When I was waiting for the ferry on Whidbey Island last week, I took a photo of the ferry passengers as they walked off the ferry. It’s a small ferry, so the passengers disembark on the car deck. It’s kind of a fun scene, with everybody striding off the ferry looking for their ride. Today I made a pencil sketch, then a watercolor.
Ferry passengers disembarking Read More »
A few weeks ago, we replaced the shingles on the roof of our house. I was quite impressed with the workers because of their willingness to do this hard work. There’s a lot of bending, climbing, and scrabbling around on the roof, not to mention scraping the old shingles off, carrying them to the disposal truck, and laying new shingles.
I took a photo when they were here, and today I made several watercolor sketches trying to capture their body language.
When I was in Lilliwaup Bay a couple of months ago, I took a photo of a couple of old trucks parked at a cabin near the river. They just look so darn rustic. Yesterday I made a watercolor, but I wasn’t very satisfied with it. Today I added a wash of blue on the side of the landrover to darken it. I think this helped a lot by showing that side was in shadow.
A pickup and a land rover Read More »
Today I painted two lighthouses. The first one is from my trip to Whidbey Island last week. This lighthouse, at Admiralty Head, has recently been restored and is resplendent on the high bluff above the sea. My painting is a bit clumsy but it shows the massiveness of the lighthouse and the late afternoon sunlight coming from the left, with the dark trees behind.
My second lighthouse painting is a copy of a painting by Qian Gao. I like the way he used browns in the sky and in the land, and the loose way he treated the lighthouse.
Couple of lighthouses Read More »
Today I had fun with friends from Plein Air Washington Artists (PAWA). about 17 of us were hosted by a couple on Whidbey Island, whose five-acre spread has amazing views across the fields as far as the Olympic Mountains. Their mini-ranch has lots of juicy things to paint, like cows, barns, and pickups. It was a good day of painting.
I’m happy with these paintings because I wasn’t afraid to put a lot of paint on the paper. At the stage I’m at right now, I need to be generous with the paint and brave with the brush. I felt I painted loosely today, which is one of my goals. Even though the results aren’t perfect, they’re part of the learning curve.
I took the ferry from Port Townsend to Coupeville last night and camped at Fort Ebey State Park so I’d be ready to start at 9:00 am. It was nice to have a peaceful night in the forest.
3 Watercolors from the Whidbey Island Paintout Read More »
I’m going to a paintout on Whidbey Island on Thursday, so I thought I’d practice painting a scene on Whidbey Island as a warmup for the event. This painting is based on a photo of a farm on Whidbey Island near the location of the paintout.
I made this painting using only the brush (no pencil lines). I shared it with the #30x30directwatercolor group on Facebook. The goal of the group members is to make a direct watercolor every day for 30 days. It’s a lot harder painting without any pencil guidelines, but it’s good practice because it helps avoid small, cramped, fill-in-the-outline paintings.
This morning I painted several versions of sunflowers, modeling them after a beautiful painting by Beverly Boren, an artist in Texas. My first one was the best, so I made it into a postcard and mailed it to Mom.
The idea is to keep the petals of the sunflower loose but still recognizable, to have some found edges and some lost edges, and to have some light values and some dark values. I’m still learning how to do this. It’s so darned hard!
On Wednesday, Katy finished the end of Spring Quarter at South Puget Sound Community College. Every student’s paper has been graded, and the results turned in to the college, so she is officially on break until summer session begins.
To celebrate, we spent the day at Bloedel Reserve, a lovingly preserved natural area on Bainbridge Island. There are trails, meadows, forests, ponds, and the estate home of the Bloedel family from years ago. Katy took her camera and I took my painting gear and we both got our fillof natural beauty.
I painted the old sheep sheds across a meadow. When this was a working farm, these sheds sheltered the sheep on long rainy nights. It was sunny and warm as I painted, and the washes dried very quickly so I had to paint fast. Hikers passed by frequently, craning their necks to see my painting and offering encouragement.
Katy and me at Bloedel Reserve Read More »
Last week I was in the Georgetown neighborhood of Seattle for a plein air painting session with other artists from Northwest Watercolor Society. I took a photo of Jules Mae’s Saloon, a classic oldtime saloon with polished wood bar and dark floors. Today I tried to make a loose, impressionistic painting of the saloon. It’s hard to keep the watercolors free and loose while at the same time getting proportions, values, and colors right. I didn’t come close to my expectations, but I learned a lot.
Jules Mae’s Saloon Read More »
Last week when I went to Seattle, I made a pencil sketch of a man waiting in line at the ferry terminal. Today I spent nearly the entire day trying to duplicate that sketch in watercolor, without using any pencil lines. I made 11 attempts, with this one being the best. I don’t understand why I can make a quick pencil sketch without any problem, but trying to make the same sketch in watercolor is a hundred times harder. Both versions are below.
Watercolor sketch of man at ferry terminal Read More »
