Ice

Ice. Digital painting. Photoshop 7; Ulla Hennig January 2013

Here I experimented with the clone stamp tool and the smudge tool. It took me some time to find out how to use these tools – and I am still learning! But it is definitely fun…

Dancing Trees in winter

Dancing Trees in winter. Digital painting. Photoshop 7. Ulla Hennig January 2013

This is a contribution to the January Challenge “COLD” of the Digital Art forum at Wet Canvas. Actually it is the second version where I tried to add a bit more contrast to the snow by using shades of blue.

I was inspired by a photo given on the thread (trees covered with snow), but decided to reduce the number of trees to three, two having the same size and a smaller one. For me often trees have a kind of personality, and so I created a pair of dancing trees.

Mushrooms on Wood

Mushrooms on Wood. Photo: Ulla Hennig, September 2011

Two weeks ago our University staff went on a trip to Potsdam, the capital of the federal state of Brandenburg. We visited a very famous building, the Belvedere on the “Pfingstberg”. Of course I took photographs of the building (you will see them later on this blog), but I was also interested in the small things of nature and found this stump with two mushrooms on it.

I like the structure of the cracks in the wood, and how the mushrooms seem to sit on them – they remind me of two white eyes in a brown face. Maybe we should call it the face of fall?

The Landwehrkanal in Charlottenburg, Berlin

The Landwehrkanal in Charlottenburg, Berlin

The Landwehrkanal is a waterway which goes through several districts of Berlin. This photo shows it in the district of Charlottenburg, not far away from my office at work. Actually I took this photo on Monday on my way to work.

Although I have been living in Berlin for a long time now I am still fascinated with the amount of green which we have in this big city. Charlottenburg is one of the more urban districts with a big train station and the Kurfüstendamm, the famous boulevard during the time when the west of Berlin was surrounded by the wall.

But, as you can see, even this urban district has got its green islands…

Cherry Blossoms

Cherry Blossoms. Photo: Ulla Hennig

Whenever I see the cherry tree blooming in front of the house where I live I know that we are now in the middle of spring. And I run and grab my camera and take photos, because I know that all too soon the blossoms will be lying down on the earth. It is the same with the lilacs – I’ve already noticed the first signs of lilacs blossoms, and I hope I will be there to take photos of them, too.

Spring is one of the seasons I love; I love the fresh green, the blooming trees, the explosion of nature. People are now sitting in front of the numerous little cafes Berlin has got, enjoying their cups of coffee, their cappuccinos and lattes. The atmosphere seems to be full of happiness – something the French call joie de vivre – the joy of living.

Weather fore

Tree in March

Tree in March. Photo: Ulla Hennig

Spring is arriving fast, but the trees still are without leaves. So it is still the time to took at the way the branches are spreading. Actually I have been thinking of doing some tree sketches, and I’ve looked for some reference photos.

Last weekend the sun was shining, so I took my nice little camera with me, thinking that I could as well produce my own reference photos!

Sea Shore – Work in Progress 1

Sea shore - Work in Progress

Okay, I am adventurous again and dare to present a work in progress here. This is digital from the beginning – no pencil work here.

Of course there’s a lot of work still to be done – the water in front of the palisades, the water behind it and the sky. But I think this work in progress can give you an impression of how it will look like when it is finished (at least I hope so!)

Rocks and Water

Rocks and Water. Digital Painting by Ulla Hennig

This has been done without any reference photo. I had looked at a digitally painted cave where the beholder is looking out of the cave into a rather blurry sky. Looking at the digital painting created a different image in my mind – one with rocks and water.

Although this image above is far from perfect (ahh-I hate this craving for perfection!) I’ve got the feeling that I am making progress in the field of digital painting…

Yellow Rose

Yellow Rose. Cropped out of a photo and put on green background. Photo: Ulla Hennig

I took the photo of this yellow rose in 2008, and now I wanted to find out how it looked like when I cropped it out and put it on a gradient background. There are no branches and leaves now which can distract the eye of the beholder–all  the focus is on the yellow blossom itself. I think it is like putting a piece of jewellery on a dark cloth.

Aments

Spring! Spring! Spring! Photo: Ulla Hennig

I saw them yesterday on my walk around the neighborhood. Aren’t they pretty? I would have liked to take them into my hand and feel them, but I could not reach them.

It is so beautiful to see nature getting alive again – and to capture those precious moments with my camera.