Tag: Plein Air

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Drawing Ink and watercolor wash Other Art Blogs I Read Outdoors/Landscape Painting People Plein Air Sketchbook Pages Watercolor

Sketching at Martinez Waterfront Park

Martinez Hot Dog Depot, Ink & watercolor
Martinez Waterfront Park, Ink & watercolor in watercolor Moleskine, 5x7"

I arrived late and lazy (due to my efforts to decaffeinate myself) for our paint out at Martinez Waterfront Park today and decided to sketch in ink and watercolor instead of setting up my easel and oil paints. It’s a great park, with a marina full of boats on the bay, fields, trees, ponds, an historic train station and old train (pictured above), a nearby river and marshlands and much more. It’s right on the edge of the older part of town and the Amtrak train station is just outside the entrance to the park.

I sat on a very hard stone bench at the old train station about 20 feet from the tracks.  On the sketch above, I drew without much of a plan, just picking things I saw that interested me and sticking them somewhere on the page, drawing in ink and hoping it would all fit together somehow. I added the watercolor on site.

The two artists in the sketch were standing between the west and east Amtrak tracks. Every 15 minutes a train would roar by about 2 feet of where they were standing, sounding it’s horn so loudly it was painful, but they stood their ground like the dedicated plein air painters that they are.

Martinez Hot Dog Depot, Ink & watercolor
Martinez Hot Dog Depot, Ink & watercolor in Moleskine watercolor sketchbook, 5x7"

I turneda bit to the left at the end of the day and quickly sketched this wonky old Hot Dog Depot (named because it’s adjacent to the train depot. The perspective is all wonky but so was the building. It has a weird corner section where that second smaller window is. So the building isn’t a rectangle, it’s a pentagon (5-sided). I didn’t have time to worry about perspective as the group was convening for a critique and I had to hurry to finish this at all.

Categories
Landscape Oil Painting Outdoors/Landscape Painting Photos Plein Air

Lake Anza Autumn Plein Air

Lake Anza Autumn, 9x12, Oil on panel
Lake Anza Autumn, 9x12", Oil on panel

I became the official bathroom monitor today at Lake Anza in Berkeley’s Tilden Park. Swim season is over; there are no lifeguards, entry fees, or snack bar and the lakeside entrance to the restrooms is closed for the season. The overhanging roof by the restroom entrance provided me a nice shady spot to paint but it meant that people kept walking up looking confused (and sometimes a little desperate) when they saw the locked door behind me.

I’d already found an entry to the bathrooms outside the swim area, around the back of the building so about every 15 minutes I told worried people how to find the restroom. I got to help nervous little girls, a group of German tourists, cyclists in shiny shorts, tan teenage girls in tiny bikinis, a hairy man wearing a huge gold necklace and Speedos, a picnicing Mexican family, a group of adults pushing a very ill teenage girl in a wheelchair hooked up to breathing tubes and tanks.

The latter group decided to set themselves up at a picnic table directly in front of me but when they realized they would be blocking my view, they picked up the huge table and moved it. The amazing thing about painting plein air is that people are so nice. Everybody who takes a peek always says something complimentary, even if the painting is total crap. And then they tell you about their [aunt, brother, friend, grandmother, etc.] who paints really good paintings, or how they can’t draw a straight line.

As the day grew warmer more and more people arrived, my original concept for the painting of an empty lifeguard stand on a deserted beach didn’t make much sense. So when this dad and little boy walked by I jumped at the chance to try putting people in a plein air oil painting. I also had an intention to focus on warm/cool color temperature relationships.

I struggled with the water — it kept looking like a meadow. The other painters in my group painted the water in variations of light blue-green and suggested I do the same to solve the problem. But I saw almost no blue in the water. It was gold and green and purple and orange and pink. Then every once in a while a breeze rippled the surface and a bit of sky blue reflection appeared.

After the critique I returned to my easel, painting and repainting the water for two more hours but by then the light had changed so much from when I arrived that I finally called it done and went home.

Here’s the photos of the morning and afternoon views of the same scene.

30 a.m.) photo
Lake Anza (10:30 a.m.) photo
Lake Anza (315 p.m.)
Lake Anza (3:15 p.m.)
Categories
Landscape Oil Painting Outdoors/Landscape Painting Plein Air

View from China Camp (Ick I hate this painting!)

View from China Camp, Plein Air, Oils, 12x9"
View from China Camp, Plein Air, Oils, 12x9"

The weather on Sunday was absolutely perfect and although I really wanted to stay home and start a large studio painting, I couldn’t resist the chance for another summery plein air painting opportunity before the weather changes. We met at China Camp again for an all day paintout and barbeque but I was only there for the afternoon.

[I started several times to describe the day and the scene, with children playing in the sand, catamarans being launched, the waspy buzzing thingees (yellow jackets?) that tried to share my lunch, how tired I was, etc., but decided it was too boring…]

So I’ll just say a bit about the painting and call it a night: After hunting for a painting spot I realized that what really interested me was the sky and the distant hills and the sparkle on the water. After doing a couple thumbnails to try to fit all of that into the scene, I sketched out the big shapes on the canvas.

Then I decided to just start at the top and paint my way down like I was icing a cake, trying to capture the right colors in relation to each other as I went. Here’s a picture Sue took at China Camp when I was 3/4 done:

In progress shot at China Camp
In progress at China Camp

And here’s the painting as finished plein air:

China Camp as finished on site
China Camp as finished on site

After I got home and had dinner, I looked at it again and thought the water looked more like a meadow and not like what I’d seen. Even though I was really exhausted, I decided to try to fix the water, working on it for about 2 hours, painting and scraping it off, over and over. I must have gone through the equivalent of a tube of paint! Finally I wiped the water portion off completely and went to bed (which is what I should have done in the first place, since I was too tired to think clearly about what I was doing).

Tonight, working from memory only, I tried doing the water again and am satisfied enough to move on.

Categories
Art theory Landscape Life in general Oil Painting Painting Plein Air

Confessions of a Dangerous Driver

Morning light, Petaluma, oil on panel, 12x9"
Morning light study, Petaluma, oil on panel, 12x9
Afternoon light color study, Petaluma, oil on panel, 12x9"
Afternoon light study, Petaluma, oil on panel, 12x9

I ran a red light right in front of a police car on my way to painting class on Monday. If that wasn’t bad enough, I didn’t even realize I’d done it.

I even thought to myself as I drove past the police car that was waiting for the light to change, how nice it is that police don’t look at women like me suspiciously the way they might at young men in loud cars.

Seconds later I heard the siren, saw the flashing red lights, and pulled over. The cute, young officer was shaking his head,  it was so ridiculous. He couldn’t believe what I’d done and, trying to make sense of it, asked if I was distracted, was looking at a light further ahead, etc.

I never even saw the other car he told me had had to slam on the brakes to avoid me, and who then looked at the cop as both of them shrugged and shook their heads in amazement for a moment.

I eventually figured out what happened. Because I was distracted,  the traffic signal had registered in my mind as a stop sign. So I stopped politely, feeling immune to police scrutiny, and then drove on, leaving the officer sitting behind me at the light.

Thank goodness there was no damage or injuries (other than to my pride and pocketbook—it’s going to be an expensive ticket). It was a good lesson about driving distracted.  I’d been thinking about how late I was AND (hate to admit it) I was on the phone leaving a message for someone (although using the required headset).

About the paintings

Camille offered an extra afternoon session Monday so that we could do both a morning study as usual, and a late afternoon study of approximately the same scene to capture the difference in light. I simplified the buildings, trees and landscape to abstract shapes or puzzle pieces, so that I could focus on the colors and light effects.

In the morning the foreground and midground was mostly in shadow while the distance was in open sun and the sky appeared a weak yellowish to slightly pink color.  In the afternoon everything was front lit with a very warm light.

It was a long day and after Camille made some adjustments to my afternoon study and gave suggestions for doing more,  I realized I was too tired to paint any longer. I lay down on the grass in the park and spent the last half hour of class sketching a palm tree on my back (I mean I was on my back in the grass; it’s hard enough drawing palm trees, let alone sketching one on my own back!).

It had been too long since I laid in the grass on a summer day in the shade of a tree looking up at the sky. I need to do more of that and less rushing around distracted!

Categories
Landscape Oil Painting Outdoors/Landscape Painting Plein Air

Painting and Sneezing: Cummings Skyway Sunset

Cummings Skyway Afternoon, Oil on panel, 9x12"
Cummings Skyway Afternoon, Oil on panel, 9x12"

The hills were alive with the glow of the sunset, and also, unfortunately, millions of grassy pollen particles blowing in the wind. The sneezing started when the painting was about 3/4 finished. I’ve heard that it’s best to stop painting when you think you’re 75% done so maybe the allergy attack did me a favor. When I realized I was using more of my paper towels for blowing my nose than I was for wiping my palette knife and brushes, I realized it was time to pack up.

I’ve driven along Cummings Skyway many times en route to other painting sites and have always marveled at the amazing views from the road. I was glad when my Sunday plein air group scheduled it for a late afternoon paint-out today. The pull off on the side of the road was big enough for about 8 of us to park and paint near our cars.

In between the roar of speeding motorcycles, passing semi-trucks and the occasional family car that thought it was fun to honk at us as they passed, there was the sound of crickets and the friendly murmur of conversation from other painters. Along with the wonderful warm sun on my face (and the not so wonderful glare in my eyes from facing into the sun) there was the wind that kept me cool (and blew that darn pollen).

Here’s a photo of the scene when I arrived at 3:30. As the sun set, the shadows deepened and the tops of the ridges lit up. This was my first time painting hills at sunset and it was great fun and a good challenge. I tried to focus on composition and selected this chunk of the view from the wide panorama available.

Photo of view when I arrived
Photo of view when I arrived
Categories
Landscape Oil Painting Outdoors/Landscape Painting Plein Air

I Lied!

Dish soap Version 1
Dish soap Version 1

I thought it wasn’t good enough and so mucked with it some more (below) but now I wish I hadn’t. This is the theme of today’s post. Lesson learned: Leave well enough alone, or as my boss always says, “It’s good enough for jazz!”

Dish soap and sharpener
Dish soap & sharpener, watercolor 7x4"

And here is another poor retread, worked over and over.

Sibley Final Revision, 12x9" Oil on panel
Sibley Final Revision, 12x9", Oil on panel

I’m not sure whether it’s better to start a new painting or push one that isn’t working to try to make it work. I know I said the SIbley painting was finished, final revision, moving on…but I lied. I spent a couple hours trying to change the composition so that there was more of a path into the scene. That meant getting rid of the wall and while I was at it, I added a little more warmth.

I promise: now I’m really done! And you know what’s really funny? When I scrolled down and looked at all the different versions I like the very first one best!

Frustrated at wasting time and getting nowhere I tried doing a quick watercolor (above) before bed. I should have just gone to sleep since I don’t like it either. Oh well. Tomorrow (well actually today, since it’s after midnight) will hopefully be a fun plein air day.

Categories
Landscape Oil Painting Outdoors/Landscape Painting Plein Air

OK, Now I’m really done!

Sibley Finally Done!
Sibley Finally Done! Oil on Panel, 12x9"

I’m persistent if nothing else. Now I’m really moving on!

Update 9/15: Katherine posted a really helpful comment yesterday about the real problem with this painting, which is that putting a wall (or any “fringe” at the bottom of a painting) is generally does not make for good composition. She helped me to see that the real problem with the painting is the existence of the wall at the bottom which can’t be solved by painting or repainting the wall.

She asked whether I’d done compositional/value study thumbnails first. I did do one but should have done more than one, with and without the wall. In the original thumbnail, the front of the wall and the two trees were the darkest darks but when I painted it that way it looked wrong.

I’m so grateful for our wonderful international art group with so many brilliant artists who can I ask for help and who are so generous to share their wisdom!

Categories
Drawing Outdoors/Landscape Painting Plein Air Sketchbook Pages Watercolor

Pardee Home Museum Tea Party

Pardee House Water Tower, ink & watercolor 8x6"
Pardee Home Museum Out-Building, Ink & watercolor 8x6"

Driving by Preservation Park in downtown Oakland today I noticed this odd little structure on the grounds of the Pardee Home Museum and pulled over to sketch. I have no idea what this little building was for, but it’s in between the carriage house and the main building.

The museum is available for tours by appointment but had the nicest “Closed” sign I’ve ever seen. It says something like, “If you find yourself on our doorstep without an appointment, try phoning our office as we may be able to assist you with a tour on short notice.”

Their office must be located in the neighboring Preservation Park collection of Victorians, now homes to non-profit organizations. The Pardee Museum offers a full house tour for $5, a “Tour and Tea” for $10 (tea and scones), and more elaborate teas, with as many as eight dishes, can be combined with tours for $25 per person.

The tour and tea sounds like fun and I’m trying to think of an excuse to schedule one. There are four parlors, four bedrooms, the billiard room, the curio room, and the hallway lined with cabinets of Mrs. Pardee’s antiquities and the cupola, or tower, to admire the views.

Categories
Art theory Landscape Oil Painting Painting Plein Air

Sibley Take Two: Better?

Sibley Take 2, Oil on Panel, 12x9"
Sibley Take 2, Oil on Panel, 12x9"

When I took a peek at yesterday’s painting this morning I was disturbed by the color of the foreground wall (“YUCK!” I said out loud when I walked in the studio). I worked on it some more and now it’s closer to how I actually saw it.  I also touched up a few things here and there.

I noticed that I’ve broken a rule of composition: avoid placing two of something, better to have three. For some reason human minds prefer three items to two: two is boring three creates interest. Also avoid two shapes of the same size because contrast is what makes the painting interesting I’ve got two trees the same size, though one is a little further back; two bushes; the wall is split in two, etc.

So what do you think? Is this better than yesterday’s version? Am I done? I’m still bothered that the road and the top of the wall are nearly the same color, but they actually were just about identical and pretty close together.

Advice always greatly appreciated!

Categories
Art theory Landscape Oil Painting Outdoors/Landscape Painting Plein Air

Painting in the Dark for More Colorful Paintings

Sibley Park View from Visitors Center, Oil on panel, 12x9
Sibley Volcanic Park: View from Visitors Center, Oil on panel, 12x9"

OK, it wasn’t really in the dark, but I was in deep shade and could barely tell what colors I was mixing. Yesterday I went to a non-painting event in 105 degree heat and blinding sun and came home with a migraine. I just couldn’t take another day in the sun today but wanted to join my Sunday plein air group. I set up in the shade of the visitor center at Sibley Volcanic Regional Park in Oakland where we were going meet for our group critique at 2:00.

Bicyclists and hikers stopped by all afternoon to eat lunch in the shade, get water, or use the restrooms. Two hardcore women cyclists spent their entire lunch discussing in great detail their recent fruit purchases. Another woman cyclist in full cycling gear told her cycling buddy that her ex-husband married her ex-best friend. Then she dated that woman’s ex-husband. But when her ex-husband and ex-best friend divorced, she and former best friend fell in love and recently got married thanks to California’s same sex marriage law. They rode off before I could find out if the ex-husbands fell in love with each other too.

The rest of my plein air group painted the amazing vistas along the roadside on Skyline Drive and Grizzly Peak Boulevards but they had to put up with the heat and direct sun. I was perfectly happy with this lesser vista and the lovely shade.

Painting in the dark
Painting in the dark

I discovered an interesting phenomenon. When I paint in the bright sun my colors look really nice and bright, but once out of the sun, the painting looks duller and dark. Just the opposite is true when painting in the shade. The colors look much dull and monochromatic in the shade (see above). But in the light they’re bright and colorful. That also seems to happen when I wear gray tinted sunglasses.

In the same way that squinting (reducing the light coming into your eyes) removes the color from the scene, allowing you to see values better, painting in the shade or wearing dark glasses reduces the perceived intensity or saturation of the colors you’re mixing. That in turn tricks you into mixing more brilliant, saturated colors. Or at least that’s what happened to me today. I was pleasantly surprised each time I carried my painting out into the sun to see what it really looked like.

Me enjoying the shade at Sibley