As a teenager, I became infatuated with King Arthur and all that had to do with chivalry and the Knights of the Round Table. I never dreamed I'd be able to see a joust. One can only imagine how much thrilled I've been to discover a Renaissance Faire here in Connecticut. OK, the jousts are staged, but still require considerable skill; and afterall, this is why we're endowed with imagination. I donned my gown and cloak to cheer Sir Devin on to victory. Using Dark Strokes and Motion Blur creates an illustration for Morte D'Arthur.

The weather this morning was looking grim, not what we hoped to have for what is probably the last camping outing of the season. Early this afternoon, however, at least some blue sky started to show, along with these fascinating clouds. While the color of the sky is an important part of this picture, a partial application of B&W brings out the texture of the clouds.

My office building overlooks I-91. This particular curve is rather treacherous, especially when the sort of light rain like we had today mixes with the oil on the road, making it slick. The silver car hit the concrete wall and spun 180 degrees. Fortunately, it wasn't hit in turn, and there were no serious injuries; but there was a turnout of police, fire department and ambulances causing a tie-up on the highway and a slow-down of work at the office. I got to try my hand at being a news photographer, at least through the dirty office window. Halftone and Posterize make it look like it ended up in tomorrow's morning edition.

My beloved granddude, Aidan, aged 4. Sometimes there's no improving on the original, but for the sake of the blog, I used Pencil Sketch and Palatte Knife to give a sort of watercolor effect.

We were driving to dinner at local restaurant when I suddenly said to John, "Stop the car! Stop the car!" The light on this barn, with the shadows before it and the dark clouds behind it was stunning. I jumped out and ran out the slope to get this picture. (John is a most patient man.) Poster Edges with Palatte Knife play up the contrasts and textures.

When I was driving home from Bible Babes, I passed a who filed of milkweed just exploding with silk. Using Poster Edges and Grain together lights up the strands of silk.

I just love sunlight through leaves. The ever-shifting patterns are lovely and bring out all the subtleties of the veins and textures in the leaves. For this close-up, Flourescent Chalk was perfect to draw out the bright color and the intricate tracings of the veins.