed the various Lily images.

Please remember that clicking on any image on this page will open the image in my Smugmug site where you can view a larger version. Please use your browser's "Back" button to return to the Blog.

Other digital paintings can be seen in my Flowers - 2011 gallery and may be purchased in various formats on my RedBubble site.

Please feel free to leave comments here on the blog, in my Guestbook or in the photo gallery.

Thanks for looking. And please stop by again.

Classic Cars

I love old cars. Especially those from before WWII. My next favourite group are those manufactured in the late 40s & 50s.

Last year (2010), Saint Lambert (Quebec, Canada) held a Classic Car exhibit and I was lucky to go. I had a blast photographing all the old classics on display.

So when I saw they were having it again this year, I was eager to attend. What follows here are a few of the many beautiful cars on display.

1947 Ford Mercury
One thing I discovered last year was that these events are usually packed with people and the cars are pretty close together. So you end up with very cluttered surroundings. To compensate for the clutter, I've developed a processing method that is meant to reduce the impact of the surrounding while enhancing the focus on the vehicle. Basically I duplicate the image, convert the duplicate layer to B&W. I then apply a mask that allows the coloured vehicle to show through. A bit of darkening and blurring on the B&W layer and there you have it.

1926 Cadillac Custom
1930 Ford Model A
1939 Dodge D11 Luxury Liner 4 door sedan
1941 Chrysler New Yorker

As I write this, I am still processing the photos from this event. So I expect I'll post another Blog entry with a few more images once I'm done. I hope my humble attempts at processing these images properly display the true beauty of these Classics.

Remember that clicking on any image on this page will open the image in my Smugmug site where you can view a larger version. Please use your browser's "Back" button to return to the Blog.

Other photos taken that day can be seen in my Saint Lambert Classic Car show - May 2011 gallery on Smugmug and may be purchased in various formats on my Classic Cars & Trucks Collection on RedBubble.

Please feel free to leave comments here on the blog, in my Guestbook or in the photo gallery.

Thanks for looking. And please stop by again.

Painting Spring

One of my joys in life is to watch as Mother Nature gets out her paints each Spring and transforms a dull gray and dirty world into a rainbow of glorious vibrant colours.

Another of my joys is photographing such beauty. And then attempting to convert those photos into digital paintings. Here are a few of my humble attempts from this year's crop

Some can be found in neighbours' gardens.

Tulips and daffofils

Golden Petals

Purple Cress (Aubrieta deltoidea)

And some are found at the flower stalls at a Farmers' Market.

Flower Burst

Osteospermum

Collerette Dahlias


I hope I have with my humble attempts conveyed what I see when I look at Mother Nature's beautiful paintings.

Remember that clicking on any image on this page will open the image in my Smugmug site where you can view a larger version. Please use your browser's "Back" button to return to the Blog.

These and other digital paintings can be seen in my Smugmug Photo Art gallery and may be purchased in various formats from my RedBubble Digital Paintings & Watercolour Collections.

Please feel free to leave comments here on the blog, in my Guestbook or in the photo gallery.

Thanks for looking. And please stop by again.

Spring Flowers

Each year, as Winter reluctantly leaves and Spring eases gently into season, the flowers return.

One of the first to appear in my neighbourhood is Glory-of the snow. Its full common name is Lucile's Glory-of-the-snow; Lucile being the wife of the Swiss botanist Pierre Edmond Boissier according to Wikipedia

Lucile's Glory-of-the-snow (Chionodoxa luciliae)

Next, typically are the crocuses.
Crocus

Then Daffodils appear. First in Malls being sold to support charities, but then in local gardens.
Daffodils

One of the most interesting (to me) flowers appears about the same time as the Daffodils. Those are the Grape Hyacinths. Tiny little blue/purple flowers, they are best appreciated when viewed up close.
Grape Hyacinth (Muscari)

You know Spring has hit its full stride once the tulips bloom.






I hope you found at least one image to your liking.

Remember that clicking on any image on this page will open the image in my Smugmug site, where you can view a larger version. Please use your browser's "Back" button to return to the Blog.

Other floral images can be seen in my Flowers - 2011 gallery. Please feel free to leave comments here on the blog, in my Guestbook or in the photo gallery.

Thanks for looking. And please stop by again.

Line Art

Wikipedia defines line art as "any image that consists of distinct straight and curved lines placed against a (usually plain) background, without gradations in shade (darkness) or hue (color) to represent two-dimensional or three-dimensional objects. Line art can use lines of different colors, although line art is usually monochromatic."

It goes on to say, "Line art emphasizes form and outline, over color, shading, and texture. However, areas of solid pigment and dots can also be used in addition to lines. The lines in a piece of line art may be all of a constant width (as in some pencil drawings), of several (few) constant widths (as in technical illustrations), or of freely varying widths (as in brush work or engraving).

"Before the development of photography and of halftones, line art was the standard format for illustrations to be used in print publications, using black ink on white paper. Using either stippling or hatching, shades of gray could also be simulated."

I love the simplicity that line art shows. I learned a while back to create digital line art images based on original photos using PaintShop Pro. Here are a few I've created over the past several years.

First, some B&W versions . . .

Blomidon Inn - Wolfville, Nova Scotia

St Benoit du Lac Abbey, Austin, Quebec

Sometimes adding a single colour adds interest . . .

Yellow tulips II
Dianthus
Then there's Sepia toning . . .

Indian Harbour, Nova Scotia
Hotel Nelson, Place Jacques Cartier, Old Montreal
Or you can go full bore with a multi-coloured version. . .

St. Paul's Anglican Church, Trinity, Trinity Bay, Newfoundland
Grand Hotel - Malahide, Co. Dublin, Ireland

Whatever your preference, I hope you found at least one image to your liking.

Remember that clicking on any image on this page will open the image in my Smugmug site, where you can view a larger version. Please use your browser's "Back" button to return to the Blog.

Other Line Art images can be seen in my Line Art images gallery. Please feel free to leave comments here on the blog, in my Guestbook or in the photo gallery.

Thanks for looking. And please stop by again.