Paper53 and Snapseed . . . A Great Pair!

I am back with more Paper53 love!  I enjoy drawing and painting on my iPad.  The Paper app is one of my favorites.  I created this gal last night.  I wanted to share both versions to show you what you can do combining an art and photo app.  The above image was created in Paper and then filtered in Snapseed.  I added some grunge filters.  I am loving the effect.  

Here is the purely Paper version before grunge . . . 

I like them both but I think I am partial to the grungy version :)

Would love to hear your experiences with either of these cool apps!

xo

Sunday Sauce

Or as my Grandma used to call it "gravy".  That is often a debate among italians.  My husband's family referred to it as "sauce"  Every Sunday without fail she would be up early starting the gravy that would cook for hours.  Dinner was always at 2pm another italian tradition that I am sure she grew up with.  As the years go on I notice that I miss those little things.  

So we decided a few weeks ago to start our own tradition.  We are bringing back Sunday gravy.  Lou does most of the cooking.  Its a combination of his mom's meatball recipe and my grandma's gravy recipe.  Today I want to share that with you.  Its on the sweeter side but we always enjoyed it that way.

Ingredients

1 tbs olive oil

1 medium onion chopped

2 cloves garlic chopped

1 28 oz can tomato puree + 1 can of water

1 6oz can tomato paste

1/2 cup fresh chopped basil

1/8 tsp cloves

1/8 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp sugar

Heat oil, add onions, garlic, and a pinch of salt and pepper.  Sautee the onions and garlic till fragrant and they begin to brown.  Add can of tomato puree, can of water, and paste stirring together.  Then add the basil and the rest of the spices.  Simmer for about 3 hours.  The longer the better!  

Oh and we also watch Goodfellas while the gravy is cooking!  That is one of my fav movies and definitely my favorite mob movie ever!  

Hope you try this recipe and enjoy!  Let me know what you think!  

Would love to hear about any family traditions you have!

xo

Landscape . . . Trying to Loosen Up

"field of longing"

acrylic on paper

I don't know what made me do it but the other night I decided to try a landscape.  It has probably been over a year since I dabbled in it.  Mostly because I have been on an abstract and digital art super highway but probably out of fear.  

Landscape always seemed to have too many rules for me.  Those that have been following my blog know that I don't vibe with that!  However after discovering an amazing artist named David Dunlop that all seemed to change.  He is a landscape painter, using primarily oils but his approach is one of looseness and freedom.  I found him so very inspiring.  I felt encouraged to try even knowing I would make mistakes.  It became more about the moment of fun in creating rather than creating the perfect horizon line.  

For this piece I used a limited palette of cerulean blue, cadmium red light, and titanium white.  I chose those colors knowing that as complimentary's it would create a nice effect.  I used chip brushes from home depot (similar to those David uses) and found them to be great for texture and just plain old fun to swoosh around.  I approached the paper with speed knowing that I had to keep my mind quiet to be loose.  I didn't use a reference photo, just an image that popped up in my mind's eye.  

I have to say that I enjoyed the process for the first time in all my attempts at landscape painting.  I am nervous about painting another but I know that I will go at it in the same manner which should help me be more successful.  

For more info on David Dunlop check out his website HERE! 

Sharing today at Paint Party Friday :)