It was a long flight, so I entertained myself by painting in my sketch book. I took a small 6 x 9 Aquabee Super Deluxe sketch book with me on this trip. I love this paper for doing detailed graphite renderings and it works well with the Elegant Writer Pen but I wanted to see how it accepted watercolor. I'm still working with the same image. I saw a beautiful woven sculpture before I left that had heads divided down the middle with different color schemes. It was very interesting so I thought I would try it. Warm on one side, cool on the other. Awhile back, there was a terrific suggestion in Watercolor Magic magazine to make a small watercolor travel set by taking 6 plastic bottle caps from bottled water and glue them into an empty Altoid Mint tin. Load the caps with a warm and cool of red, yellow and blue. I used Cad Red Light and Alizarin Crimson, Quin Gold and Cad Yellow Light (wish I had used a less opaque yellow) and Thalo and Cobalt blue. The lid made a nice little mixing space. I like this set so much I want to load a second tin with some other colors. The paper takes the watercolor very nicely. I did some glazing and it held up. This is the same set I used to do the Central Park sketch.
I am still editing my photos from the trip but I posted a small slide show of a few pictures from the top of the Empire State Building (87th floor). We arrived at dusk and saw the sun setting over Manhattan....a beautiful site that is impossible to photograph perfectly...and we stayed until the lights of the city came on. It was the perfect way to start our stay in New York. Our hotel was a short walk away. I couldn't resist taking these photos though I usually leave the traditional photos to my husband while I am busy taking pictures of subjects for future paintings (translation: on the prowl for faces and figures). Tomorrow I will make a slide show of some of the interesting people of New York.
3 comments:
My first painting instructor had us do one side of the face in blues and the other in red shades. Very effective. I'll try the altoids kit. I've saved eyeshadow compacts for the same purpose, but since I never seem to use that product I seem to do a lot of cleaning and prying mirrors out.
Beautiful images. Maggie
Wow, Myrna, another effective experiment. Also, great photos of NYC. I just returned from Taos, NM, totally inspired by all the artists we met, art we saw, and museums we visited.
My friend, Joan, and I got such a kick out of a casual visit with Ed Sandoval who is a real charmer (and a very successful oil painter). I retired from IBM today, and will soon leave on a cross-country bicycle trip. I have taken your advice on postcard size paper and a koi watercolor kit and will do watercolor sketches along the way. I plan in the fall to dedicate more time to my art. You keep me so enthused with your wonderful work. -- Mary
NYC is my hometown, and nothing is more beautiful to me--I love to hear that accent too! (I haven't lived there for nearly 20 years.)
Love the photo of you in Central Park, where I first started painting; the sketch you did looks very nice--wish I could see it closer up, but it's nice to see it and its subject at the same time. Thanks for the slideshow.
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