Somewhere

Yesterday I got to class to paint and realized I had left all my white and black artist gouache sitting on the table. Everything else had come with me.

I need white for gouache, so I got some acrylic titanium white paint to use from the supplies counter in the classroom and blended it in with the gouache. Because it is acrylic, I made sure my mixes of gouache and white paint occurred on a disposable palette as well as made sure I used cheap brushes which I rinsed all the time. Acrylic is plastic and I don’t need ruined brushes or metal palette. And the fast drying quality of acrylic made me work far too quickly.

Sigh.

I have no idea where this photo came from, just knowing it is somewhere in southern Europe, like in Spain or Italy or France, or elsewhere. The white plaster buildings are rather decrepit and worn. The streets are more like alleys than a 5-lane L.A. freeway.

The bright blue doors, rampant bougainvillea, and rusty red just make you want to paint it. So, I did, and my haste shows – nasty, quick-drying acrylic paint! – crooked lines rather than straight, poor perspective. My usual faults! In reality, the detail was a challenge to reproduce, even what little I did, and because I knew this would not be a masterpiece, I could play.

I have mixed artists gouache with watercolors, and been happy with the results. Mixing acrylic paint with water soluble paint is a bit of a different story as speed is part of the issue with acrylics. As an experiment, this worked as I could lighten my paints as necessary, but it is not something I want to repeat. My brushes mean a lot to me, can be hard to replace, and my palette is also something I value. Dried acrylic paint would not be a happy blend with enameled metal.

Acrylic paint with artists gouache, 9×12.

Quick Capture

Yesterday I went to my portrait class with a rather meh attitude. I don’t really like doing portraits or painting people. The fact is, portraits are intimidating and scare me! I get frustrated if I cannot make my picture look like my subject matter. As far as other subjects, buildings and ocean waves get me, too, but they don’t have to be as precise as a person. I think the stylized art of different cultures as humans are depicted is often quite adequate for the job. Still, as I have progressed through doing pictures of people on paper, I am getting a bit out of the perfectionist rut. To me, the spirit of something is more important than accuracy.

I went to Pixabay to find something to draw that had people in it. I found an especially nice one and used two of the people in the picture as my subject matter. I spent about 90 minutes doing this sketch seen below.

I used toned paper, a Blackwing pencil, a 6B, and whatever white pencils I had on hand – wax colored pencil, white charcoal (probably conte) and something else. Drawing freehand was what I did for the most part, but used my calipers for rough verification of proportions. It worked out fairly well.

Once the rough shapes were down and directional lines for the heads, the details of light and dark were added. Looking at the shapes of the light and dark are what give dimension to a picture of any subject as these give shape. Working through a drawing like this, I go from large areas of light / dark to smaller areas. This is when the subtleties work themselves into a picture.

In some ways I really limited myself – using a waxy white pencil and graphite is not a great combination as the white pencil could not be erased. So, a bit of pressure and a prayer – some areas worked out better than others.

Above is the final result. I am fairly pleased with it. It worked out because I wasn’t stressed out about perfection and was feeling rather smug that my eyeballing things was verified by the proportional calipers no matter how sloppily used.

Toned paper, Blackwing pencil, 6B pencil, white colored pencil and white charcoal pencil, about 9×12 paper.

A Bit of Summer

My sister lives in Colorado where they are expecting some nasty, cold, snowy, icky weather. Nice to visit, but I don’t like living in it! As a result, a bit of summer, or certainly a bit of desert heat. As there is rather lush vegetation out in this neck of the woods, or desert, I think it must be early summer. And where I am in California, our 63F day has not been exactly summery. I need some heat – just like a lizard – to bask in. We’ll get it this weekend.

The more I look at the desert, the more I like it. The colors are a challenge as are the rock formations and plants. The light can be harsh and bright compared to the coast. The dirt varies from pale ochre to deep reds and oranges, with everything in between. Even the sky has its intensity and harshness, from sunny and bright to dark and foreboding with the threat of cloudbursts and thunderstorms.

I took my gouache paints with me to my painting class. I’ve missed a number of sessions just because my back was not happy and lifting or carrying became a challenge for several days. My oil paints are heavy to lug around, but gouache takes up a lot less room and weighs a lot less, too. Paper is less cumbersome than canvas, and what I used to paint on weighs very little as well. I made it to class with a shopping bag and my purse for all I needed.

Gouache always makes me happy – the colors are so ridiculously gouache-y! They have a vibrancy which nothing else equals, and so they are fun to use. Some people dislike their in-your-face quality. Add to that, the artists gouache is water soluble and clean up is a breeze. A few soft brushes, some water, smooth paper (I prefer Arches hot press 140# all-cotton paper, FYI), and a fairly extensive color selection. Zinc white is used for mixing, but titanium white is useful where you need a bright white or a bit more opacity. Ivory black is also part of the color selection. Altogether, gouache has a lot of qualities that other media have while have a unique quality all their own. Fast drying, opaque, dilutable, etc., etc., etc.

Try them, you might like them.

Gouache, Arches 140# cotton hot press watercolor paper, 9×12.

Tecopa Hot Springs

I’ve been too focused on too many things rather intensely and it makes me unsociable and not interested in the small and seemingly unimportant stuff that makes up daily living. One of these focal points has been painting. I have been working on this oil painting off and on for several weeks, and think it is finally done to my liking.

Tecopa Hot Springs is located in the Mojave Desert in Inyo County, California. It is not a very populated area. The hot springs are odorless, mineral springs considered to have healing properties. In my area the hot springs are quite sulfurous and smell like rotten eggs, so odorless is nice! The view from the springs is spectacular, taking in the land and the mountains beyond. This is a bit of the grandeur that is California.

I took a bit of a colorist approach to this painting, a bit of imagination and improvisation as well. Realism is for photography, so here I could play around while working to capture a sense of the place. I like semi-abstract or colorist paintings which keep the subject recognizable.

Oil on canvas panel, 16×20.