Category: Ink and watercolor wash

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Animals Flower Art Ink and watercolor wash Life in general Sketchbook Pages

What the Wasp Wants

What the Wasp Wants, ink and watercolor, 5x7 in (wasp in the flower)
What the Wasp Wants, ink and watercolor, 5×7 in

This wasp just wanted nectar from the flower. My friend Barbara just spent big bucks getting rid of hundreds of wasps that built nests in her attic and were invading her house. We don’t know what they wanted. This is the last of the leftover sketches from our endless summer, now being called California’s worst drought in 500 years.

Meanwhile, I’m still spending time previously used for sketching out hiking with my pup (but from now on I’m going to start carrying my sketching gear on our hikes and stop halfway to sketch). Thinking a morning 4-6 mile hike would tire her out, I’ve been painting in the studio in the afternoons while she attempts to re-landscape the yard. She’s a perfect angel in the house, but when we’re in the studio (that opens onto the backyard) she goes wild, digging up and chewing on random junk from under the trees and bushes that circle the yard, despite her comfy bed in the studio, fully stocked with chew toys.

Today I caught her chewing on an old broken hose nozzle, a piece of plastic pipe, various twigs and pieces of plants, and a stinky chew toy she’d previously buried. Then we play chase while I try to swap her for something healthier. That gives me an idea for some sketching tomorrow–all her toys and chewie things, many which are quite weird.

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Flower Art Ink and watercolor wash Outdoors/Landscape Sketchbook Pages

Endless Summer Continues: Flowers from Christina’s Garden

Christina's Garden-Echinacea, ink and watercolor, 5x7 in
Christina’s Garden-Echinacea, ink and watercolor, 5×7 in

While the rest of the country is dealing with icy cold, we’re having a warmer-than- summer winter in Northern California. Instead of hunkering down and getting “rainy-day” tasks done at the computer I’m out walking for hours every day in the 72 degree sunshine with my pup. I love it but I miss winter!!!

Christina's Garden 3: Kangaroo Paws, ink and watercolor, 5x7 in
Christina’s Garden 3: Kangaroo Paws, ink and watercolor, 5×7 in

Although these flowers were sketched in a friend’s beautiful garden during the actual summer months of 2013, my roses are still blooming and spring flowers and fruit tree blossoms are bursting out everywhere, despite the lack of rain. It’s weird to see brown dry hills in January.

Christina's Garden 1, ink and watercolor, 5x7 in
Christina’s Garden 1, ink and watercolor, 5×7 in

Every day I look at the weather report, hoping to see rain in the near future, but it’s just not there. They’re saying this may be the driest year in 500 years. I read it’s already the driest winter in California recorded history. Since last winter ended I think all we’ve had are 2 days of minimal drizzles.

Until we get some winter weather, my semi-drought of blog posting will probably continue along with the sunshine that pulls me outdoors and away from the computer.

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Animals Bay Area Parks Ink and watercolor wash Landscape Pt. Richmond Sketchbook Pages

Christmas Goose and a White Pelican

Canadian Goose, Knox Miller Park, ink and watercolor, 5x7 in
Canadian Goose, Knox Miller Park, ink and watercolor, 5×7 in

After an extraordinary autumn and early winter, with many things other than art going on in my life, I’ve gotten way behind on posting. This goose isn’t really a Christmas goose, it’s a summer goose, as are the rest of these sketches from Knox Miller park.

Knox Miller Park Clouds, watercolor, 5x7 in
Knox Miller Park Clouds, watercolor, 5×7 in

Knox Miller Park in Pt. Richmond is so pretty, with a lagoon of sorts, grassy meadows and the bay and mountains of Marin in the distance. The birds were all sketched from photos, the little landscape above was the only sketch I managed to do on site, after arriving late and feeling poorly that day.

Knox Miller Goose, ink and watercolor 5x7 in
Knox Miller Goose, ink and watercolor 5×7 in

Silly goose. My first attempt at drawing him from a photo.

White Pelican, Knox Miller Park, ink, watercolor and gouache, 5x7 in
White Pelican, Knox Miller Park, ink, watercolor and gouache, 5×7 in

I struggled and struggled trying to draw and paint this unusual white pelican from a blurry photo. I ended up adding some gouache to get back some white, which never really works well.

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Albany Animals Drawing Ink and watercolor wash Landscape Outdoors/Landscape Sketchbook Pages Urban Sketchers

Urban Avians and the Highway

Birdwatching at Albany Bulb 1, ink and watercolor, 5x7 in
Birdwatching at Albany Bulb 1, ink and watercolor, 5×7 in

While I was having my car’s oil changed at Toyota Albany I took a hike down to the SF Bay Trail to sketch. I followed a confusing bike and walking path that goes up onto an overpass and then down under the freeway. It leads to the marsh on the way out to Albany Bulb, a spit of land homesteaded by the homeless that the city is constantly trying to reclaim. There were birds everywhere, including the beautiful, delicate white Snowy Egrets that always delight me (above).

Pigeons on the Freeway, ink and watercolor, 5x7 in
Pigeons on the Freeway, ink and watercolor, 5×7 in

I even spotted birds living right on the freeway walls; the family of pigeons above didn’t seem disturbed by the constant roar of cars. The hike was a bit isolated, and it felt spooky walking under the freeways, even on a sunny weekday morning. Fortunately the few people I saw along the way were polite bicyclists. No trolls living under these bridges like the Brothers Grimm fairytale I remember with horror from my childhood.

Birdwatching at Albany Bulb, ink, 5x7 in
Birdwatching at Albany Bulb, ink, 5×7 in

While I was sketching, a man was photographing birds nearby and he told me the names of the birds we were seeing, and how to differentiate them. I made notes on my sketch as I tried to figure out the basic shape of the birds.

Categories
Animals Ink and watercolor wash Life in general

Happy 90th Birthday, Mom

90 Ladybugs for Mom's 90th Birthday, ink and watercolor, 5x7 in
90 Ladybugs for Mom’s 90th Birthday, ink and watercolor, 5×7 in

One of the many things I have to be thankful for this holiday season is that my mother just turned 90! I made this little birthday card for her with 90 ladybugs on it. Ninety sounds like a big number but when illustrated with ladybugs it doesn’t seem like that much.

She is still going strong, living independently in her own home, driving in the crazy L.A. traffic, cooking her own meals, and managing her own affairs. A few years ago she bought a computer and though it drives her crazy with its seeming capriciousness, she usually wins the battle to find her email, read it, and even print it when the stars really line up right.

She doesn’t paint anymore, but you can see a gallery of her artwork here from around the 1950s. Below is my favorite of her paintings: my grandmother Gertie.

My mother's oil painting of my grandmother
My mother’s oil painting of her mother, my grandmother
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Ink and watercolor wash Life in general Photos Sketchbook Pages

Happy Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Centerpiece, ink and watercolor, 5x7.5 in
Thanksgiving Centerpiece, ink and watercolor, 5×7.5 in

My sister Marcy hosted our Thanksgiving dinner and my niece Sophie made the stunning table centerpiece that my sketch above doesn’t do justice to. We added a new tradition to our Thanksgiving dinner: The thrift-shop Tacky Holiday Sweater Contest (below).

Tacky Holiday Sweater Contest Winners
Tacky Holiday Sweater Contest Winners

Mine was no doubt the ugliest but Robin’s (on the right) got extra points for being ill-fitting. It’s too bad you can’t see Nilla the dog’s lovely sweater, complete with jingle bells and ornaments. She only looks like a giant because of being closer to the camera. Britney (center) got extra credit for her Walmart faux-patent-leather skin-tight leggings to go with her Vegas-grandma-style sweater.

Categories
Ink and watercolor wash Landscape Sketchbook Pages

Filoli Gardens

Filoli Garden Door, ink and watercolor, 7x5 in
Filoli Garden Door, ink and watercolor, 7×5 in

During a special after-hours access for artists event, we visited Filoli to explore and sketch this amazing historic site. I started by sketching the doorway to the walled gardens (above).

Filoli is only 3o miles south of San Francisco but of another time and place entirely. Built in 1917 and lived in until 1975, the 654-acre property  includes a 36,000 square foot Georgian country house and spectacular 16-acre English Renaissance garden.

Filoli Garden Panorama, ink and watercolor, 5x7 in
Filoli Garden Panorama, ink and watercolor, 5×14 in

After touring the house (where we spotted original Sargent portraits of the family) we only had a couple of hours left so I decided to set a timer on my phone to force myself to sketch quickly and keep moving. It created an unpleasant sense of urgency in a place that could have been all about serenity. I should have relaxed, explored the entire grounds, and then sketched my favorite spots.

Filoli Pool, ink and watercolor, 5x7 in
Filoli Pool, ink and watercolor, 5×7 in

Instead I spent time sketching the pool (interesting shadows; but not an original feature of the estate) so missed the spectacular rose gardens which I caught a glimpse of on my way out. I will definitely return for the next artist access day.

Categories
Berkeley Gardening Ink and watercolor wash Sketchbook Pages

Empress Hornblower and the Wanna Be Cantaloupe

Empress Hornblower at Sunset, ink and watercolor, 5x7 in
Empress Hornblower at Sunset, ink and watercolor, 5×7 in

Sounds like a great title for a children’s book, no? The Empress Hornblower (above) is part of a fleet of party boats moored behind the ritzy hotel at the northern Berkeley marina, an area long-time residents remember as the old Berkeley dump.

Before “ecology” and “global warming” were common words, cities dumped their garbage, old cars, construction rubble, etc. in the San Francisco Bay. As they filled in the bay with garbage, they created new land on which they built housing, freeways, and, when they finally closed the dump, parks and hotels.

Wanna Be Cantalope
Wanna Be Cantaloupe, ink and watercolor, 5×7 in

My tenant (I own/live in a duplex) loves to garden so I put in a raised bed for her and we prepared the soil along the side of our property for flowers and veges. When she  planted cantaloupes I warned her they wouldn’t thrive in our foggy climate but she ignored me.

They were cute but never got bigger than chubby  cucumbers, and probably most of that was skin. She pulled them out before she left on vacation in October. I didn’t have the heart to ask her if she ate them or put them in the green bin for recycling.

Categories
Berkeley Ink and watercolor wash Life in general Outdoors/Landscape Sketchbook Pages Urban Sketchers

Endless Summer #1: Clark Kerr Campus, World News Box

World Journal News Box at Clark Kerr Campus, ink and watercolor, 7x5x5.5 in
World Journal News Box at Clark Kerr, ink/watercolor, 7x5x5.5 in

Although cold autumn weather and even snow already arrived in much of the western hemisphere, always radical Berkeley begs to differ. We had an unusually unfoggy and warm summer, a toasty fall, and now, with temperatures in the 70s we’re back to summer again. So far 2013 is the driest year in Bay Area history with less rain than any year in recorded history, all the way back to the Gold Rush.

After a delay posting work from the summer due to various health issues, at least it doesn’t feel awkward to be posting them now, thanks to our seemingly endless summer.

In the sketch above, this bright red Chinese newspaper box on the Clark Kerr Campus immediately drew my attention. Clark Kerr was built in the 1930s as a residential school for the blind. When blind students began mainstreaming into regular public schools, the University of California Berkeley bought the complex for student housing. Clark Kerr’s beautiful, serene grounds and Spanish style buildings provide an oasis of sketching opportunities in the middle of a busy urban area.  

Categories
Building Ink and watercolor wash Outdoors/Landscape Places Sketchbook Pages Virtual Paint-Out

Lima, Peru for Virtual Paintout October 2013

Lima, Peru, ink and watercolor from Google Streetview, 4x5 in
Lima, Peru, ink and watercolor from Google Streetview, 4×5 in

I love doing the Virtual Paintout, strolling around a city in Google Streetview and picking a scene to paint. This sketch is a preliminary study for an oil painting  still in progress. The location is Nicolas de Pierola and Jr. Cańete Streets in Lima, Peru. Here’s a link to the map: http://goo.gl/maps/hQdsp.

Below is the original screenshot plus a few other streetview pictures from around Lima. Although the city looked very beautiful, I’m often drawn to funkier parts of town.