Digital Collage Portraits

My art group - the Etobicoke Art Group - has been meeting weekly on Zoom. It's mostly to chat and talk about art-related stuff but we've also been given 'homework'. We took photos or screenshots of all the participants and everyone did portrait pieces in a variety of mediums. I went with Photoshop - using layers of multiple photos and filters. It didn't hurt that the photos I took of my Zoom screen had me and the room behind me reflected - made for some interesting imagery which also fit nicely conceptually.

Infinitely Loopy

This is one of a series of 'Loopy' Drawings I've been messing about with. 

It's Coloured Pencil Crayon on Oguni Washi dyed with persimmon (which gives it the rusty colour). This is on display at the Japanese Paper Place until the end of April, along with several other Artists' work on Oguni Washi.

Variations on a Theme

This began as a series of photos of a lamp post with spray painting on the base. It was a great abstract on its own but I worked with the shapes and various angles, creating several layers that intertwined. Of course, throwing some filters on it is the easy part - still finding my way through Photoshop. Depending on what the filters glom on to - different areas were highlighted or knocked back to create interesting effects and imagery. I've been revisiting the 'weaving' effect occasionally over the years - Celtic knots are at the heart of it - and everything they stand for. The lost and found shapes and edges intrigue me and they often find their way into my work.

Making People with SketchesPro

Fun with SketchesPro

I have been enjoying playing around with SketchesPro on my iPad. I've been using it for figure drawing and just making stuff up. I particularly like the shapes feature. It's lovely and versatile and allows a lovely build up of values and shapes, depending on your settings. The third drawing up here turned out to be a portrait of my son. 

Darning Clementine

Foggy Morning Walk, Rust Stains and Filters

Water

Photos of the water while we were on holiday this summer, turned into tone poems of abstracted reflections and shapes. 

Black-Eyed Susans

The garden is always such an inspiration and I'm having fun with my phone camera. I love how close I can get for those great macro shots. And then it's fun with filters. The flowers become 'other'. This photo emphasizes the negative shapes and the architectural elements of the petals.