Tag: Food sketch

Persimmon & Silly Pseudo Summer Rose

Post author By Jana Bouc
Post date December 16, 2011
2 Comments on Persimmon & Silly Pseudo Summer Rose

Persimmon-Rose Sketchbook spread, ink & watercolor

If we don’t get a real fall or winter this year, maybe I can just draw fall and winter colors in my sketchbook? I got inspired by Apple-Pine’s persimmon sketching obsession to sketch (and eat) some persimmons of my own.

Number One Persimmon, ink & watercolor, 7x5"

I really like the way this page turned out with the gold pen over the purple paint on the bottom that I originally added to correct a drawing/design problem, and the way the shadow (from something else on the table) kind of looks like a big number one.

Silly Pseudo Summer Rose, ink & watercolor, 7x5"

It was over 70 degrees F today and my roses are so confused. Earlier this week we had a brief shower and a bit of cold but otherwise, it’s still not winter. I know: be careful what you wish for!

Tags Art, Flower Art, Food sketch, Ink and watercolor wash, Pen and Ink, Rose, Sketchbook Pages

Berkeley Food sketch Ink and watercolor wash Interiors Sketchbook Pages

Awkward Tea and Sketches at Imperial Teahouse

Post author By Jana Bouc
Post date November 21, 2011
7 Comments on Awkward Tea and Sketches at Imperial Teahouse

Imperial Teahouse Evening Sketch, Ink & watercolor, 7x5"

The title is true: both the tea and the sketches were awkward. It was a warm November evening during our weird extended summer and the doors to the patio were open. But that didn’t diminish the smell of frying food and the annoying sound of constant chopping from the small kitchen. I totally botched the perspective when I drew the tables. The little girls look like they’re floating but they were sitting on a bench, also drawn awkwardly.

Cup of tea with lid, ink, watercolor & gouache, 7x5"

At the Imperial Tearoom, they serve the tea Gaiwan style: the loose tea floats in a cup with a lid but no handle (foreground above). To drink it, you’re supposed to tilt the lid and drink from the cup using the lid as a strainer. Awkward.

I’d recently given up caffeine so selected some sort of ginger, ginseng and weed concoction. Fortunately it tasted yucky so it didn’t matter how hard it was to drink. I was really just there to sketch, but the sketches turned out mostly yucky too. I added gouache to the teapot above at home to try to fix the anemic painting I’d done on site and to the saucer below to try to hide all the trouble I had with ellipses that night.

Tea with floaty stuff in it, ink & watercolor, 7x5"

When I ordered my tea I didn’t see prices on the menu, just the teas to choose from. When I paid the bill, I discovered the stupid cup of tea cost $6.00!

Tags Art, Berkeley, Food sketch, Pen and Ink, Sketchbook Pages, Tea

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

Delicata: Raw, Cut, Cooked

Post author By Jana Bouc
Post date October 19, 2011
14 Comments on Delicata: Raw, Cut, Cooked

The Delicata squash were so pretty I wanted to paint them. And then I wanted to cook them (a first time for me). Exploring new produce is an adventure. First draw it, then cut it open and see what’s inside.

The texture of squash doesn’t really appeal to me too much. Especially the slimy parts before it’s cooked. But it makes an interesting sketching subject.

Delicata Cooked on Metal Pan, ink & watercolor, 7x5"

I like this sketch best, with the squash sitting in the reflective, stainless steel roasting pan. I ate a couple of their brethren with my dinner and then brought the leftovers to the studio to sketch.

I’m still not a huge fan . It was OK, roasted with some butter and a little cinnamon. But I think next time (if there is one) I will go for a more savory flavor, with lots of garlic instead.

UPDATE 10/23/11: My art blogger friend Jana Botkin shared these thoughts on squash and art that I had to share here:

A friend once said to me “Squash is the past tense of squish, and squish is not a food”.

We full-time artists could theoretically write off the cost of our groceries if we paint them first!

Garlic, oregano and parmesan cheese are almost the only way I find squash palatable. Without it, it is only palette-able!

Tags Art, Drawing, Food sketch, Ink and watercolor wash, Oil Painting, Pen and Ink, Sketchbook Pages

Drawing Ink and watercolor wash Interiors Places Sketchbook Pages Urban Sketchers

How to Save Money at Whole Foods

Post author By Jana Bouc
Post date September 24, 2011
18 Comments on How to Save Money at Whole Foods

Whole Foods Oakland, ink & watercolor, 5x7"

It’s easy to save money at Whole Foods! Just draw the food, don’t buy it! 🙂

We met at the fancy Oakland Whole Foods for Tuesday night sketching and I had trouble settling down from a challenging day at work. After a couple of false starts outdoors on the patio I moved indoors and found a table with an interesting view.

I decided to start in pencil instead of my usual ink since I was feeling insecure after the first two fails. I was still drawing when everyone wanted to meetup for our show and tell, which I ended up missing so I could finish in ink. I added the paint at home the next day.

Tags Art, Drawing, Food sketch, Ink and watercolor wash, Oakland, Sketchbook Pages, Whole Foods

Drawing Food sketch Ink and watercolor wash Painting Sketchbook Pages

Figs On Deck

Figs in glass bowl in sun, ink & watercolor, 7x5"

After a summer of fighting with a contractor to properly complete my backyard deck and some other construction (beginning stages of garage to studio conversion), the work is done and I can finally enjoy painting on my backyard deck. This was my first happy little backyard sketch of three varieties of organic figs. I painted sitting on my cute new wicker love seat, bought for just $20 from neighbors who were moving away.

I may at some point share my lengthy rant about the way many contractors condescend, ignore, cheat and/or bully women clients, but it’s too nice a day to dwell on such things. I’ll just say that after talking to other women who’ve managed their own construction projects with male contractors, the problem is all to common.

But now the sun is shining, the wind and fog have disappeared and I have a little bouquet of roses waiting to be painted so I’m heading out to the deck!

Tags Art, Drawing, figs, Food sketch, fruit, Ink and watercolor wash, Pen and Ink, Sketchbook Pages

Life in general Oil Painting Painting Still Life

Eight Dollar Eggs!

I’ve been trying to eat a healthier diet and choosing produce and meat that has been sustainably grown. Unfortunately, while the farming may be sustainable, often the prices aren’t.

I bought one dozen eggs from a Marin County farm at the local farmers’ market. The vendor explained how the chickens were totally free-range and so got to eat greens and bugs along with their organic vegetarian feed.

“In fact,” he bragged as he took my money, “the chickens follow the cows around and eat the maggots from their dung!” Yum! Protein!

Despite their fine, buggy diet, these eggs seemed neither fresher nor tastier than the free-range organic eggs I get at Trader Joes for less than half the $8.00 I paid for this dozen.

To try to get a little more value out of my investment, I made one of the pretty light blue eggs pose for a still life. I like the way that the lighting coming from below gives the painting a slightly spooky look.

Painting available here.

Tags Art, eggs, farmers market, Food sketch, Oil Painting, Still Life, sustainable farming

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

Red, White and Blueberries

Post author By Jana Bouc
Post date July 4, 2011
6 Comments on Red, White and Blueberries

Happy 4th of July, whether it’s Independence Day where you are not. Why not make every day Independence Day and claim your right to freedom from whatever holds you back?

Today I chose the freedom of sketching blueberries in my sketchbook instead of struggling with other “work” I’ve been doing in the studio. I’m also trying to claim independence from the “shoulds” that are telling me I should be at a barbeque, roasting wieners, drinking beer, and waving flags.

It looks like the Bay Area will at last have a non-foggy 4th and if so I’ll be heading up to Albany Hill to watch the fireworks around the Bay Area. And now I declare independence from my computer!

Tags 4th of July, Art, blueberries, Drawing, Food sketch, fruit, independence, Ink and watercolor wash, Pen and Ink, Sketchbook Pages, Still Life

Art theory Daily Paintworks Challenge Drawing Food sketch Ink and watercolor wash Oil Painting Painting Sketchbook Pages Watercolor

Stacked! (Stacking the Odds in Your Favor)

Post author By Jana Bouc
Post date June 19, 2011
6 Comments on Stacked! (Stacking the Odds in Your Favor)

Stacked, painting of apples and lemon stacked a top each other, oil on Gessobord, 10x8" — "Stacked!" oil on Gessobord, 10x8"

One way to the stack the odds in your favor with most endeavors is to rehearse. So before I attempted the oil painting above, I did a little thumbnail sketch, a full-sized value sketch, and a watercolor sketch (below). I also took photos just in case the paperclips and scotch tape holding it all together failed (but they didn’t–the stack is still standing!)

I did the watercolor sketch first with the fruit sitting on my drawing table and the grey studio wall as the background. I love ink & watercolor. So immediate and so fun!

Stacked, value study with Prismacolor cool grey markers, 10x8"

Then I set up the fruit stack by my easel and did this value and compositional sketch. I wanted the sketch to be the same size as the painting so I used the Gessobord as a template, tracing around it on the sketching paper. Once I had the drawing the way I wanted it, I used Prismacolor cool grey markers (30%, 50% 80%) to shade the values. It was easy to transfer the full-sized sketch to the Gessobord with a sheet of blue Saral Transfer Paper between the sketch and the board, then drawing over the sketch with a stylus.

I revised the background by hanging a dark gold/green cloth hung behind the still life hiding the gray wall. Now I’m wondering whether to repaint the leaves. What do you think? Is it better to leave them kind of soft and blurry so they don’t attract too much attention. Did you notice them before I asked the question?

(Painting available here)

Tags Art, Art theory, Drawing, Food sketch, Ink and watercolor wash, Oil Painting, Pen and Ink, Sketchbook Pages, Still Life

Drawing Every Day Matters Food sketch Ink and watercolor wash Painting Sketchbook Pages Still Life

Leave It! Lemon and Vinegar

Post author By Jana Bouc
Post date May 20, 2011
10 Comments on Leave It! Lemon and Vinegar

You know how dog owners shout “Leave it!” when they are about to roll in something stinky or eat garbage off the ground? (the dog, not the owners rolling in it). I’m taking a similar approach with my ink drawings and watercolor sketches.

If the line is wrong, if there’s a typo or the wash comes out funny, I say to myself: “Leave it!” Let it be. Fresh is (almost always) better than Fixed. Mistake is just another word for Interesting.

Do you see what I got wrong in this picture and just left it? (hint–it’s a typo…er… “writeo.”) I showed it to my sketch group and nobody could find it (but maybe it’s because we were in a dark pub?)

This was done for Every Day in May #106: Something sour or tart. I’m loving the extra practice in drawing I’m getting from the EDiM project.

Tags Art, Drawing, Food sketch, Ink, Ink and watercolor wash, Lemon, Sketchbook Pages, Still Life, vinegar

Drawing Food sketch Ink and watercolor wash Life in general Painting People Places Sketchbook Pages

Sketchbook Ate My Sandwich

Post author By Jana Bouc
Post date March 7, 2011
10 Comments on Sketchbook Ate My Sandwich

My favorite two sketches the night we met to sketch at Fat Apples Restaurant in El Cerrito were the two “pots” on the left hand page above. The guy was the first thing I drew, the coffee pot the last. I wasn’t in great shape, having had little sleep the night before. I just couldn’t get into the drawing zone, turn off the inner critic or relax into seeing, drawing, and enjoying the adventure.

Underneath the watercolor apple above are lots of messed up lines and the word “Grrrr” written all over the things that frustrated me. The waitress on the right kept returning to her spot and standing in exactly the same position each time and the counter beside her was even more stationary but I just couldn’t draw it.

When I added m ore watercolor at home to the BLT (left page above) I must have closed the book too soon because the pages glued themselves together. When I tried to separate the pages, part of my sandwich stuck to the other side. Not only did that ruin the sandwich but also a small ink drawing I’d liked on the other page.

I’d repainted the sandwich because when we showed our sketches at the end of the evening and I said it was my dinner, one of the sketchers innocently asked “what was it?” And she was right — it was so loosely drawn and painted that it wasn’t recognizable as a sandwich.

Tags Art, Drawing, El Cerrito, El Cerrito, Fat Apples, Food sketch, Ink and watercolor wash, Pen and Ink, People, Sketchbook Pages