Gotta love the desert light. I’ll try to remember that as we soar over 100 degrees. Today we hit 105. But the “real feel” was 112. Yikes! Phoenix’s high was 111. We are usually 10 to fifteen degrees cooler than the city. The warm light on the hills forced me to jump up, and grab my camera to catch the scene.
Another postcard exchange. Yay! I still miss the annual LYA exchange and was so excited to get an invite from Nelvia McGrath. I painted my postcard offering, naturally.
After I scanned the image, I noticed I completely forgot to add distant hills. So, I added them digitally with Photoshop. That “straight” line was buggin’ me.
I can’t help but feel this is still in need of… something. First layers in Inktense. Splotches, daubs and puddles. Days of contemplation. Watercolor glazing that became layer after layer. More splotches. More consideration. Days became a week. A week and a half.
I reminded myself it is only paint, and sat down to finish. Gouache thinned to reveal previous layers, for the vase. Thick layers of gouache for the greens. Blues. Blue-greens.
Painting propped up across the room. More thinking.
My new scanner arrived. Yipee! I had to wait about a month for it. I played with the settings to get a true to life image. I used a piece that I had scanned on the older machine.
There are over a dozen combinations of settings, the interface is very easy to use. I do like that it is powered by USB. So I just need to connect it to the laptop, and it is ready to go. No need to wait for it to warm up. Nice! It was recommended by a couple of artists I follow.
I need to get used to having to preview first. It really is useful, as you can change the settings if the image is off, and then scan for the final saved image.
Two Pots was painted on a spiral-bound pad. I didn’t realize the scanner lid is removable, it expands to hold books. On the left of the image, I can see that it is blurry. Where the rings are. I will need to be more aware of that.
Below are some of the different settings. You might not be able to see much of a difference in some of them. The first one is an illustration setting. That was interesting. It simplifies the image to color “blocks”. More like a vector image. Or cartoon.
Scanner Settings
Below you can see the Epson scan and the scan from the old machine. The Epson is more true. Haha. Well, the blooms are. The vase and the background in the original are closer to real life. I’m fine with that. I know I will need to make adjustments in Photoshop as usual. It is just how the different colors reflect the light. I will work with the settings and see how close I can get them. But I’m sure they will be different for each piece. I have scanned about a dozen photos, and they came out true to life.
This scanner is so slim. About an inch and a half. And it is so lightweight! About 3 pounds. It has a kickstand and you can scan while it is standing on its side. I love that I can tuck it away, and pull it out when needed. I don’t need to sacrifice valuable desk space.
It is so light and easy to connect. It will be perfect for travel. Visiting family, and sharing old photos. Oh, did I say? It is an Epson Perfection V39.
