I needed a change of pace – a way to relax – after yesterday’s very intense painting of buildings and people. It’s nice to visit familiar territory. But, I was not without goals. Here I worked on subtle gradations and color change in the sky; misty / soft trees in the horizon using moist paper to blur and indicate distance; a couple of buildings with subtle rooftops; snow. On Arches CP 140#, 9×12.
I was wandering through archived photos that I took years ago when a friend loaned me his old digital camera for over a year. Sometimes I think what I have done in the past is better than the present – or is it old age nostalgia?
Well . . . I prefer the land, the tree, the ocean, the field. I prefer not people or buildings.
But, I must put aside my prejudices to progress in painting. Andy Evansen’s watercolor course has challenged me to such. I did people, reviewing proportions and where the elbow ends and the knee. People are 7.5 to 8 heads tall, depending.
Buildings and people – crowds – hmm. I usually avoid them, being the reclusive and exclusive and somewhat misanthropic. Nonetheless, they exist. So do buildings. And value studies! This is like trying to fit my tiny foot into a tinier shoe – painful, painful.
I tried this painting in watercolor by starting out on used paper – the reverse of other studies or failed paintings. Cheapness does not do me any good. I was not getting anywhere except PO’d.
I do not like being PO’d.
A new sheet and voila! Life, while not sweet, definitely improved. And I did a crowd of people, and buildings in a plaza, and only one solitary, lonely tree suffocating in the midst of civilization.
This was probably the most challenging painting I have done so far in any class . . . but I lived! Any good? Who knows.
I never paint people in any form. Draw them, yes. Now it is time to add them to paintings so that I can pretend to have a social life!
Watercolor is the first area to which I am adding them. The reason is that watercolor in many ways is very forgiving. As well, there are a lot of photos with people in them in Andy Evansen’s class, so I figured I better stop being intimidated.
And you know what? After watching a lot of videos, and hearing that the general shape of people in a crowd is that of an elongated carrot (supposedly said by Frank Clarke), I had a laugh, and then it began to be fun, not a horror story I had to live.
Before beginning though, I felt it was important to get an idea of where things belong. Yes, I do know the general proportions of the human body – 7.5 to 8 heads tall, depending on your source. But where do elbows go? What level is the wrist? And so on. A bit of research and then the fun began.
Different ways to portray people, too. Blobs of color with some suggestions added, such as darker color to separate figures. Negative painting to show off highlights, back lighting, or light-colored fabric.
And so, people are showing up in my watercolor life. It was a lot easier than I expected it to be. Proportional formulae help and just playing around, letting go, and practicing.
About time!
One thing I really get sick of is googling “honey cookie recipe” and finding recipes loaded with sugar and a tablespoon or two of honey added. The point is, I want only honey for a sweetener. I could easily walk around glued to an IV of pure sugar and be happy – and addicted. Honey does not have the same addictive quality as sugar as far as I am concerned.
So, I came across a recipe at last at Amy’s Healthy Baking blog. I am totally delighted. No, they are not super sweet, but they are soft and chewy. I think my cookies came out a bit less soft than hers, but part of it is my oven – it tends to run hot – or cold – depending on its mood and time of month. She says 325F – and mine was up to 347 and 364 at times. I’ll get it down. The other issue could be I didn’t weigh my ingredients, but just did a rough measure. As a result, it could be my dry ingredients were in greater quantity than she calls for. But who cares? The results are tasty! I added walnuts, too, and more raisins, but I am something of glutton in that regard.
Yield: 14-15 cookies
I highly recommend you go to Amy’s page – link is above – to get specific info. I need to work a bit on this recipe, but it is a keeper in my opinion. It is a real cookie! So much could be done with it, too, as a basis for other cookies, too. The lack of sweetness may need a slight increase in salt to round out the flavor. Also, I didn’t chill the dough.
I did test cookies, too. The first two were baked for 10 minutes. They held together well and were nicely browned, but not as soft as I might like. The second round were baked for 7 minutes. As per Amy’s instructions, I let them sit on the pan for 10 minutes before removing to the wire rack. They seem a bit raw in the middle, and are crumblier than I would like in a cookie. Maybe 8 minutes would be better.
Using honey seems to mean needing a lower cooking / baking temperature, and perhaps a longer cooking time, too. Mine were dryer and my oven was variable, so the results were different – but still delicious.
At last, a cookie sweetened only with honey!
Ink, Yarn & Beer 