Blue Hen

Greener design projects here.
Magic Jelly thanks to Pitch Design Union

IF: Magnify/Mail Me Art 2

Taking a break from writing papers to paint a submission to the Mail Me Art 2 project. Find out more here:) The stamps are the King and Queen of Hearts designed by Jeanne Greco,
a very talented designer. LOVE her calligraphy on her site. The stamps helped inspire my illustration. Painted with GOLDEN fluid acrylics. In a way, I magnified the queen, and gave her a bigger crown.....mothers figure large in children's lives sometimes:)

60's Magazine Cover: Woodstock

Thinking more about what Murray and I talked about yesterday. Yes, a Ben Shahn inspired cover of ?what? Murray threw out" Woodstock" (1969) maybe... and I really like the idea. Ben Shahn died in 1969 but after reading those interviews, I'm sure he would have loved the idea of Woodstock, especially the musicians. So I need to get some sketches going, finish up the business plan, and start other papers due very soon.....

Ben Shahn

Hartford Update: I spoke with Murray today about the magazine cover assignment. I feel really drawn to Ben Shahn. Murray agrees he was an "emblematic and pivotal illustrator" who was "responsible for the new look of illustration that started in the 50's." I read through some great oral history interviews with him from 1964, 1965 and 1968 in the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. Fascinating. I ordered his "The Shape of Content", part of his Charles Elliot Norton Lectures at Harvard. Ready to dig in.

Tomato Time: Heirloom Black Krim

It's that time. This is a new variety that I am trying this year. Black Krim is an heirloom from the Black Sea of Russia. Apparently it has a natural salty taste and is good for folks on low sodium diets...all it needs is a little pepper:) It is a beautiful deep maroon color. You can order for next season here. I got my small specimen (not the seeds) from Stony Hill Greenhouses, home of "rare, varigated and unusual" plants located here in upstate NY. Stony Hill, passionately owned and run by Dana Kaiser, was featured by Ruah Donnelly in The Adventurous Gardener : Where to Buy the Best Plants in New York and New Jersey.

Here's more...

This tomato variety actually hails from the Isle of Krim in the Black Sea off the coast of the Crimean peninsula in Russia. A rare heirloom variety of the black tomato.

This tomato variety ( Black Krim) is a medium large sized ( 10-12 ounce),maroon beefsteak with green shoulders and an intense, unique taste! Ideal for slicing, salads and more. Due to their natural salty taste, sliced Black Krims do not require salting and only a hint of pepper, which makes them an ideal tomato variety for your tomato patch if you can not have salt in your diet.

The production of this variety is intense and it will do quite well in containers, but if not watered evenly during the summer, this variety is subject to splitting. About 70-75 days to maturity.

Sara Midda

Thanks to my Hartford friend and extraordinary designer/illustrator Jack Tom, I now know about Sara Midda and her wonderful books and illustrations. They are tiny, colorful, soulful outpourings of love of nature in crisp watercolor daubs and handlettering that stops you in your computer tracks and beckons you back to the real brush. Yes, these little decorative gems on every page have inspired me and lured me away from PS for awhile.

Pond images/PS Effects

PhotoShop changes using the lasso tool. I wanted to crop in on the image but there wasn't a fish nearby so I lassoed one:) and moved it closer.

IF: Impatient

©peg nocciolino 2009
This was made from a drawing, that I made into a monoprint, then imported into PhotoShop, then into Painter 11 for some more work. I took the reference photos at a friend's farm. As a beginner, I was really impatient to try Painter. I like the color overlay option. So much more to explore.....:)

Before and After Chicken Experiments in PS

The monoprint chicken revisioned....the wacom is beckoning me:) Hmmm.....more changes to come.

Cooperstown Photo Op

Great day in Cooperstown NY! A friend was participating in the flower show so we went to visit and support. What I didn't expect was a great photo op with some young women (one of them her daughter) dressed in Victorian era clothing. Maybe they will be useful for my Hartford assignment to illustrate a magazine cover from a particular time period (decade). Not exactly the Gibson girls but close. Beautiful...the topiaries which may look fake were quite real...amazing...

Printmaking experiments

More experimenting with monoprints in Norwich. Two variations. I'll continue to work on these images some more maybe adding in some pastel and/ or pen and ink....

Monoprinting on Handmade Paper

Good day. My annual summer jaunt to Norwich to make paper with June Tyler at Pondside Pulp and Paper had a new twist this year....monoprinting on the handmade paper we made! I made 8-10 sheets of handmade paper in the morning for printing on from a variety of pulps-kozo, blue jean, flax, and gampi. Because of the fibers, the paper is very strong even though it is thin. June advises that flax and blue jean pulps are better for woodcuts and relief printing, whereas the kozo and gampi are better for monoprints. We used Golden Open Acrylics , a new acrylic paint developed by Golden that stays wet longer, making it perfect for monoprinting. These were experimental prints. More printing tomorrow...