A Sporadic Inktober

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Watercolor and Ink

Watercolor and Ink

I am doing a miserable job of keeping up with #inktober. But, I am inspired to do as many ink drawings as I can. This year I am not feeling so bound by rules…so while ink is the main ingredient, I feel fine adding color with other mediums.

While I was in Frisco, NC I stopped in to the Indian Town Gallery and they were gearing up for their Tiny Art Fundraiser. I decided it would be fun to donate a piece of art for this. Everyone that participates gets a 5×5 canvas to paint on, at the show all works are $20 donated to a good cause. I am only sorry that I can’t be there for the show! Tiny Art Show

Sardine Surprise: Tiny Art Donation

Sardine Surprise: Tiny Art Donation

Feeling a little unsettled about subject matter right now. Not so much for sketching and experimenting, that comes pretty easy. But, I still feel a little overwhelmed by my goal of completing a body of work. I am not very disciplined…or maybe I am just easily distracted. Maybe I should make a list of what I want to paint, settle on a size for all, and just dig in to that. If I could get 2 oil bar paintings and two watercolor/ink pieces done I would be happy with that. That is two less than I hoped for.

Puffy Fish: ArtSnack materials

Puffy Fish: ArtSnack materials

Painting and Sketching

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Oil Paint Sticks: 6 x 9 on paper

Oil Paint Sticks: 6 x 9 on paper

More practice with oil paint sticks on paper. I am going to try and stay within 6″ x 9″ and 8″ x 10″ sizes on paper for now. This is a good size to work on to get a piece done within a reasonable time. I think this is a good way to get my technique refined before moving over to larger work. I did get some Shiva oil paint sticks that are not student grade, the color seems to be richer. They are “hard” but that seems to be working to my advantage right now.

Practicing Faces: inspired by Modigliani

Practicing Faces: inspired by Modigliani

My other goal right now is to improve my drawing skills for faces.  I have some pieces that I want do that involve things like mermaids and they need to have nice faces! So, I am sketching faces, mostly from expressionist and impressionist painters…I don’t want to get to tied tight with them.

Like Butter!

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quick study: R&F paint sticks on paper

quick study: R&F paint sticks on paper

So, the quick small study reveals that R&F oil paint sticks are super buttery! Which, in some cases will be exactly what I want. It makes them more difficult to work with on a small scale. The next experiment will be on a larger scale…maybe 9x12ish. I need a broader range of colors in these paints–and I probably should do a little color mixing with them to see what colors I can make. These paints will work very nice using a brush I think.

Next up to try will be the Windsor Newton Oil bars!

Discovery

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Sunflower study: oil pigment sticks on paper

Sunflower study: oil pigment sticks on paper

I think that I have discovered a medium that I will stay with for awhile. I feel like I have been on a discovery project for the last couple of years…playing around with lots of different mediums and subjects. The oil paint sticks are awesome! So, my plan is to commit to them for the next 12 months and see how the work goes.

Not to say I am going to put away my pens and watercolor type mediums…I love those for sketches. Now that I have decided on the medium, I think I will be able to focus on my subject matter in a more serious and planned way. I need to get back to a sketch a day to continue to improve my drawing skills.

Feeling good about making some specific choices for the next few months!

Finished painting: oil paint stick on canvas

Finished painting: oil paint stick on canvas

Oil Paint Sticks

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Playing around with oil paint sticks

Playing around with oil paint sticks

Loving the oil paint sticks! I got a starter/student set of Shiva oil paint sticks to try while on vacation. The color selection is a little primary…but that is good to learn with. I also got a set of mini iridescent oil sticks–they are very nice colors and not too metallic.

Working on paper is actually very nice with this medium and it dries pretty much overnight. Dry enough to close my journal anyway. I love the fact that the sticks are kind of chubby, so it forces me to stay loose. I have gone into little spaces with a brush as well. The Shiva product is not as buttery as the R&F that I was using at home. I like the quality of the Shiva for paper…I think that the R&F will be better for canvas.

Study 4x6 for painting. The tail is too big!

Study 4×6 for painting. The tail is too big!

Playing around with some small studies–working on a larger painting from the small study. Interesting feeling going from paper to canvas.

Beginning of larger painting with oil paint sticks on canvas.

Beginning of larger painting with oil paint sticks on canvas.

Can’t stop experimenting!

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Oil Pigment stick and encaustic on wood panel.

Oil Pigment stick and encaustic on wood panel.

I don’t remember where I saw these oil paint sticks…oh, yep I do, one showed up in my Pigment and Palette box awhile back. Just white, and I picked it up to use it on the urchin painting….and it worked great! Then I did a little research and they looked like a lot of fun. One thing led to another and before you know it I have a starter set of colors.

Well, they are fun, but boy are they messy! My first attempt was more mess than anything. After a little more research I became a little more disciplined and set up my space so that I could keep the mess to a minimum. I decided to try them with the encaustic this time. I really like how they work. I added the first layer with my fingers (protecting my skin with gloves) and then fused the layers and used a brush to apply the pigment after that (a tiny brush, as I was working small). This set came from R&F–they are very nice. R&F Pigment Sticks Website

I think I will try a larger painting next. The great thing about this medium is, no solvents needed, no concerns of fat over lean (like oil paint) and quicker drying time. Mixes well with oil paint as well.

Cone Flowers

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Working the cone flower: watercolor pencil and blue fountain pen

Working the cone flower: watercolor pencil and blue fountain pen

I need more cone flowers in the garden! They are so wonderful, they draw in the bees, the butterflies, the moth’s all the pollinators seem to love them. After some research it seems that they come in some really nice colors too! My mother tells me that I have cone flowers that are native to Maine…the droopy kind. Next year I think I will add some new varieties. In the meantime, it’s nice to have these around for a little while.

Quick sketch: flower journal

Quick sketch: flower journal

Really enjoying sketching a little plein air! This is the most perfect time in Maine, and great for sitting outside with your art supplies. Nice temperatures, mostly not too hot, not too cold. It will be gone soon, so good to take advantage. I took a lot of photos of the butterfly and the cone flowers to use as reference for the winter months.

Summer Variety

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Sea Urchin: 4x4 panel, watercolor, encaustic, oil stick

Sea Urchin: 4×4 panel, watercolor, encaustic, oil stick

It’s a surprisingly nice feeling when someone appreciates your work enough to actually buy it! The piece was donated to our local library fundraiser–I decided to donate my sale 100% to the library–somehow it seemed the best thing to do considering I don’t sell my work yet. It wasn’t a high ticket sale, but so nice none-the-less to have another person enjoy it.

I am working on a bunch of really tiny pieces…4×4 cradled panels. The square is an interesting challenge–so far the work all seems to go well together–sheerly by accident, but I think that they will look good hanging together. Because I can’t settle down and just keep going with one medium I am also trying out some oil paint on wood panel.

Cone Flower: 4x4 on wood panel, watercolor and colored pencil

Cone Flower: 4×4 on wood panel, watercolor and colored pencil

Still experimenting with the encaustic–maybe it’s always going to feel that way. This piece I decided to just have fun with. I am starting to get the hang of the layering of color–the main image I scraped out with an old dental instrument–I was pleased with the way that worked out.

Jack-in-the-pulpit: encaustic on wood panel, 11x14

Jack-in-the-pulpit: encaustic on wood panel, 11×14

I want to move on and do a series with the cone flowers that are blooming. I have discovered that working plein air is actually pretty wonderful…but they aren’t going to last as long as I need them to!

Afternoon Shadows at Fort Point Lighthouse: SOLD!!!

Afternoon Shadows at Fort Point Lighthouse: SOLD!!!

Goofing Off Today

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Goofing off with new art supplies

Goofing off with new art supplies

Totally goofing off today. Started with some warm up sketches and then decided to do something using all the new materials that came in my #ArtSnacks box. All these materials are great, but they don’t necessarily work together. I will try to get back to my Jack-in-the-pulpit painting tomorrow.

The sailing vacation was a lot of fun, but I found that I didn’t do much drawing. I wanted to draw, but there was so much going on all the time–I felt distracted. John says that I was just out of my element. I took a lot of photos and I have some good reference material for some drawings and paintings from the trip.

No more time off until the fall. Drawing and painting on the weekends though. Summer in Maine seems to have arrived–we are having some beautiful weather.

Captured with my iPad. Lucky shot!

Captured with my iPad. Lucky shot!

Sneaking a sketch in

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Quick study: watercolor and fountain pen

Quick study: watercolor and fountain pen

This weekend was super busy. We are planning on a sailing trip over the fourth of July holiday, so lots to do to get ready for. I plan on doing a lot of drawing during this trip…so I am trying not to feel sad that I didn’t get to draw or paint this weekend. Oh, wait, that isn’t entirely true, I just finished this quick sketch which made me late cooking dinner! This was drawn from a photo I took on a Maine island last fourth of July.

Looking forward to a sail in just a few days!