Odds and Ends by 戴安妮

While having dinner in the park, 2 young guys came to have a friend cut ther hair. 

Dinner with my family in a park during sunset. 

Another late late night and I found myself wanting to draw. Not knowing what I turned to an online drawing prompt generator. The prompt: animalistic robot. Afterlight: desaturized At first I thought I would skip it and do something else but that would defeat the purpose of practicing. So I took up the challenge! I can draw a very limited range of animals, but I do enjoy a cute squid every so often. So what better than a steampunk-like squid? 

For some reason this looks like it would be in a 1950s food magazine. However, it is my new favorite sandwich. Afterlight: desaturizing of the blue in the plate and harbor Recipe:  Bread, turkey, bread, ham, munster cheese, bread, honey, raspberry jam, bread, honey, white seaseme seeds

This is a miraculous statue of St. Anne, she frequently has red-rimmed and/or glistening eyes because of the hatred directed towards her daughter.  Afterlight: white vingette (2x)

Not only was this strawberry massive, but it was three fused into one. It made me think of St. Patrick’s analogy of the Trinity with the three leaf clover

I am cold. I am inside. Happy spring.  Afterlight: hayes and flora

Original Afterlight: sacred Afterlight: cape

My sister bought these flowers to put in the apartment hallway to brighten it up for Easter. Even something this small can bring a bit of cheer! Afterlight: harbor

Some flowers in my window.  Afterlight: shire

St. Joseph overlooking a heart full of flowers and Christ. 

One needs to find the humor in the little things. Turning around and seeing this staring at me with its bulbous eyes was both startling and hilarious. I decided to darken up the image because imagine suddenly discovering it at night in someone’s garden.  Snapseed: b/w push, noir, vintage 6, grunge 2, grainy film

There was a tornado warning during the night and this was how strong some of the winds got. It was a miracle the tree fell this way and didnt crush the two houses.  Edit: afterlight lumen and harbor

Being quaratined and on break means one has a lot of time, so why not use it to clean, organize, and go through old papers? This is my (now dead) cat. He was sitting on my floor while I worked at my desk and I took a break to try and draw him. Not too bad for the first try of someone who doesnt draw animals.  Edit: afterlight granite  This is a small collection of my boredom during my first summer job. Periodically I was sent to an unpopulated place in the park where I all I was doing was standing in the sun, making sure no one sat on the reserved chairs. I passed the time by drawing what I could see, practicing my left-hand handwriting, practicing my calligraphy, and drawing roasary beads as I prayed the Rosary (in case I lost my place on my fingers).  Edit: afterlight granite 

In the midst of online classes, I still take all my notes by hand. If I wanted to appear to be a good student, I would say it helps me focus. In truth, however, I just like having notes I can touch. I remember what I was thinking about when I was writing and I can scrawl my commentaries and reflections along the sides.  Edit: afterlight darkening exposure I really liked how the light was reflecting off the pen. Unfortunately I was not able to get my camera to focus correctly since I was in class and trying to be discreet. 

Today we learned about how to take a good black and white photograph. It needs to be simple, the lighting needs to be good, how the different colors translate into low/mid/high tones etc.  Class practice Later that evening Note: the “e” of Skyline is cut off

These little flowers, called grape hyacinths, are all over the front yard now. It makes me happy to see them, although they are a bit deceptive since we still have spells of cold weather. 

This is homework. Doing dishes, mopping floors and cooking dinner etc. Not papers. Papers are school work and we are no longer at school so we should have no papers, right?

Fire is beautiful. This was a long exposure of glowing coals being hit with a branch to make the sparks fly up. If you are quiet and listen, embers sound like melting ice.  Edit: afterlight vibrance, fable filter

My new classroom is bright thanks to its two walls of windows. However, even with curtains, I can still see birds flying outside so Im sure my classmates often see this.  Edit: afterlight contrast, and cape filter

Magnolias bloom COVID forces life to stop  Spring is on its way This is the magnolia tree in my neighbors’ front yard as seen through my front door window.  editing: Toned down the brightness (snapseed) and straightened (afterlight)

Practicing with a new app called tiltshift! The purpose of said app is to make things appear as if the are very small by blurring the surrounding area.