Tag: Moleskine

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Bay Area Parks Drawing Flower Art Ink and watercolor wash Landscape Outdoors/Landscape Painting Places Plants Plein Air Sketchbook Pages

Tilden Botanical Garden Sketches

Pacific May Lilly at Tilden Botanical Garden, ink & watercolor, 4x6"
Pacific May Lilly at Tilden Botanical Garden, ink & watercolor, 4x6"

My plein air group met at Tilden Regional Parks Botanical Garden this cold and foggy morning. Since I wasn’t familiar with the park I explored a bit and then decided to sketch instead of trying to drag my painting gear around the hilly, pebbly paths. Since I only had my large Moleskine and a Micron Pigma .01 pen with me, I added watercolor later at home. The May Lilly above was so sweetly but delicately scented that drawing beside it was like breathing in a dessert.

Bridge & Creek, ink & watercolor, 5x7"
Bridge & Creek, ink & watercolor, 5x7"

This bridge and creek was the first thing I sketched when I arrived, still arguing with myself about whether to go get my painting cart, whether to go home because it was too cold, whether to go home because I arrived late, how I should have brought my watercolors, how the scene was so complicated and so maybe I should just go home.

But as I drew,  I started noticing interesting details, how dark and light shapes lined up,  where one puzzle piece fit against the next, the design the water was making as it poured over rocks and down the creek, the sound of frogs and birds, and before I knew it that busy, chattering mind had shut off and I was having fun.

Manzanita Tree, Ink & watercolor, 5x16"
Manzanita Tree, Ink & watercolor, 5x16"

As I sketched this spectacular Manzanita, I began noticing how much like strong lean muscles the branches were, with their smooth, polished red surface. Then I found other human attributes: the knotholes looked like eyes while the bends in the branches looked just like elbows. This led me to consider the oneness of all things and I felt very connected to all the nature around me. During our critique at the end of the paint-out, we each take a turn showing our work and talking about our process. When I shared these thoughts someone laughingly asked what I’d eaten for breakfast! I was high on drawing, not Cheerios!

Cat Napping in the Buckwheat, rev2, Ink and watercolor
Cat Napping in the Buckwheat, Ink & watercolor, 4x6"

Walking to our critique, I spotted this garden kittie, having a nice nap in the buckwheat section of the garden and had to stop and sketch it. Nothing bothered this plump pussy who slept amidst the plants, little signs, wood chips and stones near the garden entrance. I added the whiskers with white gel pen.

Categories
Animals Cartoon art Drawing Gouache Illustration Ink and watercolor wash International Fake Journal Month Life in general Other Art Blogs I Read Painting People Sketchbook Pages

Thank You Roz & Boris the Dragonly Critic

Thank You Roz! (Gouache & Ink)
Thank You Roz! (Gouache & Ink)

As second place winner in the International Fake Journal Month contest, I won this amazing t-shirt from Roz Stendahl, the inventor of IFJM. I tried to sketch myself sketching myself myself wearing it. I didn’t do the t-shirt (or myself) justice, but I do like the way the bird and I both seem to have the same expression! THANK YOU ROZ! I love it! (My IFJM posts are here and here.)

I’ve been having one of those crises of artistic self-confidence in my drawing the past couple weeks. I’m not sure if the drawing difficulties are real or I’ve just somehow allowed that nasty internal critic out of his cage and back on my shoulder.

Boris the Dragonly Critic, ink & watercolor
Boris the Dragonly Critic, ink & watercolor

I know the cure though: put him back in his cage and do a whole bunch of drawing until he is so bored he falls asleep for a nice long summer nap. And I’ll start by drawing HIM!  Here he is now, safely back in his cage and starting to get very sleepy….

Categories
Flower Art Ink and watercolor wash Painting Sketchbook Pages Still Life Watercolor

Bouquet of Mothers’ Day Roses

Mothers' Day Flowers #2, ink & watercolor
Mothers' Day Flowers #2, ink & watercolor

On Mothers’s Day my wonderful neighbors brought me this  lovely bouquet of roses in a crystal vase. Then all three sweet kids wished me Happy Mothers’ Day and gave me hugs. I have the best neighbors. I took the flowers outside and sketched them twice, sitting on my studio porch steps.

The sketch above was done by painting directly with no drawing. The one below was drawn first with my Pentel Brush Pen and then painted with watercolor. Both are in the large Moleskine watercolor sketchbook.

Mothers' Day Flowers #1, ink & watercolor
Mothers' Day Flowers #1, ink & watercolor

It was a pretty special day. Son #1 asked his girlfriend of 5 years to marry him (and she accepted) atop a tower in Turkey,  son #2 grilled a delicious dinner for me and his family, and I started the day with a great hike with my best friend Barbara. Life is good!

Categories
Animals Art supplies Ink and watercolor wash Life in general Sketchbook Pages

I Feel Like a Snapping Turtle

Snapping Turtle Me, brush pen and watercolor in Moleskine
Snapping Turtle Me, brush pen and watercolor in Moleskine

It was one of those days. It started full of possibilities and ended with me feeling like a snapping turtle looking for someone to bite. So I drew how I was feeling and it made me laugh.

And now I’m officially giving up and heading to bed with a good book and a cup of cocoa.

Update: Michelle asked about the pen I used. It’s a Pentel Pocket Brush Pen with code letters GFKB. It’s permanent, waterproof and refillable with cartridges. I bought it from this link on Wet Paint’s website. Wet Paint is a great art supply store in Minnesota that I learned about from Roz.

Categories
Art supplies Drawing Ink and watercolor wash Sketchbook Pages

Sketchcrawling at the Pub

Claremont Day Nursery, Dusk; ink & watercolor
Claremont Day Nursery, Dusk; ink & watercolor

Two of my favorite sketchers, Martha and Cathy, joined me for an evening of sketching and dinner at Kensington Circus Pub. The image above was my view out the window just after sunset. Next I sketched a window across the street (below), and then used the page to total my portion of the bill. When I scribbled out a mistake it turned into a creature.

Alchemy, dusk; ink & watercolor
Alchemy, dusk; ink & watercolor

Martha brought her fountain pen collection for us to try out, along with a bottle of Platinum Carbon ink. I was especially interested in her Namiki Falcoln pen, which I’d heard good things about. The two images below were my fooling around with her pens. The Namiki was a little clogged so I switched to using it as a dip pen. It’s a fabulous pen, very flexible and a ton of fun to use, but I found the line to be thicker than I prefer. I was happy to return to my favorite .05 Micron Pigma when I did the first two sketches above.

Ketchup bottle, Namiki Falcoln pen and ink
Ketchup bottle, Namiki Falcoln pen & ink

Cathy gave me a Pilot Varsity pen. It doesn’t have permanent ink so you can use it for ink & wash techniques. I used more ink than was needed to make a good wash so next time I’ll be more restrained when I use it.

Ink bottle, drawn w/Pilot Varsity pen & water wash
Ink bottle, drawn w/Pilot Varsity pen & water wash

We discovered we are all huge fans of the HBO series The Wire which we’re working through on DVD and Cathy shared a few other favorites on DVD that I noted on the page.

I was really tired because I’d been painting all day and then went home afterward and painted until midnight, working on a project I’ll post about soon. But now, back to painting again (with a quick break for watching Adam’s performance on  American Idol).

Categories
Berkeley Flower Art Plants Sketchbook Pages Watercolor

Wisteria in Cathy’s Garden

Cathy's Wisteria, watercolor, 5.5x6"
Cathy's Wisteria, watercolor, 5.5x6"

My plein air painting buddy Cathy,  invited me over to sketch her wisteria which was blooming in her beautiful, backyard Zen garden.

Cathy is a graphic designer and her wonderful design sense is apparent throughout her home and garden. I loved being in the presence of the quiet empty spaces, balanced with beautifully designed sculptural installations of plantings, ceramics,  orchids and bonsais; and Japanese style fences, stones used to simulate streams and landscape features.

With a fountain tinkling, bees visiting the wisteria and hummingbirds sipping from the fuchsia while we sat in the shade sketching, it was a wonderful way to end the day feeling relaxed and at peace.

Categories
Drawing Flower Art Painting Sketchbook Pages Watercolor

Painting Roses in the Hot Dark

White Rose #2, pencil & watercolor 5x5"
White Rose Version #2, pencil & watercolor 5x5"

This morning when I was watering the roses I noticed that the one I sketched yesterday (see below)  had opened and was even prettier today. But it was way too hot to sketch outside so I cut the rose and brought it in. Then it was way too hot in the studio too, even with  all the blinds closed and the lights off.

Trying to ignore the heat, I put the rose in a vase on the drawing table and shined one small light on it, with no light on my sketchbook and tried to really focus on the drawing instead of just approximating the shapes. It’s amazing how focusing on drawing makes the problems and discomforts of the world just drop away. But when the drawing was done, I couldn’t take the heat anymore and dragged the portable air conditioner into the studio. Ahhh relief.

I tried to be more careful with the washes for the shadows than I was yesterday, to keep the white rose white and let the shadows define the form. I’m happy with the way it turned out.

But yesterday, when I drew Rose version #1 below, I really liked my initial pencil drawing. Then I added watercolor on just the rose and liked that too [shoulda stopped]…but then I painted in the background and felt like I lost the definition of the form [shoulda stopped] …

White Rose #1, ink & watercolor 5x5"
White Rose Version #1, ink & watercolor 5x5"

…so then I added some lines with my Micron Pigma which just made it worse. At that point there was nothing I could do but close the sketchbook and look forward to the day when I finally learn the lesson of stopping while I was ahead!

Categories
Ink and watercolor wash Life in general Sketchbook Pages

Are You a YES or a NO (or a Maybe)?

Are You a Yes or No? Ink & watercolor
Are You a YES or a NO? Ink & watercolor in Moleskine 5x7 wc notebook

What if, when you wanted to buy a car, you had to pick from three models,  a YES, a NO, or a MAYBE, depending on which kind of person you were. What if, along with gender, everyone was also designated as a YES or NO, based on their basic approach to life.

I thought of this while I was driving across town with a dear friend (whom I shall call X), and we were talking about things  going on in the world and in our lives. I turned to X, explained the YES/NO concept, and said, “I would be a YES and you’d be a NO, right?”

X said, “um…..Maybe,” which is X’s usual answer for many things. So for X, I added the third category, “Maybe.”

X is someone who will never admit to being happy, as if it would be dangerous to do so. When X rates a movie  on Netflix, or a transaction on eBay, X never gives the the full 5 stars. These things must be doled out carefully.

I’m just the opposite. I see myself as a person of big enthusiasms and gladly give 5 stars; I’m more likely to say I LOVE something than I like it. I love feeling happy and will gladly tell the world when I am.

Of course all this YESness has not always been to my advantage. There were many times in life when I  should have said NO, but didn’t. And maybe I should be more of a MAYBE, more careful, tentative, taking a long time to think things through, rather than jumping right in, throwing caution to the wind. But then I wouldn’t be me.

I wonder if other people see me as a YES. How do you see yourself? Are you a YES, a NO or a Maybe? Do you think your friends and family would agree? Do you think one is better than the other?

Categories
Ink and watercolor wash Outdoors/Landscape Places Sketchbook Pages

Sketchcrawl 22: Colusa Circle, Kensington/El Cerrito, CA

Colusa Market, Kensington, Ink & watercolor
Colusa Market, Kensington, Ink & watercolor

Today was International Sketchcrawl 22.  Martha had a morning event to attend so instead of joining the San Francisco group we met at 2:00 and sketched around the Colusa Circle in Kensington/El Cerrito. The sketch above is of my favorite grocery store, Colusa Market. Their produce is always fresh and delicious.

After a visit to pet the bunnies at Rabbit Ears, a pet store specializing in rabbits, and taking a peek into the Kensington Circus Pub (which was closed but would have been fun to sketch in) we took a hike through the nearby Sunset View Cemetery. I’ve painted there before and love the hilltop bay views and peaceful surroundings.

Sunset Cemetery, ink & watercolor
Sunset Cemetery, ink & watercolor

The fog rolled in and what had been a hot day turned chilly. Martha was cold and my butt fell asleep from sitting on a cement block so we headed back down to our cars. It was after 5:00 and time to say good bye. Not an all-day sketchcrawl this time but a good afternoon with excellent company on a beautiful day.

Categories
Flower Art Ink and watercolor wash Life in general Plants Sketchbook Pages

Multitasking with Fuchsias & Botanical Sketching in the 1500s

Fuschias, Ink & watercolor, 5x7" in Moleskine
Fuchsias, Ink & watercolor, 5x7" in Moleskine

The weather has been so glorious the past few days it’s hard to be indoors, especially when cold April showers are predicted for the rest of the week. I decided to combine a walk with doing errands and calling my mom, so I tossed my sketching kit in my bag, grabbed my iPhone and headed out the door.

Three blocks from home I spotted these fuchsias. I remembered how my sister and I used to pretend these flowers were little ballerinas and dance them around our San Diego backyard. But I couldn’t remember what they were called. Since I had my mom on the phone, I asked her, “What are those little pink flowers called that look like ballet dancers?”

My mother is 86 years old and we’d just been having a fruitless conversation about Digital TV vs HD TV and LCD vs LED (and this with someone whose VCR has been blinking 12:00 for years). She said she had no idea what flower I was talking about but began describing random flowers that might qualify.

Meanwhile, I’d finished my ink drawing, set up my watercolors on the ground, and started painting. As I was writing a note in my sketchbook I remembered they were called fuchsias, like the color.

I changed the subject, packed up, and started walking again.  We continued our conversation until I reached the market and it was time for her to watch General Hospital.

Botanical Sketching in the 1500s

Fuchsias were named for Leonhart Fuchs, born in 1501,  a doctor who studied plants for their medicinal uses and wrote De Historia Stirpium comentarii insignes (or Notable Commentaries on the History of Plants) (because all medicine was herbal back then). The original book,  in excellent condition, is in the University of Missouri library and available for viewing. There are digital images of the book and its illustrations on their website or clicking the image below.

Fuchs illustration of pumpkin in De Historia Stirpium
Fuchs illustration in De Historia Stirpium