Category: Sketchbook Pages

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Drawing Life in general Sketchbook Pages Watercolor

Sorry Cody

(not) Cody's Car

Ink & watercolor in Raffine 6×9 sketchbook
(To enlarge, click image, select “all sizes”)

My son Cody is an excellent car mechanic, specializing in customizing 60s and 70s muscle cars like his 1970 Firebird. He wanted to put a drawing of his car on his new business cards. I said I’d give it a try but somehow managed to take his beautiful Firebird and turn it into a jalopy. I knew the proper way to do this would be to start with some pencil sketches, or work from a photo of the car in Illustrator or Painter, but I had a stressful day and just felt like drawing directly in ink for fun. (Sorry Cody, maybe you do need to contact that guy who does car illustrations or my blogger friend France at Wagonized who can really draw cars.)

In case you’re interested in “muscle” cars and want to see pictures and video of his handiwork, you can visit Cody’s website. There’s even a video of his car in my driveway with the engine running with full sound effects. I guess he made that video on the day that he put the car all back together and it worked! That must be a thrilling experience to take a car apart until it’s just a shell and then spend a year designing, building and reassembling every part of it. He replaced the engine with one he built, starting from scratch with the biggest Chevy engine block ever made. Many parts had to be specially custom-designed and built for the car. Cody used to be a wonderful artist himself, doing amazing drawings and spray-painted murals (also known as graffiti) and is still my best art critic, always knowing exactly what a painting needs. Now I guess he’s more of a sculptor, making cars into moving pieces of art. He’s a great problem-solver, incredibly determined and persistent (wonder where he gets that?) and a terrific mechanic. If you need work done on your car in the East Bay, you can reach him by email:  CodyBouc@yahoo.com

Categories
Outdoors/Landscape Sketchbook Pages Watercolor

On Sir Francis Drake Blvd.

Sir Francis Drake Blvd.

Pentel Brush pen and watercolor in 9×12 Aquabee sketchbook
(To enlarge, click image, select “All Sizes”)

I took the photo this sketch is based on when I was driving home from a trip across the bay to Marin County. There are a couple of small parks along the water on Sir Francis Drake Blvd. One was larger where windsurfers launch their rigs and then there was this little pocket park with amazing views and a little swampy area full of reeds and ducks. I’ve been doing thumbnails, trying to decide what to do with the pictures I took, and tonight decided to do this drawing in preparation for doing a monoprint.

I also made the monoprint, which was sort of successful — it will depend on how it dries and what happens when I try to color it with watercolor. I’ll wait to post it until then. I’ve discovered that printing paper is very soft and if you accidentally get a spot of ink on the paper there’s no way to remove it — wiping it with a damp paper towel just messes up the paper surface and leaves the ink right there, only looking worse.

Today was another day of feeling fairly uninspired and lethargic. I think what’s happening is caffeine withdrawal. Last week I broke my usual rules about no caffeine (I avoid it because it can cause migraines for the susceptible) and had caffeine three days in a row. Hence the migraine on Friday and now the withdrawal. I love coffee and that nice peppy feeling from caffeine but I don’t love migraines so I guess I’ll just have to deal with being tired for now. When I first gave up the caffeine a couple years ago I was railing against not being able to get that great artificial energy. I asked a friend who never uses caffeine what she does when she’s tired, thinking there must be some other way to get that energy and I was so surprised by her answer. She said, “I take a nap or just do something restful.” What a concept: rest!

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Flower Art Gardening Sketchbook Pages Still Life Watercolor

Where did my muse go?

Winter Roses

Watercolor then Pentel Brush pen in large Moleskine watercolor notebook
(To enlarge, click image, select “All Sizes”)

I spotted these roses in my garden this morning, still blooming, even with morning frost and rain. I’ve enjoyed having them in the house and tonight decided to make a quick painting of them for posting.

I’ve been sleepy and uninspired all day today. First I lost yesterday to a migraine, then today all sorts of things got in the way of painting. I had to take Busby to the vet for a sudden bladder problem. When I got home I realized that I couldn’t put off vacuuming any longer so spent a couple hours cleaning house. Then I didn’t get into the studio until after 3:00 because I fell asleep in my recliner after eating lunch. I guess I’m still recovering from yesterday’s major migraine.

Once I found my way to the studio I worked on an oil painting for a few hours and I think I finished it but will wait to look at it with fresh eyes tomorrow to see if more is needed.

Hopefully tomorrow my inspiration, energy and muse will return.

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Drawing Other Art Blogs I Read People Sketchbook Pages

Roofers & Baghdad Journal

Roofers

Pigma Brush Pen in 9×12 Aquabee Sketchbook
(To enlarge, click image, select “All Sizes”)

Sorry for the slim pickins’ today. Yesterday evening I was starting to come down with a migraine which hit in full force early this morning, wiping out all chances of spending time in the studio today. I did this sketch of my next door neighbor’s roofers yesterday morning before work, looking out my kitchen window. They never stopped moving and were wearing very baggy clothes. I tried to pretend I was doing one-minute gesture sketches in a figure-drawing group but it was more like five-second gesture drawings with the figures hidden behind sweatshirts and droopy pants. That’s not a missile the guy’s holding at the bottom right of the drawing, pointing to the guy loosing his pants, it’s a long piece of aluminum.

Since I don’t have anymore of my own art to share tonight (and am amazed I’m even up standing at the computer after a day flat on my back with my eyes covered), I thought I’d mention a truly amazing book I just got at the library. It’s the artwork of Steve Mumford and is called Baghdad Journal: An Artist in Occupied Iraq. You can also see some of his online journal and images here. Anyone who’s enjoyed the work of any of the Everyday Matters journal artists including many of the people listed in my links must see Mr. Mumford’s work. As the liner notes say, “His everyday scenes of Iraq in bold, breathtaking watercolors and drawings…paint a human side of the war…from all sides of the conflict.”

Categories
Animals People Sketchbook Pages Watercolor

Scared by a Bear at U.C. Berkeley

UC Berkeley Bear

Micron pigma ink, Kremer Pigments Watercolors in Raffine 6×9 sketchbook
(To enlarge click image, select “All Sizes”)

Barbara and I were taking a walk across the University of California’s Berkeley campus a couple of weeks ago in a drizzling rain. As we turned a corner we heard barking and then saw this little dog barking at a stone bear (the U.C. mascot). His owners were laughing as the well-dressed pup gradually inched his way closer, barking all the way. I barely had time to get my camera out of its case and snap a picture before they moved on.

Tonight I started to draw the scene from my photo in my watercolor Moleskine with an .01 Micron Pigma but it just wasn’t happening — just couldn’t get in the flow. So I abandoned the drawing and switched to the Raffine sketchbook and an .03 Micron Pigma. Somehow the fatter line worked better and let me be more playful with my lines as I drew. Meanwhile, my painting group and I were listening to some good music, chatting, and drinking Bengal Spice herb tea.

Last night I had a brief and ugly night’s sleep that was cut even shorter by my cats at 6:00 a.m. Busby came crashing into my room, his head stuck in the handle of a brown paper grocery bag. He managed to break free of it with that grand entrance, but that was the end of my fitful sleep. So I’m off now to try for better luck tonight!

Categories
Every Day Matters Sketchbook Pages Watercolor

Brown Sugar Jar (EDM 96 – Something Sweet)

Brown Sugar Jar (EDM #96)

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

This week’s Everyday Matters challenge is to paint something sweet. I’ve been trying to cut down on eating sweet things (to lose the few pounds I put on from spending lots of time at art and not enough at the gym). So…no candy, cookies or (my favorite) donuts around here to paint. But I do have a jar of brown sugar for my oatmeal and that’s what I’ve painted. I drew it loosely, applied a bit of masking with a toothpick and a little brush and then started painting. It went really quickly, only taking about an hour, and I’m happy to say that painting it was more fun than eating a plate of sweets!

Categories
People Sketchbook Pages

Figure Drawing Group Tonight

Figure drawing group 1

Pencil in 14×17″ sketchbook

Figure Drawing Group 3

Sketched with watercolor then ink and watercolor washes added. In 9×12 Aquabee sketchbook

Figure drawing group 2

Ink (Pentel brush pen) with water added to make washes in 14×17″ sketchbook

Friday nights there’s a figure drawing group open to the public that meets on the U.C. Berkeley campus. It’s a great deal– $4.00 for 3 hours and excellent models. Our plans to go were on and off and then suddenly on again so we arrived a little late. This model really knew how to pose in interesting ways and was quite beautiful (my pictures don’t do her justice). I experimented with sketching in pencil, in ink, and watercolor with ink added afterwards. It was all fun and challenging. I saw a man there who was a regular in this same group when I used to go 20 years ago. His charcoal sketches are still phenomenal.

The whole time we were drawing we could hear people chanting, yelling and clapping nearby. I found out afterwards there was a huge pep rally going on because tomorrow is the “Big Game” between Cal (public university) and their arch rivals, Stanford (private, pricey university). When we left we saw the band playing and marching from campus up Bancroft and into a building across the street.

Categories
People Sketchbook Pages Subway drawings

Small sleepy sketches

Cafe

BART passenger

Just a couple of quick sketches today. I drew the top sketch at Peets Coffee tonight, a few minutes before they were closing. There were still three people sitting at tables and each had one foot up on extra chairs. If Peets wasn’t about to close and I wasn’t so sleepy, it would have been fun to keep drawing. It’s not much of a sketch but at least I got my pound of decaf Holiday Blend for tomorrow morning.

The bottom picture is just a guy I drew on my very late (7 PM) BART ride home from work. Coming home so late, I was really glad I’d spent yesterday evening making a huge pot of vege soup and roasting a chicken instead of in the studio. It was so nice to come home and know the soup and chicken just needed a quick trip through the microwave and dinner would be ready. Making pictures is great, but you can’t eat them, so every now and then other things just have to come first. Like maybe tomorrow I’ll get to the dust bunnies and fur balls floating around the house! (or not?)

Categories
Sketchbook Pages Still Life Watercolor

Blue Thrift Shop Bottle

Little blue thrift shop bottle

Kremer Pigments watercolors in large Moleskine watercolor notebook
(To enlarge, click images, select All Sizes)

Bottle value sketch

Quick value sketch before painting

I wanted to play with monotypes tonight but was too tired after working all day so decided to do a small watercolor sketch instead. I don’t know what this bottle held originally–nothing fancy, I’m sure. But I just love it’s proud stance, and hands-on-hips attitude. I found it at Thrift Town, a sort of thrift shop department store where I’d gone looking for a used doctor’s lab coat to wear while painting in oils to protect my clothes. They didn’t have any lab coats even though they said they did on the phone. Instead I found a soft denim old lady’s house coat in the bathrobe department which works perfectly and looks more like a traditional painter’s smock.

I used Kremer pigment watercolors for this painting even though I knew they weren’t quite the right choice. My regular Winsor Newton cobalt and ultramarine blues would have been more appropriately transparent and glowing, but I went with the more opaque and sedimentary (or is it flocculating?) Kremer pigments, just to see what would happen. They’re fun to work with and after several layers of glazes, gave the background an interesting texture. The Moleskine paper was pooping out though, starting to pill and dissolve so it was time to stop messing around and go to bed.

Categories
Animals Plein Air Sketchbook Pages Watercolor

At the Dog Park

Watercolor and Micron Pigma Brush Pen in Raffine 6″x9″ Sketchbook

Yesterday I’d planned to spend the day in the studio but it was such a surprisingly nice day that I decided to go sketch at the dog park which is only about a mile from my house. Pt. Isabelle is a 23 acre park where dogs are allowed off leash and can run, swim and play. It’s on the S. F. Bay with stunning views of the Golden Gate Bridge. I sat on a bench along the path and watched the passing parade of canines and their owners. One very large dog turned out to be a miniature horse, the size of a Great Dane, and she caused quite a stir. I overheard her owner telling the gathering crowd that they take her places in their mini-van and that she sleeps outdoors but comes in the house and hangs out with the family. That brought back fond memories of my favorite childhood book, Pippi Longstocking, whose horse lived with her indoors.

Every dog that passed by took a turn peeing on the post beside my bench but none would hold still long enough for me to draw them. I filled several pages with partial dogs and then switched to doggie stick figures, just trying to capture their gestures and shapes. It was a hoot eavesdropping on the conversations I heard with owners and their dogs: “Now, Isis, I told you not to do that…stop it now Isis or else you’ll be sorry when you get home, Isis, stay, no, stay, I told you to stay….” It reminded me of the Far Side cartoon that goes:

What you say: Oh Ginger, that was a bad thing. You’re a bad, bad dog, Ginger.
What a dog hears: Blah Ginger, blah blah blah. Blah blah blah blah, Ginger.

After I’d finished the second picture it got really windy and foggy so I headed home, happy to be in the studio having enjoyed what may have been the last nice day before winter hit. Today it rained all day.