Tag: Art

Categories
Art theory Oil Painting Painting Still Life

Tea and Lemon, An “Almost” Painting

Tea and Lemon on Lavender, oil on linen panel, 8x8"
Tea and Lemon on Lavender, oil on linen panel, 8×8″

I make a lot of “almost” paintings: they are almost what I intended; I almost like them, if only… (insert painting problem here). I’ve learned to appreciate the learning process and the parts that work and learn from my mistakes. But I haven’t yet learned to leave “almost” paintings alone and start another one.

Instead I keep working them until I reach the point where the underlying problem (e.g. poor composition, icky colors of background or subject, bad drawing, too overworked, or just not enough skill to pull off what I was going for) becomes insurmountable. Then I make a note of what I discover and what went wrong and give myself an assignment of something to study and practice on the next one.

With Tea and Lemon, I was happy with almost everything except the background which I reworked several times. I’m tempted to mess with it some more so I’m posting it to make myself stop.

Categories
Drawing Gardening Ink and watercolor wash Landscape Painting Places Plants Plein Air Sketchbook Pages Walnut Creek

Ruth Bancroft Gardens: Beyond the “Private, No Entry” Signs

Ruth Bancroft Gardens Old Barn, ink & watercolor, 5x8"
Ruth Bancroft Gardens Old Barn, ink & watercolor, 5×8″

My plein air group was given the great privilege of being able to go beyond the chained off, “Private Property. No Entrance” signs to explore the property where Mrs. Bancroft and other family members still live. There are old barns like the one above and other outbuildings as well as a log cabin, a chalet and a beautiful Japanese style home.

1970s Muscle Cars Resting in the Shade and Dust
1970s Muscle Cars Resting in the Shade and Dust Behind the Garden

The Ruth Bancroft Gardens in Walnut Creek began as a 400-acre fruit farm in the 1880s developed by Hubert Howe Bancroft, a famous historian and publisher whose book collection is now part of UC Berkeley’s Bancroft Library.

Bancroft Garden Lilly Pond and Dragonflies, ink & watercolor 5x8"
Bancroft Garden Lilly Pond and Dragonflies, ink & watercolor 5×8″

The farm was passed down through the generations, and much of the land was sold off for housing development. In 1971 the last walnut orchard on the property was cut down, and Ruth’s husband, Phillip Bancroft, offered her three acres to begin a new garden using her large collection of succulents.

Giant Agave, ink & watercolor, 5x8"
Giant Agave, ink & watercolor, 5×8″

The garden also has collections of aloes, agaves, yuccas, and echeverias. Aeonium ‘Glenn Davidson’, the first succulent in Ruth’s collection, is still growing in the garden.

Categories
Oil Painting Painting Still Life

Apple, Pitcher, Egg: Finding My Way

Apple, Pitcher and Egg; Oil on board, 8x8"
Apple, Pitcher and Egg; Oil on board, 8×8″

With each painting I do I’m getting closer to finding my way, or I should say my way. I am attracted to so many styles and ways of painting, from tightly rendered realism to loose and sketchy and everything in between. Some require more time and patience then I have; others are fun to paint but the results don’t interest me.

I painted this one a couple months ago (I’m so behind on posting!) at the beginning of this honing in period (or is it homing in?). As I catch up on posting the paintings and sketches I’ve done since this one, I’ll be sharing the process and work that has helped me to sort out what and how I enjoy painting and what I don’t; what I do well and what I need to learn to improve.

After chasing so many different approaches, sometimes in circles, it’s exciting to get close to finding my way, which was probably there all along waiting for me to come back to it.

Categories
Bay Area Parks Drawing Ink and watercolor wash Landscape Painting Places Plein Air Sketchbook Pages

Lost on the Way to China (Camp)

Sea Breeze, Grounded Boat at China Camp Village, ink & watercolor 5x8"
“Sea Breez”, Grounded Boat at China Camp Village, ink & watercolor 5×8″

I think I broke my record of getting lost when I went to a paint out at China Camp. The first three times I apparently confused my GPS when I entered my destination as cross streets and it delivered me to three different neighborhoods in San Rafael instead of the state park. Finally I arrived at the 15 mile long park but missed the turnoff to our painting spot and drove all the way through and out the other side into yet another nice San Rafael neighborhood.

Plein Air Painter and the Old Pier at China Camp Village, ink & watercolor, 5x8"
Plein Air Painter and the Old Pier at China Camp Village, ink & watercolor, 5×8″

At least the road through the 1,514-acre park offers beautiful views of the San Pablo Bay waterfront, a salt marsh, and meadows. At China Camp Village where I made these sketches, there are many remnants of the 1880s Chinese immigrant shrimp-fishing village of 500, including one lone, 85-year old surviving resident who was going to be evicted when the park was to close July 1 due to budget cuts. 

Continue reading “Lost on the Way to China (Camp)”
Categories
Art supplies Mexico Oil Painting Painting Product Review Studio

Painting Sold and Varnished: A Review and How-To with New Pre-Mixed Gamvar Varnish (for oils, acrylics, alkyds)

San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, 9"x12, oil on panel
San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, 9″x12, oil on panel

I just sold the painting above and wanted to varnish it with a protective layer before shipping. I’ve been afraid to try traditional damar-based varnish which is prone to drips, bubbles and yellowing. I knew that somehow at least one cat hair would embed itself. So in the past I used a spray-on varnish (which has its own disadvantagse) or just shipped sold paintings without varnishing.

The ORIGINAL 2-part Gamvar Picture Varnish
The ORIGINAL 2-part Gamvar

I’d read that Gamblin’s Gamvar synthetic varnish was easier to use and very archival, developed based on research at the National Gallery of Art. But it came as a two-part kit that you have to gently mix, every hour over eight hours. For me, that is a recipe for failure. I knew I’d get distracted and miss an hour just like when I make a cup of tea, forget about it, and hours later have to throw it out and start over.

New Gamvar Pre-Mixed Picture Varnish
New Gamvar Pre-Mixed Picture Varnish

Now it comes Pre-Mixed! Gamblin just released a pre-mixed version of Gamvar in a 2 oz. bottle containing enough varnish to cover 40 square feet. I called Gamblin with some questions that I didn’t see answered on their website. Their technical support people were on other calls so the operator connected me to their president who cheerfully answered my questions. You can’t beat that for customer service!

My questions and his answers were:

Continue reading “Painting Sold and Varnished: A Review and How-To with New Pre-Mixed Gamvar Varnish (for oils, acrylics, alkyds)”
Categories
Drawing People Sketchbook Pages Subway drawings

A is for Age, Avoiding, Annoying, Anxious…

In April my sketch group decided to sketch things starting with “A” but I kept going with it. I had a lot of fun finding things about the people I sketched that started with A. Click on any of the pictures to see them larger with my notes in slide show format. As you’ll see from the times in the notes, I was working some long hours the past couple months which is why I’m so behind on posting. When time is limited I always choose painting over posting.

Categories
Berkeley Building Drawing Ink and watercolor wash Landscape Places Sketchbook Pages

Back to Albina Street

Back to Albina Street, ink & watercolor, 8x5.5"
Back to Albina Street (Cathy sketching), ink & watercolor, 8×5.5″

We were fortunate to be invited back to the amazing Albina Street Victorian that I wrote about before here. The owners were so gracious to allow our entire Urban Sketchers group explore the house from top to bottom. They even served us lemonade and cookies in the garden.

I was interested in that curvy shape below the edge of the roof, a motif that is repeated throughout the exterior and interior of the house.

At the end of the evening we spread out our dozen sketchbooks for the owner to photograph for his scrapbook. I thought my sketch was rather boring but fortunately others in the group made up for my blah sketch. Cathy outdid herself with a half-dozen renderings of the rare and unique palms and other trees in the garden and Micaela captured some wonderful interior scenes.

When the others post their new Albina Street sketches on our Urban Sketchers blog you can see them here.

Categories
Oil Painting Painting Still Life

Stumped by Stumpy Carrots

Stumpy Carrot Study 2, oil on panel, 8x8"
Stumpy Carrot Study #2 with Apple, oil on Gessobord panel, 8×8″

A fresh bunch of colorful, stumpy, little carrots with greens still attached: a great still life subject, I thought. But after two days of painting carrots I had my doubts. I was happier with the one above, my second attempt.

Stumpy Carrot study #1, oil on Gessobord panel, 8x8"
Stumpy Carrot Study #1 with Olive Oil Jug, oil on Gessobord panel, 8×8″

After the first try (Study #1) above, I wasn’t so sure. I tried and tried with the first one but it just wasn’t happening. In a rare moment of painting sanity, I decided to abandon the first one and try another composition (Study #2 at top).

I questioned whether to even post the first study since I’m not happy with the carrots. What do you think? Is it interesting or helpful to show the ones I don’t like? Or should I only post my best work that I’m proud of?

I don’t know if it was their hours under the lights or my hours struggling with them, but by the time I finished the carrots were looking an awful lot less appealing to me. I ate them anyway. Sliced and steamed with a little butter. They tasted better than they painted.

Categories
Drawing Ink and watercolor wash Interiors Life in general People Sketchbook Pages Urban Sketchers

The Danger of Sketching While Tired

El Cerrito Natural Grocery, sepia ink & watercolor
El Cerrito Natural Grocery, sepia ink & watercolor, 8×5″

I was so tired I almost didn’t go to our Tuesday sketch night but our destination, El Cerrito Natural Grocery, was near home so I pushed myself out the door. I only managed the sketch above, made standing using a shopping cart as my table. Even the colors looked tired. Cathy focused on the meat department and entertained the butchers with her drawings of them. Her chicken sketch is a hoot.

We left at 8:00 when the store closed and then I sat in my car for a few minutes, checking my email on my phone while trying to talk myself out of a trip to the ice cream shop. My phone rang: “Hello, this is El Cerrito Natural and you left your little notebook in your shopping cart.”

Thank goodness I always put a note on the first page of every journal: “IF LOST PLEASE CALL…” with my phone number. I said I was still in the parking lot and ran back to the front door and gratefully took it home.

Outside Peets Coffee, Ink & watercolor
Outside Peet’s Coffee, Ink & watercolor

This was another drawing while tired. I tried taking a walk to Peet’s coffee to wake myself up. Since caffeine is no longer an option, the walking and an iced decaf had to do the trick. It didn’t. I was just more tired when I got home but at least I got to sketch a bit (and didn’t lose my sketchbook this time).

I watched the blind woman at the next table (in the sketch above) make a phone call by listening carefully to the tone as she pushed each number. Her friend arrived shortly afterwards, also blind, walking a large black poodle.

Two things I wondered:

  1. If you’re meeting someone and you can’t see them, how do you know they’re there or arriving without calling out “Susie are you here…” or phoning?
  2. Why don’t you ever see standard poodles as guide dogs? I live near a center for the blind and also often see people training guide dogs on our subway system. They’re never poodles. Though they do always wear very cute booties–I wonder why?
Categories
Art supplies Digital art Drawing

Drawing Random Stuff with iPad, Bamboo Stylus and Paper App

Stuff by my chair
Stuff  on the table by my recliner in the living room

I had my iPad on the table next to me while I was watching TV, too tired to go in the studio. So I doodled these sketches while relaxing in my black leather recliner, my favorite chair for watching TV, napping or reading.

The Red Studio Basket, drawn on iPad
The Red Studio Basket, drawn on iPad

I love this red basket that I use to carry stuff between the studio and house. Today I spilled a cup of tea in it but it seems to have survived OK. It lives on a little table in my living room by the front door.

There’s something about the limited color choices and simplicity of the iPad app Paper by FiftyThree that makes everything you draw look nice. On screen the layout is designed to resemble a Moleskine notebook. Using a Bamboo Stylus is a lot easier than drawing with my finger but not as easy as drawing with a real pen.

My Glasses, drawn on iPad
My Glasses, drawn on iPad

Although I studied and practiced digital painting a couple years ago, and even sold a digital illustration to an airline magazine, I prefer painting by hand to making digital artwork. But every now and then I give it another go, just for fun.

Free Scissors
Free Scissors

These scissors came packaged with something else I bought (but I forget what) a long time ago. I don’t know why they were sitting nearby, but scissors are always fun to draw.

Paper is a fun app, and while not nearly as powerful as other iPad drawing apps, it’s somehow easier to turn out enjoyable sketches with it.