Category: art and illustrationPage 1 of 10

San Marco

Ink and watercolor on paper, 11 x 14 in.

Watercolor Swatches and Mixing Charts

Do you need them? Can they help?

San Marco, Palette and Process

Some observations on a recent watercolor.

Watercolor Pigments and Palettes: A Starting Selection

Some thoughts about watercolor paints and processes.

Preparing Photos for Print

Everyone understands that screens are not paper. So when our photo prints come back looking flat and muddy compared the vibrant image on our monitor, we are disappointed but not exactly shocked. Can this be prevented?

Good typography in five minutes

Good advice well presented.

My Micro Four Thirds Photography, 2022

The Micro Four Thirds camera format still offers many attractions. In this post I look at five M43 lenses

On Aspect Ratios

Exploring aspect ratios in photography, fine art, and publishing.

Albrecht Dürer, The Great Piece of Turf

A seemingly ordinary clump of turf is actually a radical step in Western painting — and one of its masterpieces.

Photo to Line Art Technique

How can we convert an image made of pixels into line art?

A Test of Adobe Super Resolution

Adobe has released a feature that expands on the previous “enhance details.” Super Resolution uses artificial intelligence to increase the resolution of camera raw images. How well does it do?

A First Test of Photoshop’s New Sky Replacement Feature

Photoshop 2021 has introduced some AI features that are a mix of exciting and disturbing.

Nine Views of Point Pinole

All taken 14 April 2020 with a Samyang / Rokinon 12mm f2 (wide-angle) lens.

Riso Circles

An exhibit of Riso printing presented at San Francisco State under the auspices of the faculty and students of the Design Gallery class of the department of Visual Communication.

Garamond Premier Pro

Working with Garamond Premier Pro for my book on Persian ceramics, I have been impressed by the range of sizes and weights the typeface includes. There are regular,…

The Blend If function in Photoshop

the Blend If function is one of the most powerful in Photoshop. Watch a video from Phlearn.

The Harrowing of Hell Mosaic, Basilica San Marco, Venice

Dating from 1617-1618, this mosaic on the upper level of the facade of the basilica of San Marco is made up of tesserae—small pieces of colored glass, stone, and enamel set in plaster.

Catchlight

I don’t do much portrait photography. Most of my people shots are casual and unposed. The majority are of family, and it seems we are often wearing sunglasses….

Weathered Walls

Penobscot Stones

“Fritillaria,” 1915, by Charles Rennie Mackintosh

Art is the Flower. Life is the Green Leaf. Let every artist strive to make his flower a beautiful living thing,something that will convince the world that there…

Albrecht Altdorfer, Forest Scene with Saint George Fighting the Dragon, 1510

Albrecht Altdorfer, a contemporary of Copernicus who worked in Regensburg (today a German city of 138,0000 near the Austria and Czechia borders), was a leader of the Danube school of painting….

Fearless against the blowback

Greg Fallis, on the website gregfallis.com, does a service in reminding us of the history of the statues of the Charging Bull and the Fearless Girl. I live on the West…

To The Lighthouse: Nubble Light House, Cape Neddick Light Station, York, Maine (and a few other lighthouses)

Recently I visited Sohier Park in Cape Neddick, York, Maine (near Ogunquit). About 100 yards offshore on a small rocky island perches one of the prettiest lighthouses I have…