EUREKA!!!!!! PROBLEM SOLVED AT LAST!

iPad Mini Sketchbook Setup #1 

iPad Mini Sketchbook Setup inside view

iPad Mini Sketchbook Setup 

iPad Mini Sketchbook Setup side view

I thought the iPad would be the perfect travel sketching tool but the glare on the screen made it impossible to use outdoors in bright light.  I kept thinking about how to create a practical way to shield the light.  Nothing useful ever came to mind.  In the meantime, I have purchased an iPad Mini for outside the house because I found the iPad weighing my purse down with all the other "stuff" we women deem necessary to have at all times!  So now I have one for travel and one for the house.  Extravagant, I know, but loving it!!!

Last night I was cleaning out a box and came across a beautiful small leather zippered notebook I haven't used in years.  It was designed to hold a pad of paper, pen, calculator etc.  In a flash of insight, I realized my iPad Mini would fit in this case and I thought of a way to use it for sketching in daylight.  The same idea would work with a larger zippered notebook for the full size iPad.

Here are the few simple items needed for this idea:  Zippered notebook (the zipper keeps the iPad from slipping out of the case) a bending straw to hold the lid in place, a cleaning cloth, a few makeup sponges to create a slight angle (optional) a piece of rubber shelf lining to keep the iPad from slipping around inside the case while drawing (optional) a stylus for drawing (optional but recommended).  

I am going out today and try my new invention.  Can't wait!!!!!!

NEW PAINT!

LEATHER SKETCHBOOK: MANZANITA BARK

This is another addition to my beautiful leather sketchbook.  On Orcas Island it is lush with woodlands.  One of the common trees is the Manzanita which has a rich burnt sienna colored bark.  This is a little sketch of the bark peeling on the trunk.  I was fortunate to receive a prize of M Graham watercolor paints from the Santa Clara Valley Watercolor Society annual show.  The colors are rich and luminous. I decided to try them in the sketchbook fresh out of the tube.  Loved the feel and handling of the paint.

KEEPING MY HAND IN!

THANKSGIVING WEEKEND HIKE: OAK TREES

I don't have as much time as I would like to paint, but I thought I would continue to fill up my beautiful leather sketchbook with a painting based on some photos I took over Thanksgiving.  The Oak trees have very rough bark and amazing twisting branches.  They are so much more fun to paint than the straight limbed variety of tree.  I think I will devote this sketchbook to my adventures with my children.    I can sit in my studio and relive the beauty and the fun and have a special keepsake when I have filled all the pages.  

A LITTLE SURVEY!

MADMAN OF BORDEAUX

This is a painting I did based on a photograph I took in Bordeaux.  When I travel, I love to collect images of the people I see.  I also love to sketch people while sitting in cafes, or in markets, and other interesting places.  

I have been thinking about giving a workshop in Italy where we would have the opportunity to paint some of the local residents who would come and sit for us.  Along with instruction on drawing people in settings where they will be moving, not posing.  Naturally, there will be plenty of time for touring, shopping and let us not forget eating!

I will be putting together a list of interested artists.  I will keep them informed of details of future plans.  If you would be interested in having your name on the list, send me an e-mail at myrnawack@prodigy.net and I will keep you updated.

THANKFULNESS!

CONEJO BOTANICAL PARK HIKE THANKSGIVING WEEKEND 2012

CONEJO BOTANICAL PARK HIKE #2

We are back home from a wonderful Thanksgiving week where we had the blessing of being with all of our children and grandchildren.  Everyone still enjoys each other's company.  In today's world where everyone is scattered around the country and around the world, not everyone can gather the clan together for special holidays.  We feel very fortunate and appreciative.  

Unlike myself, my children LOVE hiking and wanting to be part of the group experience, I go, too.  I am the only one out of breath dragging up a steep incline.  They are always there to lend a hand or an arm in the more precarious areas.  In spite of myself, I get some needed exercise and a good aerobic workout  plus some photos of beautiful areas.  No time to paint during the hike but I have been adding to my new leather bound sketchbook while sitting comfortably in front of my iPad working from some of the photos.  The Oak trees in California have the most amazing twisted limbs which feel so expressive and fun to draw and paint.  As an aside, for those of you not familiar with Spanish names, the name Conejo is pronounced KA-NAY-HOE.  It translates as rabbit.  

I hope all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving shared with special people you care about be it family or friends.

ON THE MOVE! FROM ORCAS ISLAND, WA. TO SACRAMENTO, CA. !

Susie Shipman hand made leather bound watercolor sketchbook (binding)

Susie Shipman Leather bound watercolor sketchbook front cover

LIME KILN PARK, SAN JUAN ISLAND, WASHINGTON...Hike to light house 

MORAN STATE PARK, ORCAS ISLAND, WASHINGTON....waterfall trail hike

MORAN STATE PARK, ORCAS ISLAND, WASHINGTON....waterfall hike

My youngest son bought a beautiful secluded vacation home on Orcas Island, Washington.  We spent the week up there enjoying the natural beauty of the Pacific Northwest.  This involved taking hikes which are often challenging for me.  My boys watch out for me and help me with the steep and/or slippery spots.  These little watercolor paintings were done from photographs I took from the hikes.  The sketchbook was a gift from my children and I had the wonderful good fortune to meet the woman, Susie Shipman, who hand makes these fabulous books.  The paper is Saunders Waterford from England and I am able to paint on both sides without buckling.  She told me she used to sell them all over but has scaled back and now I believe they are only available on Orcas Island or you can order from her website.  If you want more information, here is a link for Susie  . The size I have is 5 x 7 and, as you can see, I was able to flatten out the page and paint across the paper for a 2 page spread.  

Barely back from our great adventure up North and I am preparing to drive to Sacramento tomorrow for a demo for the Watercolor Artists of Sacramento Horizons Inc.  It will be around 2PM when I start and is being held at the Sacramento Fine Arts Center.  If you are in the area, I hope you will be able to stop by.   For those of you who can't make the drive, I will post the results on Tuesday.

GLAZING!

HMMM...Stage 3

Working with liquid acrylic, I am slowly working my way forward.  I am not sure how much of the collage I want to remain.  I also would like it to be more stylized, (abstracted) but not sure I don't need to start out with a more abstracted drawing.  I think this is the benefit of multiple paintings based on the same image.  I may be trying to explore too many things at once.  Overall, I think the process has potential.  I will keep going and see where it leads.  Here is a detail where you can see the collage and glazed color better.

HMMM... Stage 3 detail