Category: Outdoors/Landscape

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Outdoors/Landscape Sketchbook Pages Watercolor

On Sir Francis Drake Blvd.

Sir Francis Drake Blvd.

Pentel Brush pen and watercolor in 9×12 Aquabee sketchbook
(To enlarge, click image, select “All Sizes”)

I took the photo this sketch is based on when I was driving home from a trip across the bay to Marin County. There are a couple of small parks along the water on Sir Francis Drake Blvd. One was larger where windsurfers launch their rigs and then there was this little pocket park with amazing views and a little swampy area full of reeds and ducks. I’ve been doing thumbnails, trying to decide what to do with the pictures I took, and tonight decided to do this drawing in preparation for doing a monoprint.

I also made the monoprint, which was sort of successful — it will depend on how it dries and what happens when I try to color it with watercolor. I’ll wait to post it until then. I’ve discovered that printing paper is very soft and if you accidentally get a spot of ink on the paper there’s no way to remove it — wiping it with a damp paper towel just messes up the paper surface and leaves the ink right there, only looking worse.

Today was another day of feeling fairly uninspired and lethargic. I think what’s happening is caffeine withdrawal. Last week I broke my usual rules about no caffeine (I avoid it because it can cause migraines for the susceptible) and had caffeine three days in a row. Hence the migraine on Friday and now the withdrawal. I love coffee and that nice peppy feeling from caffeine but I don’t love migraines so I guess I’ll just have to deal with being tired for now. When I first gave up the caffeine a couple years ago I was railing against not being able to get that great artificial energy. I asked a friend who never uses caffeine what she does when she’s tired, thinking there must be some other way to get that energy and I was so surprised by her answer. She said, “I take a nap or just do something restful.” What a concept: rest!

Categories
Outdoors/Landscape Plein Air Sketchbook Pages Watercolor

Painting Palms in the Dark

Painting Palms in the Dark

Ink and watercolor in large Moleskine watercolor notebook
(To enlarge, click image and select “All Sizes”)

The other night Michael and I were driving down Santa Fe Ave near Gilman in Berkeley and he pointed out these two palm trees that were lit up and glowing in the dark. Tonight I returned to paint them in the dark from the front seat of my car. I couldn’t exactly see what I was doing or what colors I was getting. The light in my car was fairly dim and my paper looked brownish instead of white. I was excited to get home and see it under the light, where it looks completely different. I’m really starting to enjoy letting things just happen with my art instead of trying to control it so much. That’s a wall  covered with ivy in front of some small trees in front of the palms, in case you can’t tell.

I’ve been noticing palm trees lately and wondering….why do they exist? Why did they evolve to be so tall and skinny, with the leaves/fronds and fruit up so high up?

Categories
Outdoors/Landscape Plein Air Watercolor

Blake Garden Pagoda & Art Show

Blake Garden Pagoda

Watercolor and Ink on 9×12 Arches watercolor paper
(To enlarge, click image, select “All Sizes”)

I did this plein air painting on Monday afternoon at Blake Gardens. I got there 90 minutes before closing with a plan to paint the redwoods and creek area (just behind this little pagoda fountain). Unfortunately, landscape architecture students from U.C. Berkeley (the gardens belong to the University) had been allowed to do “art installations” and the creek had been covered with large white posterboards with yellow tape stuck here and there. (Is this art?) I had to quickly pick a spot to paint so settled for this fountain that was brightly lit on the edges by the setting sun at first. I painted without much drawing and then added the ink, using a non-permanent Pentel ink brush pen. I softened and bled the ink with a little water here and there.

Tonight my painting group met at the California Watercolor Association’s National Show held in downtown San Francisco’s Academy of Art gallery. There were a few stunning pieces, but the majority were disappointing. Someone was smoking cigarettes near the door and the gallery smelled horribly of cigarettes and was hot and stuffy so we headed over to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art three blocks away for a delicious dinner in the cafe and a visit to some “real” art (What makes something “real art?”).

I enjoyed seeing some Matisse paintings and sculpture on display that he made in the period I’m now reading about in the two volume, 1200 page biography, The Unknown Matisse and Matisse the Master. Then we saw an absolutely thrilling show of enormous sculptural paintings by German artist Anselm Kiefer. The scale, perspective, brilliance and 3-dimensionality of the work was breathtaking.

While we dined and looked at art we had many thought-provoking conversations about art, artists, showing, painting, and teaching. I’d love to share them with you but I’m falling asleep standing up (my computer is on a standing-height work table) so it will have to wait.

Categories
Outdoors/Landscape Sketchbook Pages Watercolor

Cactus on Carlson

Cactus on Carlson

Pencil and Kremer Pigments watercolor in 9×12 Aquabee sketchbook
(click image to enlarge, select All Sizes)
Why am I painting in a sketchbook instead of on watercolor paper? I asked myself this a hundred times while I was painting this afternoon (well maybe 20 times). In my watercolor class Saturday I emphasized the importance of using good paper, especially when one is learning to paint, since it will give better results, and will assist you in making beautiful washes and glazes instead of impede you.

I should listen to my own advice! Today I wanted to paint these cacti I photographed on a walk last week. I was able to compose and paint the image I had in mind, but it would have been a lot nicer had I used watercolor paper. The Aquabee Super Deluxe Sketchbook has decent paper for watercolor sketching, but so what! I have a drawer full of watercolor paper I could have used.

Did I go for the sketchbook instead of good paper because I like filling up sketchbooks or because knowing I’m doing a “sketch” is a lot less intimidating than making a “painting” and if I’m using “real” watercolor paper, it must be a painting, and if it’s a painting it has to be good? (erckkk–that’s just plain stupid!)

Before I started blogging and sketchbooking, I only painted on good watercolor paper. But I also worked on paintings for weeks before declaring them finished. I had a belief that a painting done in one afternoon wasn’t a “real” painting. I’m putting things in quotes because these concepts aren’t ones I want but seem to have and don’t know why or when I internalized them.

I can do this one again on watercolor paper, and maybe I will. But I’m also going to start painting on good paper again unless I know for sure I just want to do something small and quick. I miss the lovely texture and flow.

cactus-photo

Here’s the original photo I was working from. When I first saw the cacti they were glowing in the setting sun but by the time I got to them with my camera the sun was just about gone so the light wasn’t great.

Categories
Drawing Every Day Matters Life in general Outdoors/Landscape Sketchbook Pages Watercolor

Solano Ave Storefronts (EDM #85)

Sweet Lotus Lifestyle Gifts

Please click image and select “All Sizes” to enlarge
Micron Pigma ink and watercolor in large Moleskine watercolor notebook

Today was the 11th International Sketchcrawl and I’d planned to attend. But this morning I decided I really wanted to take a bike ride instead. I believe there are no shoulds when it comes to my art life– I’m the only one I need to please. I feel so fortunate that so much of my time is my own and that, at least for today, the decisions I have to make are about such happy things. So I nixed the official sketchcrawl, packed my sketching kit in my bike bag and took off.

I rode over to Solano Avenue, planning to draw the storefront of Solano Cyclery after getting them to fix my kickstand. But their storefront was boring so I took a little stroll and saw this Chinese restaurant and it’s next-door neighbor, Sweet Lotus Lifestyle Gifts. (This week’s Everyday Matters Challenge is to draw a storefront.)

Sweet Lotus Lifestyle Gifts is crammed with Made in China chotzkes. I’m not sure what kind of Lifestyle they had in mind when they named the store but I don’t think it would be a good one if you owned all that cheap, shiny junk. The name always makes me think of Lifestyle brand condoms which makes me think the store should be selling vibrators and sex toys. I’ve never gone inside, so who knows, maybe they do, way in the back.

I sat on the ground in front of a wine shop to do the drawing. Then I noticed a conveniently placed wine barrel advertising the wine shop which was just the right height to stand beside and use as a table for my paints and notebook. While I was working several different people came over to see what I was doing and said nice things. I know many people feel uncomfortable having someone watch when they draw in public. For some reason I think it’s fun–people are always so nice and seem to be surprised and excited to see their own little world put down on paper.

When I finished after about an hour and a half, I realized I’d missed lunch. I picked up a California Roll from Kyoto To Go, the local sushi bento box store right across the street and sat in a little corner park and with my yummy lunch. Though I planned to make another stop to sketch on the way home, I decided to skip it. It was a fun bike ride home and then I had a little nap. A perfectly enjoyable day!

Categories
Outdoors/Landscape Plein Air Watercolor

Blake Gardens – Trees & Yuppies

Blake Garden Trees

Watercolor painted en plein air at Blake Gardens on Arches 9×12 watercolor block

This afternoon the weather was gorgeous and knowing that plein air painting time will soon be over (at least for wimps like me who hate being cold) I grabbed the opportunity to go paint at Blake Gardens. I love this area of the garden, with the rows of trees and reflecting pond. Unfortunately a professional photographer and a perfect little yuppie family were also using the area to take family portraits.

For the entire two hours I was there painting they were alternately posing for pictures and trying to keep their little son from falling apart as he became increasingly bored and tired of all the phoney posing together. They were all perfectly groomed, in matching blond hair, white shirts, khaki pants (father and son) and khaki skirt (mom). They enthusiastically worked on keeping little Griffin engaged (Dictionary: “Griffin: a fabulous beast with the head and wings of an eagle and the body of a lion”) in silly songs, teddy bears, slinkies, hugs and tickles, snacks, bribes of lollipops later, and discussion about his favorite tools (he’s got a hardware fixation and prefers monkey wrenches to screwdrivers). They were a really nice, loving family but I had really been hoping for serene communing with nature, not yuppies.

By the time we all left when Blake Gardens closed at 4:30, I had a headache and they were moving on to another park for more pictures. I was happy with how the painting went today–there were many moments of enjoyment as I became more closely aquainted with these grand old trees and as the paint appeared on the paper in ways I liked.

Categories
Drawing Life in general Outdoors/Landscape People Sketchbook Pages Watercolor

It’s About Time: What I learned today

Old Teeth

“Old Teeth” (study for a large painting I’m going to make, drawn today from a combination of photos I took on Broadway in Oakland). Ink, watercolor in Moleskine large watercolor notebook. If you wonder why those hip-hop people want to have gold teeth, you might also enjoy a previous post here about a new invention I came up with in a dream for those baggy-pants boys.

 * * *

I spend a lot of time being frustrated because there isn’t enough time to do all of the things I want to do. Every weekend I start off being optimistic, with exciting ideas to explore for painting, drawing, teaching, learning; things that need to be done to care for myself and others; gardening projects, housework, paperwork, etc. But weekends (and most days) always end the same way: feeling disappointed because I didn’t accomplish half of what I thought I could do.

They say (whoever “they” is) that with age comes wisdom. Well I got a huge chunk of wisdom today, and this is what I learned:

There will NEVER be enough time to do everything. Not only that, there will never be enough time to do HALF of what my busy mind comes up with on any given day, week, month, year.

So all I have to do is accept the reality that time is finite and that my little brain, full of ideas, is not. Instead of fooling myself into thinking I can do it all, I need to reassure myself that I probably can’t do half of it, and just pick what I most want to do that day, do it, and rejoice.

When I told Michael about this discovery, he asked if that meant I’d no longer be living in what we call “Jana’s World” where time is this fluffy substance that is mostly ignored until it suddenly surprises me to discover I’m late, yet again. But I like living in Jana’s World and I’m not looking to relocate; it’s (Jana’s) World peace I’m after.

Categories
Every Day Matters Outdoors/Landscape Watercolor

View from San Quentin Prison (EDM #83: Water)

Bay View from San Quentin Prison

When I was driving home from San Anselmo (Marin County) Friday I pulled into the entrance to San Quentin Prison to watch the sunset on the San Francisco Bay. I took some photos to use for this week’s Everyday Matter’s Challenge: draw a body of water.

This afternoon it was really nice to get back to watercolor after spending yesterday struggling with the Painter software. I did this on an Arches 12 x 9″ watercolor block without doing much drawing first. I’m not sure if I should have simplified more–maybe deleted the foreground fennel plants or the electrical tower (I think that’s what it is) in the background. I also discovered when I finished that the reflection in the water doesn’t line up with the sun in the sky. (Ooops!)

Here’s the reference photo and a picture of the sign in front of the prison. It’s so weird that there’s a funky old prison on some of the most beautiful and expensive land in the country, if not the world. (click photos to enlarge on Flickr).

Bay vew from San Quentin Prison San Quentin Prison

Categories
Drawing Outdoors/Landscape Sketchbook Pages Watercolor

Monastery in San Anselmo, CA

Monastery in San Anselmo

Today was a much better day. I visited a friend in San Anselmo (Marin County) and have always been intrigued by seeing the top of this castle-like building peeking out over the trees in her neighborhood. So today on the way to my next stop (the gym) I parked at the bottom of the dirt road leading up to the monastery (or so I thought). And put my quick sketching kit in my backback and started climbing the road…which ended in a hillside covered in poison oak and weeds. I spotted a tree trunk halfway up, climbed up to it, dodging the poison oak, and used it as a little table to put my paints on.

While I was doing this quick watercolor sketch, two nursery school teachers and their brood were having an adventure, walking up the dirt road (but not climbing the hill). It was fun listening to the teachers calling out “Peanut butter!” and the kids shouting “Sandwich!” along with the whines, “It’s too hard…” and demands “Put down the stick!” and questions “What do we do when we cross a street?” (“Look for cars!”). It’s funny how the music, conversation or stories that are happening while painting somehow get embedded in the painting.

If I had taken just an extra minute before I started drawing, I wouldn’t have put that one tree centered right in front of the other, even though that’s how they were in real life. Ink, watercolor in small Moleskine watercolor notebook.