Category: Watercolor

White Rose, Long Day

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

When I woke up this morning I opened the living room blinds and saw the sun glowing on my white roses. I knew I’d have to hurry to get a picture before the light changed so I grabbed my camera and ran outside in my purple pajamas, not really caring about the people driving by. I knew it was a little odd climbing around in the rose bushes in my jammies, but sometimes we must make sacrifices for our art, no?

Today was another long day at work–stayed until after 7:00 p.m. to meet all my deadlines. I’m so glad I was able to get all the materials prepared for our organization’s presentations in Germany and Washington, DC. It’s also performance review time so those had to be dealt with this week, in between producing materials for several other trainings and presentations.

After a quick dinner and feeling very tired, I gave myself one hour in the studio, knowing I had a nice photo of the rose that I could post if I couldn’t draw and paint something in that time. One hour later, the rose is painted and I’m off to read more of Matisse’s biography, “Matisse: The Early Years” which I’m so enjoying. I’m up to his early 20s and his association with so many of my favorite artists. Talk about sacrificing for art–these guys lived so frugally and were so poor. For example, when Marquet lost his overcoat it meant going without a coat in the freezing Paris winters for the three years it took to save enough to buy another coat!

Drawing Flower Art Gardening Life in general Plein Air Sketchbook Pages Watercolor

Westbrae Nursery Buddhas

Micron pigma ink pen, watercolor in Moleskine large watercolor notebook
(Click image, select “All Sizes” to enlarge)
(This was Monday’s post–I thought I’d clicked “Publish” but when there were no comments on it at all, I checked and discovered I had never actually put it on line….oops).

After working this morning I rode my bike into Berkeley this afternoon to do some errands. Last time I drove down Gilman I noticed that Westbrae Nursery had a bunch of Buddhas on display so after I finished my unshopping at REI (returning a clip-on umbrella that I thought would work for plein air painting but wouldn’t clip onto my easel) I rode over to the nursery.

I discovered that my new bike seat worked perfectly as a table for my teeny Winsor & Newton watercolor field kit. I stood with my bike just outside the nursery entrance to draw and paint this. One of the workers stopped by between delivery bags of manure and big plants to people’s cars. His comments: “Are you painting?” “Don’t you get tired standing?” “Wow you’re fast!”

Today was warm and sunny but by the time I started for home, the fog and wind had returned. Having not carried a jacket (a foolish mistake in the Bay Area), I had a chilly downhill ride home.

Tags Pen and Ink, Plein Air

Drawing Flower Art Sketchbook Pages Watercolor

Sunflowers and Copper Pitcher

Post author By Jana Bouc
Post date October 8, 2006
27 Comments on Sunflowers and Copper Pitcher

This was the last of the four little paintings I did tonight.

Kremer Pigments watercolors painted loosely, without drawing; then Pentel Brushpen with black ink loosely drawn over the dry paint. In Handbook Journal Co. square 5.5 x 5.5 sketchbook (purchased from Wet Paint in Minnesota) .
To enlarge, click image, select all sizes)

Today was a gorgeous summery day in the Bay Area and I spent it with a migraine, covers pulled over my head, wearing a sweatshirt over my flannel pajamas, with my electric blanket turned on, waiting for the pain to subside and my cold body temperature to return to normal. Finally around 6:30 tonight I felt OK enough to do something enjoyable and headed to the studio. I decided to experiment with some new art toys and a copper pitcher filled with sunflowers that I’d used as a set up for my watercolor students on Saturday morning.

First sketch: Ink (Pentel Brush Pen) in square Handbook Journal
(to enlarge, click image, select All Sizes)

I did this ink sketch above as a gesture drawing to warm up. I’m loving the Pentel Brush Pen with black ink that I used in the two images above–basically a waterbrush with an ink cartridge. Unfortunately I was sent the wrong one–this one is not waterproof or lightfast, so I need to get the one Roz Stendahl recommended: Pentel Pocket Brush pen with the letters GFKP on it. That one IS waterproof and permanent.

The Handbook Journal Co. sketchbook was also recommended by Roz as an alternative to Moleskine watercolor notebooks. I give it a wholehearted thumbs up! It took ink and watercolor very well, and has all the other nice features of the Moleskine notebooks (elastic strap, hard black cover, back pocket, nice paper; however the pages are not perforated). They come in many different sizes and configurations and have more pages than Moleskines. I really like this square shape.

Third sketch. (Click image, select All Sizes, to enlarge)

Above is the third version I did, first drawing with a Micron Pigma pen in square Handbook Journal and then painted with Kremer Pigments. I worked much more loosely than the second one I did. I like the way the leaves and pitcher turned out. (I decided not to post the second one since it’s icky and overworked–if you have to see it I’ll leave it on my Flickr as Sunflower2.)

Tags Pen and Ink

Animals Drawing Sketchbook Pages Watercolor

Blind Contour Friday: Spooky (Cat)

Post author By Jana Bouc
Post date October 6, 2006
7 Comments on Blind Contour Friday: Spooky (Cat)

Blind Contour Friday has issued the cue for October: “Spooky.” I thought my spooky cats would be suitable subjects, though they barely sat still long enough to draw them. In case you think I’ve forgotten how to draw, a “Blind Contour Drawing” means that you draw without looking at your paper and you do not lift your pen from the paper. You follow the contour of the subject with your eyes and your pen at the same time, and if you have to backtrack or cross over to get back to the beginning you do it, all without lifting the pen. Then when you’re done drawing, you can look at your paper while you splash a little paint on it, just for more fun.

The cat in the top drawing is Busby and the bottom is Fiona, also known as “that spooky little kittie,” since she’s quite odd.

They’re both drawn with ink in a Raffine sketchbook and then painted with Kremer Pigments watercolors.

Tags Animals, Blind Contour, Cats, Pen and Ink

Plein Air Sketchbook Pages Watercolor

Cloudy Skies – First Rain

Watercolor in Raffine sketchbook
(Click image, select “All Sizes” to enlarge)

It rained last night and this morning for the first time since winter. Our staff meeting ended at 4:00 and I was back to my neighborhood by 5:00 which was a treat, since I usually don’t get home from work until 7:00 and it’s almost dark by then. The bright sky was full of dramatic clouds, so instead of heading directly home I drove to the top of Albany Hill on Solano Ave. I painted these two quickies there, standing in the street behind my parked Toyota RAV4, using the painting gear I keep in the car.

Watercolor in Raffine sketchbook
(Click image, select “All Sizes” to enlarge)

I noticed there was a full moon when the sun went down. Maybe that’s what all the craziness was about downtown yesterday when I said I wish there was an iPod for the eyes so you could see beautiful things instead of ugly urban grit. Tami cleverly quipped that an “eye-pod” would be great. And then today I read this in David Pogue’s New York Times technology column:

“Apple’s rep gave a little talk that focused on iPod accessories. One of them looked like a pair of skinny wraparound sunglasses that displays your video iPod’s TV shows and movies on a virtual big screen that floats in the center of your vision. What’s cool is that you can still see–by looking around the TV set on either side. Hard to explain, but really neat.”

Tags Plein Air

Drawing Sketchbook Pages Still Life Watercolor

Red Pepper

Watercolor in Raffine sketchbook (to enlarge, click image, select “All Sizes”)

I hadn’t planned to paint this evening, being tired and over-stimulated from day one of our two day annual staff meeting/retreat combined with a little too much urban grit. But I realized that painting was exactly what I needed to calm and center myself.

We used to hold our staff retreats at a lovely Sonoma wine country retreat center where we stayed overnight and relaxed while doing the learning, reflecting on the past year, and planning for the next year. But it became increasingly more difficult for people to leave growing families and other parts of their lives for work retreats so we started having them in Preservation Park, a charmingly restored group of Victorian buildings in downtown Oakland.

Walking back to our office at lunch time, about a mile away from the meeting, the things I saw made me wish that there was such a thing as iPods for the eyes; sort of like rose-colored glasses, I suppose. Just like listening to an iPod can tune out the sounds of traffic and annoying people talking on cell phones, putting on these glasses would allow you to see lovely gardens, the ocean, sunsets…like music for the eyes. Much better than what I saw today: various mentally ill or drug-crazed people ranting; a man peeing on the sidewalk as we passed by, requiring us to step out of the path of the urine heading towards us; an old woman lying on the sidewalk screaming in pain surrounded by paramedics; the many empty, shuttered storefronts. Even in our nice meeting room we couldn’t get away from the grit–a homeless guy in a bright blue wig wandered into our meeting room but fortunately turned around and left.

Drawing Sketchbook Pages Watercolor

Figure drawing in the dark

Post author By Jana Bouc
Post date September 29, 2006
4 Comments on Figure drawing in the dark

Wash pencil, ink, watercolor in Aquabee 9×12 sketchbook (Click images to enlarge, select “all sizes”)

After a break of over 20 years, I returned to the figure drawing group that has been going on for much, much longer than that at U. C. Berkeley. The group is still open to the public, there is no teacher or instruction, and the fee has only gone up from $3.00 a session to $4.00. It is now on Friday nights (6:30-9:30) and Saturday mornings (10-1) in Krober Hall.

Barbara and I went tonight and had a good time drawing the handsome and muscular African-American model with long braids/dreads. Aside from the usual difficulties of doing figure drawing, the large room was poorly lit. There were a few clip-on floodlights reflecting off the walls for artists to see their work and a photo lamp bounced into a black umbrella lighting the model. It provided nice shadows and highlights on the model but it was very hard to see details like what was foot and what was fabric. I was far from the wall lights so had trouble seeing what I was drawing (excuses, excuses, I know).

I’m really happy to get back to figure drawing and to spending time with my good friend Barbara, after many years of work and family responsibilities intervening. Through all those years we kept saying that one day we’d get back to the days of meeting for tea during the day and doing art together again. And at last we’re doing it! We had tea and pancakes after walking to La Note (a “French” cafe with snobby, French-accented waitstaff but delicious food) for her birthday breakfast and then tonight went out to draw. Life has made a nice circle!

Tags Pen and Ink

Sketchbook Pages Watercolor

Lemon Cucumber

Watercolor in large Moleskine watercolor notebook

I knew what I wanted to do with this, but I was too tired to make it happen. Maybe I just should have just skipped painting tonight, and gone to bed early since last night I just couldn’t sleep–for absolutely no reason.

It was the plate that gave me the all the trouble. It started out as white with pretty purple shadows and yellow reflections (or at least that’s what I intended). Then my cat decided to sit between the lamp and the plate, which changed the shadows. Then…well, I was just too sleepy and I totally messed up the white plate so I made it blue. When I scanned the image I cropped off most of the plate which helped a lot. The scary original is going to sit in my sketchbook though, as a reminder to sleep instead of paint when that is the wise thing to do.

And that’s where I’m heading now!

Drawing Sketchbook Pages Watercolor

Sketchy day

Sketched with Wacom table in Painter (digitally)

Tonight I practiced digitally sketching using Painter. I was so tired this afternoon, I didn’t think I’d be able to muster up anything to post, but my little Buddha statue inspired me. Before dinner I tried experimenting with my new Kremer Pigments watercolor set, but after not enough sleep last night I was too tired to try anything requiring brains. So I just messed around with sunsets over the bay, doing about 5 of them in my Raffine sketchbook (which I still don’t like, so didn’t mind “wasting” pages). The Kremer pigments are definitely more opaque than I’m used to, and in this set there’s nothing I could use to make a nice pinky purple. Instead of using my regular palette too, I just goofed around with the Kremers. They’re such gorgeous paints, but I can see how they need to be selected judiciously, depending on what I’m painting. I think they’d be great for landscape painting.

I’m posting this since it’s what’s in the sketchbook for today, but I think it’s icky. Both images can be clicked for larger versions.

Watercolor in Raffine 5.5×8.5 sketchbook

I worked from home this morning but my internet connection had slowed way down, requiring much crawling around under my desk connecting and disconnecting things to test it. Comcast is going to send someone out on Friday, though now it seems back to normal. When my day job work was done, it was so sunny and warm outside I couldn’t resist the call of the backyard chaise lounge. I took a lovely nap out there, dreaming I was painting somewhere really warm (previews of my February painting trip to Puerto Vallarta, perhaps?).

Then my son drove up and woke me so I got him to help me earthquake strap my new 6′ high white bookshelf to the wall. It’s a great bookcase that someone had put out on the street with a “free” sign on it. I loaded it into my trusty Toyota RAV-4, cleaned it up a bit and now it’s all ready to be filled with all the journals, sketchbooks and artbooks that don’t fit in the studio bookshelf.

Tags Painter Digital Art

Flower Art Watercolor

Morning Walk Tidbits

To see larger size, click image, then click “All Sizes”
Ink & Kremer Pigments Watercolor on 1/4 sheet Arches 140 lb cold press (didn’t quite fit in scanner so a bit of top and bottom got cut off).

This morning I met my friend Barbara for a wonderful walk from her house near Berkeley’s Live Oak Park up through the hills to Tilden Park and back. It was a great walk and talk and I collected these bits and pieces of plant life along the way to paint when I got home. We’ve been friends since we were roommates before we had kids (and our kids are now older than we were when first met at the old Berkeley Co-op bulletin board where I was posting a “roommate wanted” sign). Barbara is an amazing artist and it was so exciting seeing her new work in clay and mosaic, which I’m looking forward to posting here when it’s finished.

I decided to paint on “real” watercolor paper today, rather than in my sketchbook, and to finally try out my Kremer Pigments watercolor set that I learned about from Carol of Paris Breakfasts blog. These paints are amazing! They are so responsive and juicy and rich–unlike anything I’ve used before. Many of the colors included in the 14 pan set are different than my usual palette but seem to be a very astute selection of colors. I can’t wait to play with them some more on a larger scale. I actually started the top twig with my usual palette of mostly Winsor Newton colors and then painted the rest with the Kremer set.

Looking at the picture in this smaller view, I feel compelled to note that the dark brown item on the right is not a piece of cat pooh with litter stuck to it, despite the resemblance. I didn’t pay much attention to the relative size of objects, so things are not quite to scale.

I’d like to find out what each item is and write that on the painting but the only one I know is the Magnolia seedpod. Any identifications are welcome–you might be able to tell better from the scan of the actual objects in the image below. The leaf at the bottom of the painting is fuzzy and soft and gray green but isn’t in the picture below, since I’d already tossed it.
(Click image and select All Sizes to enlarge)

Tags Pen and Ink