Painting

Two more Alaska watercolors

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I painted two of my favorite subjects yet again. This must be the third painting for the net shed and Emmaus Center on Kupreanof Island. I painted these for sale in St. Germain’s Christmas Bazaar on December 3. I think they show some improvement from the previous versions. I’ll probably paint them both again.

I added figures to the net shed painting but they were too small in proportion to the shed. I daubed them with water and lifted them out with a tissue, then I added them again, larger. In the Emmaus Center painting, I added a red boat next to the dock. This is how I remember the place.

Net shed on Kupreanof Island, Alaska
Emmaus Center on Kupreanof Island

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Life drawing with clothed models

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At life drawing this week our model was unable to come (she had a death in the family). So we simply posed for each other (with clothes on!). This is actually quite a nice change and a fresh challenge. I enjoyed painting my friends. When it was my turn to model I discovered that 15 minutes is an eternity when you can’t move! We kept all the poses to 15 minutes rather than our usual 20 minute poses, so I had to work quickly.

I’ve been painting with this group since 2013 (we had a year off because of Covid). There are usually about ten of us who meet in a small building tucked into the trees at Strawberry Hill Park in Bainbridge Island. The class is sponsored by the Bainbridge Island Parks and Rec program. Our models are professionals who come on the ferry from Seattle. One of us volunteers to pick the model up at the feery which arrives just before we meet.

Allison, partly retired art history professor
Gregg, retired from teaching art and other subjects in an alternative high school
Thea, professional artist
Ellen, retired math professor

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Loosening up

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Today I painted two watercolors of subjects I’ve previously painted: the Emmaus Center and the warehouse on Kupreanof Island. It seems that if I paint the same subject over and over, eventually I start to loosen up and the painting looks better. That seems to be the case here.

For my birthday, Katy gave me some handmade watercolor paper that has a lot of character to it. I used it for these paintings and it seems to help me loosen up.

Warehouse on Kupreanof Island
The Emmaus Center on Kupreanof Island

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Posters for SHAG Art Show

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I’ve been drafted by our life drawing group to create a poster for our upcoming art show at the Bainbridge Island Library. So far I’ve created four draft posters for the event. The art work shown in these posters may change (I just used what I had available), and the details may be modified. Of the four, which do you like best?

Poster 1
Poster 2

Poster 3

Poster 4

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An exercise in futility

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This week I tried to paint a watercolor of Hammer Slough in Petersburg, AK. It’s a picturesque scene, with rustic warehouses on pilings built over the tidewater slough, with a background of dark spruce trees. I made a value study in grays, then I made four attempts in color. I’m afraid none of them are satisfactory. Lesson learned? I really don’t have the skills to paint reflections on a tide flat yet. I’ll keep trying because this is such a classic scene to paint. But right now I think I’ll give it a rest. Watercolor painting is hard!

I’ve shown the value study first, then the four attempts with the earliest attempt first.

Value study
First attempt
Second attempt
Third attempt
Fourth attempt

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Net shed on Kupreanof Island

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When I was in Alaska last month, I made a pencil drawing of a net shed on Kupreanof Island. These net sheds are used by fishermen to store their nets when not in use. At high tide a boat can pull up to the shed and unload or load the nets.

I made a value study in black and white that I like a lot. Then I made a color version that I didn’t like as much. I put too much color in the foreground rocks, then I had to wipe it out with a wet tissue. I think the foreground needs to be muted in order to draw attention to the shed.

Value study

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Two attempts at a portrait

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Yesterday I made a copy of a portrait of a young man in Charles Reid’s book, Portrait Painting in Watercolor (pages 148-149). I was happy with the looseness of it, but the proportions weren’t very good. So I tried it again today and I like the results better. You can compare the two attempts below.

Second attempt
First attempt

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Portrait sketches

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In his book, Portrait Painting in Watercolor, Charles Reid includes some portraits that are just quick sketches, warmups in a way. They help keep you loose by leaving out some of the detail. Here are a couple of sketches I painted in that spirit.

From page 140 in Reid’s book
From a portrait I found on the Museum app.

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Skin tones and lost edges

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I made this portrait from a photo on Museum/Sktchy trying to follow Charles Reid’s instructions on mixing skin color. I used Winsor red and Cadmium yellow pale (for warmth) with some cerulean blue (to cool it down). Also I tried to let some of the edges of the hair get lost, like in her left cheek and forehead. That way the border of the face isn’t just a hard outline, but has softness to it. Same thing with the loose brush strokes for her hair on the outside.

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Another portrait

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While I’m on a roll, I thought I’d make another portrait. This one is also from the Museum app photos. I used color this time and tried to get the values right. I like the changes in the skin color and the light areas on the forehead. I find it really hard to get the dark areas of the face dark and make the transition from light to dark. But the shapes and values in this portrait are basically right.

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