This week I wanted to share three art prints I created from the same drawing. They are art prints I created using digital drawing. I drew curves at random and kept drawing more so that the various shapes intersected. As I couldn’t decide what color hue I wanted for this drawing, I created three of them in different hues. I finished by drawing a slightly larger outline of the shapes in black.
For the first one, I used Purple and Blue for the colors.
As a follow up to last weeks post on the Oceanside Pier, I have 4 additional shots I wanted to share this week. These are not of the pier itself and are in color which works better with this subject matter. As one would expect around an ocean pier there are many seagulls flying around at all times. I was so focused on the pier itself until the end of the shoot. At that point, I was out at the end of the pier and getting ready to call it a day and head back in when a seagull caught my eye flying not too far from where I was standing. Sometimes I’m a little slow on moving my camera attention (especially when I was so focused on the pier) to a different subject matter. This was one of those times as the seagull flew around my head and then landed on a portion of the rail right in front of me as if to say….”no worries, I’ll pose for you”. I started taking pictures and started moving around to get different angles, lighting and background. From all of those captures, I decided to post the last four I took as they best demonstrate the “models” attitude about the photoshoot.
The first one depicts the seagull cooperating and allowing me to shoot a number of captures as I moved around getting different perspectives.
Seagull 1
The seagull was so good to allow me subtle differences as I snapped away.
Seagull 2
I then backed up and circled around as he moved ever so slightly to get some sun and a lighting change as I captured an angle that included the shoreline.
Seagull 3
I was surprised by the cooperation and patience with all of my movements, but it was at this point I think the seagull thought enough is enough. Right after the above shot……
Seagull 4
he turned his head to tune me out and held it perfectly still for quite some time to ignore me. Then without a look back or anything took off and flew very far away from the pier as if to say…enough already!! Chill dude….enough is enough!!
Today I’m featuring a photo shoot I did a couple of weeks ago. The subject matter is the Oceanside Pier in Southern California. I had not been to the pier for a few years, but remembered it well. It is the longest pier along the western US coastline at 1954 feet (596m). The current pier was built in 1987 replacing a number of prior piers lost to stormy weather. For more information: Wikipedia. The town of Oceanside is located in northern San Diego County just south of Camp Pendleton (which lies along the coast between San Diego County and Orange County to the north).
I had a couple of hours of free time (I was a car pool buddy for my wife coming and going from Northern Los Angeles to a bridal shower for my niece at my sisters home in San Diego) during the afternoon and had decided to do this photo shoot. The pier is very impressive and I had just viewed another photographers photoshoot of a pier and was reminded how impressive the architectural structure of these larger piers were. I also chose to do the shoot in black and white as I like the architectural detail that is highlighted in a monochromatic shoot such as this. For some reason I have always been drawn to shots under the structure of piers, thus the number of those on this shoot. At the end of the pier was a restaurant (prior to Covid), which we had frequented. I’m assuming a new tenant will be found as it is a great location.
I open the shoot with a shot I took walking from my parking spot to the beach area underneath the pier for the next few shots.
Coming out from underneath on the other side of the pier which gives you another appreciation of how far out it goes with the restaurant building on the end.
Pier 6
I was walking out to the end and stepped off on one of the “pop outs” you see in this photo.
Pier 7
Passing the tower structures on each side as in seen above, I took this shot approaching the restaurant structure on the end.
Pier 8
And on the other side of the pier with all of the people fishing.
The last capture is from the end of the pier next to the former restaurant looking back towards the coastline. You can see just how far out the pier goes from this perspective as well as from the shore looking out to this point.
Pier 10
In case you were wondering why three of these shots have names under them, those are the ones I added to my galleries. It always amazes me how many shots I take and how I whittle them down to just a few favorites. If any of those I hadn’t named strike you as “gallery worthy” let me know!! Thanks!!
This week I am sharing a series of new prints I created of butterflies. The process for these prints started a couple of weeks ago when out of the blue I remembered a couple of photos I took of butterflies over a year ago. Not sure where that came from, but I dug out the photos. They really weren’t much to work with as I only took them to remind me to pursue butterflies as a possible subject. It only took that long for that particular process to work for me…duh!! Anyway, I took the subject matter and started drawing butterflies. Still not sure what I was going to do, I kept after the drawings and finally was able to complete a look I liked. To pop the color, I used a photoshop technique to make the butterflies colors take on a texture. After trying to recreate more butterflies, I simply copied the one drawing I liked the best…resized it as needed and pivoted them in different directions. I then started playing with colors as I wasn’t sure what the final color was going to be. This led to more experimentation and various colors. To finish the look I was after, I chose a soft background in similar shades to the butterflies. In Photoshop one of the brushes paints in leaf shapes, so I used that in the various colors and sizes. I then lowered the opacity to soften it as a back drop. The final result was five different colored butterflies on five different prints and then one print combining all five.
Using an abstract watercolor I created of a saguaro cactus in the Arizona Desert as a background, I felt like this motivational thought was the perfect fit. I believe He has chosen a path for each of us to walk. Often times in life, we find ourselves off that path and somewhat lost in where to go or what direction to take. Our guide is always there just waiting for us to take His hand and He will guide us not only back to the path, but keep us on the path.
I usually think of a forest path to best typify this thought process, but living a few years in the desert and being a fan of hiking….just as true there as anywhere else…it’s important to stay on the path….snakes, scorpions, etc.
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