Engagement Photos

 

Kieran and Finn

I mentioned in my "Paths" post that I discovered those photos while looking through pictures for our cat instagram. I noticed I haven't done a post for cat pics so here it is. Kieran is the grey tabby, Finn is the cowcat:

 

Paths

It's been awhile since I posted anything other than paintings, but originally this was a blog for photos. The description says it's for "images" so this post qualifies.

Recently me and Lee-Anne made an Instagram for our cats. This had me scrolling through my phone's gallery to find cute cat pics, and it caused me to review some other shots I'd taken over time. Turns out, once in awhile I get a good one, and it appears I have a thing for paths.

 

Here we have the Iron Horse Trail in three seasons. At one time, Waterloo Region had a rail system called the Iron Horse. I think it was a shuttle train to industrial sites for workers. Eventually the city developed enough that I guess the train became redundant, so they pulled the rail but transformed it into a trail. It's got train parts displayed alongside it with explanations to commemorate its origins. It's the longest trail in Waterloo Region so I've never walked it in it entirety in one session, but I've been on every part of it, and I use it almost every day. Because its based on the old rail, some parts are more scenic than others.

There is a concept called the "Third Place", meaning somewhere that you go that isn't home (the first place) or work (the second place), which is based on socialization. A good Third Place is equal ground, accessible, meant for socialization, has regulars, is lighthearted, and has a sense of home. The closest thing I have to a third place right now is the Iron Horse Trail.

This is a cool path at the University of Waterloo. Sometimes me and Lee-Anne walk up to UW via the Iron Horse Trail. She graduated there and I did about a year of studies before I got my job at WALES and subsequently dropped out. Our first date was at Sweet Dreams Bubble Tea in University Plaza, which is almost connected to the University, so the area is nostalgic for us. Whenever I walk on this path, it just seems really photogenic.

This was taken over a bridge near the Ion Light Rail's Block Line Station, which was my home station where I used to live. I was supporting someone at their volunteer location and decided to take the Ion home afterword. On my way, I saw this and just thought it looked cool so I snapped a pic.

This is a bridge in Guelph that goes over the Speed River. I mistakenly referred to it as Arthur Street Bridge on Facebook and Instagram. That bridge is a little ways over and not as pretty. There is a Pokemon Go stop called Arthur Street Bridge which is why I made the mistake. I don't know what this bridge is called.

These are the only photos that I took intentionally with a mind to publish. They were taken after I made the cat's Instagram and had reviewed my phone's gallery, so I had my eye out for cool scenes. These were taken during a polar vortex, so it might not come across in the photo, but it was extremely cold when I took these. 

I took the night photo first, as I was arriving in Guelph to stay the night so I could go to my doctor's the next day. Then the day after, I walked home from my doctor's and took the day pic. There was a weird amount of foot traffic despite the cold, so I had to wait a bit both times.

The night pic is the only one that's doctored a bit. I used an Instagram filter to make the lights look a little brighter to create more contrast with the night sky. All the other pics are pure natural lighting.

I'll need to go back in the summer to grab some seasonal pics for contrast, like my images of the Iron Horse Trail.

Paintings from 2022

 I didn't update this blog even once in 2022. Truth is, I did do some paintings, but I didn't think they were good enough to put here. I showed them on my main blog for my review of the year, and my grandmother said she liked all of them. So I'm posting them here now.

This is my granddad at his second wedding. I did it when I was grieving about his dementia. I felt that the end result wasn't a bad portrayal of a person, but it didn't capture the essence of my granddad. My grandma said she knew it was him instantly though.

In the photo I was referencing, my granddad has a genuine smile, but in this image he seems gaunt and his smile doesn't reach his eyes. My grandma suggested that since I was grieving, my feelings about his medical status might have come through on the canvas.

That could be true. Another factor could be that the image I was referencing looks like it might at one point have been black-and-white, but it faded into shades of brown. When I was painting the browned image, it looked like it was coming to life, so I sort of colourized it, but maybe I didn't quite pull it off.

The reference image was also a printed copy of a digital photo taken of the original picture, so it was a recreation of a recreation, and maybe things get lost in translation.

Only the image of the bear is new, but I really think it only looks good as a set. The elephant was done in 2020 and I uploaded a picture of it to this blog. I did a few iterations of the bear before this one. At first, I tried putting a full moon behind the tree, with the parts in front of the moon in black and the parts outside white for kind of an x-ray look, but I didn't like the end result. I also tried doing a harvest moon with light radiating from it, starting with a lighter blue that fades to dark at the edges, but I had a hard time getting the yellow of the harvest moon pale enough that it wouldn't translate as a sun. Also, the background has to be REALLY dark to justify a white silhouette. I played around with the idea of working moon craters into it and did some rough drafts but eventually decided against it.

In the end, I went pretty simple, aimed to contrast the elephant sunset. Both have the silhouette of an animal walking to the left toward a tree with a source of light above it, but one is a cold environment, the other is hot, and one is colourful, the other is black and white.

I did like this painting enough to display it, I'll say that much.

We managed to grow three sunflowers last year, and they had five flowers between them. I decided that I would paint the most vibrant one. I did a purple background to contrast the yellow bloom. It almost looks good, but kind of plain. Almost unfinished, but I didn't know what else to do with it.