Untitled Portrait

Took a little more serious turn with the iPad play. This is really basic, super simple photo manipulation, but it is fun to play with. I am thinking about painting this..

Another Warhol-ish Portrait

Baby Sunshine – digital

I may play with this one a little more – I like it but it could use a little toning down I think. The yellow is blinding me.

And what do you think it should be - Warhol-ish or Warhol-ian silliness?

Warhol-ish Silliness

 Evaluate - digital 

Still playing with apps on my iPad - still having fun. This is really addicting!

Have you visited me here? N S Davis Art Website Nathalie Davis web site

IPad SIlly Fun Continues

Hat Lady – digital

Thought about naming this “Church Lady”  - and I still might change it to that. LOL
I love this one. Such silliness!

As I mentioned previously - I have been "working on lightening up"  a bit in my life (that phrase alone makes me snicker), and playing more. So for fun I enrolled in an online class developed by Jessica Wesolek at Cre8it.com

I took an online photography class with her a few years back and thought it was good so I gave this one a shot. NOT diasappointed and it has just started!

I have a bazillion (okay, maybe not a bazillion, but I have quite a few) art and photo apps for my iPad and iPhone already and occasionally mess around with them. Right off the bat Jessica introduces a new and free app that I don't have and hadn't heard of called PhotoPad. It has a lot of capability and is easy to use. (She also introduced us to a nifty $.99 list/to do type app called CLEAR - very, very simple, basic, and brand new.)

By the way - I don't wear hats, the hat was completely drawn and painted in using the PhotoPad app. You can tell if you look -  these were done quickly and playfully - but I am loving the potential of this app.

So these altered photos are really from stuff I am doing/learning in Jessica's class with just one app  - PhotoPad by Zagg. You can find it in the iTunes store - or look for it where ever you get your apps. Zagg makes the best shields for your iPhone and iPad - and you can actually upload your artwork to Zagg and make a skin for your device.

(I took these self portrait photos a long time ago with some other phone app - I don't even remember which one now - but (obviously)it had an option to distort in various ways so these old pics were hanging around - finally found something to do with them!)

They make me giggle a little...

iPad Fun

Skeptical Much?
Digital art done on my iPad. Just fooling around, having fun and getting to know a new app.

Pretty good day

Today I played with the portrait I started yesterday. It went from this:

To this:

And ended like this:

Not sure it is finished, but I kind of like it so far.

The Dog Stealer is Finished!

The Dog Stealer and The Traitor
48" x 60"
oil on canvas

Whew! I am finished, except for varnishing. I am so very grateful for digital cameras. I have such a hard time photographing these larger pieces, I would have spent a fortune in film if it weren't for digital. I carried this thing all over the house and out in the back yard - It is just hard to find a spot big enough with even lighting to get a good photo. This will have to do. Over all I am pretty happy with the painting. Glad it is finished. Now I want to really focus and immerse myself in the Joyful Joyful Project for a while.

Visit me here:
www.NathalieDavis.com
NathalieSDavis.blogspot.com

Working on The Dog Stealer

I am having intermittent internet service issues and our phone is totally dead - so I making things as short and fast as I can before it cuts out again -

YAY! I painted almost all day today - most of the day without even one single headache. I chose to rework the face of the dog stealer and while I still see problems it has reached the "good enough" stage for now. As a sicko perfectionist I have been training myself to stop at "good enough". While it really rubs me the wrong way, I will paint the same thing for ever until I think I have it "perfect enough." So I am happier with it now than I was - the photo isn't great because I have to hold the camera above my head, and try to hold it still to take the picture - but it is good enough to get the idea.

I included the photo that I am working from so you can see the problems too - LOL!


After it is all dry I may glaze the whole middle and right side of the face to darken it - the value contrast just isn't there the way it should be...but I will also need to see it in context with the rest of the finished painting too - maybe I can live with it - we will see...


Visit me here:
www.NathalieDavis.com
NathalieSDavis.blogspot.com

Big Portrait Painting

Dog Stealer - unfinished
48" x 60"
Oil on canvas

I have successfully found a way to keep from working on the Joyful-Joyful project - and that is by working on the Dog Stealer portrait. It is nearing completion - I am pretty happy with the likeness of both my husband and my - excuse me - his - dog. But the background isn't right yet. The fingers are still a little funky too. I thought I wanted an effect like a glare coming from a big window - and I may have achieved that but I am not sure now that that is what I really want, nor do I think it is working effectively in the painting - it just isn't right. I am certainly open for suggestions and critiquing - if any of you have two cents - toss it my way, I could use some help. This portrait has become a bit of a monkey on my back and I will be glad to resolve it 's problems and move on.

I also want to say thank you to everyone who has commented and left me messages lately - I can't begin to tell you how much it means to me. Thanks.

Visit me here:
www.NathalieDavis.com
NathalieSDavis.blogspot.com