Gouache Along the Appalachian Trail

Sometimes you just have to let go.

Palette Perceptions

I'm continuing with some palette ideas I started last winter and spring. You can see a couple more of them in this post from May. I'm interested in exploring how our perception of a scene changes with a warm or a cool palette, and the way a limited color range serves to harmonize a painting. This study was done 11x17" across a two page spread in a 8.5x11" Stillman and Birn Epsilon Hardbound sketchbook. I know it's not designed for wet media, but it works great. Their books will open completely flat if you break them in before you start using them, which makes it ideal for working across the spread. I used the new Golden High Flow acrylics, and just a bit of water instead of medium. I'm trying to arrange a setup that's easy to work with in the field at the same time, and hope to test drive that out on location tomorrow. I used six colors for this one. I'm very close to being happy with the selections, but I'm going to make a couple of palette changes today and try again.

Three Page Hudson River Vista

This is a 10x22" spread across three pages in my blue Pescia journal. You can click on it to enlarge the image. (Here is a link to how I made this fabulous 16-page journal from a single sheet, in case you missed it.) It's a scene from Dennings Point Park facing downriver through the Hudson Highlands, with Bannerman Island showing on the right side, just in front of the mountains. I had been wanting to paint this for so long, and will probably do a larger version to frame and hang in the near future.

This painting was done with traditional brushes, but I used the Golden Airbrush paints to do it. That line of acrylic paints has been reformulated, and has just hit the market as the new Golden High Flow line. I ordered some as soon as they became available, and was delighted to see the color range expanded to include some colors that I sorely missed in the Airbrush line. I have the new paints here now, and will be posting a review of them next week.

Monoprinting in a Sketchbook Part 2 --- Plein Air Monotypes

11x14" Monotype print across the two page spread

of an 8.5x11" Stillman & Birn Zeta hardbound sketchbook

After spending some time doing the prepared backgrounds in my sketchbook with the Gelli Printing Plate, which I showed in Part I, it was time to explore more painterly monotype prints. After a few rainy days, a gorgeous day finally arrived, and I was too exhausted to head out to paint on location somewhere. I wanted to stay home. I brought all my gear out to the patio for an afternoon of plein air monoprinting. I was excited about trying this across the two page spread of my sketchbook, like I'd done the backgrounds. As you can see, it worked out fabulously well and printed right up to the gutter on both sides. As I stated in Part I of this monoprinting series, it would be ever so much better if they would make the plate size 11x17, rather than 12x14!

I set out a folding table and covered our patio table, and prepared for an afternoon of relaxed image-making. 

One of the tricky things about monotype prints is that when you paint on the plate, you need to create your image in reverse. The image will flip when you press your print. (This is especially important if you are creating text!) This was all so new to me, and I had a hard enough time wrapping my head around the whole technique of getting the paint onto the plate in a way that would transfer well. I decided not to worry about the reverse images for now, and allowed my landscape to reverse itself when I pressed the prints.

For these monotypes where I painted with brushes on the plate, I used Golden Open Acrylics. I had tried it the day before with the traditional Fluid acrylics and found that even though the fluids worked well for me when doing the textured backgrounds, they didn't give me enough working time for painting with brushes. Monotype printing is a somewhat subtractive process, so you need to not only be able to put paint down, but also to lift it off to reveal the white of the paper when the print is made. You need to think like a watercolor painter in getting lights down and working transparently, and like an oil painter in layering and removing color. It certainly keeps you thinking!

Later in the day, I moved over to the other side of the patio so I could take advantage of the view off the other side. I didn't like this one as much as the other, but I learned a tremendous amount from both of them, and look forward to further exploration of the monotype process. Generally speaking, it would be hard to do this plein air when traveling to locations, but definitely not impossible if you use a smaller Gelli plate and work in a smaller size. (You can see the wheels in my brain turning, can't you?)

Are you intrigued? Well, then definitely give these Gelli Printing Plates a try! They're inexpensive and a lot of fun. They give interesting effects and force you to think outside of the box --- always a good thing! If you have Stillman & Birn sketchbooks, you can take full advantage of their ability to open flat so you can print across the spread. Creating a sketchbook of monoprints is an exciting endeavor!

Design Sketches for Palisade Memories

Click image for a larger, clearer view

Watercolor and acrylic on paper

(9x12" Stillman & Birn Beta Wirebound sketchbook)

This sheet of sketches was done to work out the major issues for an 8x16" painting of the Hudson River and Palisades. When I'm out painting on location, I don't usually have the time to plan to this degree. In my studio, however, time is on my side. I'm not having to drive long distances to locations and then try to make time stand still while the sun races across the sky and shadows change. Going through these planning stages yields a better painting in terms of composition, color, and overall design.

I began with the four tiny thumbnail sketches at the bottom of the page. Each is 1x2". I did them with black ink and a fountain pen, trying different places for the horizon, and scoping out where I wanted the boats to go. I sketched in a barge and tug for these thumbnails, but in doing so, I decided they detracted too much from the Palisades, which I wanted to keep as the main point of interest. When I went to do the larger study, I put in a small fleet of sailboats instead. They provide interest and break up the horizon line without stealing the show. Once I finished deciding what would go where, I pulled out some watercolors and played with color on the thumbnails. Then I did the larger study in acrylic, which would also be my medium for the finished painting.

Although I'd gone through all these stages, I still wasn't completely satisfied. I decided that when it came time to do the final painting, I'd shorten the foreground space so that the water and cliffs wouldn't mirror each other as much. I also wanted to scale back the tree on the left, so that it would break the horizon line, but not extend beyond the upper edge of the cliffs. You can click here to see the finished painting I did, based on this series of sketches.

Four Design Studies

Design Studies 3-6

Acrylics in a 9x12" Stillman & Birn Beta Wirebound Sketchbook

I'm going back to basics for awhile to revamp some things about my painting process. I've noticed some bad habits creeping into my paintings, and I'm really excited about correcting them and moving forward to make more of an artistic statement in my work. In order to accomplish these goals, I've dedicated this Stillman & Birn 9x12" wirebound sketchbook to the process, though I might do some of them on other supports too. This paper holds up really well to anything I throw at it, so here goes!

I'm planning to do at least one of these studies a day --- sometimes a full page, and sometimes just a portion of a page --- in addition to my regular paintings. Yesterday, I taped up a couple of pages into quarters so that I could do more of them faster. I'll do some of them in monochrome, but most in color. I may test drive different palettes too. The emphasis will be on design, and experimenting with how value, color, and composition work together in creating a painting that impacts the viewer.

These four studies were done with acrylics, using just Naphthol Crimson, Cadmium Yellow Light, Ultramarine Blue, Titanium White, and Carbon Black. I reverted to a red-yellow-blue simple palette in the interest of keeping my color clean and simplifying the process. (I usually do not use any Naphthol reds, but it's what I happened to have on hand, and whadaya know..... It worked!) I'm using acrylics because it dries quickly, doesn't lift, is opaque, and can be painted on paper. I'll probably do some of them in gouache and other water based mediums too, depending on what is convenient at the time.

In contrast to much of my work over the past few years, which builds on transparent layers, I am planning to work more directly with opaque paint on these. I'll work from life when I can, but I'll also work from photos. The two on the top of this page were done yesterday at the Eleanor Roosevelt National Historic Site in Hyde Park, New York. The bottom two were painted today from photos. The study on the bottom left was done from a photo taken during my recent Adirondack trip. The lower right is from a photo taken at my property in the Catskills.

I started out this series working the full 9x12 pages, but after the first two, I saw problems which would be more quickly resolved by working smaller and faster, and then bumping the size back up again once I've worked through the issues that I'm seeing. I'll do at least a few more quartered pages before I go larger again with these.

Helderberg Escarpment at Thacher Park

Golden Airbrush Paints

(painted with a regular synthetic brush)

Stillman & Birn Beta Hardbound Sketchbook

This sketch was done from one of the overlooks from the Helderberg Escarpment at Thacher Park. It's truly an amazing place, with a path along the escarpment's edge that runs for about two miles. There are many cleared vistas along the way, complete with rock outcroppings, beautiful foreground foliage, and views that span several states. 

I love painting with these Golden Airbrush Paints. They are very versatile, but a bit cumbersome to travel with. I have some ideas brewing to make cleanup on location go a bit smoother and faster. 

Willow Tree in the Front Yard and Lilliput Review

11x17" across a two page spread in an 8.5x11" Stillman & Birn Epsilon hardbound sketchbook

Ink and Watercolor

I've been admiring the character these willow trees on our property, and looking forward to an opportunity to get out and sketch them. Yesterday after dinner, I was finally able to give into that temptation and scoot outside for 20 minutes or so. I set my stool in front of this massive willow tree and took out my beloved Kaweco Lilliput fountain pen, which is filled with Platinum Carbon Black ink. I love this pen. When closed, it is teeny tiny and perfect for my small sketching kit. The cap screws onto the back, so it posts firmly, and becomes long enough to sketch comfortably. If you click that link above, you can see lots of different views of the pen with a penny for size reference. Below is a photo of it next to my new (ultra-cool and more about this soon) Uni Gel pencil, so you can get an idea of the size compared with a mechanical pencil. I think this photo actually makes it appear larger than it is though.

I'm a big fan of Kaweco fountain pens and have quite an assortment. They are smooth, wet writers and highly reliable. The plastic-barrel Kaweco Sport pens can be converted to eyedropper pens, but since the ink can corrode metal, the Lilliput model cannot be converted. It has other benefits though, like its compact size, and the way it slips into my small sketch bag like a long silver bullet. It never leaks. It always starts right up. It writes like a dream and can keep up with my quick sketching without skips. For a little pen to slip into a pocket or small pouch, it simply can't be beat.

You can see in the photo above that the Lilliput pen, when posted with the cap, is certainly an adequate size for writing and sketching. It is thinner than a regular fountain pen, though that doesn't bother me.

After drawing for awhile, I decided to entertain my inner color junkie, and pulled out my mini watercolor set. That and a waterbrush were all I needed to complete the large, two-page spread. These three items --- Lilliput, waterbrush, and mini pan set, could have fit into a pocket. The little watercolor set can be found at Wet Paint. I pop out the kids' paints and substitute with my artist grade tube colors. For this sketch, I used Winsor Newton French Ultramarine, Aureolin, Brown Madder, and Daniel Smith Quinacridone Gold.

Tomorrow I'll take you on a tour of the little red bag in the photo. It is host to the contents of my current "small sketch kit". I can toss that pouch into any bag or backpack and I'm ready to go on a sketch outing.

Up on Plattekill Mountain

 7.5x15", watercolor on Arches Rough

Text is Noodler's Kung Te-Cheng ink in a Platinum Preppy fountain pen

Back in December, I placed an order with Small Oak Press for two custom sketchbooks --- one to be made out of Arches Bright White Rough 140 pound paper, and the other of Stonehenge white. They were my holiday gift to myself, and they arrived last week. I took the Arches book out hiking over the weekend. I expected it to be difficult to dive into the first page spread of an $80 sketchbook, but when the time came, I found it surprisingly easy to let it happen. Perhaps I felt I deserved to paint on great rag paper after hiking two and a half miles uphill!

We hiked up Plattekill Mountain to Codfish Point. There was a stone throne that somebody made in an old quarry up there, facing Hudson Valley views that span 60 miles of the Hudson River off in the distance. It was the perfect spot for a weary painter to take a break, have lunch, and enjoy the vista. I pulled out my watercolors while my husband went off to take some photos and explore down the trail for a few minutes.

Sketches from Tilly Foster Farm

Antique water pump and wooden bucket:
11x8.5", Wolff's Carbon Pencil and wash in a Stillman & Birn Epsilon hardbound sketchbook

I went sketching at Tilly Foster Farm a couple of days ago and stumbled upon a little museum there of antique farm equipment! It was a real gold mine for sketching opportunities! This old warped bucket and water pump caught my eye.

I also did some quick little gesture sketches of the chickens with my Pitt Brush Pens as they scuttled around their pen. Great fun! They sure do move around a lot. Now I know where the term "chicken scratch" came from.

Chicken Scratch with Pitt Brush Pens, 8.5x5.5":

Sketching from Norrie Point on the Hudson River

11x17" across a two page spread in a Stillman & Birn Epsilon hardbound book

Pitt Big Brush Pens

Image can be clicked for a larger, sharper view

I spent a long and productive day along the Hudson River on Tuesday, at the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation site on Norrie Point in Staatsburg, New York. I did a couple of paintings first, and sat down to sketch at the end of the day. This cute little boat was docked right outside, so it became the most convenient subject after a day of painting atmosphere and nature. Boats are trickier than they look, so that makes them great practice subjects when sketching on the river.

I'm still really liking these Pitt Big Brush Pens, and the way they handle on this Epsilon paper by Stillman and Birn. I'd like to find a similar, lightfast type of brush pen/marker that has washable properties too, so I could take a waterbrush to it even after it's dry. Suggestions welcomed! (Must be lightfast!)

Tree Study

This tree study was sketched from my studio window with my Stillman and Birn 5.5x8.5" Alpha book. I used Caran d'Ache Supracolor II Soft pencils in Umber and White. I felt I needed to be able to go just a hair darker, so I added a Wolff's Carbon 6B pencil toward the end. These are all water soluble. I wanted to keep the water option open, but I decided I liked it the way it was, and only worked dry.

There is gold acylic paint added to the Sepia background color. You can see a bit of that shimmer where the light glare is in the photo. A little touch of that glow on the pages is a beautiful thing, but it's hard to capture in a photograph.

The little bit of white on the top left is a lifted-up sheet of glassine that I glued to the page to protect the pencil work, to keep it from smudging onto the facing page when the book is closed or somebody's leafing through the it. I realized that if I do more work in pencil, charcoal, or pastel (and I intend to), I'll need to have some small glassine sheets on hand to put over the work as I do it; otherwise some of those pieces would be ruined before I even got home from my sketching location. I can also use a sheet under my hand as I sketch with smudgy media, to prevent my hand from smearing the page. I went on an anti-smudge campaign!

Yep, I made an envelope as part of the book to store sheets of glassine. I keep a glue stick in my messenger bag with my sketching supplies, so gluing it in on location whenever necessary will now be very easy. To make this pocket, here's what I did:

1. I knew this would take up extra space in the book, so to avoid bulging, I went to the very last signature in the book, and carefully removed the center page spread, tearing down the middle and removing both sides.
2. I selected the two pages I planned to use to make each side of the pocket, and cut a semi-circle out of the top of the first page, to make it easier to remove the glassine. (To do that, I drew the arc, then put a cutting mat underneath the sheet, and cut it out with an xacto knive.)
3. Using one of the pieces of paper that I removed from the book, I made a one-inch wide "tape" the height of the page, and folded it lengthwise with a bone folder. I did the same for the width of the page. Holding those two so that they overlapped on the lower right corner at a right angle, I placed them on a cutting board and made a 45 degree cut through all four layers. That way, when glued into the book, there would be no overlapping, and they would lie flat.
4. I used a glue stick to coat the paper "tape" and the outside page edges, and glued it all together.
5. I cut a 16x20" sheet of glassine into eight, 5x8" pieces, which fit exactly into the little envelope holder.

Voila! It's worked perfectly. The only thing I'll add is that when you glue glassine onto the pages, it's better to glue it from the side than from the top. The page curls at the top and bottom, so it's easier to lift the glassine from the side than it is from the bottom.

Four Sketches of the Hudson River

Click image for a larger view.

I have a large oil painting commission to do of a scene along the Hudson. The other day, I grabbed my sketchbook and watercolors and headed down to the location to do some preliminary sketches to discuss with the client, before proceeding on the large piece. It was freezing cold along the river early in the morning, but I know from experience that the light on the cliffs of the Palisades leaves early. By the time the sun is well overhead, they are all in shadow. I bundled up with my warmest coat, hat, scarf and mittens, and worked as fast as I could! Word from the client: "I love them all!" So, I'll be combining some elements for the final painting.

I taped off the rectangles to do the sketches while I was out on location. That kept my borders clean. I already knew what the dimensions of the large painting would be, so I stuck to those proportions. Once I got home, I drew in the borders around each sketch with a calligraphy pen, and used acrylic paints on the outside border, mixing colors to match the inside border's ink color. When finished, I painted a layer of Golden Interference Gold Fluid Acrylic, diluted with gloss medium, over the outer brown border. Although it doesn't show in the photo, there is a beautifully subtle gold sheen on the outside edge of the page.

Kaaterskill High Peak from Across the Beaver Pond

This is my second-to-last sketch in my sketchbook for the Sketchbook Project 2012. It's a view from across the beaver pond behind my house, with Kaaterskill High Peak in the background, and the fall foliage reflecting in the water. There is a high bank there, shaped like a peninsula, with a beautiful grove of pine trees. Walking on the several inches of pine needles that have been accumulating for who knows how many hundreds of years, and smelling the pine smell, is really a magical experience.  This was painted on location with gouache. It is 7x10" across the two page spread in the sketchbook. I didn't date stamp or write on this entry yet, but I'll do so before sending in the book. All sketchbooks for this project will go on a world tour, and then be housed permanently in the Brooklyn Art Library in New York City.

Sketching the Lynx at the Newburgh NY Waterfront

Today I went to sketch with my friend Virginia along the Hudson River at the Newburgh Waterfront. My plan was to sketch the cafes along the boardwalk and views of the Hudson Highlands. I was pleasantly surprised to find this gorgeous ship, Lynx, docked there to model for me. The angle of the masts is really striking. As usual, I didn't remember to get a photo while at my sketching location, but I got this one later from closer to my car, so the angle is a bit different. Still, you can get an idea of the beautiful scene there. I thought probably nobody would believe the angle of the masts without a photo! It's amazing how slanted they are.

The sketch of the ship and docks was done directly with ink and a black Sakura brush pen. Then I used Noodler's Lexington Gray in a Lami Safari "F" for the rigging, and a Platinum Preppy 0.5 filled with J. Herbin Gris Nuage for the mountains in the background. Even when working in monochrome, it's nice to have some value options at your disposal! I was especially glad to have the Gris Nuage along for those soft mountains in the distance, made even softer today by the atmospheric conditions. Using the light gray ink for the mountains allowed the ship stand out in the foreground, while providing a nice backdrop shape.

Study of an Old Maple Tree Trunk

This was done out in my yard, using a 6B pencil in my Fabriano Venezia book. This old Maple has so much character from every angle. I did another drawing of it on Stonehenge, using a light and a dark on a colored ground. You can see that on this post on my Hudson Valley Painter website. Yesterday, I did yet another sketch of it from a different angle in watercolor. I'll be posting that one tomorrow on http://hudsonvalleypainter.com. 

Barns at Riga Farm

Riga Farm Paintout
Once again, LHVPAP member Melissa Fischer hosted a paintout at her parents' beautiful farm in Millerton, New York. There is always so much to paint here. Vic is on vacation and also joined us with his camera. I didn't know how long we'd end up staying and wanted to capture as many scenes as I could, so I decided to just do sketches today. I also wanted to test drive my new sketching setup in the field. (It worked out great.)

This sketch is pen and ink with watercolors. The ink in the sketch is Noodler's Lexington Gray in a Lamy Safari "F" fountain pen. The ink used for the writing is Noodler's Purple Wampum (a fabulous muted, very dark violet) in a Platinum Preppy 0.5 fountain pen. Watercolors were Winsor Newton and Holbein.

Chatham Falls in Acrylic

Can you believe that I did it yet AGAIN, painting this sketch of Chatham Falls upside down in my sketchbook for The Sketchbook Project 2012? I can't!

I tried acrylics in the book this time and was surprised at how easily the paint took to the paper, so I just might finish up the book with acrylics. The text in the lower right is a little hard to read against the dark paint. It says, "A day at Chatham Falls --- always time well spent. Painted on location with Golden Fluid Acrylics."

View from the Catskill Mountain House Site

Before 1965, the Catskill Mountain House sat upon this rock ledge overlooking 60 miles of the Hudson River and the valley floor below, all the way to the Berkshire Mountains of Massachusetts. Visitors to the Mountain House would journey up the Hudson River by steamboat in the 1800s, and disembark in Catskill for the ride up to the mountains by horse-drawn carriage, and later by train. As modern transportation enabled vacationers to go further from the cities, the Catskill Mountain House fell into disrepair, and was taken down and burned by New York State in 1965, after they acquired the property. It remains one of the most dramatic views in the Hudson Valley, and I felt my sketchbook for The Sketchbook Project 2012 tour wouldn't be complete without it! It's brutally hot up on that ledge in the summer, but we had a relatively cool day and took advantage of the opportunity to paint there.

The Hudson River from Cold Spring

This is one of my favorite spots in the world to paint. It's in Cold Spring-on-Hudson, New York. There is a point on the river facing north where you can see Storm King Mountain (left), Little Stony Point (center) and Breakneck Ridge (Right), and paint under the shade of the trees. It was a brutally hot day when I was here painting with some friends, but a cool breeze off the river kept us comfortable. This is one of those famous Hudson River vistas that I really wanted to get into my sketchbook for The Sketchbook Project 2012, so that when the book goes on tour, others can enjoy the view as much as I do.