Essentials Cafe

Recently, I went birding at Appleton Farms Grass Rides in Hamilton, MA with some friends on a special tour. It was raining a bit, but we kept birding! I took a photo of some of my friends for a pencil drawing. I stopped the autopaint halfway when i realized that the strokes looked like rain! So I went to the painting side, created a new layer, then went back to photo-paint and added a wash of color from the source, then went back to painting and dropped the layed onto the drawing...voila! "Birding in the Rain"! What do you think?

I love Pyra,  it is really outstanding.

I think you have captured the mood really well pyra. It really does look wet and uncomfortable, what dedication to keep birding under those conditions

thanks for sharing. I just shows a picture does not have to be pretty to be good.

Thanks, Guys! At least the rain stopped about an hour later! I also got a really great photo of a "tree spirit" while I was there; I'll upload it tomorrow!

Here it is! I call it "Wakka Wakka on a Joketree"! I used saturated color, drew it in chalk from the photo, then went to the painting side to paint out the background in a near-black acrylic. I then used woodcut effect, and lit it with lighting. Opinions?

your art training is showing here - this is almost abstract, turning an everyday subject into a worthwhile artwork, isolating the subject from the background, and making the programme do whatever is in your mind - well done, lighting as well no less, 'tis good that you are finding the hidden depths of the programme, and taking command. The title you have chosen intrigues me, did I hear wakka wakka in the muppets, back when tv was suitable for children?

You are correct, but it is also a sound made by a certain woodpecker whose name escapes me at the moment, but who was singing near the tree when I took the pic!