Tag: ink sketch

Bad Day…Good Day…Bad Day

Sylvia Painting at Berkeley Marina, Ink & watercolor

First the Good Day: I had fun sketching this artist painting at the Berkeley Marina during our paint-out today. Unfortunately that fun was sandwiched between two Bad-Day things.

The second Bad Day thing is the worst: I came home from the paint-out and discovered that my Gmail account got hacked and sent spam to everyone in my address book. UGH! I researched the problem and took all the recommended steps to fix it: changed my Gmail password (and am now halfway through changing all my other passwords), checked all my security settings, ran 2 virus checkers and 2 malware checkers which all came up negative.

If you received one of the spam messages, please accept my apology. And if you clicked the link or replied to the message, then just to be safe, please change your email password too.

The first Bad-Day thing was that on my way to the paint-out there was a big accident just beyond the exit I needed to take to the Marina. Traffic wasn’t moving and people started getting nasty. First they started driving on the shoulder of the road, trying (unsuccessfully) to get to the exit and off the freeway.

Then big SUVs and pickup trucks started driving up the curb onto the dirt, turning one pre-exit lane into 3 lanes of cars squeezed together, jockeying to get ahead of each other. Then two SUVs ran into each other, blocking things up even more. Of course all three lanes had to funnel back into the same lane at the exit ramp but those pushy guys got off first.

Berkeley Harbor Patrol, ink & watercolor

I was really upset because our plein air group had hired David Savellano to lead a watercolor sketching workshop for us and I was missing it! I was so frustrated just sitting there watching beastly, rude drivers instead of enjoying art and sea air at the marina. Finally, inch by inch I made it to the exit and arrived half an hour late to the demo.

Naturally, I had a little trouble loosening up when I did the boat sketch above, but after taking a lunch/attitude adjustment break, returned for more, determined to get loose and just play. The sketch at the top of the post was the result. During the critique David gave me great reviews for both sketches which made my day and believe, me, I really needed that on a day like this!

Tags Art, Berkeley, Berkeley Marina, Drawing, Ink and watercolor wash, ink sketch, Landscape, Pen and Ink, People, Plein Air, Sketchbook Pages, Watercolor

Drawing Flower Art Ink and watercolor wash Painting Sketchbook Pages Still Life

Keeping Up with the Roses

Post author By Jana Bouc
Post date April 9, 2010
22 Comments on Keeping Up with the Roses

Second Rose, Just Picked, ink & watercolor

My rose bushes have started their first big bloom of the year (with no help from me) and despite a crazy week, I’ve tried to do a little sketching of the first two that were ready to cut. This is the second rose that bloomed, just picked (above) and a day after its peak (below), which I missed sketching yesterday because I just needed to sit in front of the TV last night and veg out. Oh well.

The roses above have a lovely fruit punch scent, which is why I bought the bush originally.

Here is the first rose of the season (below) from a different bush. I struggled with the sketch and the whole time was annoyed by the scent, trying to figure out what it reminded me of.

I finally figured it out: an old brand of women’s deodorant that smelled kind of gross after it was worn for awhile. I’m overly sensitive to some smells and I’m guessing I might be allergic to them; that they smell differently to me than how they smell to others.

My sister used to wear a perfume called Anais Anais that I thought smelled exactly like damp, moldy dog kibble. There are trees that when in bloom smell (to me) exactly like barf and give me an instant headache if I breathe when I walk by them. Could it just be me? Or do companies really make perfumes that smell like kibble and people plant trees that smelly pukey?

And back to the roses…doing these quickie sketches has stirred up the creative juices to do some “real” watercolor rose paintings, taking more time and care with the drawing and painting to accurately capture the interesting variations in color, shapes and patterns of the petals.

Tags flowers, Ink and watercolor wash, ink sketch, Pen and Ink, roses, Sketchbook Pages, Watercolor

Animals Art supplies Book review Bookbinding Drawing Ink and watercolor wash Life in general Painting Sketchbook Pages

A Frog and a Journal Named Froggie

Post author By Jana Bouc
Post date April 4, 2010
8 Comments on A Frog and a Journal Named Froggie

I was listening to Ruth Reichl‘s book “Not Becoming My Mother and Other Things She Taught Me Along the Way” while I sketched on a rainy Sunday, feeling a bit mopey. That book was the perfect antidote to mopeyness.

After her mother’s death, Reichl finds her mother’s journals and discovers the story of how her quirky mother tried to make sure her daughter wouldn’t suffer the unfulfilled life she’d had, restricted by the roles available to women of her generation.

The book is full of humor, love and amazing stories. I’m grateful that my public library has great audio books available to download for free. It ends with this great quote:

…and the most important thing I learned is that you are the only one who can make yourself happy. It is never too late to find out how to do it.” ~Ruth Reichl

I drew the frog above (from a photo on my monitor) to practice before I drew the frog on the cover of my journal (below) which I’ve named Froggie:

Froggie Journal, india ink on book cloth — Froggie Journal, India & gold gel ink

The Legion Multimedia Aquarelle paper the book is bound with is holding up even better than I expected. It’s nice and smooth for writing and drawing with ink from various pens, and accepts watercolor beautifully and even allows for lifting off and repainting and other kinds of abuse.

I love spending time with my journal which is like a dear friend, a place to come for solace when I need to write and sort things out, a library for recording visual and emotional discoveries, ideas, thoughts, and experiments.

Tags Animals, Art supplies, Book review, Bookbinding, frog sketch, Ink, Ink and watercolor wash, ink sketch, Pencil drawing, Ruth Reichl, Sketchbook Pages

Ink and watercolor wash Painting Places Shop windows Sketchbook Pages

Sketching at the Plaza Coin Laundry

Post author By Jana Bouc
Post date February 23, 2010
8 Comments on Sketching at the Plaza Coin Laundry

Tuesday night sketchcrawl was at the El Cerrito “Plaza Coin Laundry” (where the machines do not accept coins, just cards and dollar bills!). The sketch above was my last for the evening, done in my car after my sketch buddies had departed. I had struggled mightily with perspective and repeated shapes while we were sketching so it felt good to sit quietly in my car and make one final drawing that worked.

She was there folding clothes the whole time we sketched while her adult son hung around chatting on his cellphone and not helping.

Making use of a bad sketch — Making use of a badly sketched page

Above is a page where I totally messed up the sketch so instead of just leaving the ugly drawing, I used the page to write notes to myself about how to improve my sketching. Then I painted over it for fun. It’s still messy, but not wasted.

This is what I’d been trying to draw in the previous “bad” sketch. I’d totally messed up the perspective the first time, not believing what I was seeing, but did better on the second try. I also had trouble understanding and drawing the odd shape of the dryer doors on the back wall. Cathy solved that problem by drawing the row of circles first so they were all the same and then adding the trim afterwards instead of starting with the oddly shaped trim like I did.

Tags El Cerrito, Ink and watercolor wash, ink sketch, laundromat sketch, Pen and Ink, Plaza Coin Laundry, Sketchbook Pages

Drawing Life in general Sketchbook Pages

Fixed It!

I was actually on time for once, but couldn’t remember how to get where I was going so I plugged my GPS into one of the outlets in my car. When I pulled it back out to move it to another outlet, the charger thingee seemed to explode, flying to pieces.

Using my key chain flashlight I found something that looked like a fuse, and a spidery silvery thing that seemed to fit atop the cylinder but everything else was missing. I searched the floor and the seats but it was dark, getting late and I had to go.

I quickly checked the GPS to see the route from Highway 80 to 580 to 24 to the Claremont Exit. Then I turned it off, saving the last bit of battery for it to guide me on the final confusing steps around the one-way streets that would take me to my destination, where I arrived, late as usual.

Buying a new charger unit would be expensive because it has a built-in traffic receiver. So the next day I searched my car again and found two missing pieces in one of the many storage compartments, and another two pieces hiding on the floor (easier to see in the daylight).

Amazingly, for spatially-challenged me, I figured out how to put it all back together. And even more amazing: it still works!

So of course I had to celebrate in my sketchbook.

Tags Drawing, GPS, Ink, ink sketch, Pen and Ink, Sketchbook Pages

Life in general People Sketchbook Pages Subway drawings

Subway Sketches on BART

Just a few recent sketches on our subway system, BART, that I ride twice a week, in a 13 minute ride to the office. (I work from home 2 days a week and in the office 2 days a week).

It seems so decadent to be sketching while really late for work. Fortunately I make my own schedule and can stay later to make up the time and get everything done. I usually work from 10-6 so at 10:40 on BART I was really late!

What can I say? Being late seems to be a common theme. I like to take my time in the morning and not rush and given my slim grasp on time to begin with, it’s easy to get late. I’ve vowed to mend my ways and start getting up earlier which seems to be the only solution. But then I need to go to bed earlier too. That’s harder.

Tags BART, Drawing, ink sketch, Pen and Ink, People, Subway drawings, Subway sketch

Berkeley Faces Ink and watercolor wash People Sketchbook Pages

Berkeley Main Library and Peets Coffee Sketches

Post author By Jana Bouc
Post date January 10, 2010
5 Comments on Berkeley Main Library and Peets Coffee Sketches

Berkeley Public Library, ink & watercolor

The Berkeley Public Library is a beautiful old building that was lovingly preserved and added on to a few years ago. We met there to sketch last Tuesday night, enjoying the ambiance and craftsman furnishings in the lobby of the old section. I experimented with trying to get the perspective from where I sat in a room filled with wood, metal filigree screens, brass door frames, carved ceilings and handcrafted furniture.

I asked Cathy to take a picture of me sitting in the high-backed chair with diagonal arms so I could sketch it later. I messed up my face (in the sketch) so I just pasted on a fresh piece of watercolor paper and did it again.

When the library closed at 8:00 we headed across the street to Peet’s Coffee, hoping that their manager (who looks like Harry Connick Jr. and dresses in fancy 1950s suits and ties and an Elvis pompadour) would be there for us to sketch. He was there but he was wearing a different costume: suspenders over a tight white t-shirt and a fedora. I asked him why he wasn’t wearing a suit and he said he hadn’t known in advance he would be working that night so wasn’t dressed for work.

Last time we were there I asked him if he was in a band and why he dressed so cool. He said he just liked to, and that years ago when he was in a band he dressed much more sloppily. (My dad was famous for starting up conversations with strangers and asking similar questions which used to embarrass us kids but I guess I inherited his curiosity.)

The manager never stopped moving and was often out of my sight but one of his buddies who seemed to be channeling Keith Richards (only looking much more alive) hung out for a while and he at least stood in one place long enough to sketch him.

Cathy was facing a tiny, ancient man in a weathered, WWII leather aviator cap who parked his 1940s era bicycle behind me in the store’s entry way, giving her a perfect view for sketching him and the bike. He was selling bike parts to a young man. When he left she showed him the sketch of his bike (but not of him because it was just too funny) and got the information about his bike for her sketchbook.

Before they closed at 9:00 I was able to get in a quick sketch of these people at a nearby table.

Tags Berkeley, Drawing, Faces, Ink and watercolor wash, ink sketch, Peets Coffee, Pen and Ink, People, Sketchbook Pages

Berkeley Drawing Faces Food sketch Ink and watercolor wash Painting People Sketchbook Pages

Tuesday Night Sketching at Brennan’s Berkeley

Post author By Jana Bouc
Post date January 4, 2010
8 Comments on Tuesday Night Sketching at Brennan’s Berkeley

Brennan's Bar and Restaurant, ink, watercolor and logo

I stood outside on a dark, drizzly night in front of Brennan’s Bar and Restaurant last Tuesday night, drawing until my sketchcrawl buddies arrived. Brennan’s recently moved to a new building, a former train station a block away from their former location under the University Avenue overpass in Berkeley.

I’d propped up my sketchbook on the hood of a truck parked nearby and immersed myself in figuring out the building. “HONK! HONK!” Suddenly the truck honked at me. I jumped, and moved away, thinking someone was approaching and would get in their truck and drive away. But nobody showed up so I went back to drawing. But then every few minutes the truck would HONK at me again.

Each time I jumped and then I heard guys laughing. One of the three silly, half-drunk men joking around near the bar was using his remote to play around with me. He came over to see if I was drawing him, as his friends said I was doing. Uh, no. But I told him he could pose for me. He declined and they left just as Cathy and Sonia arrived.

Brennan's Turkey Leg Dinner, ink and watercolor

We went in and ordered dinner. I have a thing for turkey legs so while Cathy and Sonia each ordered half turkey sandwiches, I got this huge plate of turkey, mixed veges, boiled cabbage (yuck, what was I thinking?) and boiled potatoes. The turkey was great and I took home enough for two more meals.

I switched to using a Pilot Varsity fountain pen, adding water over the lines with a waterbrush to make washes. It was so convenient sketching at Brennan’s. The light was good, the atmosphere full of energy, and we sat right near a water and condiments station so we could fill and empty our water containers a few feet from our table. Since it’s cafeteria style dining there was no waiter to care how long we sat there.

Cathy suggested we do some contour drawing so I drew the condiments at the next table.

I used to go to Brennan’s back in the 70s for their Irish Coffee (and for pitchers of beer with my women’s softball team after our games). Now that I’m not consuming sugar or much caffeine that wasn’t an option. But I did get a cup of decaf and it was worse than our office coffee so I figured I probably wasn’t missing much.

This couple was pretty good about moving between two poses. I found that if I just waited a bit they would return to the position I was drawing.

These guys at the bar were soooo nerdy. The guy on the left was actually wearing orange pants.

This week we’re going to the Berkeley main library to draw.

Tags Berkeley, Brennan's Restaurant, Drawing, Faces, Ink, ink and watercolor, Ink and watercolor wash, ink sketch, Pen and Ink, People, Sketchbook Pages

Faces Glass Ink and watercolor wash Painting People Sketchbook Pages Still Life Subway drawings

Sketching with Mariah in a Too Busy Week

Post author By Jana Bouc
Post date October 25, 2009
6 Comments on Sketching with Mariah in a Too Busy Week

Sketching Fruit with Mariah after Tacos — Sketching Fruit with Mariah, ink & watercolor

This afternoon I went for a hike with Jessica and Mariah in perfect autumn weather and then J made tacos for dinner. After dinner Mariah (age 10) plopped her sketchbook, watercolor pencils, and Niji waterbrush on the table, pulled the bowl of fruit over in front of us and said “Let’s sketch.” How could I resist!

Mariah’s sketchbooks are such treasures. When we first started sketching together a couple years ago she preferred drawing from her imagination but now avidly draws what she sees too. Watching her abilities and understanding of what she sees grow is such a pleasure. Especially since she’s around the age when many girls stop drawing when they realize they can’t do it perfectly.

I also really admire how she has many pages of “just practicing” as she called them in her sketchbook (pages someone else might tear out thinking they were “failed” drawings). She doesn’t fear leaving them there or “wasting” the page. They’re just practice. Sometimes there are three pages in a row like that. No big deal. Such wisdom. I wanted to post her fruit sketch too but she turned the page while it was wet and it got all blurry. She just couldn’t wait to start the next sketch: the box of taco shells she said she really wanted to draw but didn’t know why.

I’ve managed to squeeze in a few other nothing-special sketches in the middle of a two-week, too-busy period (work, family, life!) and here they are:

Friday night my watercolor group came over and we painted together. I did a couple quick sketches of them while we sat around the table. Judith had a new shorter haircut.

Sharon worked in water-soluble oils instead of watercolor and somehow got yellow paint on the wall that wouldn’t come off until I tried my Magic Eraser and it came right off.

We were all so tired after a long week but it was great to get together and paint. By request, I demonstrated how to get a good “bead” of juicy paint when making a flat wash and everyone took turns doing a few rows of the wash down the page. Together we created a really nice even page of purple.

A few more days of craziness and things start settling down again. Can’t wait!

Tags BART, Drawing, Faces, Glass, Ink, Ink and watercolor wash, ink sketch, Pen and Ink, People, Sketchbook Pages, subway drawing, Subway drawings

Drawing Faces People Sketchbook Pages Subway drawings

Subway Sketching: People on BART

Post author By Jana Bouc
Post date October 2, 2009

When I’m sketching on BART on my way to work in the morning I’m always so delighted by how different each person’s features are. Yes they all have the same features but so many different nose tips, foreheads, lips. Some days everyone I can see is in profile like above.

Other days I can only see lots of backs of heads and a foot or two.

And then it’s all about the hair style (or lack thereof…hair…or style).

Tags BART, Faces, ink sketch, Pen and Ink, People, Sketchbook Pages, sketches, subway drawing, Subway drawings