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.

Butterflies Go Free

Wow. I don't post anything to my blog for weeks and then BAM! -- Two entries in a row. Mind you, I did threaten yesterday that I'd be posting some butterfly shots. (Big Grin)

So far this year, I visited the Butterflies Go Free exhibit twice; First on the day it opened then a month later. I wouldn't go on the first day again as there were very few butterflies flying about. But that totally changed my second visit. There were butterflies, caterpillars and butterfly eggs everywhere you looked.

One of the first butterflies I captured was this Sulphur (Phoebis sp.). I love the yellow against the purplish background

Sulphur butterfly (Phoebis sp)Also managed to capture a Zebra Longwing, one I've not seen for a few years.
Heliconius charithonia (Zebra helicon or Zebra longwing)
Another I've not seen in awhile is the Great Eggfly Bolina. (Seen here is a female.)

Great Eggfly Bolina (Female) (Hypolimnas bolina)
I managed to grab a couple of 'First Timers' for me -- a Rusty-tipped Page (Siproeta epaphus) and a Gulf Fritillary (Agraulis vanillae)

Rusty-tipped Page (Siproeta epaphus)
Gulf Fritillary or Passion Butterfly (Agraulis vanillae)

I'm hoping to get back to visit the buttereflies again in the near future. So you can expect more photos to come.

Hope you enjoyed these images.

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 butterfly images taken during my visits to the Botanical Gardens this year can be seen in either my 17 February visit or my 17 March visit galleries. 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.