Category: Sketchbook Pages

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Drawing Ink and watercolor wash Interiors Life in general Painting People Sketchbook Pages

Returning to Real Life

Oakland Airport View, ink & watercolor 5x7"
Oakland Airport View, ink & watercolor 5x8"

Whew! As soon as I returned from my workshop in Arizona last month, the work on my house and studio began. Then over the past couple weeks I’ve devoted all of my free time to getting the new studio set up and moving in there, while completely ignoring my blog. At last I’m nearly finished with the work (even got to paint in the new studio today) and can begin to catch up here.

I almost didn’t make it to the airport (sketched above) because my usually reliable sister not only forgot she was driving me to the airport, but spent the night at my niece’s and left her cellphone at home. Returning from a nice walk the next morning, and just in the nick of time, my brilliant niece Sophie said, “Hey, aren’t you supposed to drive Jana to the airport this morning?” Yikes!

Superbowl at the Scottsdale Holiday Inn, ink & watercolor, 5x16"
Superbowl at the Scottsdale Holiday Inn, ink & watercolor, 5x16"

When I arrived at my hotel, the Holiday Inn Express in Old Town Scottsdale, the Superbowl was on TV in the lounge. They served a big free breakfast there every morning and hosted happy hour from 5-7 every evening, with free beer, wine, chile, nachos, and just for the Superbowl, free Subway sandwiches.

I sipped my beer, ate some chile and had fun drawing the people who sat still. There was some kind of betting game going on that I found incomprehensible, but the woman in blue sitting on a bar stool at the tall table won $20 from the nice men sitting at tables near me.

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Ink and watercolor wash Painting Sketchbook Pages Still Life Studio

Last Sketches From My Old Studio

Art supplies and tea on right, ink & watercolor, 4x6"
Art supplies and tea on right side of table & sketchbook, ink & watercolor, 4x6"

These are some of my special drawing table items: my cigar box supply holder, my watercolor brushes and pens, and a coaster under my cup sent to me by illustrator Mick Wiggins in response to a fan letter I sent him about the series of posters he designed for BART, our subway system.

Lamp and squash on right side of table & sketchbook, ink & watercolor, 4x6"
Lamp and squash on right side of table & sketchbook, ink & watercolor, 4x6"

And here’s the left side of the same drawing table with my funky little table lamp for lighting still lifes, the wall grid for hanging supplies with paper towel holder, and the base of two combo lamps at the back — and some squash for sketching that are still (a month later) awaiting cooking.

Table still life, full spread in sketchbook, 4x12"
Table still life, full spread in sketchbook, 4x12"

Here’s the full spread as it appears in the sketchbook. I drew the cup twice because I wanted to practice ellipses. I feel a little sad looking at the pictures because that much loved studio is no more. It’s under construction to become a studio apartment instead.

My new studio is wonderful and almost done. Just need to move in my flat files and painting/canvas storage rack, which hopefully will get done this weekend. Then just a little more work on house, apartment and studio and I’ll be able to get back to my happy rut of living to draw and paint instead of living in topsy-turvy world

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Drawing Ink and watercolor wash Life in general Painting Sketchbook Pages

Greetings from Topsy Turvy World

Earthquake water jugs, ink & watercolor, 5x7"
Earthquake emergency water supply jugs that sit beside my bin of earthquake supplies along the fence outside my kitchen. Ink & watercolor, 5x7"

This sketch and the next few I post are from back in the good old days when I used to just sketch, paint, and work. Now I live in construction chaos and once that’s over in a week or two, I’ll still be in sort/discard/move stuff mode as I downsize my living space.

I’m preparing to rent out the half of my duplex that was my studio and move everything I haven’t discarded into either my smaller (but quite comfy) living space or new studio. Meanwhile I’m trying to maintain some semblance of order while everything from my kitchen is in my living room (new kitchen floors in progress) and the wall between the two units has been replaced which means I have to continually go outside, unlock the door, lock it again to get to something that is in the other unit.

Ceramic bowl that Barbara made that I use to hold my phone and it's charger.
Ceramic bowl that Barbara made that I use to hold my phone and it's charger.

I love working alongside my carpenter or just watching him work because he is so smart, competent, serene and cheerful and always has a solution and a tool for every problem. On the other hand, I’m no good at all at transitions. I like things to be done, but nothing is finished because he can only work for me a few hours each day, after his full-time job and before it gets dark. The biggest chunks are done but the finishing touches can take just as long.

It’s all for the good though since the rental income will help support my getting to paint full-time within a year or so. Meanwhile, sketching saves me when my topsy-turvy world makes my head spin. Just looking, seeing and drawing anything calms me down and restores my sanity.

Categories
Animals Berkeley Drawing Ink and watercolor wash Painting Sketchbook Pages Urban Sketchers

Sketching Taxidermy at Spenger’s Restaurant

The High Room Taxidermy at Spengers, ink & watercolor, 5x7.5"
The High Room Taxidermy at Spengers, ink & watercolor, 5x7.5"

Our Urban Sketchers group met Tuesday night at the historic, oldest restaurant in Berkeley, Spenger’s Fish Grotto. I called ahead to see if we could sketch in the room whose walls are covered with taxidermy animals and fish. The manager was very supportive of our visit, even though he was dealing with half the restaurant (which has many rooms, all full of seafaring and other historic artifacts) being closed for carpet cleaning that day.

I arrived a bit late due to continuing construction work at my house, and found the group sitting at a big table in the middle of  the taxidermy room (actually called the “High Room” because of the super high ceilings). Richard the manager had opened and designated the room just for us. Thank you Richard!

We are delighted that Berlin Urban Sketcher and illustrator Olga Prudnikova has joined us for the next couple of months while she is in Berkeley. She and the rest of our group managed to do many sketches to my one. You can see their beautiful and quirky sketches on our SF Urban Sketchers blog here and here.

Thank you Spenger’s general manager Richard, for your support and hospitality. We had a great time sketching and snacking on their famous creamy, thick clam chowder.

Categories
Drawing Faces Ink and watercolor wash Life in general Painting People Self Portrait Sketchbook Pages

Coffee and Me

Coffee with Pre-Trip To Do List
Coffee with To Do List

I’m back from my fantastic, amazing, intense week-long portrait workshop with Rose Frantzen, the best teacher I’ve ever had, in Scottsdale, Arizona. I will share my experiences once I have fully processed them and recovered my blogging mojo.

Meanwhile, I’m going through caffeine withdrawal again. After months with zero caffeine I needed extra energy to paint 8 hours a day on little sleep for a week. First it was just a morning cup of green tea, then black tea, then an afternoon diet Coke, and by the last day,  a morning cup of bad coffee AND the diet Coke in the afternoon. Now, after two days of withdrawal migraines, hopefully I’m over the worst of it. And it was worth it.

Self portrait with grey sweatshirt, ink & watercolor, 7x5"
Self portrait with grey sweatshirt, ink & watercolor, 7x5"

I felt like sketching and the mirror was handy so why not draw myself, cozy in my gray sweats. My grandma Gertie had a “house dress” she wore all the time at home and out back to hang her laundry. Just a yellow cotton smock that snapped up the front. I have my “house sweats” that I wear when I’m at home. So comfy and warm.

Categories
Interiors Sketchbook Pages

A Peek at My Living Room

Livingroom with books and shoes, ink & watercolor, 6x4"
Livingroom with books and shoes, ink & watercolor, 6x4"

I believe in function over form; everything in my house is there because it works well, provides comfort, or is a tool I enjoy using. I don’t suffer things that don’t work. If they fail and they’re new they go back to the store; if they’re old they get donated.  In the picture above is my wonderful black leather recliner that is so comfortable on my back and my odd-colored leather sofa that also reclines.

The shoes are another story. They squeak and are uncomfortable. I arranged with Zappos to return them but I couldn’t find another pair anywhere that fit as well. I’m afraid it’s my feet, not the shoes, that are not as useful tools as they once were. I can’t send them back or recycle them though, so I’m doing exercises to make them stronger and more flexible instead.

TV and antenna, ink & watercolor, 4x6"
TV and antenna, ink & watercolor, 4x6"

I sketched this view of the TV and unattractive antennas (that work very well) sitting on the recliner in the first picture. I was feeling nauseous after taking a bunch of vitamins to try to fight a cold and so sat down and watched a painting video while sketching.

More good tools: With the $19 antenna from Radio Shack I am able to get all the network and public broadcasting HD channels for free. I love not paying for cable and just using a TiVo to record the few shows I like and watching them without commercials.

I scheduled this ahead to post while I’m at the workshop in case I get homesick and want to see my  kitties or my house. I think that will be highly unlikely though as I’ll be painting and learning like crazy.

Categories
Animals Ink and watercolor wash Sketchbook Pages

Bye-Bye Kitties, See You Soon

Fiona on Grandma's Blanket, ink & watercolor, 6x4" Strathmore sketchbook
Fiona on Grandma's Old Ratty Blanket, ink & watercolor, 6x4"

Fiona loves curling up in this funky old wool blanket. It was my grandmothers so despite it being in tatters I can’t part with it and use it as a throw on cold evenings. There is a corner missing that my sister’s rat munched off years ago, and another corner missing that I cut off and sent to an Australian artist friend, Allison Horridge, who was collecting fabrics for an art project.

I will be offline this week to focus on the Alla Prima Portraiture workshop with Rose Frantzen that I was so incredibly lucky to get into from her waiting list. She only teaches a couple of times a year; registration for her June class will be by lottery.

Fiona, ink & watercolor, 6x4"
Fiona, ink & watercolor, 6x4"

Meanwhile, I have the best pet sitter: Rachel McGraw of McGraw’s Paws. She is so professional, honest, kind, organized and caring. I wish all business owners could take a lesson from her. It’s weird having to show house-sitters and pet-sitters my other (neurotic) cat Busby’s hiding places: my closet behind the shoes, the bottom shelf of my dresser, kitchen cabinets (including the one above the fridge), under the couch and bed, or behind a painting drying rack.

Busby Berkeley, Oil on Panel, 6x6" - Portrait of a Cat
Busby Berkeley: The Cat, Oil on Panel, 6x6"

Fiona likes everyone, and even Busby (above) who is scared of everyone likes Rachel.

Categories
Art theory Food sketch Ink and watercolor wash Interiors Places Sketchbook Pages Urban Sketchers

Squid, Vanilla Ale, Noise and Wonky Sketching at Elevation 66

Grilled squid with avocado, rice fritters, grapefruit gel and spicy avocado
Grilled squid with avocado, rice fritters, grapefruit gel and spicy avocado

I enthusiastically joined my Tuesday night sketch buddies for dinner, beer and sketching at  Elevation 66, the new El Cerrito brew pub. I loved my dinner,  displayed above, (a “small plate” combo so weird I couldn’t resist: grilled squid slices on spicy avocado sauce beside little blobs of grapefruit foam/gel (“to cleanse the palate”) and spicy deep-fried rice fritters. Odd but yummy!

Esther Vanilla Stout Ale, Delicious! ink & watercolor, 7x5"
Esther Vanilla Stout, Delicious! ink & watercolor, 7x5"

Even under the influence of a small glass of Esther Vanilla Stout, a delicious milkshake of a beer, it got so noisy by 8:00 on a Tuesday night that I couldn’t think straight and was ready to leave. I was having a hard time with drawing ellipses and symmetrical shapes (my next drawing subject to practice).

Cathy & Micaela at the bar
Cathy & Micaela sketching at the bar, ink & watercolor 5x7"

And there were lots and lots of symmetrical shapes to practice on! My drawing just kept getting wonkier as the noise got louder.

Beer in the vat, wine on the shelf with hoses
Beer in the vat, wine on the shelf with hoses

I was overly self-critical while I was sketching, wanting to get things right. Then I got my copy of The Art of Urban Sketching: Drawing On Location Around The World and discovered something wonderful: Of the two sketches of mine that Gabi chose for the book, one is very wonky and the other nicely organized. That helped me to see that there is room for both in my art life. Wonky is good! Getting it “right” is good too! Yay!

Please click on their names to see Cathy, Micaela and Beth’s excellent pub sketches from the evening on our Urban Sketchers blog.

Categories
Drawing People Sketchbook Pages

Golden Globes 2012 Fun Sketching

Golden Globes: Gervais, Depp, Banderas, Plummer, ink & watercolor 8x6"
Golden Globes: Gervais, Depp, Banderas, Plummer, ink & watercolor 8x6"

It was fun watching the Golden Globes and sketching the people. It took much longer because I kept pausing the TiVo when I saw someone I wanted to sketch.

Four (failed) attempts at Laura Dern
Four (failed) attempts at Laura Dern

I was surprised to actually catch likenesses of some (but definitely not all) of the people. Laura Dern and Rob Lowe alluded me.

Julianne Moore, 2 failed Rob Lowes, Producer of Downton Abbey
Julianne Moore, 2 bad Rob Lowes, Downton Abbey Producer

I wasn’t sure if it was just my TV or the angle of the cameras that filmed the show, but it seemed like all the movie stars had extra long heads. I doubt it was the camera that made all the female stars look soooo skinny. How sad it must be to have your art form require that you don’t get to eat.

Audience, director glasses, Madonna
Audience, director glasses, Madonna

It seemed like all the male directors and producers were wearing glasses with heavy, square, black frames, the kind that used to be considered nerd glasses and usually sported tape holding them together.

Categories
Drawing Food sketch Ink and watercolor wash Sketchbook Pages Still Life

It Ain’t Winter But It’s Squash

Spaghetti Squash and Acorn Squash, ink & watercolor, 8x5"
Spaghetti Squash and Acorn Squash, ink & watercolor, 8x5"

We’re still not having winter, just more lovely sunny days near 70 degrees. I long for the cool rainy weather that makes it so appealing to bake winter squash and simmer hearty soups while painting in the studio. So the squash gets sketched instead of eaten.

Sonia's Squash, ink & watercolor, 5x8"
Sonia's Squash, ink & watercolor, 5x8"

The green squash isn’t really named “Sonia’s Squash” but I always think of my friend Sonia when I see these because of this amazing watercolor she painted of one with hundreds of glazes. (Correction: in reading the title I see that hers isn’t a squash it’s an Australian Blue Pumpkin.)

These squash are actually side by side on a spread in the Moleskine I’m working in (along with two other sketchbooks this month) but since the Moleskine is bound in stupid landscape format it doesn’t fit in my scanner.