Category: Sketchbook Pages

Categories
Faces Other Art Blogs I Read Painting People Portrait Sketchbook Pages Watercolor

Portrait Swap – Ujwala in Watercolor

Ujwala, Watercolor

Watercolor in large Moleskine watercolor sketchbook from color photo
Larger

Ujwala, Monochrome

Watercolor (Ultramarine Blue & Indigo) in large Moleskine watercolor sketchbook from black & white photo
Larger

Forgive me Ujwala; I fear I haven’t done you justice but I thoroughly enjoyed painting your beautiful and expressive face. Thank you for allowing me to draw and paint you.

Update: Casey just posted her drawing of Ujwala too. Check it out here.

Quite awhile ago my friend and fellow art blogger Ujwala in Bangladesh invited me to do a portrait swap with her to be posted on Illustrator Rama Hughes‘ Portrait Party blog but I got sidetracked. She reminded me again recently when I was commenting on the wonderful series of portraits she’s been working on. The Portrait Party blog is really fun. It’s all drawings, paintings, and cartoons done by pairs of artists of each other. Rama recently posted pictures my friend Judith and I did of each other and when Ujwala finishes mine we’ll send them to him. If you want join the portrait party, just follow the instructions on his blog.

When I agreed (again) to do the portrait swap (which just means I paint you and you paint me), she promptly emailed me two great photos. It took me another few weeks to get around to sending her photos. I took pictures of myself at midnight in my old plaid flannel pajamas, holding the camera at arms length under bright light in the studio. The resulting photos showed every wrinkle and magnified my nose since I was holding the camera so close. I decided to forget about vanity and just send her the photos so we could get started.

Categories
Drawing Faces People Sketchbook Pages Subway drawings

“Pitty” Tail – Tuesday Subway Drawings

bart37

Ink in Moleskine notebook.
On my ride to work this morning, he looked so jaunty, with his perky cap, sunglasses, outdoorsy jacket and wearing what my sister calls a “pitty” tail — those skimpy little gray ponytails that balding men trying to hang onto the last bits of their wilder youth wear.

bart35

The morning light was shining in from the window onto his face. He was only there for a minute and then he got off.

bart36

On my ride home the train was very crowded and he was sitting on the floor cross-legged reading. I gave myself room in my sketchbook to draw all of him but he got off before I could.

bart38

He was sound asleep on the seat in front of me, less than two feet away when I got on at 6:45 p.m. He was still asleep when I got off. I hope he didn’t miss his stop. I had a feeling that the woman on the seat beside me was watching me draw. I was imagining what she might be about to say to me (“you better not draw me” or “nice drawing–it looks just like him” or “do you think that’s right drawing somebody who’s sleeping?”) but when I stole a glance in her direction, she was also sound asleep.

Categories
Art theory Flower Art Glass Oil Painting Painting Sketchbook Pages Still Life

Wax On, Wax Off (Breathe In, Breathe Out)

Rose in a Jar

Oil on panel, 12×9″
Larger

The title of this post refers to words from the 1984 movie Karate Kid and also my process in this painting except for the painting it would be more like “Paint On, Wipe Off (Breathe!) Paint On, Wipe Off… ” (click on “Keep Reading” below to see photos of the steps). I’m not happy with the front flower but I’m ready to move on to the next painting. With each one I learn so much more, including how much more there is to learn!!!!

I had two main goals for this painting/learning experience:

  • Think in terms of “Whole Canvas”
  • Keep trying to understand how to work with oil paint so that I’m taking advantage of its wonderful qualities rather than fighting them. (I’ll keep trying!)

In my many years of watercolor painting, I worked hard to capture what excited me about my subject. I often worked close focus without much background, or just using the lovely white of the paper as my background to set off the glittering glass or glowing flowers I was painting. If the composition didn’t quite work out–no problem, just crop as needed with a mat and frame.

In oil painting the background has to be an integral part of the painting–you can’t just leave the glaring white of the gessoed canvas as your background. And you can’t crop a stretched canvas or panel like you can paper. I was struggling with this concept and finally it clicked. It’s just another way of seeing and, like peeling layers of the onion, the haze peeled from eyes and I could see that a painting is not subject & background — they fit together to complete the picture, just as night completes day. While an object that interests me enough to paint it is the focal point, I need (for now) to think of the PAINTING as the subject.

Continue reading “Wax On, Wax Off (Breathe In, Breathe Out)”
Categories
People Sketchbook Pages Subway drawings

After a long day at work

Waiting for BART 31

Ink in Moleskine

I didn’t leave work until 8:30 p.m. Thursday night so I had a longer wait than usual for a BART train, since it was after regular commuting hours. I saw this guy waiting too and had to sketch him. I don’t know what he could have been doing with his phone but he was completely mesmerized by it and didn’t move at all for the five minutes I was drawing him before the train came.

Once onboard I drew these guys who each stood in the same spot, rode one stop, and got off, to be replaced by the next guy. So I guess these were about about one to two minute quick sketches.

BART Rider 33 BART Rider 32

BART Rider 34

I’m feeling a little rusty sketching on BART because for the past couple of months I’ve been using my 13 minute subway ride to read books on oil painting and composition and haven’t been sketching as much. It was good to get back to it.

Categories
Art theory Other Art Blogs I Read Painting Sketchbook Pages Still Life Watercolor

Egg Cup with Mushrooms

Egg cup with mushrooms

Watercolor on Arches cold pressed paper, 6″x5″ in sketchbook
Larger

I was at Berkeley Giclee on 4th Street in Berkeley on Monday to approve a test print of a painting I sold before the final giclee was made. The photographer/printer, Tony Molatore is a genius and so great to work with. The print is the same size as the original painting and it’s really hard to tell them apart.

While I was on 4th Street I stopped at the Crate and Barrel Outlet and bought some inexpensive goodies to use in still life setups including this little egg cup and periwinkle colored square plate. I’m going to paint this in oils too, but tonight my painting group was here and I wanted to join them with watercolor.

In my many years of painting in watercolor I focused on accurately capturing what I was seeing and on watercolor technique. Now that I’m also painting in oils I can’t just leave the white of the paper as background, or easily crop paintings when they’re done. Overall design and composition become very important so I’ve been trying to relearn all those elements from classes I took so many years ago. I tried to apply a couple of “rules” of good composition here:

1. Never “float” a still life. Make it go off the page on two sides or more (Told to me by Nel Jansen who learned it from another artist.)

2. “Never make any two intervals the same.” In other words, no equal divisions of space or equal quantities of dark/light, warm/cool, color, hard edge/soft edge etc. in a painting (The Simple Secret to Better Painting by Greg Albert — a good basic book on composition).

On the other hand, I’m noticing I have a foreground with nothing in the middle ground or background which seems a little odd and a few hard edges that should have been softened (which I will do later).

And on the other, other hand I had a wonderful time painting and being with my dear painting buddies tonight and seeing the lovely colors and shapes in the things I was painting.

Categories
Art theory Painting Sketchbook Pages Still Life

Roses on Stage

Roses-on-Stage (FINAL?)Write

Oil on canvas 16×12″
Larger

UPDATE 9/22/07: Please see my friend and painting mentor Nel Jansen’s painting of this subject and her step by step process. It’s really great!

I’ve been working on this painting for three weekends, painting, scraping off what I painted, and painting again. When I started I was working from life but I ran out of time, the flowers died, and I had to work from the photo. It just wasn’t as much fun. I was determined to finish tonight and I think I have. I may still touch it up a bit, so any suggestions are welcomed!

I read that it’s better for one’s learning with oil painting in the beginning to do 30 small, quick (an hour or two) paintings than to work on one painting for 30 hours. I can see why! So that will be my next step. My goal with oil painting is to mix the right colors the first time, put down the paint, and leave it alone but I’m not there yet as the following progression demonstrates:

Continue reading “Roses on Stage”
Categories
Gardening Painting Plants Sketchbook Pages Still Life Watercolor

Funny tomatoes from my garden

Funny-tomatoes

Ink & watercolor on Arches cold pressed paper in 6×8 sketchbook
Larger

I don’t know why some of my tomatoes are growing so strangely, with funny little noses and other appendages. Maybe they’re a little crowded? Or it’s just the nature of this type. I’ve got 5 plants of different types of tomatoes and these are the only ones doing this. I live in a normally foggy summer area and last year my tomatoes didn’t get ripe until the end of October. This year they’re doing great as it’s been lovely sunny weather all summer.

I’ve been trying to figure out whether it’s sunlight or warmth that makes tomatoes get ripe. I’m guessing it’s the sunlight but maybe it’s both. If it was hot out but dark all the time, or very bright and sunny but cold, they wouldn’t ripen. But what makes them ripen? I know I could just look this up somewhere but it’s more fun to try to mull it over and come up with theories… But if you know, please do tell!

I’m also curious if what makes tomatoes ripen is the same thing that makes peaches or plums ripen (they’re both reddish) but what about green things. Do they need to ripen to? I’ve never heard of ripe spinach or ripe lettuce.

Categories
Art theory Glass Painting Sketchbook Pages Still Life Watercolor

Kelp Pickles & Creative Blogger Award

Kelp Pickles from Sitka Alaska

Watercolor & ink (black & white in label) on Arches hot press in 6 x 8″ sketchbook
Larger

The Pickles
A co-worker who lives in Alaska part of the year brought back delicious treats, all made from seaweed. These crunchy pickles taste like sweet pickles except better–with a touch of the sea in them. I love anything tasting of the sea, including raw oysters. Eating raw oysters is like eating peaches: the texture is the same, the soft bite through, and then the sudden juiciness. They always remind me of my childhood in Southern California where I practically lived in the ocean, tasting that fresh salty flavor every time I dove or got knocked under a big wave.

The Painting
I painted this from life (well, from jar) with a light shining on it. I added a few highlights with Golden Absorbent Ground, a product that also allows you to cover and repaint problem areas in watercolor paintings. It creates an absorbent texture that doesn’t bleed or dissolve and is similar to the original texture of watercolor paper. It’s best to apply in thin layers if you’re using it to cover an area to repaint it so that it dries smooth.

The Creative Blogger Award
Two art bloggers and wonderful artists, Nel Jansen and Bonny Racca, both honored me by nominating me for this award. I wanted to acknowledge their kindness and admit that I’m a naughty Creative Blogger. When one receives the award one is supposed to pass it forward, nominating 5 others, who nominate 5 others, etc. For a number of reasons I’ve chosen to opt out of that part of the process, but do appreciate the nomination very much! I’ve also learned these kinds of “pass it on” awards and questionnaires are called memes and their definition on Wikipedia is quite interesting.

Categories
Art theory Oil Painting Other Art Blogs I Read Painting Photos Plein Air Sketchbook Pages

Treasure Island Marina, SF Bay, Plein Air

Treasure Island Marina, SF Bay
Oil on 9 x 12″ canvas board
Larger

My plein air group painted on Treasure Island this morning, a former military base and site of the 1939 World’s Fair in the San Francisco Bay. There were some amazing views of the SF skyline, the Bay Bridge, and Port of Oakland but it was very foggy and windy (as usual for the bay) when we arrived so I chose to paint in a more sheltered location in the marina.

Here’s the scene when I arrived:
IMG_1328

And here’s a quick snapshot I caught of the sailboat in the foreground as it glided past me:
IMG_1335

These are the sketches I did when I arrived, trying to decide on the view and focal point.
At first I was going to do the SF skyline but after sketching it realized it didn’t interest me; the shape of the dip along the skyline of trees on the hill did.
Treasure Island thumbnails

I did some things right on this painting, after taking to heart the good advice from my wonderful oil painting mentor Nel (whose wonderful Everyday Paintings deservedly sell Every Day — I own two), from Katherine Tyrell‘s post about plein air painting, and from the comments here on my last plein air attempt.

This time I didn’t chase the light (changing the painting every time the light changed). Instead, I noted when I started that the light wasn’t interesting–too foggy–but guessed it would probably clear up at some point. So I decided to block in the masses–the big shapes of the hills, sky and water and as soon as the sun came out I would then add the light effects, which worked fine. I also remembered that boats are flat on the bottom because the water line is flat and level. I also liked the the way I did the tree tops against the sky.

A couple things I didn’t quite get right: I forgot that everything looks darker and duller when you bring it indoors–it looked so pretty in the bright sun but is actually a little too dark. Also last time I swore I wouldn’t “fix” things in the studio, but I hadn’t had time to finish the boats so I worked on them, which was fine,. But then I “touched up” the hills and lost some of the glowing edges I had originally.

It might not be great art, but at least I didn’t feel like I had no idea what I was doing, as I had a month or two ago.

Advice, critique, comments are welcomed!

Categories
Sketchbook Pages Still Life Watercolor

Summer Corn

Corn

Watercolor on Fabriano Artistico hot press paper in 6×8″ sketchbook
Larger

Yay! It’s the weekend at last. Today was about making a lengthy To-Do list and then checking things off, one at a time. I got halfway through the list but all the important stuff got done and I rewarded myself with a latte from Peets. By the time I finished cleaning up and organizing the studio I was too tired to work on an oil painting (which I do standing at an easel…with all those brushes to clean at the end). But sitting at my drawing table painting with watercolor and listening to a good book was just perfect.

First I drew with pencil, including every kernel, which was fun (thanks to the strong Peet’s coffee?). After I put a tiny dab of masking fluid on the kernels I painted every other kernel with a touch of the brush so that each kernel would dry separately rather than all blending together. I went back and added a darker golden color color to shadow each kernel and added some cobalt violet in the shadowy spaces between the kernels.