In the Backyard

6 x 6 inches (variable) - digital painting - Here is another digital painting using Krita. In this case I used a pastel brush throughout.

Here is a screenshot in case you are interested in what the process looks like.

The top right shows my reference photo that I took while travelling to Michigan. I started with a coloured canvas (dark ultramarine). I then sketched on a separate layer using a redish orange with a basic brush. After that the painting was completed entirely with a pastel brush, varying colour and size (deevad_3xr_mixing-pastel-textured). I tried real pastels a while ago and really enjoyed them but did not enjoy worrying about damaging them in storage or the expense of framing. This way, there is no mess, no expense and no fuss. It feels different but has a similar feel to the real thing.

Vase Pitcher and Cup

6 x 6 inches - digital painting. This is something different for me. I have been experimenting with digital painting for a little while.  I don't know whether this media is accepted by everyone but I am too old to care.  It feels as much like art, as painting in oils or watercolour. It has different characteristics and challenges but I think it has the potential for me to produce paintings that I can be proud of. Just like any other media, it takes practice.  Here is how I did this one.  Using a still life set-up in my studio and a photo I took of it, I sketched and painted using a program called Krita using a Wacom tablet and a basic computer. Even with the little I know of the program already, it is very sophisticated with capabilities rivalling Photoshop.  In many ways, it is better than Photoshop and it is free (open source) running on Linux, Apple and PC. I have improved my computer situation a great deal by dropping both Apple and the PC in favour of Linux Mint. It is very difficult to run Photoshop on Linux so Krita was an amazing discovery for me. My efforts are still primitive, but encouraging enough to continue.  The 6 x 6 size is arbitrary because the painting has no physical existence.  Most of the digital work, I see is either fantasy art or cartoons, but I hope you can see from this attempt that it is also capable of paintings like the ones I do in oils. I use mostly brushes that simulate those that I use with actual paint.