Doodles of the Day -- 2007.01.09

When we were in NYC last year, I picked up a sketch pad at MoMA. Its really cool with different colors pages versus the plain white ones in most sketch pads. I have finally got around to using it.

Here is one of the pages from it.

Illustration Friday -- Buzz

Illustration Friday -- Buzz
Originally uploaded by louhamilton23.

Here is my interpretation of this week's Illustration Friday topic, Buzz.

A 3 year olds view on life

I gave my old HP digital camera to my sons to use since they have both shown an interest in taking pictures. Today, I noticed that the memory card was getting full and downloaded them to my laptop.

This was the very first one that came off the card. This was taken under our kitchen table of our dog, Spot. My 5 year old is in the foreground.


I know that this one was taken by my 3 year old since this is my 5 year old in the red shirt. I think that his view on life is so interesting. It is such a different perspective. I'm glad that they have shown this interest and that I can see what they do from their point of view.

C. Burr Artz Public Library Lobby

Library Lobby
Originally uploaded by louhamilton23.

We went to the library today and for some reason, this was the first time I noticed this art work in the lobby of the C. Burr Artz Public Library. Apparently, this art has been there since they remodeled the building over a year or two ago.

The art was done by Dennis Anderson. It consists of six murals (only four are shown since the other two are to the sides of me) named 'Small Paradise.' In my opinion, it's very simple. However, it has some very interesting features within it. I'm not sure how it fits with the library theme or why it was chosen, but I like that he library has chosen to support the arts. The library actually has a number of pieces displayed around the entire building. the Children's Room has has a "Storytime Room" which includes a full wall mural of various children's book characters and a humongous tree (I think its called the Story Tree) where staff members can sit under and read to the children.

Honestly, I know nothing about the artist Dennis Anderson or any other work that he has done. If you know who he is and what other things he has done, please let me know.

Difficult Run Stream Valley Park

Difficult Run Stream Valley Park
Originally uploaded by louhamilton23.

I drive by this scene every day -- twice. I see this as nature's way of making art.

The history behind this is quite recent. This stream has a swamp area to the one side of it. This swamp flood often. Maybe 3 or 4 months ago, it flooded so bad that it washed the asphalt right of its base. Instead of removing it when they fixed the road, the road crew left it there to become part of the landscape. Now, its a constant reminder of how damaging running water can be.

Moon over my Maryland

DSC_3323_cropped
Originally uploaded by louhamilton23.

I love nature and everything about it fascinating. The moon and stars have always intrigued me with their own forms of art. The forms that the stars create and the "face" on the moon are just a couple of examples.

Today, I'm posting a picture of the moon and its beauty.

Man in Rain Doodle

2007.01.01 -- Man in Rain Doodle
Originally uploaded by louhamilton23.

While on a conference call today at work, this man in the rain appeared on the post-it note.

Blue Light District

Blue Light District
Originally uploaded by louhamilton23.

My goal this year is to try to post a new piece of artwork every day.

This shot was taken in my kitchen VERY late at night. I was walking back in and saw the light from my Wacom tablet shining through the vase. I had to get my camera and take a few shots.

The only thing that I did not like about this shot is that I realized the next day that the ISO setting was on AUTO and it chose 1600. I would have done the shot at 400. The result is too much noise. Oh, well. Maybe next time.

Merry New Year!

Billy Ray: Merry New Year!
Beeks: That's "happy." In this country, we say "Happy New Year."
Billy Ray: Oh, Ho! Ho! Thank you for correcting my English which stinks!
... from the movie "Trading Places"

Well, it's 2007. Another year.

I know it has been quite a long time since I have been around. Thanks to everyone who asked where I was and how I was doing in the past 5+ months. Although things are still busy, I am hoping to put some artwork up on my site in the next year. Since I have taken up a new hobby, photography, you will see a mixture of hand drawings and photos.

I hope everyone has had a good 2006 and looking forward to seeing more of you in the next year.

For my first piece of art this year, we all make hats to welcome in the new year. Here is mine.

Illustration Friday -- Skyline

This week, I thought I would try the oil paints in ArtRage 2.

I originally started my Illustration Friday topic with a NYC skyline that included the World Trade Center towers. I was excited about doing this classic skyline at first since Cathie and I are going there at the end of this month. Then I got depressed about doing that particular scene and decided that I wanted to do something a bit more cheerful.

I'm not sure if it necessarily cheerful, but in the end, I chose a skyline from Beach 6 at Presque Isle State Park in Erie, PA. The cheerful part came because Cathie, the boys, and I were there over Memorial Day weekend and I remembered this was how the skyline looks. We had a blast and everyone was happy playing in the COLD water and sand.

Growing up in Erie, I remember going there when I was a kid and there were no stone monuments blocking the view of the boats that were out in the lake. I even remember on a clear day you could see Canada.

I guess you could say, "Skylines are like life. You never know when and how much they will change."

Fireworks at Baker Park

Since we had great weather for the Fourth here (the rains hit south of us -- Sorry DC), Cathie and I walked to Baker Park with the boys to see the fireworks. We were not sure exactly how the two of them, especially James, would react to the loud booms, but they were both great. The boys actually loved the fireworks so much that, without prompt, we heard a lot of "oooo's" and "ahhh's" from them.

If you go here, you can see some of the pictures I took of the fireworks. The pictures of the crowds did not turn out as well as I would have hoped, but there were probably a thousand people in and around the park that night.

Hope everyone had a fun and safe holiday.

Happy 4th of July

Hope everyone has some fun plans today. We are taking the kids to Baker Park for some fun. We will be spending most of our time in the Kids Tent making PB&J sandwiches, controlling remote control cars, and playing in the air tents. We will probably also sample some of the great vendor foods they have and maybe even get to enjoy some of the bands that are playing.

If for some reason, you are looking for something cool to do on the Internet, check out this site. ZoomQuilt is a collaborative art project. It has a slight MC Escher look and feel to it. The main website has a HTML version and screensaver in addition to the Flash version linked above.



Have fun! Enjoy! And be safe on this holiday!

Doodles of the Day -- 07.02.2006

For someone who said they would probably not be posting much due to projects, work, and school, I seem to have posted a lot lately. :)

Anyway, I had some opportunities to play with my Wacom tablet and ArtRage today.

"Chalkboard Doodles" was created using a chalkboard canvas and chalk as the medium.


"Fruit Doodles" was created using the Oil Paints tool on a basic canvas.

Art of a Different Kind

When I took the dogs out to do their business the other night, I had an interesting surprise at the doorway of their kennel. A spider had spun a web across the opening. Luckily, it was high enough that the dogs did not disturb it when they entered it and I could sneak under it in order to get this picture.

I really like spiders particularly because of their webs. Most of it is due to the fact that I am fascinated by fractals, especially those found in nature.

Illustration Friday -- Sticky

The first thing that came to my mind when I saw this week's Illustration Friday theme was a pancake with some nice sticky maple syrup.


My second attempt at 'Sticky' is a person eating glue. I would say that this would leave him in a pretty "sticky" situation. :-)