Tag: Sketchbook Pages

Thanksgiving Turkey Leftovers

Post author By Jana Bouc
Post date November 28, 2010
16 Comments on Thanksgiving Turkey Leftovers

Thanksgiving After Dinner Sketch, ink & watercolor

Most of the year my sister Marcy’s dining room is her art studio, and the table is full of art projects in process. For thanksgiving dinner she graciously hauled all of her studio stuff into the spare room and set a beautiful table for ten, complete with grandma’s china, table cloth and candles. When dinner was over the table’s real purpose called out to me and I sketched and painted by the warm glow of the candles.

The next day in honor of our turkey feast, I painted wild turkeys from photos I’d taken last summer on an evening walk in Tilden Park.

I started with oils but found it frustrating, especially on the small panel (above) so I switched to ink and watercolor in my sketchbook (below).

The turkey guy above was strutting his stuff, showing off for a lady turkey. When she ignored him and wandered off down the path, turkey dude and his buddy followed behind, shaking their tail feathers, still trying to get her attention.

Stayin Alive' Turkey Walk — Stayin' Alive Turkey Trot

I imaged the turkey dudes strutting to the song “Stayin’ Alive” by the BeeGees that starts with:

“Well you can tell by the way I use my walk.
I’m a woman’s man; no time to talk…”

OMG! Those tightie whitie pants! Here’s last year’s Thanksgiving Leftovers post (same table).

Tags Animals, Art, Bay Area Parks, BeeGees, Berkeley, Birds, Drawing, Ink and watercolor wash, Oil Painting, Pen and Ink, Sketchbook Pages, Stayin' Alive, Thanksgiving sketch, turkey

Drawing Ink and watercolor wash Landscape Painting Places Quick Sketch Sacramento Sketchbook Pages Urban Sketchers Watercolor

Urban Sketcher Train Trip to Sacramento Part I

Post author By Jana Bouc
Post date November 24, 2010
5 Comments on Urban Sketcher Train Trip to Sacramento Part I

Emeryville Amtrak Station, ink & watercolor

Bay Area Urban Sketchers took a little field trip by train to Sacramento to see some art, connect with another Urban Sketcher and have some good sketching fun. We arrived early to sketch the Emeryville Amtrak station (above) and then it was “All On Board!”

Once we got underway I experimented with doing VERY quick watercolor sketches of the scenery as we traveled, with about 30 seconds to capture each lovely view flying by:

Capitol Corridor #5 — Capitol Corridor Views #5

Once we arrived the weather was perfect so we walked the 6 blocks to the Crocker Art Museum to see the Wayne Thiebaud “Homecoming” retrospective show (ends November 28). One of the great things about the show was seeing that at almost 90, Thiebaud is still painting and innovating. The work in his show range from the 1960s to 2010.

Crocker Art Museum New Building, ink & watercolor

We explored both the Crocker’s permanent collection and the Thiebaud show. I was a bit perplexed by the way the shows were curated. Works seemed to be hung randomly, in no particular order that I could discern. I would have really liked to see Thiebaud’s paintings arranged by date to see the progression of his work.

In the permanent galleries I had the sense that they had tried to just hang everything they had, regardless of quality, condition or style. There was something both amateurish and charmingly small-town about the museum and even the demeanor of the guards who were refreshingly friendly, enthusiastic and proud of the work they protect. The Crocker has paintings by many of my favorites from the Bay Area Figurative Movement of the 1970s and I enjoyed seeing those “old friends” again.

Next post tomorrow will be Part II of the trip…meeting up with Pete Scully for a sketching visit to Old Town Sacramento.

Tags Amtrak sketches, Art, Drawing, Emeryville Amtrak, Ink and watercolor wash, Landscape, Pen and Ink, Quick Sketch, Sacramento, Sacramento sketches, Sketchbook Pages

Berkeley Building Drawing Ink and watercolor wash Life in general Painting Places Shop windows Sketchbook Pages

Zut! Undies! Fourth Street at Night, Berkeley

Post author By Jana Bouc
Post date November 20, 2010
10 Comments on Zut! Undies! Fourth Street at Night, Berkeley

Zut Restaurant, 4th Street Berkeley, Ink & watercolor

When I saw that a restaurant named Zut! opened on Fourth Street, I remembered Zut the dog, who lived next door to me in Berkeley in the 70s. Zut and his owner Denny lived in a tiny cottage behind a two-story house owned by a man named Huckleberry that he shared with the Arkansas Sheiks‘ (Karana Drayton’s folk group whose fiddler was Laurie Lewis.)

Denny and Zut were also musical; Denny played piano and Zut sang (howled) along with him. Zut and my dog Kangaroo were good buddies and liked to wander the neighborhood together, usually ending up at Bulky Burgers on the corner, cruising for hand-outs.

So when we were sketching on 4th Street last Tuesday night, I asked the hostess about the name. She showed me their mural that included a wonderful portrait of good old Zut and told me that Denny Abrams was indeed an owner of the restaurant.

A La Folie, Undies on 4th Street, ink & watercolor

I always enjoy sketching manikins in shop windows and this one at A La Folie displaying expensive undies didn’t disappoint.

Fourth Street Holiday Lights, ink & watercolor

Fourth Street’s holiday lights were hung so we expected they’d also be lit but only these two were. I guess they are waiting to light them until after Thanksgiving when the shops stay open evenings. Even without the grand lighting, we were grateful for the relatively warm evening that allowed us to sketch outdoors at night in November.

Tags Art, Berkeley, Dog, Drawing, Ink and watercolor wash, Pen and Ink, shop window, Sketchbook Pages, storefront, underwear, Zut!

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

Copper Pitcher, Copper People

Post author By Jana Bouc
Post date November 16, 2010
9 Comments on Copper Pitcher, Copper People

I needed to draw and paint something fun and refreshing after the ordeal with the last oil painting. I reached into my still life cabinet and pulled out this fun little pitcher. This gave me the idea to draw my complete inventory of still life items, one at a time. And that gave me the idea to draw everything I own. I wonder….

BART Snoozing in Copper, ink & watercolor — BART Snoozing, ink & watercolor

The day before I’d drawn these two guys snoozing back to back on BART. The coppery paint mixture worked perfectly for them too.

Tags Art, BART, Drawing, Ink and watercolor wash, Pen and Ink, People, Sketchbook Pages, Still Life, subway drawing, Subway drawings

Berkeley Drawing Ink and watercolor wash Life in general Painting Places Sketchbook Pages Urban Sketchers

Sketching at REI (Recreation Equipment Inc.)

Post author By Jana Bouc
Post date November 11, 2010
6 Comments on Sketching at REI (Recreation Equipment Inc.)

REI Berkeley was our sketching destination last week. The store sells high-tech gear for every kind of outdoor activity along with comfortable clothing and shoes. It turned out to be a fun place to sketch with an overwhelming variety of subject matter.

While drawing the fancy, complicated ski boot above, I reminisced about my attempts at skiing with some fondness and pride. Growing up in sunny San Diego I was a surfer girl, not a ski bunny. Fearless in the ocean, on my first ski trip in my 30s I found I was terrified on the slopes. I challenged myself to go on both downhill and cross-country ski trips with friends, family, and even once on my own. I never bought any fancy equipment; rentals were fine with me.

It seems that hats have become quite popular again for guys, a trend that hasn’t seen a comeback (other than baseball caps) since my grandfather’s day. I remember his beige felt fedora and how, when we took my sister and I for a ride in his Buick, he would carefully put the hat on the little ledge above the back seat so “us kids” wouldn’t fool around with it (though we always did anyway). Even my two sons wear those cute pork pie hats now.

Hi-Tech Baby Buggies, Ink & colored pencil — Hi-Tech Baby Buggies, Ink, WC, colored pencil

I liked the original ink sketch of these strollers, but hated the watercolor added at the store. Everything was brown or dark blue and looked ugly. At home I tried washing off the paint and applying colored pencil over the remains. I tried varying the colors. I erased and tried again. I tried and tried, but finally remembered IT’S JUST A SKETCH, and moved on.

You can see some of my sketch-buddies’ excellent REI sketches on our Urban Sketchers blog here and here.

Tags Art, Berkeley, Drawing, fedora, hats, Ink and watercolor wash, Pen and Ink, REI, Sketchbook Pages, ski boot, strollers

Drawing Ink and watercolor wash Painting Sketchbook Pages Still Life

Thrift Shop Silver Teapot

Post author By Jana Bouc
Post date November 6, 2010
21 Comments on Thrift Shop Silver Teapot

Silver Thrift Shop Teapot, ink & watercolor

This was so much fun to draw with all the little details and decoration. I found it at a thrift shop when I was taking a long walk in El Cerrito and stopped in to browse. I expect to have more fun drawing and painting it again. It’s sitting on my drawing table enticing me to come back and draw.

Tags Art, Drawing, Ink and watercolor wash, Pen and Ink, Silver, Sketchbook Pages, teapot

Drawing Oil Painting Painting Photos Sketchbook Pages Still Life

Painting a Painted Pumpkin Until….Ewww!

Post author By Jana Bouc
Post date November 5, 2010
11 Comments on Painting a Painted Pumpkin Until….Ewww!

Painted Pumpkin Painted, oil on panel, 8x10" — Painted Pumpkin Painted, oil on Gessobord panel, 8x10"

On Halloween I got inspired to paint a pumpkin but the only pumpkins left in the grocery store were huge warty-looking ones and two smaller ones with cartoon faces painted on them. I chose one of the painted pumpkins whose paint was peeling and asked if they’d sell it at ordinary pumpkin price, which they did.

I took it home, washed off the silly face, cut it open and set it on a black plate on my drawing table to make a preliminary sketch:

Then I set it up on the table by my easel inside a box made of black foam core with a strong light shining in from one side. I sketched the composition on my Gessobord panel, mixed some colors, and began painting with the intention to work quickly and directly.

But after three hours I gave up and scraped off the panel. I just couldn’t get a clean orange and everything looked chalky, horrible and dead. I emailed my friend Kathryn Law, a brilliant painter who gave me some excellent advice about mixing colors (including that orange was tough to mix from cadmium yellow and red with oils), along with inspiration and encouragement.

The next day, unwilling to accept defeat, I attempted the painting again, this time draping an olive-green cloth over the black foam core. Everything went so much more easily; what had felt like work the day before felt like fun. At Kathryn’s suggestion I used larger brushes and was more generous with the paint. I tried to put down a stroke and leave it. I kept in mind the way I enjoy sketching, and tried to keep that sense of adventure and freedom. I finished the painting and went to bed happy.

The next day I saw a few things I wanted to fix but had to go to work. I left my pumpkin still life set up for three days while I went to work. When I came back to the pumpkin today it was smelly, collapsing, gross and growing stuff:

Ewww! Tossed the pumpkin in the recycling bin and washed the plate. I guess the painting will have to be done as is, though I’m tempted to work on the plate a bit to try to make it look shiny.

Tags Art, ink sketch, Oil Painting, Pen and Ink, Photos, Sketchbook Pages, Still Life

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

Baby Night at The Cerrito Theater; Hot Yoga; and Detoxifying Debunked

Post author By Jana Bouc
Post date October 31, 2010
4 Comments on Baby Night at The Cerrito Theater; Hot Yoga; and Detoxifying Debunked

Baby Night at the Cerrito Theater, ink & watercolor

Before we met the others at Nong Thon on Tuesday night, Cathy and I sketched in the dark outside the restaurant by the Cerrito theater and El Cerrito Yoga. Tuesday night is baby night at the theatre and families lined up, loaded down with babies and baby gear, to see the Social Network. The Cerrito serves beer, wine and pizza (along with usual movie fare) while you watch the movie.

We could see into the warmly lit, crowded yoga studio and did some quick gesture drawings. This is one of those Bikram yoga studios where they say they crank up the heat to “increase flexibility and flush toxins.” I’m not sure I’d enjoy spending the evening in a crowded room full of people sweating out their toxins, whatever “toxins” are.

I know some people swear by sweating, fasting, or colonics to get rid of “toxins” and I wondered if there is any scientific evidence that tells what these toxins are and why releasing body fluids would get rid of them. I found this great article that scientifically (and hilariously) debunks the whole concept, as does this one on Wikipedia.

Tags Art, Bikram yoga, Cerrito Theater, Detox, Drawing, El Cerrito, Ink and watercolor wash, Pen and Ink, People, Sketchbook Pages

Animals Drawing Food sketch Ink and watercolor wash Places Sketchbook Pages Urban Sketchers

Sketching at Nong Thon Vietnamese Restaurant

Post author By Jana Bouc
Post date October 30, 2010
1 Comment on Sketching at Nong Thon Vietnamese Restaurant

Green Mussels at Nong Thon, ink & watercolor

We met to sketch at the new Vietnamese restaurant, Nong Thon, on the corner of Central and San Pablo in El Cerrito and we had a great time. The restaurant is large, open and has been completely redesigned. The food was delicious and the service was beyond fantastic.

Ox= FAIL; but some thoughts for next time

In the entry there is an elegant, life-size statue of an ox standing in real growing grass (below a skylight). My friends made beautiful renditions of the ox but I got all snarled up on its proportions. I’ve saved a page in my sketchbook to go back and give it another try. The waiter told me that in Vietnam boys ride on the ox playing a flute to pass the time, as they till the soil.

I’d called ahead to make sure it was OK for us to come sketch and they generously reserved a whole section of the restaurant for us where we’d have the best views and could move around to sketch different scenes.

You can see some of my friends’ sketches on our Urban Sketchers blog. Micaela is going to India for a wedding soon so her ox looks very “Indian Water Buffalo.” Beth and Sonia both went in the direction of Babe the Blue Ox.

Tags Animals, Art, Drawing, El Cerrito, Ink and watercolor wash, ink sketch, Pen and Ink, Sketchbook Pages

Art theory Drawing Food sketch Oil Painting Sketchbook Pages Still Life

It’s All About Strong Values

Post author By Jana Bouc
Post date October 29, 2010
11 Comments on It’s All About Strong Values

Summer Squash, Tired Carrot, oil on panel, 8x8" — Summer Squash & Tired Carrot in bright light, quick study, oil on board, 8x8"

When I was teaching my last session of watercolor classes I saw my students learning so much and was jealous. I realized that I wanted a teacher too! So I began a search for an oil painting mentor to review my work in progress, give me guidance and help me progress.

First I tried advertising on Craigslist, describing what I needed. But the artists who responded weren’t a good fit. I wanted a mentor whose work excited and inspired me AND who was a good teacher. Then Rebeca Garcia Gonzalez sent me a postcard announcement for her show of portraits of undocumented immigrants and I fell in love with her paintings. I knew she also taught at a local art school so I emailed her my proposal, we met, and she agreed to mentor me.

At our first meeting she reviewed a dozen recent oil paintings and knew right away what I needed to work on. She said that I needed to focus on my values (the range and contrast of light to dark) and I knew she was exactly right.

She asked me to sketch using ink and diluted ink washes and to start paying close attention to values in everything I see, when I’m out walking, or just looking out the window.

Value study 4, ink & ink wash — Value study 4, ink wash

She suggested I ask myself, “Is this shape darker or lighter than that shape,” noticing the value relationships in everything I see to strengthen that ability. For example, a black object in bright sunlight might look lighter, relatively, than something white that is in shadow.

So much of learning to paint is learning to see, and so much of learning to see involves a kind of “peeling layers of the onion” off of our eyes to see the relationships, shapes, colors, and values in the current light and atmosphere, which can be shockingly different from what we think they are.

Tags Art, Art theory, Drawing, Ink, ink wash, Oil Painting, Pen and Ink, Sketchbook Pages, Values