Recent Work

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I have been drawing, just not posting. Fourth of July holiday was our week vacation time. Lots of camping and sailing…and I always have good intentions to do some sketching, but it is still difficult for me to settle down. We seem to spend a lot of time moving our gear in and out of the boat and then off to another island!

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Luckily we spent two days at Little Hens so I spent a little time doing some landscape drawing (which I really never do). Once I got back home and unpacked it was back to #sktchy and faces. I am also working on some fish studies for larger paintings. The Right Whale seemed a good choice.

One and a half days left on vaca and then back to work.

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!

Day 10

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Inktense and colored pencil

Inktense and colored pencil

This #AJChallenge day was fun because of the research involved. I learned about a few medicinal plants that I was unaware of. My goal was to find something that fit the category that I would have a photo resource for. I found it! Rose Hips. According to webMD: Rose hips are used for stomach disorders including stomach spasms, stomach acid deficiency, preventing stomach irritation and ulcers, and as a “stomach tonic” for intestinal diseases. They are also used for diarrhea, constipation, gallstones, gallbladder ailments, lower urinary tract and kidney disorders, fluid retention (dropsy or edema), gout, back and leg pain (sciatica), diabetes, high cholesterol, weight loss, high blood pressure, chest ailments, fever, increasing immune function during exhaustion, increasing blood flow in the limbs, increasing urine flow and quenching thirst. Wow! Pretty cool.

This rose hip was found on Ram Island in the Penobscot Bay–from a wild seaside rose–not a rugosa, but a smaller native rose.     Tomorrow the challenge is to draw your lunch or dinner. I am not sure about how interesting that will be…I will have to really think about what I choose to eat now!

Day 5

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Water-soluble crayon and ink: View from the sailboat

Water-soluble crayon and ink: View from the sailboat

I am running a bit behind on the #AJChallenge. This was done for the 5th day, the subject was to draw a bridge. I knew this was the subject I wanted to do, but I just couldn’t get to it on 1/5/15, so I did this about 5:00am on 1/6/15. Yesterday’s challenge was seeds or pods–I am working on a Devil’s claw for this one (so also a day behind). Then I have to play catch up because today’s challenge is to do a rendition of one of your favorite paintings! Oh my! I was thinking Van Gogh, but many other folks have chosen him, so I think I am going to go for Emily Carr. Hopefully I can get that done today!

It’s great to have some subject matter that is so different from what I might normally choose.

Challenge Day 4

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Cat from Castine: graphite

Cat from Castine: graphite

Animals! #AJChallenge Day 4. One of my favorite subjects, but I find that I don’t do many animal drawings really. Not unless it is part of an assignment or challenge. I am thinking that I will add animals to be subject matter for this year. They aren’t easy, so lots of concentration required. A good thing. Today I got the year right!

This cat was hanging out in Castine in front of Markel’s bakery last summer. She had such a personality. You could tell she was really engaged by everyone coming by. I think that she was mostly interested in our dog Big and that is why she looks so intense. I took a bunch of photos of her, I think I will do a few more sketches of her. Good practice.

Documenting My Week

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Looking up at the tree tops during our mid-walk rest

Looking up at the tree tops during our mid-walk rest

Here is my #sketchbookskool homework so far. Really enjoying the thought process behind documenting part of each day. I think it will be nice to look back and remember some of these moments. They are quick!

Big dog taking a break

Big dog taking a break

I think that I would like to do more drawings of Big. He goes pretty much everywhere I do, and he is a handsome subject.

little clam found on the beach

little clam found on the beach

Dandelions!

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Encaustic, oil pastel on cradled birch panel. 6" x 6"

Encaustic, oil pastel on cradled birch panel. 6″ x 6″

The week is going by so fast! I have so much that I still want to do, but there is plenty of time. I am pretty happy with this piece…I decided to limit myself (working on the discipline) to only using the brush. No drawing! No guidelines, just throwing it down. Trying to keep the spontaneity going. It was a good learning experience. I really like the encaustic and the oil pastel together. Oil pastel is great to work with this way, it melts beautifully on my griddle palate and with just a little beeswax medium added has a nice fluidity going on. The other nice thing about the oil pastel as opposed to the wax pigment is that it doesn’t “dry” as quickly and has some opacity. I like the way the brush stroke can be maintained.

I think that I need to get a few more brushes. The encaustic/oil pastel combination can get muddy if one isn’t careful. Mixing colors is something I would like to get better at. However, keeping the color pure and simple is forcing me to make serious decisions when putting the color down…so that is good.

On to the next project! And, I still need to get to the inktober work!

Art, Art and more Art!

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Encaustic & oil pastel: 5" x 7"

Encaustic & oil pastel: 5″ x 7″

This is my week to devote just about every day to my Art Projects. This makes me so happy. I am going to have to counsel myself not to be disappointed that I can’t get everything done that I want to. Today started slow…it’s amazing how quickly the morning gets away from you. I took some photos and decided to just play around a little–the result is this little encaustic painting of a dandelion. This afternoon I am going to work on some ink drawings for inktober (I am behind on this) and do some planning for the week. I need to get organized so I can make good use of my time. And, I need to remember to eat and walk the Big dog!

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Finishing

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This morning I decided that rather than start something new I should finish something I have already started. So, back to the mussel drawing. This piece was really the inspiration for the encaustic I did yesterday, and now that has inspired me to return to the original piece. I am really happy with the strength of the colors and the composition. I like the way the water soluble crayon handles–which is interesting because when I first tried these I really struggled. I am making a kind of light colored wash to do the outline of the composition/drawing and then laying down washes over top. I have discovered that this medium mixes perfectly right on the paper you are using–so you need to have the same type of paper available for mixing. No graphite for this, just colored pencil over top for the details. I think this is working out alright.

I am taking the free art class at the Derwent Art Academy website. It is super fun and the way it is set up keeps you looking forward to the next lesson and project. Here are my sketches from the perspective lesson.

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