A Painting Project, Post 1

So... It's been a while. 

And life has been busy for sure. 

Recently I was thinking of getting back to writing and such, but the journalling does not come easily for me, so I need somewhere to start. I also have wanted to start painting, and bought a painting thing at the dollar store that came with a grey-scale canvas (so the picture is NOT mine), and some small tubes of acrylic paint (black, white, yellow, green, blue, and red). 

The package has a picture on it of how the manufacturer envisioned people would paint the picture... And at first I thought I might just follow that style and colour scheme. 

Here is a picture of the package picture - a bit blurry 

A cute cottage still life painting, simple enough.

And after starting and a bit of playing with the colours... I decided that I would go as detailed and complex as I would be happy with... And seeing as I have never painted a full painting before, I accepted the fact that it could take a while and a bunch of effort to give it everything I could. 

And! In making it more my own I decided on changing three aspects of painting the drawing template... 

1) I used black to touch up and darken some of the lines so it was easier to see the different angles and faces of the cottage. 

2) My painting would be set at night.

3.1) After darkening the lines, I also decided that I really didn't like the "thatched roof ends", as they don't seem to match, or fit, with the 2 bay windows and the gabled entry awning.

*As a side note -- last fall I began the journey of going back to college as a mature student, in a Mech. Eng. Technician program, and have thoroughly enjoyed the engineering principles I have learned so-far. Often, I find ways to try and apply what I have learned in my day-to-day life... 

3.2) Although I am NOT an Engineer, I redesigned the roof to have gabled ends ... Hehe 🤭. It seems to me that they fit the general design of the structure in a more complimentary and realistic way. 

 

I wish that I had started taking pictures at every stage so I had a record to look back over and evaluate what I liked and would like to change or work on... But I didn't -Oh well 🤷.

So here is the first one I took - after approx 6 or 7 hrs (over 3 days). 

My wife and daughters say it's good, and I think it looks ok, but all I see is where things don't look the way I want or hoped...

After this point yesterday, I started to see that if I wanted to line up the shadows I could use having an actual light source (moon)... 

Here is today's progress with: a darkened sky, started adding darkened sky through the large tree, a moon, and some clouds.

*Also this picture was taken with the curtains open during the day, so the colours are more vibrant than the last.

Thanks for checking out my painting project, and hopefully you check back for tomorrow to see the progress.

Cheers,

Story telling

Well, at least it hasn't been a few months, so that's something.

I have applied to be a stock photographer with istockphotos.com and am eagerly awaiting news on whether my application has been approved or not.

So I have been spending a bit of time here and there reading about the policies, best practices, and procedures of capturing and submitting photos.

And of course, as with any brain like mine, I found myself thinking about what it is that makes an excellent, exciting, or likeable photograph.

One of the types of photography that speak to me in the deepest way is a photo that makes me, in spite of all resistances, wonder... wonder the 'who','what'.'where','when', and 'how'. But my all time favourite type of captured moment is the one that makes me wander through the mystery beyond the frame, into the still. Longing to feel the moment, to be in that moment... and before I know - the photo has taken me there.
Then back.
Hairs raised.
That is the difference in worth!
A difference between a 1000 word recipe for south-american jambalaya, and a 1000 word award winning short.

Tell a story with your pictures. And remember, if you aren't drawn to see that story, then how could you ever hope to capture it?

Welcome to #JustJamaal 's memoir.

Here you may read some of my thoughts, stories as jokes, an actual Log.

I will do my best to write at least one post every day, please keep me accountable.

Lets do this!!!