Sketching Barns

I went out painting with my friend Karen on Friday, and decided to do some sketches rather than a focused effort on a single painting. This was my first sketch of the day — beautiful barns up on the hillside that we’d been admiring on our painting outings for quite some time. This one was done with Golden Fluid Acrylics in my 10×10″ Kraft paper sketchbook.

Signs of Spring

Gouache in my 10×10″ kraft paper art journal

Text: The forsythia came and went before I even had a chance to paint it this spring. I only saw my beautiful hyacinths blooming in the distance from the studio window! I went outside the studio this morning and cut these lilac blooms, determined to capture some of the essence of spring from my yard before it was too late! Hopefully the cherry blossoms at Boscobel will still be blooming tomorrow.

Betsy's Bouquet

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10×10″, Golden Fluid Acrylics in my kraft paper art journal

Text:
Betsy’s Bouquet
Thanks to friend and neighbor Betsy Ryder, I got a tour of Ryder Farm today, complete with an invitation to come back and paint anytime. Betsy picked flowers as she walked with me from one beautiful scene to another. She showed me the old farmhouse, which dates back to 1795. Stepping through those doors was like stepping back in time, with old, original furnishings and plein air paintings on the walls done by an ancestor named Ferris.

Trees and flowers there are just beginning to bloom. We checked out peas just sprouting, fruit trees, meadows being converted to hay fields, and views of Peach Lake from the vantage point of the farm. Betsy presented me with the beautiful bouquet after the tour!

More Bannerman Island Sketches

These sketches were done on October 21, along with the one I posted that day, although they are displayed out of order. The sketch posted on the 21st is #1. The post above is #3. Below is #2, and the last is #4–my last one of the day and a real quickie.

I didn’t get a chance to finish up the writing and take the pictures until today. Normally I also type out what I’ve handwritten, but with my hand/arm in a cast, it is a long and painful process to do either (not to mention drawing and painting!) Once I’m out of the cast, I’ll edit this post to include all the text.

Sketching on Bannerman Island

10×10″, gouache in my kraft paper sketchbook

I had the good fortune to spend today out in the middle of the Hudson River on Bannerman Island, sketching the castle ruins. Because of my recent hand surgery, I couldn’t carry much gear. I just brought my sketchbook and some gouache. This was my first sketch of the day. The tide was very low, and the boat captain told us it was still going out. So, I walked out on a spit of land that jutted out into the river, and provided a great view looking back at the castle. Apparently the captain was wrong; the tide was coming in, not going out! It wasn’t long before my friend Laura called out to me, “Oh my gosh, Jamie, you’d better move right away!” I’d been so focused on my sketch that I didn’t notice my pathway of land had nearly vanished! I quickly threw my gear into my bag and walked back to land. I had to wade part of the way. When I’d reached shore, the spur of land was entirely underwater. I didn’t get to finish my sketch, but it’s a good thing I left the spot before it was done!

Apple Blossoms and Alyssum

Whenever I’d drive along farm roads in spring, I always admired the bright yellow fields of Alyssum. Imagine my surprise, when spring came along, to find I now have my own field of them here at the new house! I hope I get to paint them before the flowers die. I snipped one of the last of the apple blossoms to paint.

Here’s my sketching stuff out on the porch. I did the little gouache sketch of the apple blossoms first, then put the alyssum into a small pitcher and painted that.

Afternoon at RiverWinds

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10×10″, gouache in my kraft paper sketchbook

The Hickory Tree

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10×10″, Cretacolor sepia and white leads in my kraft paper sketchbook

The Village of Falling Waters

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10x10", gouache in my sketchbook

South Mountain and the Catskill Mountain House

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10×10″, gouache in my sketchbook

Home Sweet Home

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10×10″, gouache in my sketchbook

Good Things Come in Small Packages

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10×10″, Winsor Newton and Holbein gouache in my sketchbook

Text:

Good Things Come in Small Packages
Feb 07 2009
What’s in the Box?

Few things are as much fun for an artist as that brand new box of art supplies waiting on the front doorstep when you return home. Today I was surprised by this box from Dick Blick that arrived two days early!

Inside were kneaded erasers, some Golden mediums that I’m running out of, plus a few new things to try, like these tubes of Holbein gouache. I got Viridian, Cobalt Blue and Cadmium Yellow Orange to round out my gouache assortment. There was also a great deal on Simmons Titanium brush sets, so I’m trying some of those too.

Landscape Sketches

10×10″, Gouache in my kraft paper sketchbook

As you can see, I’m still having way too much fun with gouache in my new sketchbook. I know the text can be difficult to read when I post these pages from my sketchbook. Here’s what today’s page says:

It’s not often that I paint from photos, and it’s even less often that I paint from photos I didn’t take myself! However, this weekend’s Wetcanvas WDE (Weekend Drawing/Painting Event) had some that I just couldn’t resist. Seeing them here now in gouache makes me wonder if I should have painted them in acrylics or oils on a more archival support, or at least so they could be taken out and popped into little frames. Maybe I’ll do another version of these.

Seeing how these gouache landscapes look on this paper makes me think that this could be a fabulous way to work en plein air. I did both of these with only a single, round synthetic brush and a pre-filled Mejillo palette. Pre-cut Canson boards, or other archival matboards with a a similar color to this, would also be lightweight and easy to travel with. They dry instantly, and could be stored in a plastic zip-lock bag for protection.

You can click here to see the reference images uploaded by Wetcanvas member “Upnorthtim”. You can see that I made a lot of changes to the photos in content and composition. Sometimes I do stay more true to a photo, but I never hesitate to change elements, leave things out, or move them around to create my own vision, or to change color and sometimes values. It’s where and how we use that artistic license that creates our individual styles and preferences.

Every Friday, a Wetcanvas member is host of a Weekend Drawing Event in which they upload 16 photos. Members have a week to create art from those photos and post it to the forum. They are not supposed to spend longer than two hours on a painting. Give it a try sometime! It’s great fun to see what so many different artists can do with the same set of images.

Hydrangea Sketch

10×10″, Gouache sketch of a hydrangea for a future painting, coming soon!

My husband adores these colors. I’ve prepared a panel with a lighter, scrubby, warm yellow background upon which I’ll paint the blue vase and violet flowers, as my second in this little series of floral works for Valentine’s Day.

Rose Sketch for a Future Painting

10×10″, Gouache in kraft paper sketchbook
Oil/acrylic painting of this sketch coming soon…Stay tuned!

I am having way too much fun with gouache sketches on this paper! I am thinking of ways to achieve this look with oils/acrylics on a more archival surface. I think I’m going to give it a whirl for tomorrow’s daily painting.

Edit: To see the final painting of this subject, click here.

Sunday Sketches

I’ve always wanted one of these sketchbooks with the heavy, brown kraft paper. I have a huge roll if it, which I tear off into 24×36″ sheets for figure drawing. I was in Borders yesterday and saw this one on a “discontinued” rack for 50% off. It was “now or never”! It’s a great size at 9-3/4″ square. That’s too large to keep in my purse, but a great size for small gouache paintings, charcoal and pencil drawings, with room to write on the same page too.

Unfortunately, I don’t think this paper is archival, but sometimes the freedom to create something on “junk” leads to something special, which can then be recreated in the studio using better materials. This neutral background gives a midtone against which one can bump lights and darks very effectively. This was just what I needed to get me back into my grove of the Saturday/Sunday Sketches. I even painted my little “Bluebird of Happiness” to show how thrilled I am with the new book!