Chasing

July 27. In a few days, I'm going to level up and celebrate another trip around the sun. If I ever wondered, in my younger years, what my life and the world would be like today... I could never have imagined it. When I was battling cancer, I didn't think I would live this long. And I certainly never expected this country to fall so far.  I am ashamed of america. (and no, it doesn't deserve a capital A)

Back to the morning of getting nothing worthwhile accomplished. I wanted to print out a couple of photos on my Instax printer. The paper/film is similar to a polaroid. While looking for the charging cable (because I use it so seldom that it always needs to be charged), I came across a memory card (4GB!) from my Nikon D700. Plugged it in to see if there were any photos still there. There were a few from June 2022.

This is one that I hadn't processed .

After charging, the app couldn't find a printer.

 

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The moon phase widget on the right-hand side of this page stopped working so I removed it. Technology bit me yesterday as well. Long story short, a printer firmware update caused the printer to no longer recognize third-party ink cartridges. Genuine epson ink is nearly 3 times the cost of third-party. Thanks, Epson.  

The Lion, the Witch, and the Watercolor

First, I apologize for the Comments hiccup.  Thank you, Monte and Jeri for your kind words.

I had decided to paint a lion. I sketched and I sketched and I sketched. It still didn't look great but I began painting anyway. I started with a mop brush because I wanted it to be loose. I had a great time. I brushed, I splattered and eventually, I added pastels. I stood back. He looked like the grandfather clock from Captain Kangaroo.

Still convinced that I could save it, I found a tutorial online for drawing a lion's face. Using pastels (because the opportunity for paint had long since passed), I made the shape of his face more angular. Now, he looks more like a shaggy dog. And I just noticed that his left ear got lost in the hullabaloo. Maybe it was shot off. lol

Lion #2

Try, try again. Sketched another lion. Painted him with more care and intention this time. But his face was too long and narrow. He looks like he hasn't killed a gazelle in a very long time.

Lion #3

This will be the final attempt. Maybe. I hate to give up. (A personality trait that has caused a lot of trouble in my lifetime)

Update: Success! Now I can move on to other subjects.  

Paintbrush Box

These words are on the inside of a box that contained a watercolor brush. The box is kinda cool and for some reason, I haven't thrown it away. But today's the day. I had forgotten the words printed inside the top cover. Photo taken, box tossed.  

Art therapy

A Crepe Myrtle tree/bush and a pastel hummingbird 

July Fifteenth

Mid-July

It seems impossible that we're already into the second half of the year. It's been a horrific year to-date and I don't see any improvement on the horizon. 

Horizon: the limit or range of a person's outlook or experience.

My niece reminded me of something my mother used to say: "this world and the next". Although I am almost positive that my mom was referring to heaven, it could mean other things as well.

"In essence, the phrase "this world and the next" encapsulates a fundamental human curiosity about the nature of existence and the possibility of realms beyond our immediate experience."

Why is is so difficult to take a photo of a painting and get the colors true? I'm very happy with this painting of lemons but getting the color, tone, values, etc correct in a photo was nearly impossible. Until I took a sideways shot of it. 

Lunar

 

Nowhere

More of this and that. No real theme...

From 2006. I have no idea where it was taken but I used my Fuji S3.

 This morning. Do you see a face?

And, intentionally oof

 

This and that

I seem to have a backlog of things I've created but haven't posted. Posting on Instagram is great if the image  is in landscape form. Portrait form gets cropped and I hate that. 

Trash

Sweet

Sunday Sky

Framed

Just another day

No celebration here today; it's just another Friday. Except for the harsh reality of the US ending after 249 years.

Canceled

I haven't flown the American flag since November 2016. And especially not after J6. I now see the flag as a symbol of white supremacists and terrorists. The stars and stripes have been obfuscated by evil. Democracy needs a new symbol.

 

Uncertain

 Remember, in the days of yore, when we would physically flip a calendar page for the new month? I used to print calendars and send them to family and friends as Christmas gifts. The early versions were of my paintings. Later, I switched to my photos. And then there were calendars from your bank, insurance guy, auto mechanic, sports/swimsuit/naked lady issues. 

On this July 1, I'll symbolically turn the calendar page.

BTW, no flags for me this weekend, no stars, no stripes. but that's another post.