Category: Sketchbook Pages

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Every Day Matters Sketchbook Pages Still Life Watercolor

Spoons: EDM #94

Spoon - EDM 94

Watercolor, Noodlers Ink, and a dab of ProWhite in 9×12″ Aquabee Sketchbook
(To enlarge, click image, select “All Sizes“)

This week’s Everyday Matters challenge is “Spoon.” The large pink-handled cooking spoon and the tablespoon with the dull black plastic handle are the last remaining implements from my mother’s early 1960s kitchen complete with built in pink electric oven and stove. When half the pink handle broke off the big spoon I was sad, but it actually created a handy edge for propping it in pots. I use the black-handled tablespoon for everything I eat with a spoon. I love the way the handle feels in my hand and the way it holds just the right amount of cereal and milk. The slotted spoon is a good sturdy tool that’s always handy for serving veges.

The big wirey spoon is great for draining and lifting out a whole potful of raviolis like I did tonight. I used to use a special plastic pasta tool, part spoon and part fork, for that purpose but it now serves a different purpose. I slip it horizontally between the two handles of kitchen cabinet doors to keep the cats out of the trash. I’d first tried to install baby safety locks on that cabinet, but the instructions were impossible and I’m hopeless when it comes to measuring. I always end up skipping the ruler and trying to eyeball things, which never works. I got the little plastic hooky thingy in the wrong place, and then stripped the screw when trying to remove it, so now it is a permanent feature of my cabinet door, hanging there limply to remind me of my failure.

Anyway, these are all good sturdy tools that may be homely but they do their jobs well!

Categories
Sketchbook Pages Watercolor

ATM in the dark

ATM at night

Click here to enlarge
Ink & Watercolor in Hand Book Co. 5.5 x 5.5″ Journal

I noticed this Mechanics Bank ATM glowing in the dark on a side street off San Pablo Avenue in Albany (CA). I turned down the street, hoping to find a spot to park and paint it. There was a woman sitting in a car in the perfect parking spot across the street so I pulled in behind her, assuming she was waiting for someone. Finally a guy arrived with a box of pizza and got in the car. After another five minutes waiting for them to each eat a slice they finally strapped in and drove away. I pulled up and started painting. The light was horrible in my car so I just mixed colors by guesswork and put them down. (I’ve now solved this problem I think–I bought a strap-on LED headlight at REI tonight that tilts and will light up my paper and palette.)

I was half done with when two young women parked right in front of the ATM, got out of their car, and headed to the liquor store behind me. I got out of my car too, and approached them saying, “Excuse me…I know this will sound strange but I’m painting a picture of that (pointing to ATM) and your car is blocking my view. Would you mind moving it across the street?” They didn’t seem at all amused or confused by my request. They just said they’d only be a minute and went into the liquor store. They appeared to be on a serious mission, probably for cigarettes, and they did return shortly and moved their car.

I thought I’d finished the little sketch but when I got home I could see that the walls of the bank were way too light so I added darker paint to the walls.

Categories
Drawing Life in general Sketchbook Pages

My messy coat rack

coatrack

Ink in small Moleskine sketchbook
(To enlarge, click image, select “All Sizes”)

I was debating whether to draw something, go to bed, or watch TV. I drew something AND watched TV:  last night’s America’s Next Top Model that I’d TiVo’d (a bit of mental junk food is an important part of a healthy diet).

This messy coat rack was hanging in my living room by the front door when I bought my house and it’s always been handy, so it’s still there, five years later. It’s not something I would have intentionally bought or hung in my living room though. It always looks messy, whether it’s summer and hanging with hoodies, (when did sweatshirts become “hoodies”?) hats and visors, or in the winter, laden with raincoat, fleece jacket, down vest, umbrella and knit scarves. These things belong in the closet, not by the front door, the first thing visitors see.

Of course the people who come to my house are not “visitors.” They’re people who know me and won’t judge me for my housekeeping or home decor. They know I care more for function than appearances. It’s very functional to have my jacket by the door and makes it easy to grab or put away.

And most importantly, a messy coat rack is fun to draw. If it wasn’t there, the blank wall wouldn’t have inspired me to draw, and then I wouldn’t have had something to post today.

Categories
Drawing People Sketchbook Pages

What I should have done first

Value study of M.

Pentel GFKP Pocket Brush Pen and Pentel #101 Brush Pen in Raffine 6×9″ Sketchbook
(To enlarge click image, select “All Sizes”)

More about the drawing in a minute, but first…

Tonight my painting group met to celebrate Susie’s birthday at Saul’s Jewish Deli in Berkeley. It was pretty funny that all five of us ordered exactly the same thing and thoroughly enjoyed it: grilled trout, veges and a big crispy potato latke with applesauce. Then we talked about getting older, aging parents, Susie’s adventures last week going to see the aging Rolling Stones, the pros and cons of dementia, and of course, art.

There’s a wonderful used bookstore, Black Oak Books, next door to the restaurant so after chocolate birthday cake, complete with candle, singing waiters and applauding restaurant patrons, we went to the bookstore where I was excited to find a book on Janet Fish. Her watercolors and oils of glass and other transparent objects have always been a huge inspiration to me. I bought that one and put an amazing book on Viennese Watercolors of the 19th century on hold until I can bring in a couple boxes of books I’m ready to part with in trade.

Now back to the drawing/painting:

Before I started the oil painting yesterday I should have taken some time to do thumbnail sketches to develop the composition, done a value study, and some drawings to become more familiar with the structure and characteristics of the face and torso. In watercolor it’s pretty important to do this first. But I was so antsy to get my brush in the slippery oil paint that I just went for it. Now while I’m waiting for the paint to dry I’ll work backwards, doing the preliminary sketches.

I thoroughly enjoyed doing this drawing with the very sensual and expressive Pentel Pocket Brush Pen (waterproof ink) and the Pentel Brush Pen (not waterproof). I added a little water with a regular brush to get a light ink wash for the gray areas from the non-waterproof ink that I’d applied.

Meanwhile I’m reading lots of library books on oil painting to refresh my feeble memory in oil painting technique. What’s interesting is that there seems to be about 26 watercolor how-to books published for every 1 oil painting book and most of the oil painting books were published a long time ago. There isn’t even an “oil painting” category in the library’s card catalogue (but there is for watercolor and acrylic painting). Is it because oils simply don’t require so many technical skills? Or are watercolor painters a better market, more likely to buy books?

Categories
Outdoors/Landscape Plein Air Sketchbook Pages Watercolor

Painting Palms in the Dark

Painting Palms in the Dark

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

The other night Michael and I were driving down Santa Fe Ave near Gilman in Berkeley and he pointed out these two palm trees that were lit up and glowing in the dark. Tonight I returned to paint them in the dark from the front seat of my car. I couldn’t exactly see what I was doing or what colors I was getting. The light in my car was fairly dim and my paper looked brownish instead of white. I was excited to get home and see it under the light, where it looks completely different. I’m really starting to enjoy letting things just happen with my art instead of trying to control it so much. That’s a wall  covered with ivy in front of some small trees in front of the palms, in case you can’t tell.

I’ve been noticing palm trees lately and wondering….why do they exist? Why did they evolve to be so tall and skinny, with the leaves/fronds and fruit up so high up?

Categories
Drawing Sketchbook Pages

Compassion on Election Eve

Compassion

Sepia Ink (Memory Brush Pen) in Raffine Sketchbook

I was listening to the early election returns while I was drawing this little statue of Kwan Yin or Kanzeon, the Buddhist bodhisattva (saint/goddess) of compassion for self and others. It seemed an appropriate image for election eve.

I received my order today from Jerry’s Artarama and I’m not happy with it. The box of 10 mat boards was supposed to be white Strathmore Museum Board that I can no longer get around here, but instead is a box of random off-white mat boards in mediocre condition, with fingerprints, dents or tears.  I drew this with what looked in the catalogue like a brush pen but is really a floppy-tipped felt pen–not terrible, but not great. The Liquin oil painting medium that was supposed to be a good substitute for turpentine smells worse than turps. I’d also ordered a whole bunch of aluminum frame kits which still haven’t arrived. I hope they be in better shape than the mat board, which I now have to deal with returning.

Categories
Animals Drawing Sketchbook Pages

New Kittie Tree: Great Customer Service

Ink in Raffine sketchbook
To enlarge, click image, select “All Sizes”

About a year and a half ago I bought a used kitty play structure for my new rescue kittens. Then they both came down with ringworm (probably from the shelter), which is very contagious and very hard to cure. I had to throw away everything they’d touched (including their play structure) that couldn’t be severely bleached. I had to isolate them for about three months, give them serious medicine that had to be specially compounded, bathe them in nasty smelling stuff, bleach every surface in the house they’d touched and every day vacuum and bleach every surface in their two rooms (spare bedroom/exercise room and bath). I had to wash my clothes after each visit to them in their isolation rooms. It was really sad having new kittens locked up like that so I spent as much time with them as I could. Finally they were declared cured and could return to the rest of the house.

I searched for another kitty tree like the one they loved. Nobody carried it around here anymore so I ordered it online about a year ago. Even though it was made by the same company, Green Duck, it wasn’t quite as sturdy as the original. A couple weeks ago I realized the top shelf was slipping and spinning on it’s pole and when the kitties jumped up on it, it kept swinging around and hitting the window. The whole top shelf was starting to tilt downhill and I could tell it would eventually fall off. I called the online merchant I bought it from and they said that Green Duck was no longer doing business with them; they said to call Green Duck directly.

Green Duck apologized and said they’d send me another one the next day (no questions asked about price, purchase date, shipping the behemoth, etc.). They were no longer making the original one so we selected this one as a replacement (and an upgrade) and it arrived two days later. This was the best customer service I’ve experienced in a very long time. They’re a great company and stand behind their products. As you can see from the drawing, Busby approves. I haven’t figured out what to do with the old one yet so I feel like a crazy cat woman now, with two kitty trees. (as if I wasn’t before!)

Categories
Animals Photos Sketchbook Pages

Photos from my world

My tall shadow

Hi, welcome to my tall world. This is a picture of me taking a picture of my shadow. I am so easily amused…I guess that’s why I enjoy my own company so much.

Today was a long and busy day and now I’m too tired to draw so I thought I’d post some photos I’ve shot in the past week or so.

Brilliant web

A lovely spider and her sparkly web.

Plump Spider

A nice plump spider building her web–not quite so well organized as Spider Number One.

Neighbor's Garden

A neighbor’s garden.

Alcatraz

Alcatraz as viewed from the sailboat, er…yacht last weekend.

And now it’s off to get some rest. Tomorrow I’m hoping will be a fun day of drawing, painting, and experimenting with monoprints.

Categories
Other Art Blogs I Read Plants Sketchbook Pages Watercolor

Just a Value Sketch (Persimmon)

Persimon-value sketch

Above: Watercolor in Raffine sketchbook

Below: Original photo and grayscale version
Persimmon photo persimmon-grayscale

(Click images to enlarge, select “All Sizes”)

I was inspired to focus on value studies by Katherine Tyrrell’s post about “the best ever workshop” she attended and her instructor’s “constant and particular emphasis on the huge importance of values when painting light.” For tomorrow’s watercolor class I’m going to ask my students to do some value studies and wanted to have one prepared in advance so that’s what my post is about today.

Value studies can be so helpful not just for figuring out the values that actually exist in the reference material, but also for deciding how to change the image before painting it. It gives you a chance to consider where values need to be different to help the composition and for that matter, how does the composition need to change to be more successful?

It seemed to me that my original photo, while bright and colorful didn’t have much of a range of values so I tried to increase the contrast by adding stronger darks when I did the value study. Then I converted the original photo to grayscale to compare to my 0ainted version. I think somewhere in between the two might be best. I scanned the pencil drawing before painting it, so it will be easy to print it again and paint it again, if I decide to.
I’ve found that students usually grumble about having to do value studies–it seems too much like eating enough fiber or flossing teeth. I guess value studies just don’t seem that sexy (I hate it when people use the word sexy to describe things having nothing to do with sex like cellphones, cars, and now painting…but somehow that word works here…though now I’ve probably now increased my spam by using it…) in the way bright wet-in-wet washes or painting glass or thunderclouds are. But there’s nothing that captures light in a painting more than really nailing the values and getting those darks and lights in there.

I took this picture today when I was taking a nice walk in the Berkeley hills with my sister just after it had rained. It was supposed to rain all day today and I was all set for a cozy day at home in the rain but instead it was hot and sunny….in November?

Categories
Drawing Sketchbook Pages Still Life

Lantern in the dark for Daddy

Lantern

UniBall Signo white pen on 9×12″ top sheet from an Arches watercolor block
(To enlarge, click on image and select “All Sizes”)

On the fifth anniversary of my father’s death, I drew this candle lantern that was given to me by my son. I’m going to light the candle now and spend some time reflecting on my father’s life. Lighting a candle to mourn a loved one on the anniversary of their death is part of the Jewish tradition known as Yahrzeit and there are special candles that burn for 24 hours for that purpose. Since my father was both Jewish and an artist, I think it’s OK that I’m commemorating his passing with a drawing and a tea candle in a little lantern instead. I remember my grandmother lighting these little candles for her family members who had passed and thinking them full of mystery.

As part of Yahrzeit, the mourner is supposed to recite the Kaddish or “Mourner’s Prayer.” In reading about this (since I know so little of the Jewish religion) I found this excerpt from the last line of the prayer that I liked:

May He who makes peace in high places make peace for us  and for all…

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