Category: Sketchbook Pages

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Gouache Other Art Blogs I Read Sketchbook Pages

Waiting for the doctor

Ink in Moleskine sketchbook

Just a quick sketch while waiting in the doctor’s office (after studying all the charts of spines and wrists and skeletons). I was really enjoying drawing and hoping he’d be delayed but he wasn’t and then I had to return to the office. Nobody could focus this afternoon after an all-morning meeting and then a holiday gourmet pizza lunch complete with first visits from two co-workers who are out on maternity leave and their beautiful new babies.

We all took turns holding and rocking these little miracles while we played “Dirty Santa” (Everyone brings a gift, then we all draw numbers and pick gifts in order of our numbers. Each consecutive person can choose to “steal” the gift a previous person has opened until every gift has been opened and everyone has one.)

I brought as a gift Maira Kalman‘s wonderful new book of illustrations in gouache of her every day life and thoughts (always quirky and unique), The Principles of Uncertainty. I love Maira Kalman and highly recommend the book. Last year the hit of the party was my gift of her previous book, the The Elements of Style Illustrated (Strunk & White).

Not much work got done when the party ended at 3:00. Everyone was in a daze from the fun, pizza and desserts (including fudge–hadn’t seen any of that for years!).

Categories
Cartoon art Drawing Dreams Life in general Other Art Blogs I Read Painting People Sketchbook Pages Watercolor

Dream Journal: Film Crew Dinner & Sleepless Sleep Over with Laundry

Film crew dinner with Amazon Indians

Ink and watercolor in sketchbook (Larger)

I did these dream drawings right after I woke up, sitting in bed with a special SAD light (see previous post) propped up on my lap, shining on my face. My friend loaned me her spare light to see if it helped. I’m not sure if it was the lights, the sunny day, the hour at the gym and walk in the sun afterwards, but I’ve definitely been in a much better mood today than I’ve been in weeks.

Last night’s dreams were quite strange. The one illustrated above was about a dinner party with a film crew, including the director (at the head of the table) and two Amazonian Indian women who had just participated in a ritual that the crew filmed for a documentary.

One woman was displaying the scratches/lashes on her back she proudly received during the ritual. The other was mostly just displaying her boobs.

Maybe I’ve been watching too much of the TV show Bones on DVD about a forensic anthropologist? Or maybe it’s from listening to the National Public Radio series about the Ganges River (that I converted into the Amazon) and combined it with the interview on NPR’s Fresh Air with film director Jason Reitman and scriptwriter Diablo Cody.

Sleepless sleepover with pile of laundry

Ink and watercolor in sketchbook (Larger)

In this dream I invited Martha over for a little slumber party (huh?) and then remembered that I needed to vacuum because there was cat hair everywhere. I was still cleaning when she arrived so she hung out downstairs helping my mom plan some wonderful menus involving roasted pork. (I have no upstairs, my mom doesn’t live here, and she doesn’t cook, especially not pork.)

I still hadn’t finished vacuuming but realized there was laundry everywhere and so started piling it up on the spare bed to get it out of the way. Finally we said goodnight and Martha went right to sleep. I didn’t.

This dream happened right after Kate and I talked about meeting in person the next time she comes out to San Francisco (Kate turned into Martha in my dream). Having guests always seems to bring up those darn insecurities about not having a fancy home and other general unworthiness (that I can usually overcome with a little pep talk to myself).

In reality, my house is usually tidy, organized and there are no piles of laundry. There is the cat fur problem though, which I tend to ignore longer than I should…but I just warn people not to wear black to my house since it’s a cat-fur magnet.

Categories
Flower Art Life in general Outdoors/Landscape Painting Sketchbook Pages Watercolor

Flower Stand at Night

Ink & Watercolor in Canson 7″x10″ Sketchbook (Larger)

This little flower stand looked inviting and yet so forlorn all by itself on a dark, lonely corner in downtown Oakland the night before Thanksgiving. On my way home from work I stopped to take a few photos using a postbox as a tripod and was lucky enough to get some good shots.

I did this quick ink sketch with watercolor from a photo as a study for an oil painting. I especially like the way this appears on the monitor since it enhances the feeling of light glowing out of the dark.

I’ve been feeling a bit of Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) lately — grumpy and craving light. I know that it’s a common affliction and just a physical reaction — that things are just as fine in my life as they were a couple weeks ago before SAD hit. A friend of mine recommends sitting in front of special lights designed for this purpose and says they really help her. I know exercise helps mood so I’ve been trying to do more of that, especially outdoors when it’s sunny, but I think it’s time to explore SAD lights.

As much as I love to occasionally spend a good rainy afternoon listening to Mozart’s Requiem and wallowing in melancholia, generally I prefer feeling cheery.

Categories
Drawing People Sketchbook Pages Subway drawings

Random Subway & Cafe Sketches



 Ink in Moleskine sketchbook (Larger)

Usually I sit in an inconspicuous spot when I sketch on BART but the only available seat was the kind where two passengers sit facing two others. This lady at first seemed annoyed at my sketching her — since our knees were nearly touching I couldn’t hide what I was doing — so I tried sketching the guy below a few feet to my left who had a big nose ring like you’d put in a cow. But he got off so I went back to her. She eventually ignored me and I was able to draw for another few minutes until I reached my stop. (5 minute drawing),

 

BART Rider with Hat and Nosering

Ladies having coffee at Peets

Sepia Memory Brush Pen (felt pen with a brush-like tip) in Moleskine sketchbook.

I took a walk to the Peets Coffee in my neighborhood and forced myself to slow down and draw for a little while. I’m also in such a rush to get to the next thing, which in this case was painting in the studio. This old felt tip brush pen was running out of ink.

Coffee drinkers at Peets

Veteran on Veteran's Day at Peets Coffee

Ink in Moleskine sketchbook on Veteran’s Day

I overheard him saying, “Today is a very sacred day. I’m glad to be alive and have survived Viet Nam and the military government.”

Categories
Berkeley Drawing Life in general Other Art Blogs I Read Painting People Sketchbook Pages Watercolor

Eavesdropping without consonants

Peet's Coffee Drinkers

Purple ink and watercolor in small Moleskine watercolor notebook (Larger)

I love overhearing snippets of other people’s conversations and how they flavor my sketches in cafes. I’ve drawn and scribbled overheard conversations at Peet’s Coffee’s 4th Street shop in Berkeley before. When I saw Pete Scully‘s fantastic sketches with conversation snippets I thought I’d try it his way with the words in little boxes. But I’m not as tidy at printing as he is.

Peet's Coffee - ...and I got my potatoes back

Purple ink and watercolor in small Moleskine watercolor notebook (Larger)

So on this one I wrote the words I overheard on the newspaper above. Maybe the passerby didn’t really say, “…and I got all my potatoes back, you know…” – my hearing isn’t what it used to be so sometimes my imagination fills in the blanks with things that make me laugh. I can hear the words but the consonants aren’t clear.

It’s amazing how one wrong consonant can change the meaning of a sentence. (He says, “Hey, guess what! I got a hog!”…so I’m thinking…he got a pig?! oh maybe he got a Harley motorcycle, they call those “hogs”….and then I realize as he goes on talking that he said he got a DOG, not a HOG and he said it was BIG not a PIG!)

Categories
Oil Painting Painting Sketchbook Pages Still Life Watercolor

What is a Persimmon?

What is a Persimmon #2 (oils)

Oil on panel, 6″x8″ (Larger)
(painted on top of a small plein air landscape that didn’t work)

At my favorite little produce market, Colusa Foods in Kensington, I asked one of the expert produce guys which fruits were good right now. He recommended Satsuma tangerines and Persimmons. I’d never eaten either of these fruits and decided to give them a try. The tangerine was amazingly delicious, tasting like childhood favorites Creamsicles (orange popsicles filled with vanilla ice cream) and Orange Julius (an orange-flavored milkshake). But the persimmon perplexed me.

What is a Persimmon #1 (watercolor)

Watercolor on cold pressed paper, 5″x7″ (Larger)

I’d never eaten a persimmon before, didn’t know how to spell it let alone how it should be eaten or what it would taste like. Of course I checked the internet and learned that one peels it and then eats the inside. From what I read it sounded like the inside might be mushy, which didn’t sound too appealing but it felt pretty hard from the outside. I had no idea what I’d find when I cut into it. I decided to make it an adventure, first doing some paintings of the persimmon whole (above in oils and watercolor) and then painting the cut open fruit.

What is a Persimmon #3 (watercolor)

Watercolor on cold pressed paper, 5″x7″ (Larger)

I cut the top off, per the instructions I found and then cut it down the middle, hoping for a pretty seed pattern. Unfortunately I cut it on the wrong middle and the only thing visible was a faint line down the center. So I cut it in half the other way and discovered a beautiful sand dollar sort of design. But since I’d cut it the other way first I didn’t think it would make a great composition so I decided to eat one of the quarters. YUM!!!! It was sweet and crunchy and different — a new taste entirely! The only way I can describe is that it tastes happy and bright. I just ate the last quarter, leaving the skin on, and that was OK too–more like eating an apple only better. Wowee.

Categories
Flower Art Painting Published work Sketchbook Pages Still Life Watercolor

My art in the book!

I'm in the book!

The Watercolor Flower Artist’s Bible: An essential reference for the practicing artist (link to Amazon for more info)

Last December I received an invitation from an editor at Quarto Publishing in London to submit photos of my watercolor flower paintings for publication in an upcoming book. At first I ignored the message because I assumed it was the kind of spam email I get regularly inviting the artist [to pay] to be in a show or a book. Just before the submission deadline I did some investigation and discovered they are a good publisher and that I actually owned another of their books. I submitted files of my photos and scans of five paintings.

That editor’s editor approved the photos for inclusion and they asked me to write about my process, goals, focus, techniques, etc. for each painting which I did. Then I waited. I was promised only a copy of the book and good publicity in exchange for their right to publish the art in their book.

I got the book this week and was so excited! Not only did they do a really nice job with my artwork and the descriptions, but it’s a really good and comprehensive book on flower painting in watercolor. The most exciting part for me is that I’m sharing the pages of a book with some truly amazing artists, including one of my favorites, Lucy Willis, who has published several wonderful books (that I own and treasure) on watercolor painting, seeing and painting light, and travel painting.

My artwork can be found on pages 72, 85, 86, 101, and 152. Here are my chunks of those pages:

My tulips in the Watercolor Flower Artist's Bible
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My rose in the Watercolor Flower Artist's Bible
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My rose and bottle in the Watercolor Flower Artist's Bible
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My poppies in the Watercolor Flower Artist's Bible
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My irises in the Watercolor Flower Artist's Bible
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Categories
Life in general Painting Sketchbook Pages Still Life Watercolor

Organic Bananas, The FURminator & Blindness

Organic Bananas

Watercolor on Arches Cold-Pressed paper in 5.5 x 7.5 sketchbook
Larger

After working half the day I decided to finally vacuum my house since I was feeling sleepy and not particular creative and the house and studio sorely needed cleaning. I’ve been contentedly choosing painting over housecleaning for too long, and the cat hair was piling up. So I dusted, vacuumed, washed the throw rugs, brushed the kitties with a great new cat and dog brush, the FURminator, that thoroughly removes the undercoat and ends shedding for weeks (the pictures on their website don’t lie–it’s amazing how much fur comes off the first time).

After dinner I was still sleepy but knew I’d be sad if I just turned on the TV and had no fun in the studio at all today. So I grabbed the only produce left in the kitchen (I’ve also been putting off the grocery shopping) and painted these bananas.

While I painted I was listening to a fascinating book, Crashing Through, about a man who was blinded at the age of 3, became a downhill speed skier, an entrepeneur, married, had kids, and a great life. Then he was given the historical opportunity to try an experimental surgery and become one of only 20 people in the history of the world who, after a lifetime of total blindness, had his sight restored, via a stem cell and corneal transplant. The book provides really interesting information about vision and how we make sense of what we see, from distance perception, to 3-dimensionality, to recognizing faces and expressions. It turns out it actually has to do with parts of the brain rather than the eyes and is learned in infancy.

A lot of that information is useful for painting. When the author explains how the brain uses visual clues to judge distance, these are the same things artists use to create the illusion of depth and distance in paintings. These include objects getting smaller the further away they are, closeness to the horizon (the further away or taller something is, the closer to the horizon it is), aerial perspective (the effect of moisture and particles in the air between the distant object and the viewer that causes distant objects to appear grayer, cooler, paler than closer objects), linear perspective, and occlusion (one thing in front of another).

Categories
Every Day Matters Painting Sketchbook Pages Still Life Watercolor

A shiny, new hour for free (& EDM #144- Something Square)

EDM #144 - Something Square

Watercolor on Arches hot pressed paper in sketchbook, 5.5 x 7.5″
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This week’s Everyday Matters challenge is to draw something square. I searched my house and office and found nothing square until I started thinking about time.Then I remembered this kitchen timer that I’m going to use to make the timed paintings I wrote about yesterday. It was sitting next to these tea bags which are also (nearly) square.

I’ve been having a hard time making the transition back to ordinary time after the end of Daylight Savings. The actual day of “falling back” is my favorite day of the year because it means getting an extra hour.  Instead of resetting my clocks on Saturday night and wasting the fresh new hour sleeping, I pick an hour that I want to experience fully as my new hour. I use it for something extra special, or for something that in my usual driven way I don’t allow time for—like relaxing in a bubble bath or other such luxuries. This year I stretched it out through Monday, actually giving myself the hour several times, and then each time deciding that it wasn’t the one, and giving myself another. It was such fun!

But by Tuesday when I returned to the office, I still hadn’t settled on the perfect hour or reset my clocks and it was getting confusing. Instead of getting to say, “Oh goodie, it’s not really 3:00, it’s only 2:00! Whoopie! Another free hour!” I was looking at my watch and saying, “Oh drat, it’s not really 3:00, it’s only 2:00 — three more hours until I can take my headache home and put it to bed.”

And then today (Wednesday), even though I went to bed early and woke on time, I ended up arriving at work really late—exactly opposite what should be happening, given the extra hour in the morning. So now I’ve finally reset all my clocks and joined the world in ordinary time.

I wonder if it’s possible to give myself a special “free” hour every day, without having to wait for the annual end of Daylight Savings. Maybe I could just declare one hour each day a special hour to enjoy as I see fit. Why not? What do you think?

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Sketchbook Pages

I haven’t disappeared…

I’m just painting non-stop, both plein air and in the studio trying to finish a challenging 3-person portrait of 3-generations of men in my family but none of the paintings are quite ready for posting. The good news is that I’ve made some huge breakthroughs in my learning and as soon as I finish the portraits I’ll be getting back to more of a daily painting schedule. I’m going to be setting a timer and doing many one-hour oil/and or watercolor sketches, trying to put some “miles” on paper and canvas to speed up my learning process and quit the fussing around over and over on the same piece.