Tuesday night we sketched at UC Berkeley’s Clark Kerr Campus. Built in the 1930’s as a residential school for the deaf, it now serves as home to hundreds of university students and 200 low-income seniors in a peaceful setting of mission style architecture, courtyards and sunny lawns, located just behind rowdy Fraternity Row.
Clark Kerr at Sunset, ink & watercolor
With the students gone for the summer and few of the elderly out and about, we had the place to ourselves. We met at Derby and Claremont and tried to stay in the light, moving west to follow the sun as it set. I enjoyed painting on site, trying to capture the light instead of making many drawings and adding color later as my sketching pals like to do.
Read this brief, wonderfully scandalous “get-even” taleby one of the facility’s elder low-income residents about her earlier life as a mistress to a rich, powerful man who was a member of the Bohemian Club (as was Bush). What a story and how bizarre to find it while Googling for info about the campus.
My Sunday morning watercolor class focused on glazing this week. Glazing is applying a transparent layer of paint over painted or unpainted areas. Like a piece of colored glass, a glaze won’t hide what’s below it but will change the way it appears.
I used the study above to demonstrate glazing with gradations. To make the design I printed the word “HAPPY” in big capital letters and then playfully added more pencil lines between and around letters to make more shapes.
Then I glazed each shape individually, adding more glazed layers in various areas until it felt done. I used only transparent primary colors, so that they combined to create secondary colors. You can also use glazing to make colors appear brighter, duller, darker, warmer, cooler or in shadow or to unify an entire painting or a section of it.
Parrot painting strategy sheet, converted to journal entry use
A student who takes individual classes asked for help with painting birds so I used the journal spread above to demonstrate doing a pre-painting strategy session. I tried out various techniques and pigments as I thought about how I might paint the parrot whose photo we downloaded from Morguefile.com (where you are allowed to “copy, distribute, transmit and adapt” the copyright-free photos). Doing this bit of preparation and note-taking really helps to avoid some (but certainly not all) mistakes and corrections during the painting process. LATER I used the spread to write a journal entry (which I’ve blurred here for privacy), right over the feather and color experiments.
I still have these “cheat sheets” for many of my paintings. Recently I came across the one for Cheerios with Strawberries and saw that I’d used a wash of cobalt violet light (a favorite color but very expensive) to make the milk look just like the non-fat that I’d had in that bowl of cereal.
Flat and gradated wash demo
I loved the colors so much on this demo for flat and gradated washes from the previous week that I hung it on my wall as if it was a finished painting (my own mini Rothko).
Watercolor Class Registration
My next 4-week class session begins Sunday August 8. You can register and get more information on my website here. It looks like this session will fill so be sure to sign up soon if you want to join in. I am also planning a new “independent studies” class for people wanting to paint with ongoing coaching. If you’re interested, send me a note to get on the list.
After Barbara and I took a walk, she picked up her car at the Smog Zone (behind Gilman Auto in Berkeley) and I sketched the car repair shop. I got tricked by the angle of the overhanging roof on the right but I drew it in ink so there it is, wonky as can be.
While drawing I sat in the middle of a planting bed on something not meant as a seat in front of the fancy new McDonalds across the street. I wanted to hurry since I kept expecting to be asked to get out of there (plus the scent of their burgers frying always reminds me of the smell of the boys’ locker room at the high school gym).
So instead of messing with watercolor I used the watercolor pencils I’ve started carrying for quick getaways when it’s not convenient to use water. I was surprised how much brighter and more saturated the color was after I added the water later at home and so wiped some of it off.
Pyramid Brewery, ink & watercolor
That evening Sonia and I met at Pyramid Brewery for Tuesday night sketching. We were both a little out of sorts so it was great to unwind, chat over dinner and a beer, and of course, draw. These guys (above) were wonderful models. They barely changed position and didn’t leave until I finished them. When Pyramid turned the lights down at 9:00 we headed home feeling much better than when we arrived.
Hydrangeas Attempt #2; Painted directly without drawing and ink lines added after finishing attempt #3
During days of dismay at my disappointingly dismal drawing dexterity I determined to draw ’til I improved. But I was under the influence of migraine medicine which fixed the headache but left me drowsy. I actually fell asleep at the drawing table, dropped my brush on the page which woke me up, and had to go lie down for a spell between drawings.
Hydrangeas Attempt #1; drawn in ink, painted with ugly dark background which was then sponged off and a bit more paint added
My hydrangeas are bursting with vibrant blooms so I made them my subject. The first attempt got off to a decent start until I painted a nearly black background, probably due to my really dark mood and being too doped up to know when to stop.
I couldn’t stand the way it looked, so before scanning tonight took a soft, wet sponge and washed off the dark background. Then I dropped a little more color into the wet background.
Hydrangeas Attempt #3, ink & watercolor
I had the most fun with this last attempt, where I drew and painted more loosely, trying to capture the flavor and personality of the flowers.
…keep drawing! After feeling so rusty sketching at the county fair I was determined to get my drawing juju back. I knew the only way to find it was to draw more.
I tried sketching at the El Cerrito 4th of July festival (see below) but was all thumbs again. Since I couldn’t make a decent sketch myself, I bought a really nice one at the festival’s art show from my friend Ikuko who had a booth there.
I decided to try again on the walk home. The Hillside Garden Apartments (at top of post) is an ongoing renovation project and labor of love by the owner to convert an old rundown motel into beautifully landscaped apartments. He and the apartment manager were driving by and saw me standing on the corner sketching. They parked and came to see what I doing and we had a nice neighborly chat with much mutual admiration.
Can't Draw; Ink, watercolor, colored pencil (click to enlarge)
Back home I continued drawing. I was happy with this sketch of a rose from my garden (below) but lost focus and overworked the watercolor. So the next day I played around with adding gouache, not worrying about getting the colors “right” since the rose had completely changed anyway.
Love the (Artist) You're With; Ink, gouache & watercolor
Then I wrote myself a little pep talk around the rose, concluding that even if my drawing wasn’t all I wanted it to be, I could at least stop being so self-critical and, to re-phrase the old Crosby, Stills & Nash song: “If you can’t (yet) be the artist you love, then love the one you’re with!”
Judging the Poultry Presentation (left) and other fair items (right), ink & watercolor
The weather was perfect, Cathy drove us in her comfy car, and the fair wasn’t crowded so it should have been a great day of sketching. There were some fine moments: watching the serious 4H young ladies (above) being judged for their skills at Poultry Presentation was quite charming.
But the day at the fair just wasn’t what I’d hoped. First we discovered that the livestock barn was completely empty and that’s where I’d planned to spend most of my time. Apparently they’d completed the “market” phase the day before and those animals were gone; the animals to be judged wouldn’t arrive until the next day.
Tilt-A-Whirl, ink & watercolor
On top of that, I felt like I’d completely forgotten how to draw, having ignored my sketchbook for the past week or so while focusing on a couple of large paintings. And then there was the very loud music everywhere. We found a good spot to sit and draw the Tilt-A-Whirl (above) but the loudspeakers were playing the same 3 Michael Jackson hits over and over at full volume and I still can’t get them out of my head.
Lemonade stand, ink & watercolor
I prefer to paint on site: I try to get the colors right in one layer, putting them down as I see them and then moving on. That’s not what I did here. I sketched on site but painted it at home (when I should have been sleeping) and badly overworked it, putting paint on and taking it off, repeat, etc. I got a great photo of some cowboys in front of the lemonade stand that I will make into a painting later, so maybe this was just good practice of what not to do.
Bunny, ink & watercolor
The only animals at the fair were bunnies and chickens which didn’t interest Cathy. I can draw chickens at my friend Barbara’s house, so after a quick rabbit sketch, we wrapped up the day and headed back home in the rush hour traffic.
I have a couple of photos I’m excited to turn into paintings which made the jaunt well worthwhile, even if my sketching was less than wonderful.
Sketches from visit to Birth of Impression, ink & colored pencil
I’m not a fan of crowds, blockbusters or standing in line, but I put up with all the above to visit the Birth of Impressionism show in San Francisco’s De Young Museum in Golden Gate Park. I had planned to sketch in the park after the show but various delays only left time for these done while traveling there and back on BART and SF Muni.
I made a number of discoveries at the show and am looking forward to seeing it again, hopefully at a time when it will be less crowded. I really enjoyed many of the exquisite pre-impressionist paintings, and especially loved seeing the quite large “Whistler’s Mother” in person. Although the mother’s face appears soft and doughy, I could see in her eyes the universal worries, hope, dreams and sorrow all mothers experience.
Whistler's Mother (click to enlarge)
I liked the detail of the little foot stool her son provided for her comfort but my niece and I chuckled about the ugly shower curtain hanging to her left. (Seriously, it looks just like a plastic shower curtain I saw on sale recently.)
I was also struck by how unskillfully made some of the early impressionist paintings appeared to me. I found myself thinking that if I’d painted them I wouldn’t have been satisfied with them. That made me consider what a harsh judge I must be of my own work. Then I wondered whether all the paintings in the show (and in museums generally) are considered fine works of art or are included in collections simply because they are historical records of work by famous artists?
And now for an abrupt change of topic….
Have you ever seen a gopher close up?
As we left the museum I saw a gopher pop his head out of a hole in the grass. He continued popping up and down, busy pushing dirt out of his hole. I thought he was so cute until I saw the close up (below) on the screen.
Gopher Close Up (click to enlarge if you dare)
Yikes! We had gophers in my first San Francisco house. I kept planting things in the garden and the next morning they’d be gone, pulled under ground by a network of gophers. I finally gave up gardening at that house. Between the fog and the gophers it was hopeless.
I’m back on the blog after an intense week spent alternately deep in the bowels of a massive garage clean up/reorganization, and obsessively fighting the acrylic version of the watercolor sketch above. After finishing the garage on Saturday afternoon it was time to clean up in the house and studio and prep for my Sunday morning watercolor class (which went great with a terrific group of artists who left me feeling inspired).
Virtual Paintout: Hawaii
For the Virtual Paintout we went to Hawaii this month via the very cheap Google Air (just kidding—to participate you use Google Maps’ Street View feature to find your painting spot and all travels are virtual). Here’s the original scene:
Hawaii - near West Maui Forest Reserve
The painting got off to a good start with Golden Open Acrylics. I was trying to work from both my watercolor sketch above in which I’d changed the colors, warming up the scene, and also from the Google photo which just has a blur for the foreground. I first painted the gate purple for fun, but nearing completion realized the gate was too prominent and acting as roadblock into the painting so I repainted it green.
Then I started fighting the foreground. Over and over I painted, repainted, scraped, repainted. Here it is in its current state with the foreground (and some of the fence) scraped off again .
Hawaii with Scraped Off Foreground, Acrylic, 11x14"
Part of the problem may be the Utrecht Masters canvas panel that I was experimenting with. The canvas texture is too coarse and too absorbent so first I painted a layer of regular acrylic to smooth it out and reduce the absorbency (which is OK to do according to Golden). But then I had a paint adhesion problem, easily peeling off several layers where I’d painted thickly or repainted over not quite dry paint.
Since I wasted so much time messing with this painting and because I really love the top half of it I just didn’t want to give up. But to enjoy the second half of my vacation I’ve banished it to the closet and have gone back to working on a big watercolor of a tulip that is going great and makes me happy when I paint, not frustrated. I’m becoming convinced that I’m meant to be a watercolor painter and should forget about oils and acrylics.
The Garage
Cody unloading and saying "Bye" to his junk at the dump
When I bought my house 10 years ago it had been a rental for many years before that and the standalone garage probably hadn’t been cleaned forever. Then for 9 years my son used it to dismantle and rebuild his 71 Firebird, leaving grease, car parts, tires, miscellaneous junk, and bondo dust on top of years of grime, cobwebs, and worse (we found a literal rats’ nest made of fluffy chewed up shop towels in one corner behind a piece of plywood but no sign of recent rodents).
After moving most of his stuff out and the initial trip to the dump above, the real clean up began. I hired the smart, hardworking 15-year old boy next door to help me clean and we worked together most of Friday and Saturday. He vacuumed the wood walls and concrete floors after cleaning out the Bondo-filled ShopVac, removed and cleaned all my storage bins from the shelving units and then cleaned the shelving too. Meanwhile I sorted my junk and took a carload to the recycling/donation center and made another pile for the dump.
Finally the garage is ready for its new life as studio annex and multipurpose room. And I’m ready for my last week of vacation which I will fill with art fun, rest and recreation!
For our Tuesday night sketching we met at Indian Rock Park in North Berkeley. It was so cold, windy and foggy at my house that I put on a turtleneck, a sweater, a down vest, and my winter jacket before leaving the house. I live in the fog belt but just a few miles away, the weather at Indian Rock was lovely with no wind or fog.
My first sketch was of the giant rocks (below), a favorite site for rock climbers and sunset watchers. For the non-climbers there are stairs carved into the rock, and I climbed halfway to do the second sketch (above) where I was entranced by the idea of dining on that wonderful deck complete with white tablecloth and spectacular view.
A new trend for rock climbers is to carry a huge, specially designed backpack that looks like a giant suitcase. It is actually a folded cushion they put on the ground below where they will be climbing. I find it fascinating how there is an endless amount of specialized stuff to buy for every possible interest.
Watching the Sun Set at Indian Rock, Ink & watercolor
I really enjoyed drawing the rocks but why did I make the stupid drinking fountain so prominent? Oh well.
There were quite a few people enjoying the park, including a multi-generation Japanese-speaking family who all climbed the stairs, some hippies smoking pot behind the rock, young sturdy rock climbers doing the spiderman thing, and some girlfriends and couples who like me, perched on the rock to enjoy the sunset. Everyone seemed to be appreciating the quiet, peaceful, night and awesome view all the way across the bay to San Francisco.
Birthday Glads and Gladioli, ink, rubber stamps, watercolor
My blog and I are celebrating our birthdays! My blog turned 4 last month and my birthday was Saturday but I’m celebrating all month. My neighbors gave me this little bouquet of glads (gladioli) which was perfect because I had so many birthday things I was glad for.
Unlike some who expect bling for their birthday, I’m much more down to earth. Some of the highlights of what made me glad on my birthday:
Starting the day with my annual pilgrimage (a 3-mile round trip walk) to Fat Apples for a baked apple souffle/pancake with my sister and my best friend (who gave me a beautiful ceramic bowl she made).
A short nap (because I woke up at 5:00 a.m. like a little kid on Christmas).
A cleaned out garage courtesy of my son Cody (the only gift I’d asked for).
Getting to borrow my neighbor’s truck and then making it to the dump just before they closed to get rid of a truckload of 10 years of junk.
A homemade card from my mom with photos of my grandmother pregnant with my mom and my mom pregnant with me (and a nice check).
A delicious dinner with Cody.
A video, a cup of tea and a great night’s sleep.
A perfect start to my 2-week birthday vacation!
My vacation is a “stay-cation” with lots of time for sketching and painting in the beautiful Bay Area. And along with spending some quality time in the backyard on the chaise lounge with a book, I have also promised (myself) to finally restock my earthquake emergency supplies since all the food and water in there have expired by now.
Blog Birthday: Thank You!
4 years
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THANKS to all of you wonderful blog visitors for your encouragement, support and the great conversations! I’m so grateful for every comment and every visit, and for the many friends I’ve made with artists around the world who share their wisdom so generously!
Jana Bouc, Artist 