FOSTER CITY SKETCH CRAWL FOR ONE!

I spent the morning preparing half sheets of watercolor paper with gesso texture and collage etc. Tomorrow is the Drawing Marathon at the Palo Alto Cultural Center and I wanted to try some different ideas for the 20 minute poses. I missed the water aerobics class at the JCC, so I decided to take a walk and do some suburban sketching for the day's exercise. The day was gorgeous and I had my new touch iPod warmed up, so I set out. I am so jealous of those fantastic artists on Urban Sketchers who do these near perfect architectural drawings. I think the rule on their site is no working from photographs. I am just in awe of their ability. It is very humbling to stumble through my attempts at on sight sketching. Practice, Practice, Practice! I am getting better at evaluating the perspective angles but I have a long way to go. My windows in this building are all different sizes!! It is a puzzlement how I can draw a face so accurately and the figure, as well, but buildings and mechanical things, et al are so darn hard. Drawing should be drawing, but that doesn't seem to be the case. Well, I did enjoy the fresh air and the challenge. Anyway, Life isn't any fun if you have mastered everything. It's always good to have something to aim for that is just out of reach. If it is too easy, it's boring for me and I'm ready to move on to the next thing. I think that's why I like watercolor so much. It's always a challenge and a genuine sense of accomplishment when it comes out they way you wanted. None of these watercolors rates a gold star, but tomorrow is another day.

TIME MANAGEMENT: THE ETERNAL STRUGGLE!

Since everyone is always asking me how I do everything, I thought I would post the best visual demonstration of time management that I saw once at a seminar.

Picture a BIG jar sitting on the table. First put in large stones that fill up the entire space. (these represent the activities that are most IMPORTANT to YOU! ) Next pour in gravel until the jar is filled. Looks full? Next pour in sand until the jar is full. Can't get another thing in? Take a pitcher of water and pour it in. Everything fits. Now, if you filled the jar in reverse order, YOU WOULD NEVER GET IN THE LARGE STONES (YOUR PERSONAL IMPORTANT THINGS). You don't need to schedule time to wash clothes, etc. because they will always get done in and around the other things. Maybe at midnight or a load in the washer while you are eating dinner etc.

The other visual I remember, (which I have acted upon ever since) is this: A large glass is on the table. If you try to pour anything more into the glass, it will overflow and nothing new gets in. There is no room. In order to add more to the glass, you have to empty part of it out! I evaluate all my activities at least once a year, sometimes more often. I sometimes have to let go of some activities to make the time for something else which is more important to me.

We are creative people. There is always a creative solution to life, including time management. I still manage to kill quite a bit of time but even that is important to me. I don't want to live a constant harried lifestyle. I have periods of hectic, frantic pace, but not constantly.

I did work on preparing a piece of watercolor paper for the drawing marathon on Sunday. It's not very interesting to look at right now, so here is the next Everyday Matters Drawing Subject: Draw your hand. This comes from my sketch book preparation for my "Reflections on Turning 65" painting. I will draw my hand again tomorrow but til then....

TEXTURE AND COLOR EXPLORATION!

This is a quarter sheet of 300 lb hot press watercolor paper that was a failed painting. I was anxious to try some of the new ideas I have been reading in the new books I purchased recently. I spread some gesso over the ugly painting then I took some white wrapping tissue and gessoed it onto the page in two large areas and let it dry. Next I took Golden's fiber paste and a credit card for a scraper and troweled the paste over a stencil to get a raised relief image. I then took the stencil and laid it down on another area of the painting and ran a brayer over the back in order to transfer the residue paste creating a negative of the stencil. When the whole thing was dry, I used the triad of Yellow Ochre, Burnt Sienna and Paynes Gray to paint the page.

In Critique session this morning, Jane Ferguson had done a bunch of great little artist's trading cards. They are 2.5 x 3.5. I decided to divide up my page into these rectangles. If I want, I can cut this page apart and have lots of Artist's Trading Cards. As it stands now, this is a study page for some textural techniques and the range of colors I can achieve with this triad. I really like the colors and want to do a portrait with them.

This detail shows the number stencil I used and the metal stencil that I scrubbed out the color with a toothbrush .




This detail shows the fiber paste through a metal labyrinth stencil. I also used a few of the Derwent Graphite colored watercolor pencils to enhance some of the shapes.





Here you can see one of the metal stencils used in three different ways; fiber forced through the openings, residue pressed onto the page and color lifted by scrubbing with a toothbrush while stencil is held to the paper, then blotting.





Here is the positive and negative fiber paste stenciled. Looks like pressing the fibers through the stencil smooth it out. I like the bas relief effect.



This was a fun little project. Tomorrow I will try to do another 1/4 sheet with a different texturing idea and a different color scheme.

SLIDE SHOW OF THE DEMO ON TYVEK FOR ALLIED ARTISTS WEST!

Here is the demo painting that I did this morning for Allied Artists West, a group of very talented and accomplished women artists. It can be intimidating to work in front of a group like this, but it went well and everyone was very gracious. I enjoyed it very much and have fun when I do these type of events. Jane Ferguson was very kind to photograph the progress of the painting and she sent them to me, so I have made a slide show. I think you can see how I draw with the "oiler boiler" from Cheap Joe's to establish my image. I just draw directly and what ever happens, c'est la vie! This sequence was done in an hour. Because the paint will run uncontrollably, I am working flat the whole time. After I got the painting home, I set it up and looked at it. There are a number of small adjustments I am planning to do before it gets stored away. I was thinking of doing that this evening after I finish this post, but I need to get another boost of energy!

I always try to share a lot with the group I am demonstrating for and they often share in return. Today I learned that Tap Plastic has the "oiler-boiler" bottles with the thin needle. Wow, that was fabulous information! Of course, they don't call it that cutsie name. I headed straight for the plastic store on my way home and got 8 more bottles. Now I can load them up with all kinds of colors ready to go.

I want to put some white lines in this painting. I went all over looking for white ink to no avail. I did get some scrapbooking gel pens that make a nice fine white line, but I would like to be able to use dip pens and sticks, etc. If anyone knows of a source, please let me know.

I almost forgot....I wore two of my orphaned earrings today. They were an interesting mismatch but fun!

"ORGANIZED CHAOS"...is that an Oxymoron?

I am up to #9 in the Everyday Matters Challenge and it is "Organized Chaos". Seems like a contradiction in terms to me. I am not about to reveal the real chaos so I chose the bookcase my husband built in my office. It looks chaotic enough for me. My sketching skills are slowly improving. The straight lines aren't quite so wavy and the circles seem to be a little rounder.

Tomorrow I will be doing a demonstration for the Allied Artists' Guild in Palo Alto. This one is in the morning and then they will feed me lunch. Sounds like a good deal to me! I spent a few hours playing with an image in Photoshop Elements tonight in preparation. I thought I had figured out all the variations but I found a few new things to vary the results. I am looking forward to actually painting tomorrow.

While at Aaron Brothers yesterday getting the new pens, I found a great book on Acrylic paints and mediums. If you like to experiment with the various possibilities, check out "Altered Surfaces" (using acrylic paints with gels, mediums, grounds and pastes) by Chris Cozen. It is a small book with very clear illustrated examples of the different types of acrylic paints and uses for all those other mysterious jars of goo. One suggestion is to use airbrush acrylic paint to mimic watercolor. I guess it is even less viscous than fluid acrylics. Michaels carries Creative Color brand which is high quality. I used to get my dyes from that company.

MOVING THROUGH THE CHALLENGES!

Today was a day for drawing. I ran over to Aaron Bros. and picked up some very fine lined pens (.005) They really made all the difference. I managed to draw a jar and a piece of jewelry which was # 7 and #8 in the Everyday Matters challenges. I decided to immortalize my "orphaned" earrings. I am missing the mate to each of these earrings but I can't let go of them. I keep thinking maybe the awol one will turn up in a pocket somewhere or under a chair cushion, etc. They're small and don't take up a lot of space, so I will continue to hope. One of the earrings is a real sable paint brush hand made by an artist. I think I can talk him into making me a single one to match.

I am trying different strategies for drawing more accurately and I feel like I am making progress. Love the new pens! I also spent a few hours working on samples for the February workshop in San Diego. Everything is coming together.

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!

It's eleven pm but I finished everything I set out to do today. It makes me realize how much time I waste, normally. That was lesson #1 for the day. I guess we all take as much time as we think we have. If pressed for time, I am so much more efficient.

Our friends came for lunch, then we went to the Harvest Festival. You can really see the slowdown in the economy. Normally the Harvest festival is filled with high quality hand crafted items. Today, most of it was so under par, I felt robbed of the excessive parking charge and door fee. It didn't have that festive atmosphere, either. Now it will be a downward spiral as less people go because of the quality and then fewer and fewer quality craftsmen will want to participate because the crowds aren't there. And the kicker was the "No Photography" sign posted at the entrance. There were lots of interesting people about and I couldn't photograph any of them!

I didn't take my sketch setup because my bag was heavy. Naturally, I had the perfect opportunity to sketch this ancient old truck that is going around the world. It would have been fantastic to draw but no sketchbook or pen. That was lesson #2. I learned more lessons today than I would like to! Never, never leave home without the sketch book!!!!! So I took it to dinner tonight and every time I started to sketch someone they got up. It started to feel like a curse. After dinner I set up two Ott lights in the library/studio and finished the painting for Paul's birthday present. It's a fair likeness but I like the antique feeling of the image and was satisfied with the results. I'm ready to call it a day.