Winter Begonias in Tin Pot, Oil on Linen Panel, 10×8″ (SOLD)
It was time to face something more cheerful than my own face in the studio. This pretty pot of begonias was just what I needed. I worked on them a bit at a time, between visits to my mother in hospice. My mom passed away very peacefully last week, in no pain and with family at her side. She taught me many things in life; her final and maybe most important lesson was how to let go and fearlessly accept this final passage with grace (and the help of amazing hospice nurses).
This painting is sold. Below are the steps in the progress of the painting.
Winter Begonias in Tin Pot, WIP-A
Winter Begonias in Tin Pot, WIP-B
Winter Begonias in Tin Pot, WIP-C
Winter Begonias in Tin Pot, Oil on Linen Panel, 10×8″ (SOLD)
Sunflower Attempt #1 (Above) This one quickly went off the rails, the flowers got scraped off and then not repainted because the actual flowers had keeled over and I had nothing to work with.
Sunflower Attempt #1-B (Below)
There are some interesting things about this composition but I was still working too large (about 16×11″) and by the time I started painting after getting it sketched and blocked in it was too late in the day and the next day the flowers were falling over. The brown scarf
EDiM 1: Food Food: Defrosting Burger, graphite and watercolor, 8×7.25 in
Day 1 of Every Day in May 2015 is supposed to be a favorite food and although I do enjoy the occasional burger, ground beef isn’t really a favorite eat…but this vacuum-sealed package of defrosting-as-I-drew meat was certainly a favorite to draw.
EDiM 2: Tree (Baby Cherry Tree), ink and watercolor, 4.5×8 in
Day 2’s cue is “A nearby tree” and my next-door neighbor’s adorable little baby flowering cherry called out to be drawn before the puffy flowers fall. I meant to fit the whole tree on the page but I started in ink with the top left branch and drew too big so only the top left side of the tree fit. Oh well.
EDiM 1 and 2: Full page in sketchbook, ink and watercolor, 8×10 in
It felt so good to just draw for fun in my sketchbook again after weeks of working on two commissioned paintings that are finally approaching completion. I needed to get back to playing in my sketchbook again, whether the paintings were finished or not, so EDiM came along just at the right time.
For me, it will probably be more like Every-ish Day… or (Almost) Every Day… or Some Days in May since I have a lot of other things going on this month. However many days it is, any day that I get to draw is a good day!
If you want to join in the fun, check out the Facebook Group or the Flickr Group and click to join. Everyone is welcome to play any time during the month.
Persimmon and String Beans, oil on panel, 6×6 inches
This was one of the those magical paintings that just worked from beginning to end. Maybe it was painting on Gessobord, which I love, or maybe it was because I tried to stay really focused. It’s available here on Daily Paintworks.
I was careful to paint the string beans from the garden and their leaves first since I knew they would change quickly. I stopped when I found myself getting tired or losing focus and took a break. And I closely followed my pre-planned goals for each session.
See my session chart for Persimmon and String Beans (pdf) with all the steps, plans and session images or see the images of the steps below without details. One new step I added this time was studying the nearly finished painting in Photoshop on a large screen before declaring it finished and then finding and noting areas that needed adjustments, including completely changing the background value at top.
Let me know if you’re finding these charts or step by steps interesting. I do them for myself but if others find it interesting it’s worth posting them.
Photo of set up (but painted from life)
Session 1A: the drawing on panel in charcoal then restated with thinned paint
Session 1B, painting the green beans since the leaves would change quickly. I started to paint the persimmon but wiped it off when I realized I’d lost focus and needed a break before returning and painting with focus
Session 2, painting everything except green beans
Adjustments/corrections made in Photoshop including darkening the top background
This little fig tree has survived so much: being transplanted, then a killer frost, and then transplanting again after sewer line work. As soon as leaves sprouted this year so did two figs. Sadly the crows or squirrels (or the toddler next door?) took them before I could even post this.
Little Rose Studies, ink and watercolor, 7.5×5.5 in
I sat in the driveway and quickly sketched some roses but had to stop when the shadow of the house took away the light.
End of Journal Self-Portrait, graphite, 5×7.5 in
And then there’s my not so spring-y self, frowning into the mirror, with hat-head and something wrong with the mouth. And yes, it’s intentionally buried at the bottom of this post. It feels good to be drawing again, after what seems like months away from it. It’s also a little frustrating feeling rusty at it. But the only fix for that is more drawing!
“Lily White on White,” oil on Gessobord panel, 8×8″ (AVAILABLE on DailyPaintworks Auction: CLICK IMAGE to visit auction)
I spent some time sketching and painting a calla lily that sprouted in my garden and while I was at it, tested a palette of Winsor Newton Cotman paints. Several of my friends have this clever, inexpensive Winsor & Newton Cotman Sketchers Palette and I thought it was worth a try so I ordered one.
I started by testing the colors, listing the pigments to match them to artists’ quality pigments I normally use (click to see larger with pigment numbers) and making notes about which ones to swap out (at that point assuming I’d continue using the others).
Test of WInsor Newton Cotman pan paints (FAIL)
I was very frustrated with the results I was getting when painting and in the end, took ALL the Cotman pans out of the palette and replaced them with pans filled with artist quality paints from tubes. I put the Cotman pans in a large jar of water to soak so that I could empty and reuse the empty pans. After dumping and refilling the jar many times I ended up with a jar of tinted water with a lot of white sandy junk at the bottom: the nasty fillers and binders added to the pigments to make it cheap.
I know that for the same $17 that this palette AND crappy paint costs, you can only buy one or two tubes of full strength, high quality paint. But I’d rather have only a few colors than use junk. Most of the following sketches lack vibrancy, richness in color, and paint application was difficult and unattractive. Here they are in reverse order of completion:
Lily sketch #6, watercolor, 8×10″
I liked the drawing above, but not the grayed colors.
Lily sketch #5, ink & watercolor, 8×10″
I liked the shape of the leaf above.
Lily sketch #4?, gouache, 8×10″
I painted over an awful sketch with gouache (above), just loosely trying to get the shape of the flower.
Lily sketch #3-4, watercolor, 8×10″
Two previous attempts at the leaf, on 2 other kinds of paper I taped into the 8×10″ Moleskine.
Lily sketch #1 with Snail, watercolor, 8×10″
The first sketch. I like the composition but the colors and application were yuck.
I’m still using the Cotman Palette. I think it’s a great for sketching because it’s light, compact and holds enough colors (12). And at $17 I don’t mind the price, even after throwing away the colors it cane with. It’s handy to have the now-empty, extra half-pans which usually cost about 50 cents each. So really, I got the palette for $11, and 12 empty pans for $6. Not too bad.
The creepiest things around my house are snails and slugs. They creep along, leaving their silvery trails of slime. Yuck. My gardeners warned me that the big Agapanthus plants left behind by the former owner of my home were snail havens and wanted to remove them. But I like the crazy purple flowers and left them. To collect snails to sketch I knew where to go: I filled a plastic cup from two Agapanthus.
Most of the snails curled up in their shells and hid. One was very curious and climbed onto a leaf I stuck in the cup. I put the leaf and snail on the table to draw but he was a busy guy so I had to keep moving him when he reached the end of the leaf. Then I put him in the cup and he started climbing up and over the side, giving me a clear view of his face, which was just a little nub, with no apparent eyes or mouth. Extremely creepy.
The lock above is one I’ve had for many years. It lives in my gym bag and even though I sometimes go long stretches without using it, I seem to always remember the combination. I keep the combination in my iPhone’s contact list just in case I forget. I don’t want to be stranded in the locker room! I struggled a bit drawing the lock so did it several times, starting with the one at the bottom.
More about snails:
Even though I didn’t see eyes or mouth it turns out they have them. Their weak eyes are on the end of their tentacles, the mouth is underneath the head. They don’t have ears and can’t hear but have a good sense of smell (though no nose). Lots more interesting snail facts on Snail World.com.
Hurried Sketch of Very Stinky Fruit, ink & watercolor, 5×8″
These funny strawberry-like fruits came from a tree in Berkeley that I passed while walking with a friend. The patterns on them reminded me of cloisonné beads. I picked up a few that had fallen from the tree and was surprised to find them very light and seemingly hollow, rather like marshmallows. I stuck them in my pocket to take home and sketch.
I didn’t have time that day to sketch so left them on a plate in my studio. When I returned to the studio the next day I noticed a foul odor, rather like vomit , and realized it was coming from these “fruits.”
Stinky Strawberry Fruit from Tree, photo
I braved the smell and set about sketching them (quickly). I would have cut them open to discover what was inside but was afraid I’d need a gas mask. As soon as I finished the sketch I bagged them and got them out of the studio, opened the doors and turned the air cleaner on high.
In this case, beauty really is only skin deep. Whatever is under the skin is really yucky. A clever ruse by mother nature to prevent them from being eaten?
UPDATE: 1/9/12.
Mystery solved. One of my readers on Facebook put the query out to her horticultural friends and here’s what they reported:
The tree is Cornus kousa, one of the very best small tree/large shrubs. Spectacular in bloom, late spring, then very decorative in the fall. Good for birds. I found this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkkcWtQSgIY
Figgy Lives to Fruit Again, ink & watercolor, 8×5″
Poor Figgy! I knew when I planted her (him? if it fruits is it female? do trees have genders?) from a little twig that it might be too close to my old clay pipe sewer line. And it was: the roots grew down and my drains clogged up.
Baby Fig’s First Fruit, ink & watercolor, 5×8″
I have documented this little tree’s life since I first planted it as a cutting (see planting a stick, 3 leaves, and skinny trunks) and for the first time it had produced several delicious figs (sketched above). There were still a few on the tree (can you find them in the sketch below?).
Fig Tree: Tall as My Pocket, Ink & watercolor, 8×5″
After several approaches to fix the clog failed, the plumber had to dig a huge, deep hole to reline the pipes. This required moving the tree, which it turns out, I’d planted RIGHT ON TOP of the sewer line where it met the street.
Digging out the tree, ink & watercolor sketch
The plumber is a good man who loves trees.While I watched and sketched, he had his crew very carefully dig the tree out, gently arrange and trim the extensive roots (it’s true: trees have as much below the ground as above). Then they dug another big hole several feet away and replanted Figgy.
Critical Condition (both me and Figgy). I never seem to have enough information when working with contractors and often make wrong decisions. I cropped off and spared you from most of my journal scribbling on that subject.
By then it was getting dark, I was getting panicky as I’d been without water and bathroom use all day, and the job was extensive and expensive. They set up lights and kept working, finishing around 9:00 that night.
A few days later I could see Figgy was in critical condition. The leaves were dead and the branches were shriveling. That called for emergency surgery; I cut off most of them and as you can see by the sketch at the top of the post, it was successful.
So Figgy is a stick again, but full of potential, just as the year ends and a new one begins. I will spend this evening reflecting on 2012 and 2013 and will post about that soon. Meanwhile, best wishes to all for blossoming in a lively and good new year !
Lately food trucks pop up all over the Bay Area; former roach coaches are the new gourmet dining spots. But this is the first vintage Airstream trailer food truck I’ve seen and it doesn’t travel. It’s set up on blocks inside Flowerland Nursery on Solano Avenue in Albany (California–next door to Berkeley) and run by Local 123 Cafe.
I can’t think of a better place to enjoy a good cup of coffee than in a lovely garden. The lovely folks at Flowerland Nursery put interesting chairs and tables throughout the nursery, turning the whole place into a sort of garden café. You can get your coffee and then sit among the palms, the native plants, fruit trees or climbing vines to enjoy it.
And when you finish your coffee, you can take home the chair you sat on or the plant you sat beside (for a price of course).
Jana Bouc, Artist 