Shadows on a Wekiva Springs Trail

Shadows on a Wekiva Springs Trail
Originally uploaded by bburbank

This was one of the first pictures I took with my new camera when Ben took me to Wekiva Springs for practice. I wanted to try to recreate the shadows that zig-zagged across the white sandy trail. I'd like to try it again someday, even though I'm reasonably satisfied with this experiment. I think I learned some important things from this first effort that I could improve upon in a second try. The foliage, especially, was not what I would have liked and I wish I'd used more of a yellow green than a blue green. The shadows taught me about how much water to use to make the gray light enough but also smooth enough to make the steady line across the sheet of paper.

Angst

I have been keeping myself really busy with projects and fun days out and good times with Jhonen, yet I still feel this anxiety that I'm not making a difference in this world and my days are ticking by to quickly for comfort. Every day I have a bit of a knot in my stomach wondering and worrying about what I can do, what I should do, what I want to do. Indecisiveness, an inability to commit, and astronomical expectations of myself are starting to ensnare me in this anxiety web and I need to free myself one way or another. So that's what I'm working on when I'm not taking tons of photos, submitting some photos to this cool digital photography school website I found that gives weekly assignments, writing my little twitter poems, reading lots of books trying (unsuccessfully) to reach 50 before the end of the year, taking Jhonen out to visit relatives or to the park or to the zoo. Don't get me wrong! I'm having fun! There's just a sort of aching feeling like, if I'm not careful, I'm going to slip into a sort of meaningless existence and one day I'll look back and wish I hadn't given up on myself. There's an intellectual hole that I need to fill as soon as possible.

Painting #6

Painting #6
Originally uploaded by bburbank

Here is another exercise from the Tao book based on the chapter about glazing. THere are some interesting glazing effects happening in this one. I like the vase and the circular form up top, but the background turned out a bit muddier than I would have liked. I think that is because of impatience. I need to let the darn paint dry more thoroughly before I start fiddling with more color and brush movement.

Painting #5

Painting #5
Originally uploaded by bburbank

I haven't written in far too long. It's midnight, so I'm just going to post up these last two watercolor exercises I've done. I don't like this one, but I'll post it anyway. It was an exercise in ruffling which I didn't really get down very well. It's when you paint with water instead of paint. I wasn't very successful here, but it was a start. I like how the inside of the vase looks.

Paintings #3 and #4

Paintings #3 and #4
Originally uploaded by bburbank

I am reading a great book called The Tao of Watercolor and these are two little paintings I did based on two of the exercises in the book. I like them!

Second Painting! Bluberries!

Second Painting! Bluberries!
Originally uploaded by bburbank

Next watercolor is complete. The minute I saw the picture Ben took of blueberries on our trip to Maine, I knew I wanted to try to paint them. This painting felt completely different than the last one. It is on a smaller piece of paper, this time Arches 140 lb., much more detailed close-up rather than a sweeping landscape, and I limited myself to just three tubes of paint - yellow, blue and red - to use to force myself to mix paint and to see if it made for a more unified piece.

I think I like the outcome. I would have drawn the piece out more carefully next time as I don't love the placement of the blueberries. But I worked a lot on using the watercolor paints like watercolors, spattering, sponging, dripping, and swirling. It took me a surprisingly long time to finish and it was hard to know when I was finished. I feel like in some places I may have gone too far and in other places not far enough.

Today I sat down to play with the paint using examples from my Tao of Watercolor book. I'll post the outcomes soon! I also found a digital photography handbook that I'm reading and have a vague idea of how digital cameras work, which is cool! And I bought two cookbooks that should be fun to use. I'll take pictures of the more successful results.

This weekend: keep reading the book The Help and make our house feel like Fall! Halloween costumes, pumpkin candles, jack-o-lantern carving. Fun!

Runner Up

Left Behind
Originally uploaded by bburbank

Best Pictures

Gravity's Shadow
Originally uploaded by bburbank

I spent a couple hours today playing with my camera and discovered a few things about focus and other technical aspects of using my new camera, but I also discovered that taking good pictures is just as much about patience and awareness, a balance between stillness and movement. Wait for meaningful, interesting occurrences with an open mind. Seek out good shots with new perspectives, close, far, up, and down with perseverance. This was my favorite shot of the day and I think it demonstrates all of those lessons. This is an appropriate post because tomorrow is my birthday and my camera was Ben's birthday present to me!