Today I took a break from hanging drywall in Katy’s writing shed and went to the Wednesday meeting of Poulsbo Art League. We meet on Wednesday afternoons to paint, draw, and generally hang out together.
I used Charles Reid’s book, Portrait Painting in Watercolor, to make this portrait. I followed the step-by-step instructions he provides. Charles Reid is one of the most famous modern watercolor painters, especially his portraits. He emphasizes that a portrait should have some hard edges and some soft edges. In other words, leave something for the viewer’s eye to fill in. Don’t paint every detail, but leave some room for the imagination. Try to capture the general impression of the person.
I started off with a light gray wash, leaving white paper for the highlights on the forehead, cheek, chin, and ear. In subsequent washes I added darker tones, scratching out some areas of the hair and blotting some areas with a tissue. Pretty pleased with the way it turned out.
I’ve been busy finishing the inside of Katy’s writing shed, but today I joined four other painters from Poulsbo Artist League for plein air painting at Roadhouse Nursery near Silverdale.
Roadhouse Nursery
The nursery is beautifully landscaped with two or three acres of lawn, tall trees, ponds, raised gardens, and sheds. I focused on these carts that are waiting for a customer to haul off potted plants or potting soil. I found a patch of shade to paint in, but it was a warm, dry day. So I wet the back of my paper to slow down the drying time of my washes. It seemed to help.
As a retirement gift, I was given three nights lodging at Snowater Resort condominiums by a parishioner. Snowater is located in the North Cascade mountains of Washington, not far from the Canadian border. It was great to have a comfortable condo to return after each day of painting. Thank you, Penny!
I checked into Snowater on Friday night and spent all day Saturday and Sunday painting near Picture Lake in the high country. Aptly named, this lake mirrors Mt. Shuksan which looms above it. It’s a must for every outdoor photographer and painter (thus the name).
Mt. Shuksan from Picture Lake
Saturday morning was clear and sunny, and I set up my easel right away at one of the viewing platforms. It was a good thing I did, because the clouds came in later and obscured the view. A few people shared the platform with me, but they were very respectful and didn’t get in my way.
Afterward, I drove to the Heather Meadows Visitor Center and parked where the road was blocked because of snow removal. I hiked up the road to Artist Point at the very end of the road. It’s still melting out, but crowds of people were enjoying the walk up the road. I brought my painting gear with me hoping to paint Mt. Baker, but it was completely hidden in the clouds. The hike wore me out. It’s about two miles and a thousand feet elevation gain.
Mt. Shuksan on SaturdayMt. Shuksan on Sunday
After a break, I drove down a ways and painted Mt. Shuksan again where a ridge partially hides the mountain. I enjoyed painting the trees on the ridge, using a free brush with an almost abstract pattern. I also painted this scene on Sunday. Here are the two paintings side by side.
Mt. Shuksan in the clouds
On Sunday I again drove to Picture Lake and painted the mountain, although this time there were clouds swirling around the top of the mountain.
Mt. Shuksan from lower down
For my last painting of Mt. Shuksan I drove partway down the mountain and stopped at a pullout. The mountain loomed even higher from this vantage point. I painted a little bolder this time, making the mountain a little stronger and the trees darker. I like the way this turned out.
After this I was pretty tired. I tried to paint the Nooksack River on my way back to the condo, but I was too tired and I couldn’t get it to work out. But I had a wonderful two days of painting in an amazing setting.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Two young steersBarns and mountainsPickup and tractor
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!
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.
Morning at Jules Mae’sAfternoon at Jules Mae’sDirect watercolor (no pencil lines)
