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Life in general Other Art Blogs I Read Outdoors/Landscape Photos

Eternal (& Happy Birthday Sis)

Eternal

Larger

I took this photo of an old house near Berkeley’s upscale 4th Street shopping area. There’s something about the image that I find so evocative.

Today is my sister Marcy’s birthday, and while I’m thinking about birth, eternity and old houses, I invite you to visit the Blue Lotus Project (click on Craftsman Home) where you can see the amazing rebirth and transformation of her home, a former fixer-upper (or tear-it-downer as I called it).

The house had been severely neglected for decades and everything was rotten and moldy. It was so awful that I thought it should have been torn down. But Marcy and her husband Tim had a vision of what it could be. After several years of hard work, it became the beautiful home they envisioned, and the place where our family meets for holiday gatherings and all of our rites of passage.

Tim is a contractor, fine woodworker, and master carpenter; Marcy is a brilliant interior designer and space planner; both are talented fine artists as well. They are co-partners of the Blue Lotus Project, a San Francisco Bay Area design/build company.

To see the amazing before and after pictures of the rebirth, click on “Craftsman Home” on their Blue Lotus Project website. There are more of Marcy’s interior designs on the Marcy Voyevod Design website and her her paintings are here.

I know sisterhood isn’t eternal, and I am so grateful for every moment we have together in this life!

Happy Birthday Li’l Sister!

Categories
Art theory Oil Painting Painting Plein Air Still Life

Citrus and Camelia Plein Air

Citrus & Camelia Plein Air

Oil on panel, 9×12″ (Larger)

You really have to work fast to do a still life outdoors in the afternoon. In less than two hours the sun moved overhead far enough that I had to stop because everything was in shadow. I’d gotten all the objects and their shadows well blocked in and probably should have stopped there, calling it a sketch or a study. But of course I couldn’t.

I had to bring it into the studio to “just touch up the edges.” Then I was going to do another quick painting. But I spaced out and before I knew it, overworked areas that I’d originally painted very freely, made more problematic since I’d forgetten exactly what the pattern of light and shadow was on the objects.

Someday I’ll learn to stop while it’s fresh. Nevertheless, I think I did capture the feeling of a bright sunny afternoon, which was my main goal.

Categories
Landscape Oil Painting Outdoors/Landscape Plein Air

Briones Regional Park, Plein Air

Briones Regional Park take 2

Oil on wood panel, 8×10″ (Larger)

Briones Regional Park take 1

Oil on wood panel, 8×10″ (Larger)

The last time we painted in this spot I had a terrible time with my paints and then stepped in dog poo as I was leaving (which of course I didn’t notice until AFTER I got in my car and drove off). Since the painting I did that day was total crap, it was a perfect end to a frustrating day. To make the suffering even worse, I continued to unsuccessfully work on that painting again and again at home (see post “Learning to Stop“]

Needless to say I was not overjoyed facing the same scene today, especially after only a few hours sleep last night. I’d gone to see The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, a wonderful movie by artist Julian Schnabel, which I highly recommend. I’d come home feeling inspired and messed around in the studio, finally going to sleep around 1:00 a.m., with my alarm set for 8:00. For some unknown reason I woke at 6:00 instead (grrrr).

Expecting little, I just let myself just play with color, using a palette knife to push the paint around. I made these two paintings and enjoyed the day tremendously. The weather was beautiful: sunny, breezy and fresh. Friendly people, dogs, cows and horses wandered by as we painted. As usual in Elio’s class, I gathered new nuggets of oil painting plein air wisdom. I know I still have a long way to go, but it feels good to know that I’ve made progress too.

Categories
Art theory Dreams Illustration Friday Life in general People Sketchbook Pages Watercolor

Leap (year) * Illustration Friday

Leap

Four watercolors, framed together 24×32″ (Larger)

This week’s Illustration Friday challenge is “Leap” in honor of leap year, this February 29, 2008. But the paintings and sketches in this post were actually made twenty years ago. They were inspired by two dreams recorded in a 1988 dream sketchbook (below) and a class in color theory I was taking at the time, based on Joseph Albers work. The images include references to the seasons; times of day/night; the elements of water, fire, earth, and air; and tarot symbols.

The dreams that night were showing me a choice I needed to make in my life. Then as now I was fascinated by computers/technology and art (a perfect combination for an art blogger, no?). But my dreams pointed out how the time and energy I was spending on the computer tied me in knots and stole from my creativity.

Here is the image from the first dream that night: A computer tech “boiler room” full of electronics, miles of wires, computers, monitors, and icky nerds frantically, obsessively, working non-stop at their computers with no time to even look up. It was a nightmare really…full of tension.

Leap-1988

In the next dream I left that scene and I was running free in a field and it felt really good.

Leap-1988-2

And then, from a quote I’d heard somewhere, this image and words.

Leap-1985

When I awoke I knew I had to make the choice for life, freedom, and art, and quit spending so much time at my computer.

I guess like anything else in life, it comes down to a matter of finding balance and making choices about what’s really important. If I remember to ask myself whether I’ll feel happier at the end of the day if I’ve spent my time drawing/painting or working on the computer, I usually know which to choose (Art!).

Categories
Drawing Faces People Sketchbook Pages Subway drawings

Quickie Subway Drawings on BART

20080227-BART1

I liked the earnest, patient look on her face and her Modigliani neck. I just wish she’d stayed aboard a little longer so I could finish her.

Now this guy was great. He went right to sleep, sitting facing me, our knees nearly touching, and mostly stayed asleep until we both got off at the same stop. Once he startled awake and caught me staring at him but dozed right back off. The guy sitting next to me watched me draw and gave me a big grin as I was getting off, acknowledging our secret from my model.
Red-haired sleeper with sideburns:

20080227-BART4

More sleepers:
20080227-BART7

Just waiting:
20080227-BART6

Too many earings:
20080227-BART3

No smoking: (and yes, I know his head’s too narrow but I think it rather suits him)
20080227-BART5

All are Ink on Strathmore Drawing paper

Categories
Berkeley Drawing Outdoors/Landscape Painting Sketchbook Pages Watercolor

Mrs. Dalloway’s Bookstore, Berkeley

Mrs. Dalloway's Book Store

Ink & Watercolor in Strathmore drawing sketchbook, 6×8″ (Larger)

After my dentist appointment today I took a walk up to College Avenue in the Elmwood district of Berkeley, foraging for lunch. I chose Ferrari’s Deli where I had a delicious grilled “Perugia” sandwich (roasted pork sirloin, black truffle butter and Asiago cheese on toasted ciabatta bread). I sat a sidewalk table to eat, with a view of Mrs. Dalloway’s bookstore across the street. Then I got out my sketchbook and started drawing, sad that I’d left my watercolors in my car, half a mile away.

I took a couple photos (fearing I wouldn’t remember all the colors, like the orange reflection of Ferrari’s awning appearing in Mrs. Dalloway’s windows) and then added the watercolor at home tonight. The paper in this sketchbook is not designed for wet media but works fine if you don’t overwork it. I like it because it’s just the right size, the paper is nice, especially for drawing, and quite inexpensive.

Categories
Art theory Berkeley Drawing Outdoors/Landscape Sketchbook Pages Watercolor

North Berkeley Library & Freedom from Junk

North Berkeley Library

Ink and watercolor in 6×8″ Strathmore Drawing sketchbook (Larger)

This sketch is all about pausing in a busy day to sit and draw, taking advantage of a little sun between rainstorms, and enjoying feeling free. Until I began the sketch, I hadn’t realized how beautiful (and extraordinarily complicated) the landmark building (photo) of the North Berkeley Public Library is.

Freedom from stuff

My feeling of freedom came from filling three shopping bags with books I no longer needed and taking them to my favorite used book store, Black Oak Books. They gave me store credit for two-thirds of the books (which I promptly traded for three books I had on hold).

I could have sold the remaining bag of books on Amazon or at another used bookstore, but decided to just let them go. I dropped them off at the library as a donation and walked out empty handed, feeling quite pleased. Instead of rushing on to the next task, I plopped down on a bench and started sketching.

Now I have space on my bookshelves and room in my car (the three bags had been hogging my backseat for two weeks). And I love that wonderful spacious feeling that comes from removing clutter, whether physical or mental, from my life.

About the sketch: As you can see, my study of perspective hasn’t quite paid off yet. (The doors and windows slant the opposite direction from the roofline of the front wall). I drew with a purple Micron Pigma pen and then added watercolor at home. I tried to remember the colors of the walls but realized I didn’t pay enough attention to what was in light and in shadow. To practice using visual memory, I purposely didn’t take a photo or look at one on line.

So now I can see that my visual memory needs work, along with my perspective drawing. How great to know that there is no end to learning as an artist. I never have to worry about getting bored. Painting and learning are my two favorite things in life!

Categories
Drawing Life in general Painting Plein Air Sketchbook Pages Watercolor

Ladies, Stand Up for Your Right to Pee Standing Up!

Pee Standing Up Tools

Ink & watercolor, 7×10″ (Larger)

Plein air painting means spending the day out in nature … but what to do when nature calls and there’s no restroom? The guys can just face away, pee on a tree, and preserve their modesty. But we women have to find somewhere to squat with knickers around our ankles, fannies exposed.

After my first painful experience in this situation (too much coffee, no place to hide) I wondered what more experienced plein air painting women did. My research led me to the devices pictured above that allow women to pee standing up, without having to drop their drawers. All you have to do is unbutton and unzip your jeans enough to slip one of these nifty devices into position and you’re ready to “go” with no body parts exposed.

I practiced first at home, trying out all three of items illustrated above. My favorite is the purple one, called the Whiz. It’s reusable, works perfectly and lets women wee anywhere that men can (just remember not to pee into the wind). WhizBiz’s website recommends it for active women for hiking, snow activities, climbing. It is flexible and can be squished small for carrying. WhizBiz is in Australia but ships internationally. I received my order in about a week.

I also liked the Urinelle, which I ordered from Magellan’s travel supplies. They recommend it for foreign travel when bathrooms are unavailable or too nasty to use. The Urinelle is made from stiff paper and resembles a snow cone cup. They are disposable and can only be used once, which could get expensive since they cost a little over a dollar each (sold in packs of 6). They are very easy to pack or carry since they are flat until you open them for use.

Of the three I tried, the only one I did not like was the Caring Hands TravelMate (the blue one above). It is too small and not at enough of an angle and…well, I’ll spare the details except to say I’m glad I was testing it in the shower. I wrote to the company and asked for a refund but they didn’t respond.

Peeing standing up is so much fun! I keep a Urinelle in my purse and another in my car, just in case. When I go out painting I carry the Whiz in my backpack. It’s saved my fanny several times now.

Categories
Landscape Oil Painting Outdoors/Landscape Painting Plein Air

Lake Temescal in oils, plein air

Lake Temescal, Oakland, CA

Oil on masonite panel, 8×10″ (Larger)

Sunday my painting class with Elio painted at a beautiful spot in the Oakland hills. Lake Temescal is actually a reservoir surrounded by trees, hills and park, just off Highway 24 and perched right on the Hayward earthquake fault. It was a lovely foggy morning when we arrived, and as the day progressed, the sun peeked out from behind clouds. Joggers, families, dogs and fisherman wandered by, also enjoying the springlike weather.

I’m happy that much of what I’ve been studying and learning about oil painting, perspective, color, landscape, composition, etc. is starting to make sense and I’m finding ways of working that feel good to me. I got a lot bolder with color in this painting, starting off painting freely with really strong colors, knowing that I could adjust and tone them down once I got everything blocked in.

I tried to make myself finish the painting within a 2-3 hour window so that I wouldn’t be painting a scene that had completely changed as the time passed and sun moved overhead.

Then Elio did a demonstration and explained how he using color temperature (going from a warm yellow green to a medium green to a cool blue green) to create the illusion of form and depth on a tree. The greens were pretty close in value but their color temperature changes really moved the warm part of the tree forward and the cool part back, making it look very round and full. The really cool part was that I understood what he doing and saying; previously it just seemed like magic.

Categories
Animals Cartoon art Drawing Dreams Gouache People Sketchbook Pages

Dreaming: Beaches, buzzards, buffalo…

A Llama appears

All are ink & gouache in square sketchbook

I started my dreams Friday night (after a really crazy hectic work week) with a strange series of beach scenes. First a llama appeared in the surf and splashed its way out of the water.

Shortly after that a gigantic fat buzzard with white fluffy feathers like a tutu zoomed down and picked at a dead seagull carcass.

Then a buzzard...

Then a herd of huge buffalo chased by hunky hordes of horseback riders goes thundering through the surf: first north then south, then out of the water and up a hill. Then a helicopter (in first image) lands on the water and loads up with my co-workers. Those who don’t fit get into a boat and leave too.

Then horses chasing buffalo

Meanwhile it’s my first day on the job in a different department and I’m trying to print notes for how to use my cellphone and I’m trying to make it 2-sided to keep it in my wallet but I mess up the pages and then discover I have no computer to print from anyway.

Then a woman comes over and says she needs to measure my head size. She tells me how much smaller my head is than hers and says, “that’s just one of those things that happen at our age.” I’m wondering if my head is shrinking* and I also don’t think she’s my age, but then I can’t tell how old she really is.

Head size

* Hmmmm, maybe that last dream is telling me I need a good “head shrinker?” (as psychiatrists are called in the U.S.).

At first I thought there’s no way I can draw these dreams: I don’t know what buffalo and horses and buzzards look like in enough detail to draw them. Then I wondered, if I can see them so clearly in my dream, maybe all I have to do is look at the images I see in my mind when I remember the dream. If I can see it, I should be able to draw it. (Hah!)

I started sketching hesitantly in pencil but quickly realized I needed to just go for it with my pen instead as I usually do. It’s so much more fun to be adventurous and just see what comes out of the pen.

I was able to capture the buzzard, llama and horses close to how I saw them in my dream though not the riders who were all studly stuntmen/Indiana Jones type, not these wimpy riders. But I was hopeless at drawing the buffalo.

Maybe when I finish working on perspective I’ll switch to buffalo (not).