L is for Lovely Luminous Light

This image began as a photograph of winter dry bushes reflected in a puddle.

I loved the hot color of the bushes and the bright cool  blue patches created by the sun shining on the water.


It was strong in its original form but  I wanted to see what I could do with it in Photoshop.

With just two tweaks, the image was transformed from photo to painting and I am thrilled with the  light, airy and luminous feel of this piece.

For me, image editing is a wonderful way to be creative and calm at the same time.

Art Every Day: L is for Light

Day 12
Its dark outside. This is true for most of the time in this season. How lucky I am to be able to generate light with my color pencils.

Simply looking at this sunflower warmed me up. Painting the glowing yellows and hot reads against the dark background was not only a chance to explore the structure of the flower, but it was a lesson in painting light.

To do this one, I set it out as an exercise in seeing and drawing only the shapes of the colors I saw. In the process, I blended layer upon layer of colors to build to the combination of light against dark. Its almost bright enough to let me ignore this dreary day.