Categories
Gardening Ink and watercolor wash Sketchbook Pages

Glove Love (Every Day in May #11)

EDIM 11-Gardening Gloves, ink & watercolor sketch, 8x10"
EDIM 11-Gardening Gloves, ink & watercolor sketch, 8×10″

I received these wonderful half-rubber, half-knitted gardening gloves as a house-warming gift when I bought my home in 2001. They’re still in excellent condition and I think of the friend who gave them to me every time I prune my roses without getting wounded by the thorns.

I’m not sure if their excellent condition is because they’re such good quality or because I don’t spend enough time gardening. I set them on a roll of transparent packing tape on my drawing table to sketch them and let the paint mingle on the paper instead of mixing one color. Drawing gloves is fun!

 

Categories
Every Day Matters Gardening Ink and watercolor wash Plants Sketchbook Pages

Something Creepy and A Lock: Every Day in May 9-10

EDiM 10: Something Creepy, ink & watercolor, 8x5"
EDiM 10: Something Creepy, ink & watercolor, 8×5″

The creepiest things around my house are snails and slugs. They creep along, leaving their silvery trails of slime. Yuck. My gardeners warned me that the big Agapanthus plants left behind by the former owner of my home were snail havens and wanted to remove them. But I like the crazy purple flowers and left them. To collect snails to sketch I knew where to go: I filled a plastic cup from two Agapanthus.

Most of the snails curled up in their shells and hid. One was very curious and climbed onto a leaf I stuck in the cup. I put the leaf and snail on the table to draw but he was a busy guy so I had to keep moving him when he reached the end of the leaf. Then I put him in the cup and he started climbing up and over the side, giving me a clear view of his face, which was just a little nub, with no apparent eyes or mouth. Extremely creepy.

EDiM 9-10, Draw a Lock & Something Creepy, ink & watercolor, 8x11"
EDiM 9-10, Draw a Lock & Something Creepy, ink & watercolor, 8×11″

The lock above is one I’ve had for many years. It lives in my gym bag and even though I sometimes go long stretches without using it, I seem to always remember the combination. I keep the combination in my iPhone’s contact list just in case I forget. I don’t want to be stranded in the locker room!  I struggled a bit drawing the lock so did it several times, starting with the one at the bottom.

More about snails:

Even though I didn’t see eyes or mouth it turns out they have them. Their weak eyes are on the end of their tentacles, the mouth is underneath the head. They don’t have ears and can’t hear but have a good sense of smell (though no nose). Lots more interesting snail facts on Snail World.com.

Categories
Drawing Every Day Matters Sketchbook Pages

Something(s) For Free and a Coffee Pot: Every Day in May 7-8

EDiM 7-8: Something(s) You Got For Free and Draw a Coffee Pot, ink & watercolor, 8x11"
EDiM 7-8: Something(s) You Got For Free and Draw a Coffee Pot, ink & watercolor, 8×11″

“Draw Something You Got For Free” was May 7th’s cue and May 8 was “Draw A Coffee Pot.” Above is the black lacquer cabinet with carvings and gold decorations I found on the sidewalk in front of a brightly painted house in my neighborhood with a “Free” sign on it. On top of the cabinet is a microwave I got for free (my son left it behind along with the car parts featured here when I took back my garage to convert it to my studio.

And on top of the microwave are more freebies: a set of Russian stacking dolls a friend brought back from Sitka, a tiny bowl a friend made and inside the bowl is some lip balm from my dentist (he applies it before working in your mouth then hands it to you) and a packet of cut flower preservative free from Trader Joe’s floral department.

On the right above is the way I make my coffee, with a ceramic filter holder from Peet’s Coffee that drips the coffee directly into my cup.

Categories
Art supplies Ink and watercolor wash Landscape Product Review Sketchbook Pages

EDiM 5-6: Draw A Scented Product (one to counteract another) and a Pine Tree

Draw a Pine Tree and a Scented Product (perfume and cat litter)
Draw a Pine Tree and a Scented Product (perfume and cat litter), ink & watercolor 8×11″

I had fun with May 6: “Draw a Scented Product.” I sketched two scented “products” — one man-made and one cat-made. The man-made is a lovely (and expensive) room perfume (Vanilla, Bourbon and Mandarin) that I fell in love with at my dentist’s office and unlike most scented products doesn’t give me a headache. It nicely counteracts the scented product my cats produce on a  regular basis.

“Draw a pine tree” was the cue for May 5. Easy…found one in my neighborhood bigger than a house and sketched it and painted it sitting in my car on a cold, foggy, windy day.

I’m experimenting with an inexpensive ($13.00) Winsor Newton Cotman watercolor palette. I like the format, size and light weight very much and the way the paint easily re-wets. Although the colors aren’t as intense as their artist’s grade paints they’re all permanent/lightfast. But that might be fine for sketching since it might help me keep the sketches simpler and save fancy washes for real watercolor paper.

Categories
Ink and watercolor wash Sketchbook Pages Studio

Joy, Socks and Flat File Workstation

Something That Brings You Joy and Draw Your Socks, ink & watercolor, 8x11
Something That Brings You Joy and Draw Your Socks, ink & watercolor, 8×11

“Draw Something That Brings You Joy” was the cue for May 3. The first thing I thought of was my new (to me) flat file work station. I already had one set of files and was using them as a seating area, covered by a board, foam pad and quilt. But I decided I needed a  standing work station more than a lounging area in the studio.

Months ago I started watching Craigslist for another set. I finally found one in my sister’s neighborhood and my brother-in-law was willing to help me get them home, build a sturdy base for them and set them up, with the white melamine-covered board now a table top. Yay!

Day 4 was “Draw Your Socks” but it could have also been another “something that brings you joy” day, since my wonderful Smartwool Socks bring me and my feet much joy. Especially these cute, funny ones that look like there are two or three socks in one and have blue polka dots, flowers and stripes on them.

Categories
Every Day Matters Ink and watercolor wash Sketchbook Pages

Every Day in May, Days 1-2: A Favorite Sound (Purrr) & Bubbles

Bubbles: Dirty Dishes, Every Day in May, ink & watercolor in 8x11Moleskine
Bubbles: Dirty Dishes, Every Day in May, ink & watercolor in 8×11″ Moleskine

What better way to improve drawing skills than to practice every day! I committed to the Every Day in May (Facebook, Flickr) challenge and have been really enjoying the practice, discipline and creativity the daily cues inspire. The first cue was: “Draw something bubbly.”

I had a sink full of dirty dishes awaiting me…a perfect excuse for bubbles. I got a little carried away and didn’t realize I’d drawn the cutting board on the counter floating in space instead. Oops. Under the pasted on list of sketching cues is a failed drawing of my cat that I wanted to hide and do over (below).

Draw A Favorite Sound: Purrrr. Every Day in May, ink & watercolor, 8 x11"
Draw A Favorite Sound: Purrrr. Every Day in May, ink & watercolor, 8 x 11″

Next up was “Draw a Favorite Sound.” I cheated a bit since my cats weren’t actually purring when I sketched this. Fiona was annoyed at having her nap disturbed and Busby wouldn’t even turn around, too busy looking out the window. I sketched this one in pencil first because after the failed drawing I pasted over above, I needed a bit of success to boost my confidence.

Warm up cat sketches to study them, ink, 8x11"
Warm up cat sketches to study them, ink, 8×11″

I did some warm-up sketches of the cats in ink first, trying to learn more about their basic shapes. It’s amazing how little I really see and know a subject until I draw it. I see my cats constantly but drawing them is almost like seeing them for the first time.

Categories
Berkeley Ink and watercolor wash Landscape Outdoors/Landscape Watercolor

Teddy Bear Fountain, Berkeley

Teddy Bear Fountain, Berkeley, ink & watercolor, 8x11"
Teddy Bear Fountain, Berkeley, ink & watercolor, 8×11″

I was excited to sketch Berkeley’s 100-year-old Teddy Bear Fountain again. We found the perfect viewpoint, I sat down on the carved stone bench, pulled out my pen, opened my bag and discovered I’d forgotten my sketchbook! DUH! Fortunately Cristina had a 9×12 watercolor block with her and she let me use it.

When I sketched the fountain before I wasn’t happy with the results so I decided to start with pencil on the complicated scene this time. There was an odd optical illusion; it appeared that the water was only falling behind the fountain so that’s how I painted it. I also intentionally shrunk the width of the base of the fountain.

The sun was setting when I finished drawing so I added paint at home. Please check out Cristina’s comprehensive sketch of the scene and Cathy’s previous sketch that is now featured on Berkeley Library cards. Below is the photo I took before I started drawing.

Teddy Bear Fountain Photo
Teddy Bear Fountain Photo
Categories
Gardening Sketchbook Pages

My Junkyard Garden

Old Car Parts in the Spring Garden, ink & watercolor 8x11"
Old Car Parts in the Spring Garden, ink & watercolor 8×11″

I inherited a bunch of rusty old car parts when I converted the garage (formerly used by my son to restore a 1970 muscle car) into my studio. I thought they were interesting looking “sculptures” and stuck them in my garden, planning to draw them.

It took me a year to get around to it but I finally spent a fun morning sketching them amidst sprouting irises. When I finished, I gave most of them to the my gardener who also collects scrap metal for recycling. I kept the two most interesting pieces as possible oil painting still life subjects in the future.

Categories
Ink and watercolor wash Sketchbook Pages

El Volado, The Mexican Bus; plus 3 Museums in 1 day: Rembrandt, Vermeer and Wiley

El Volado the Mexican Bus, ink & watercolor, 8x11"
El Volado the Mexican Bus, ink & watercolor, 8×11″

There’s a non-residential street a couple blocks from my house where this bus and its two colorful sisters are often parked. I sat on the corner and sketched my favorite, named “El Volado, The Mexican Bus” (as is written on the bus) on the first page of my giant Moleskine. I did a little preliminary work in pencil to get the basic dimensions and then continued in ink and watercolor.

After spending yesterday traveling around on public transit, a bus seemed a good subject to post today. I took the subway and then a streetcar to visit a friend and her toddler in San Francisco. We walked from her house to the California Academy of Science in Golden Gate Park. It was fun seeing penguins and beautiful fish in the huge coral reef aquarium through the eyes of a delighted 20 month old. At nap time I walked them home and then back to the park.

I ate lunch in the more peaceful atmosphere of the De Young Museum cafe across the plaza from the Academy which had been crammed with hundreds of noisy school kids on field trips. After lunch I visited the “blockbuster” Girl With a Pearl Earring: Dutch Painting from the Mauritshuis and Rembrandt’s Century shows. The museum was fairly empty, with easy access to close-up views of all the amazing work.

maurits2

After a brief, failed attempt at sketching in the plaza (just too tired) I walked back to the streetcar, stopping for a coffee for fortification along the way. My next stop was the Jewish Contemporary Museum downtown to see a show of portraits by Kehinde Wiley, who is known for his grand portraits of black urban men from around the world. This show, The World Stage: Israel features Israeli Jews, Ethiopian Jews, and Israeli Arabs and elaborate religious Jewish designs.

Kehinde Wiley, Portrait of Alios Itzhak
Kehinde Wiley, Portrait of Alios Itzhak

I had looked forward to seeing this show but was disappointed by how much the oil paintings looked like slick digital art, with no sign of the artist’s hand. That was validated when I found this article that says, “…his actual paintings are created by teams of assistants in China…But great portraits are not about formulae; they are about expressing something about an individual.” And hopefully there is something in them of the artist too, like the Rembrandt and Vermeer portraits I saw earlier in the day!

Categories
Building Healdsburg Ink and watercolor wash Outdoors/Landscape Places Sketchbook Pages

Earth Day Sketchcrawl in Healdsburg

Mother Earth on Earth Day in Healdsburg, ink & watercolor, 6.5x4"
Mother Earth on Earth Day in Healdsburg, ink & watercolor, 6.5×4″

Our sketch group traveled up to the wine country for a sketchcrawl in Healdsburg. We discovered an Earth Day festival setting up in the town square, complete with Mother Earth, above. Covered in flowers and pink and green gauzy fabric, she gave a talk about saving the earth, played her ukulele and sang a few children’s songs.

Healdsburg Home, Formerly a 7th Day Adventist Church Camp, ink & watercolor5.5"x6"
Healdsburg Home, Formerly a 7th Day Adventist Church Camp, ink & watercolor5.5″x6″

While we sketched this house a block from town square, the owner came out and told us it was built in 1887 by the 7th Day Adventists as a church camp. They still have the original kitchen except for the stove, which they updated to a 1940s model. He apologized we’d missed the flowering of the wisteria vine across the front of the porch.

Gazebo in Healdsburg Town Square, ink & watercolor, 5.5" x 6.5"
Gazebo in Healdsburg Town Square, ink & watercolor, 5.5″ x 6.5″

A variety of speakers lectured and bands performed under the gazebo in the beautiful Healdsburg town square. When the speakers got too strident or the bands too screechy, I walked a couple blocks away to find something else to draw.

Bear Republic Brewing Company, Healdsburg, ink & watercolor, 7x4.5"
Bear Republic Brewing Company, Healdsburg, ink & watercolor, 7×4.5″

As the temperature rose into the 80s I found a shady spot under a tree and drew the Bear Republic Brewing Company’s outdoor patio. Later we sat under those umbrellas and had our lunch. We shared journals with the other sketchcrawlers and at 4 :00 we headed back home.

Below are the full pages as they appear in my Moleskine A4 size journal (about 9×12″ per page).

Healdsburg Lefthand page in Moleskine 9x12"
Healdsburg, left page in Moleskine 9×12″ watercolor journal
Healdsburg Right Hand Page in Moleksine A4
Healdsburg Right Hand Page in Moleksine A4

You can see the pictures from some of the other sketchers on our Urban Sketchers blog.