Saturday, February 19, 2011

Up from the Forest Floor


This is a smaller painting done between larger works.
The subject came from a particularly beautiful walk last November in the hills above Lacamas Creek in Washington. I go there often as it`s close to my family.
Because I have such a weak grasp of photography, I finally took a short workshop in shooting art work the other night. In two hours I learned more than I could have imagined, including how to hold a camera. I took this picture in my studio using my new education.

6 comments:

Cynthia Schelzig said...

What a place....another dream world.

Sarah Bachhuber Peroutka said...

I would be interested in learning about where you took that workshop--I could use it myself!

Linda Bray said...

Beautiful work on both counts.

kingfisher said...

I would like to know if there's that kind of photography info in a free demo video online. Did they have you use a lightbox? You speak of "holding" the camera. I would have thought a tripod or moveable stand would be necessary.

I really liked this painting. You have given me a different perspective on painting, with your various depictions of little nooks and alcoves and part-of-forest (or small part of creek) scapes. Most painters seem to aim for wider panoramas, or at least "whole" trees or wider pond shots (I'm speaking of some of your past posts), and not just short cross-sections like you sometimes use.

Randall David Tipton said...

Sarah, the class was offered by the Lake Oswego Parks and Recreation Dept. The teacher, Don Faith, does workshops in his studio as well. The guy knows his stuff, he`s reasonably priced and he`s patient. Here`s his website address;
www.LoveOurPictures.com
Kingfisher, I`m sure there are online photography tutorials, I just didn`t think of them.
A tripod is always recommended for paintings but for any hand held shot, he showed me how to hold my arms tight against my ribcage for stability.
Thanks for your interest in my paintings. I do think a fragment sometimes can suggest the 'whole' better than trying to get too much stuff in a picture.

Jala Pfaff said...

Beautiful, enchanted-forest feel.
Your work has always looked well-photographed to me, at least as far as I can tell on the screen. A tripod works best for me, though when I'm feeling lazy I don't even use it.