Sketch, Draw, Paint! A Painter's Journey

Landscape Sketch

2009-07-16T19:24:00.005-05:00

Sketched this while looking out my window. The western sun was hitting the trees and creating mysterious darks under the canopy of tree limbs. Probably could go darker in some areas to create more contrasts.

Ideal Placement, Figurative

2009-07-15T21:42:00.005-05:00

I have spent most of the day reading about proportions and perspective of the figure. Until the placement of the parts of the body are firmly embedded in my memory, I will use the chart I worked up today based on the charts in the Loomis book, "Figure Drawing For All It's Worth", to double check myself when drawing.

Awkward Sketches

2009-07-13T23:06:00.011-05:00

Most accomplished artists looking at this photo of what I sketched tonight will probably shudder at its clumsiness but it is all a part of learning, as they know all too well. Learning how to hold the pencil loosely in the hand in a position different from the normal writing position, feels awkward and clumsy. I have faith though that in time I will become more adept using the pencil in this position.

I am back on my soap box about my feeling of inepitude when it comes to drawing and sketching which inhibits me from starting a new painting. The only way I know to get past that is to practice (which I haven't been doing much of lately.) Perhaps other artists will see work like this as encouragement to continue no matter how awkward and clumsy the drawings/sketches are in the beginning, because with practice it has to get better. At least I hope that is the case.

The skeletal gestural figures at the top and the sketches of the bones are from a .pdf book, "Drawing and Anatomy" by Victor Perard. The hand sketch is of my hand while sketching to show how the pencil was held. Perhaps the hand sketch will also qualify as part of weekly sketches I am involved in with three other artists, online.

On another note, there is a Wet Canvas Figure Drawing workshop that has been started in the Figure Forum. I am following it with much interest. The first lesson is on drawing/sketching materials. There are so many artists in the forum whose work I admire. Watching the artists learn as they post their work and see the progress they have made is encouraging and to be applauded.

Chatter & July Week 2 Sketch

2009-07-13T08:27:00.004-05:00

A quick sketch of the bar stool I sometimes sit on while painting watercolors. This sketch was done last night after I had taken my contacts out for the night. I might try a painting that way too to see what blurry vision accomplishes.

In the recent weeks, I haven't been focused on painting or sketching. I have done some reading and viewing of artwork online but mostly taking a much needed break. My energy is still not up to par; hopefully, that will pass soon with my interest and energy revived.

Landscape Sketch

2009-07-09T08:48:00.005-05:00

I have joined with three artist friends to do a sketch a week of our local area or anything I see in this area. I am behind as this sketch was for last week lol.

The sketch on the left was the initial sketch done with water soluble graphite. It was cropped because I centered the tree. The sketch on the right is the same sketch but added more to the left side of the sketch, darkened some areas and then used a damp brush to blend and move the graphite.

Schmid/Swatland Study

2009-07-06T15:01:00.007-05:00

This photo was taken under a fluorescent light and is still wet in places. With incandescent it would appear a warmer green and a bit redder. Also, the top right (viewer's right) is showing lighter because of the light hanging above. I'm laughing because of all the disclaimers. In real life, it has much more sparkle. Anyway, I'm calling this done even though it isn't even close to Mr. Schmid's painting or Katie Swatland's study.

Schmid/Swatland Study - In progress 2

2009-06-29T07:17:00.007-05:00

Another update with what has been done today. I'm working left to right and there is much more yet to do. It is truly one of life's blessing to be able to enjoy the way I spend my time. Again, this photo is showing darker than the one on my hard drive. Must learn to compensate for that.

Doing this study has been an eye opener. It is not easy trying to follow brush strokes, mix colors, etc., and I'm not doing a very good job. But that is the whole point isn't it, learning to see and place strokes. I don't have all the colors used for this painting so I'm trying to come as close as I can. At this stage, I am trying to get the placement of the larger elements.

Schmid/Swatland Study - In progress

2009-06-26T08:11:00.009-05:00

I started the study of Richard Schmid's "Fallen Pine" using the information provided by Katie Swatland at Swatland Studios. The link for "Fallen Pine" is from the Underpaintings blog. The photo was taken last night so it is rather dark but it shows the first two very thin layers. It is painted on 26" x 26" unstretched canvas which is going to be used as a window shade. Will see what the shade looks like hanging on a window when it is finished.

I used a two inch house painting brush and paper towels for the first layer then a #8 flat bristle which is the largest flat I own. I can see now I am going to have to invest in larger brush for larger canvases.

Sharon & Robert Birthday Portrait Finished

2009-06-25T08:13:00.004-05:00

Robert & Sharon
16" x 20"
Oils

I worked on this painting in small segments of time over the last couple of weeks. The photo on blogger looks a bit darker than the one stored on my computer. Wonder why that changes? Sharon hasn't seen this yet and I hope both she and Robert are more pleased with it now.

One of my beliefs that is in conflict with reality is that I can paint better than this. I think artists have to have that belief so that we keep striving for better. I know it is what spurs me on. Looking at this painting, it energizes me to want to study more, brushstrokes, edges, to see how the paint blends. To study the placement of warm and cools, how to turn forms, to see shapes and values.

Chatter, Happy Father's Day

2009-06-21T07:59:00.003-05:00

My father on the palamino horse leading the Strawberry Festival Parade sometime prior to 1954, which is when he passed away.

My mom and dad, again the photo from the early 1950's. Mom always gets a spot beside Dad on Father's Day, since she raised the seven of us by herself from the time I was eight.

To all you Dad's out there, I hope your children are a blessing and even more, that you are and have been a blessing to your children.

On the art scene this morning, I've been browsing the Scottsdale Art Auction website, looking at their 2009 catalog. Wonderful paintings if you like realistic work and western art, which I do. :)

Chatter

2009-06-17T16:56:00.004-05:00

I haven't painted the last couple of day so here are a couple of photos for your perusal. A cemetery near Ninilchik, AK, if my memory is correct. The photo below I took from a helicopter of Prudhoe Bay, AK at least 25 years ago. Amazing how time passes so quickly.

On the art scene, I signed up for Katie Swatland's "Learning From Richard Schmid" monthly online lessons. I have read this month's lesson and have been studying Mr. Schmid's and Katie's paintings although I haven't begun the study itself. I have only copied a couple of Master's works so this really will be a new experience.

One other thing before closing, somehow I lost most of my watercolor blog links and am slowly adding as I go along. This is the second time this has happened to me. One day they were there, the next all were gone except for four or five. Weird, eh.

Swan, Upside Down Challenge

2009-06-15T08:07:00.004-05:00

A challenge was issued to the Painting Friends group to paint a photo of the swan upside down using one color and no drawing on the paper. Painted with Undersea Green by Daniel Smith, it was a challenge painting the shapes. My painting was so out of whack I had to lift color to reshape the bird. Painted wet on dry on Fabriano wc paper, 6" x 10 1/2".

Rose, Watercolor

2009-06-12T11:15:00.005-05:00

Rose

Sold
6" x 9"
Watercolor

I can honestly say this is one of the first roses with which I am pretty happy. Painted from a reference photo taken a few years ago of the trelli roses outside my door.

Rose Value Study Update

2009-06-09T20:23:00.003-05:00

I wasn't pleased with the background so made some adjustments there and on the table top area. Think this looks much better.

NOTAN & Value Study

2009-06-09T18:09:00.007-05:00

The Yahoo Colorful Watercolor group is studying NOTAN's which are black and white studies of the subject. Using one of my reference photo and according to Rhonda's instructions, I went to Photoshop Elements, desaturated the photo and put the contrast to its highest limit, which can be seen in the photo above.

Next, I gessoed a piece of used watercolor paper, let it dry, then using Payne's Gray, applied the darks, which can be seen in the photo below. I had to apply the darks a couple of times, letting the paper dry between layers. This was very much like negative painting.
After that NOTAN study was posted at the group site, I then went back in with a wet brush and more paint and established mid-values and corrected shapes, while trying very hard to leave white space. The photo below shows a collage of different crops of the value painting. Which one do you like the best. I know they are quite similar but sometimes just a smidge cropped can make all the difference.
I thoroughly enjoyed using the gessoed paper for this exercise as it was pretty easy to lift lights and correct a few shapes. It is a pretty fast way to subject the subject, becoming familiar not only with the values but with the shapes and the structuring the composition.

Sketching Practice

2009-06-07T07:32:00.003-05:00

A quick sketch done this morning to familiarize myself with the subject. The vase is sitting on a lace scarf but I didn't sketch in all the holes. I took the reference photo a few years ago of red trellis roses in a vase. The viewpoint is looking slightly down on the flowers and vase.

Rooster, Watercolor

2009-06-05T23:00:00.004-05:00

Rooster
Watercolor
10 1/4" x 13 1/2"
Reference photo from Morgue File

A detail view

Rooster, Sketch & Watercolor

2009-06-03T18:42:00.010-05:00

I did this sketch yesterday on tracing paper then flipped it over and used a woodless graphite pencil on the back of the tracing paper to mark the lines. I transferred the rooster to watercolor paper, using a stylus or empty ink pen to go over the lines. The first wash has been laid down over the rooster and a first layer applied to the background.

More later!

Self-portrait sketch

2009-06-03T11:26:00.003-05:00

Self-Portrait
Graphite
Computer paper

Chatter, Rose Photo

2009-06-03T05:31:00.004-05:00

Peace Rose

The roses are blooming in the yard and look so velvety and lush. These are beautiful roses and this particular bush was a gift from my friends in Wyoming who have a special love of the Peace Rose.

I didn't do any painting yesterday, instead I devoted my time to studying other artists' work. Their approach to laying down paint, what preliminary steps are taken before putting paint to paper or canvas. Looking at strokes/brushwork, their compositions, their value work and color choices. It can become a bit of "information overload" as my brain became saturated with so much information. So today, instead of thinking about all I read and saw yesterday, I will just paint and/or draw.

One of the blogs, I enjoy reading is Loosen Up, also listed in my sidebar. I enjoy her work and her writing. I was sorry to read that Linda Blondheim Art Notes will not be added to, but happily, Linda is leaving it as archive information. Linda always writes such interesting tidbits. Check out her collector blog, Landscapes of the South.

Garden Statue, Watercolor

2009-05-31T13:11:00.007-05:00

Garden Statue
9 1/2" x 18"
Watercolor

Palette used was Sepia, Deep Scarlet, Cobalt Blue, Spanish Gold Ochre, and Cobalt Green. Reference photo from the Wet Canvas RIL.

Watercolor Play, Trees

2009-05-30T09:58:00.004-05:00

After a hiatus from painting, I wet the watercolors and just dropped in color, scraped and lifted. The texture is from the 300lb. Arches watercolor paper when scraping away wet paint. Size is approximately 4 3/4" x 4 3/4".

Garden Statuary Sketch

2009-05-28T19:13:00.003-05:00

A sketch from a photo from the Wet Canvas Image Reference Library, of a statute in a rock garden.

Chatter, Puppies

2009-05-26T14:23:00.004-05:00

Tom on the right, Jerrie on the left

Jill being held by my niece

Jackie playing with a new toy

These are the puppies at 7 1/2 weeks. Aren't they adorable.

I am painting a little each day on the birthday portrait, making progress. I hope soon to get it finished.

Birthday Portrait WIP Update

2009-05-21T09:10:00.006-05:00

As can be seen so many areas to work and rework. Today's main goal is to correct the eyes. It has to do with shapes and values, so the eyes set in their sockets and appear rounded, along with making sure the eyes are level and shaped correctly. The nose is shaped about right as is the mouth, and will clarify the values and colors in those areas as well.

Since I've taken the pressure off of myself for perfection and to just enjoy the process, it doesn't bother me to make a wrong stroke or use a color that doesn't work. I know it can be scraped off and reapplied. Very liberating. Is there a possibility of the painting being overworked? Of course, but not at this stage. My main concern is muddy colors instead of the fresh color I want. I am learning a lot about myself and how timid I am with darks.