Red Umbrella, 32

day 5: a day (or more) of rest

“I am just a tiny person in Africa, but there is a place for me, and for everybody, to sit down on this earth and touch it and call it their own.” ~Alexander McCall Smith, The No. 1 Ladies' Dectective Agency

day 4: the finished painting

So many color value choices. I could've turned up the warm color tones a notch to give the painting more heat; but this is good too. The strong & long shadows suggest very late afternoon. I think the addition of the patch of grass/bottom left helps to direct the viewer's eye from place-to-place.

This painting is for sale in my online store (with more photos too): https://www.etsy.com/listing/181619617

RED UMBRELLA, 8x10" original oil painting by puci

day 3: creating the pre-painting composition (using Adobe Photoshop)

After cropping the image, I kept tweaking it to bring out the vibrancy of colors.

day 2: capturing the selected image

This is such a lovely & timeless scene, and one I almost missed because I was moving along the road so quickly. I think it was the bright red umbrella that caught my eye and prompted me to double-back and around again. Funny how our special places call to us...

day 1: planning the destination

We are going back to Southern Africa to check out the lovely & lively town of Gabarone made so wonderfully vivid in the novels by Alexander McCall Smith: http://www.alexandermccallsmithbooks.co.uk/no1/

Angeles, 31

day 5: a day (or more) of rest

Angel Clouds, a poem by Diane M. Merlau

I was gazing up into the sky

When something caught my eye

A cloud that hovered up so high

Casting a beauty I couldn't deny

There was a name attached to it

One that made me smile a bit

"For Your Escape", it did elicit

Even if for just one minute

So when you start to feel the stress

That keeps you from a happiness

Remember the cloud that does profess

That your needs are its only purpose.

day 4: the finished painting

You'd think that clouds would be easy to paint, but they're not. They aren't really white either, but rather a subtle array of various hues. (Btw, you can see that the barbed wired idea didn't work; nor did the fence.)

This painting will soon be for sale in my online store (with more photos too): http://www.etsy.com/shop/puciart

ANGELES, 8x10" original oil painting by puci

day 3: creating the pre-painting composition (using Adobe Photoshop)

My idea is to juxapose the angelic free-floating clouds with the barbed-wire fence. We'll see how that goes. Might not work...

day 2: capturing the selected image

I took a detour when traveling the superhighway via Google Street Views... and went the way of a few live web cams. Somehow I happened upon this moment in time in Los Angeles CA, USA. You gotta agree, these clouds are amazing! After some investigating, I discovered that these are Altocumulus Castelanus clouds, or nicknamed "jellyfish clouds". Well, I think they are like angel clouds, and finding them hovering over "The City of Angels" was, in my humble opinion, quite a find.

I also found a pretty good Google Street View in LA to use as the land area below the Angel Clouds.

day 1: planning the destination

The destination is Los Angeles, California, USA.

Ghost Boot, 30

day 5: a day (or more) of rest

"Those who do not want to imitate anything, produce nothing." ~Salvador Dali

day 4: the finished painting

The title for this painting won out over some other ideas, one of which was the same as a painting by Salvador Dali called "The Persistence of Memory".

This painting has been sold

GHOST BOOT, 8x10" original oil painting by puci

day 3: creating the pre-painting composition (using Adobe Photoshop)

Once again, I strayed mightily from the Google image I initially selected for this painting. My new intention is still of a similar theme (loss & survival), but will be portrayed differently. The reference photos of the old, muddy boot as well as for the colorful Kingfisher were found online.

day 2: capturing the selected image

The huge December 2004 megathrust earthquake off the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia (Indian Ocean) and the subsequent tsunami resulted in the deaths of over 230,000 people in 14 countries (not to mention animals & all other life forms). The popular resort town of Phuket was badly hit. Although extensive rebuilding has occurred in Phuket since this disaster, the terrible toll still lingers in the minds of many.

This image of shoes drying on a fence captured my imagination most of all.

day 1: planning the destination

We are in Thailand, specifically in Phuket.

Silent Longings, 29

day 5: a day (or more) of rest

"Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate." ~Carl Jung

day 4: the finished painting

The lanterns as well as the way the woman's feet sort of "melt" into the reflective ground surface are meant to illude to the subconscious. I like the number 3, thus 3 lanterns and 3 streetlights.

I'm still not sure if the 3 lanterns are too overwhelming. Or, maybe the reflections need to be refined a bit more. Still-and-all, this painting is finished.

This painting is for (with lots more photos too): https://www.etsy.com/listing/178824021

SILENT LONGINGS, 8x10" original oil painting by puci

day 3: creating the pre-painting composition (using Adobe Photoshop)
I tried experimenting with the Google Street View scene, but this painting seems to want to be something else almost entirely. I decided to keep the female figure only, placing a more defined face on her.  The surrounding area is a pic from personal files.

day 2: capturing the selected image

OK, when you happen upon a  highly-charged moment-in-time such as this, what do you say to yourself. Me? I say, "paint it". Here's a link to the exact spot as I found it this day: http://goo.gl/maps/kLpu9

day 1: planning the destination

We are back in the United States, specifically on 530 West 25th Street in the Chelsea area of New York, New York.