Snakeskin Hat

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Snakeskin Hat,
Mary Srebbins Taitt

Snakeskin Hat, by Mary Stebbins Taitt, Sakura Micron 05 and Sakura Brush.

At the Coney Monday, January 2012

At The Coney on Monday, January, 2012
by Mary Stebbins Taitt

Portrait of Graham and Kristina at the Coney Island, Mack and Moross, by Mary Stebbins Taitt, artrage digital painting from SCRATCH (no photos were damaged or abused [or even used] in the making of this art piece.)   The likenesses are BAD, because I'm not that good with likenesses anyway and they got up and left before I finished (drawn from life).

Icky Fingers (half a drawing)

This is my last piece in Stephanie's Moleskine for the Exchange group, so I will be sending it to Ammon as soon as I can get it together, hopefully tomorrow or Monday,  It is done in 005 Micron pen black.  Also a little splash of black gouache.  The green bit on the mouth is from a dirty scanner, sorry.

Icky Fingers
Micron Pen
1st half of a collaboration with Ammon

It's my husband, Biker Buddy (Keith), in case you don't recognize him, working on my son Graham's car.  However, Ammon could make it into something else and that would be OK.  I'll be interested to see what he does with it.

Here's what Ammon Perry did with this piece.

Hellebore, digitally altered photograph

Around here, Hellebore or Christmas Rose (not a rose!) is one of the earliest spring flowers.   e had a kind of Spring-like day today.

This is from another year, the flower that is.  I just made the painting on artrage--it is a digitally altered photograph--I took the photograph and altered it on artrage.

Hellebore, by Mary Stebbins Taitt
digitally altered photograph
altered in Artrage

This was an experiment and is NOT the way I normally work.  However, I consider this an "art" piece for the following reasons:

• I took the photo, an artistic composition decision
• I altered the photo with additional choices about lighting and so on in Photoshop raw
• I "painted" the photo in artrage
• I further manipulated it in Photoshops again after the fact.

Photography purists don't like manipulated photos and art purists don't like manipulated photos.  Perhaps there should be a category for them, because I think this is a piece of art.

Here is the original unmanipulated raw photograph.  I have friends who always like the original photos better than any "art" I make from them and that is their prerogative.  Yes, I recentered the art piece.  If You click on either of them, you can view them side by side.  I don't normally do this remember--it was an experiment, one of a number of such, for fun.  I feel as if I am sounding defensive, and I am feeling that way because so many people attack this kind of work.  In my opinion, they do not appreciate the kinds of artistic decisions that go into it.  You can choose to like or dislike it--what matters most to me is that I LIKE IT and I enjoyed doing it.

I am also not sure this is done.  It needs more work. Whether or not I will choose to do that remains to be seen.

Turning the Eggs, Collaboration with Gretchen Owen

Turning the Eggs
Collaborations with Gretchen

Turning the Eggs, Collaboration by Gretchen Owen and Mary Stebbins Taitt
markers and pens.  Dedicated to Hennie Mavis.  Gretchen did the eggs and I did the chicken and background.

Under the rte 70 Bridge, Silverthorne, Colorado

Under the rte 70 Bridge, Silverthorne, Colorado
gouache

This is another virtual paintout picture from Silverthorne, Colorado.  Gouache on AG Plainbook.

Virtual Paintout, Aspen Colorado

Aspen, Colorado
the walking trail
gouache

Two more pages completed in a two-page spread.    This is another for the Virtual Paintout.  Aspen, Colorado.  I scanned the pages separately and didn't get the register quite right in the image.  Sorry.  It doesn't look like that in the book (in the center.)

Here is the google maps street view image I used to paint this from (for the Virtual Paintout).

Screen capture of street view used for painting above

Problem is, I MISSED--Aspen is in Pitkin County, not Summit County.  :-(  I MESSED UP YET AGAIN.

My Virtual Paintout in Eureka, California

My friend Gail Slaughter who lives near Eureka California sent me a newspaper clipping about the Virtual Paintout.  I decided to try submitting, and this is the first painting I did:

Sequoia Park Zoo, Eureka California
small watercolor on Canson Paper
by me, Mary Stebbins Taitt

The instructions said to go to google maps and using the streetview, choose a view.  I had never done that before, and I thought I'd done it but it turned out to be a photo--I didn't realize it, being unfamiliar with the google maps and streetviews, until it was too late.  So I can't submit it.

So I did another one:

Redwood Highway (101), Eureka, California
by Mary Stebbins Taitt

Unfortunately, being the end of the year and the end of the month, both of these were done more hastily than I would prefer to do them.  But we are out of town visiting and I have limited art supplies and limited time.

(NOTE: we are 400 miles from home and may not be able to get on the internet!)

Autumn Lane

"Autumn Lane 3-111207"
by Mary Stebbins Taitt
Can't leave it alone, got out the old palette knife

This image started out as a pointillistic piece in Tami's moleskine sketchbook (real ink on real paper).  Every time I play with it, I change it.  It is still supposed to be an example of saturation of color, and how desaturation makes things appear to retreat into the background.  However, this copy fails to reproduce the colors accurately.  And I can't fiddle with with it endlessly to get it perfect right now.

This is a digital version done on Artrage.  (The original, also by me, was pen and ink).

Illustration Friday: Silence

I just did a super quick sketch on artrage, new this morning. I think our country may be headed for trouble, run by big business and the war machine.

Click image to view larger.

For today's Illustration Friday's topic, "Silence!"