Tag: Food sketch

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Food sketch Ink and watercolor wash Interiors Sketchbook Pages

Every Day in May 3 and 4: Curtains and Spice Bottles

Every Day in May 4: Spice Bottles, ink and watercolor, 8x5 in
Every Day in May 4: Spice Bottles, ink and watercolor, 8×5 in

I have a whole rack of Penzeys spices but these are my favorites that sit out on the counter for daily use. Their pepper is nothing like the tasteless stuff from the supermarket; it has wonderful flavor and I put it on almost everything. Their cinnamon is sweet and delicious and the Sandwich Sprinkle is great on salads, veggies and meat.

Every Day in May 3: Curtain, ink and watercolor, 8x10 in
Every Day in May 3: Curtain, ink and watercolor, 8×10 in

I have such a tiny bathroom I had to sit on the sink to draw this. My favorite part was drawing the funny patterns on the glass blocks in the window. When I remodeled the bathrooms in my duplex I requested glass blocks in the shower and a window that opens set inside the glass blocks. The wavy glass was fun to draw and is meant to provide privacy but in reality, it’s not perfect. Good thing the neighborhood doesn’t have a few of the window! Also featured in the sketch is my Black and Decker dog washing shower attachment that makes it super easy to wash my dog and she loves hopping in the tub for her spa treatment.

Every Day in May 3-4: Curtain and Spice Bottles, ink and watercolor, 8x10 in
Every Day in May 3-4: Full page, 8×10 in
Categories
Every Day Matters Ink and watercolor wash Plants Sketchbook Pages

Every Day in May: Days 1 and 2

EDiM 1: Food Food: Defrosting Burger, graphite and watercolor, 8x7.25 in
EDiM 1: Food Food: Defrosting Burger, graphite and watercolor, 8×7.25 in

Day 1 of Every Day in May 2015 is supposed to be a favorite food and although I do enjoy the occasional burger, ground beef isn’t really a favorite eat…but this vacuum-sealed package of defrosting-as-I-drew meat was certainly a favorite to draw.

EDiM 2: Tree (Baby Cherry Tree), ink and watercolor, 4.5x8 in
EDiM 2: Tree (Baby Cherry Tree), ink and watercolor, 4.5×8 in

Day 2’s cue is “A nearby tree” and my next-door neighbor’s adorable little baby flowering cherry called out to be drawn before the puffy flowers fall. I meant to fit the whole tree on the page but I started in ink with the top left branch and drew too big so only the top left side of the tree fit. Oh well.

 

EDiM 1 and 2: Food (Defrosting Ground Beef) and Tree (Baby Flowering Cherry)
EDiM 1 and 2: Full page in sketchbook, ink and watercolor, 8×10 in 

It felt so good to just draw for fun in my sketchbook again after weeks of working on two commissioned paintings that are finally approaching completion. I needed to get back to playing in my sketchbook again, whether the paintings were finished or not, so EDiM came along just at the right time.

For me, it will probably be more like Every-ish Day… or (Almost) Every Day… or Some Days in May since I have a lot of other things going on this month. However many days it is, any day that I get to draw is a good day!

If you want to join in the fun, check out the Facebook Group or the Flickr Group and click to join. Everyone is welcome to play any time during the month.

Categories
Food sketch Gouache Sketchbook Pages

Gouache Still Life Studies

Gouache still life studies, 10x8 inches
Gouache still life studies, 10×8 inches

These were gouache sketches from a couple of months ago that I’m just now getting around to posting. I’m still loving gouache but have been missing using it.

I’m working on two commissioned dog portraits in oils so have put aside most of my other art projects temporarily. I’m enjoying the difficult challenge of painting two very similar dogs with dark brindle fur for two different owners but I’m missing taking the time to draw my daily dream images, play with gouache and work on painting people portraits.

Categories
Food sketch Gouache Sketchbook Pages Urban Sketchers

Susan’s Sausage at Gaumenkitzel

Susan's Dinner at Gaumenkitzel, graphite and gouache, 7x9.25"
Susan’s Dinner at Gaumenkitzel, graphite and gouache, 7×9 inches

When we met a Gaumentkitzel for sketch night I’d already had dinner so just ordered a decaf and sketched Susan’s dinner instead. I added gouache when I got home.

Categories
Food sketch Interiors Oakland Sketchbook Pages Urban Sketchers

Cato’s Ale House, Oakland

Catos Ale House, ink and watercolor 7.5x10 in
Cato’s Ale House, ink and watercolor 7.5 x 10 in

When we planned the Urban Sketching evening for Cato’s, a great old pub, little did we know that a large group of Kaiser doctors were also planning a happy hour event that night too. The place was totally packed but a large group of urban sketchers made it work anyway. We gathered around several tables and sketched eaters, drinkers and sketchers (and in my case, dinner).

My hamburger was delicious but I ate it too quickly, anxious to get sketching and a bit overwhelmed by the noise and crowds. That was my first night out sketching since adopting my pup, who was waiting patiently and not all that happily in her bed in my car in the parking lot of the PetFood Express store across the street from the pub.

Categories
Oil Painting Painting Still Life

Happy Boy Farms Tomatoes (Oil painting and process)

Happy Boy Farms Tomatoes, Oil on Gessobord panel, 12×12″
Happy Boy Farms Tomatoes, Oil on Gessobord panel, 12x12"
Happy Boy Farms Tomatoes, Oil on Gessobord panel, 12×12″

My friend Barbara said this painting made her want to lick the tomatoes right off the panel. That was her positive feedback when I got stuck and asked for advice at an earlier stage of this painting. The constructive criticism was harder to hear but helped me get to the final painting above. The earlier stages of the painting and her advice are below.

Preliminary thumbnails and watercolor sketch
Preliminary thumbnails and watercolor sketch

When I set up the still life I hung a light yellow-green cloth as a backdrop and piled the tomatoes into a thrift shop silver basket. I thought I’d use the folds in the cloth to divide up the green background.

Continue reading “Happy Boy Farms Tomatoes (Oil painting and process)”
Categories
Albany Drawing Sketchbook Pages Urban Sketchers

Sketch Rendezvous at the Rendez-Vous Cafe

Someone else feeling like me, ink & watercolor
Someone else feeling like me, ink & watercolor

I wasn’t feeling well the night we sketched at the newish Rendez-Vous Cafe-Bistro and it looks like I sketched my feelings onto my friend’s face. She was cheery and having fun but my pen gave her an expression reflecting how I felt instead.

Kid's Menu Spaghetti & Meatballs with my legs under table, ink & watercolor
Kid’s Menu Spaghetti & Meatballs with my legs under table, ink & watercolor

There was a guitar jazz duo playing lovely music and the waiter kindly let me order  spaghetti and meatballs from the kids’ menu since I just wanted a small portion. As you can see in the sketch above, after I sketched my food on the table I continued down the page, over the binding, and sketched my legs and feet under the table.

By the end of the evening I was feeling much better, as almost always happens when  I sketch, especially with such good friends.

Categories
Drawing Food sketch Sketchbook Pages Urban Sketchers

Chicken Pot Pie Celebration

Chicken Pot Pie Celebration, ink & watercolor, 5x8"
Chicken Pot Pie Celebration, ink & watercolor, 5x8"

When we met for sketch night at Fat Apples Restaurant I decided to celebrate my move into the new studio with a sinfully decadent chicken pot pie. It came with a great salad and two unnecessary rolls since there was already too much to eat. By the time I finished sketching it, the pot pie cooled off just the right amount to eat. Yum!

Umbrellas Inside Fat Apples, ink & watercolor 5x8"
Umbrellas Inside Fat Apples, ink & watercolor 5x8"

Fat Apples has these two large café umbrellas in the middle of the restaurant at a counter where your can eat instead of at a table. It was interesting drawing them from below and to the side and trying to understand what was going on in there. Everyone finished sketching and was waiting for me so I didn’t get to complete the sketch. That’s a waitress with pigtails behind the counter. She actually had a pony tail but turned her head so I drew it in two places.

(Question: Why is a pony tail single but pig tails come in pairs? Pigs only have one tail, right?)

I’m still working on getting a post written and photos taken about the studio. I tried making a 360 degree video in the studio, explaining what I was showing, but when I watched it I discovered I lost track of where I started and actually did 360 degrees plus another 90. It was fun so I’ll try again.

Categories
Drawing Food sketch Ink and watercolor wash Sketchbook Pages Still Life

It Ain’t Winter But It’s Squash

Spaghetti Squash and Acorn Squash, ink & watercolor, 8x5"
Spaghetti Squash and Acorn Squash, ink & watercolor, 8x5"

We’re still not having winter, just more lovely sunny days near 70 degrees. I long for the cool rainy weather that makes it so appealing to bake winter squash and simmer hearty soups while painting in the studio. So the squash gets sketched instead of eaten.

Sonia's Squash, ink & watercolor, 5x8"
Sonia's Squash, ink & watercolor, 5x8"

The green squash isn’t really named “Sonia’s Squash” but I always think of my friend Sonia when I see these because of this amazing watercolor she painted of one with hundreds of glazes. (Correction: in reading the title I see that hers isn’t a squash it’s an Australian Blue Pumpkin.)

These squash are actually side by side on a spread in the Moleskine I’m working in (along with two other sketchbooks this month) but since the Moleskine is bound in stupid landscape format it doesn’t fit in my scanner.

Categories
Food sketch Ink and watercolor wash Sketchbook Pages

The Firemen Were Busy So We Went to the Brewery

Soup at Triple Rock Brewery, ink & watercolor, 5x7"
Soup at Triple Rock Brewery, ink & watercolor, 5x7"

We met for Tuesday night sketching at the main Berkeley Firehouse where we had permission to sketch firetrucks and emergency paraphernalia (and maybe even a hunky fireman or too) but they had to shut down the station and send all their trucks and guys off to fight fires.

So we went around the corner to Triple Rock Brewery. I got a bowl of delicious soup and sketched it on the black plaid tablecloth (waterproof tablecloth of course—and a good thing as we saw a couple of pitchers spilled while we there).

Inside Triple Rock, ink, 7x5"
Inside Triple Rock, ink, 7x5"

We had fun sketching and listening in on bar conversations. I was surprised how full the pub was on a Tuesday night, lots of energy and noise and people laughing.