Late Afternoon

I’ve been really into doing wet-in-wet watercolors this month, and think it may become a theme for the month of January.  So many areas of watercolor benefit from it.  Skies seem to lend themselves to it, but so do fog and reflections.

Here, a winter landscape, partly from memories of those lovely, cold afternoons in upstate New York or rural Illinois, when the clouds were low and dark, snow was on the ground, but somehow, the sun made it through, casting shadows and a bit of color on the vast swaths of white.

Timed Studies

As I am planning on running out to meet up with a friend in a short bit, I decided to do some quick studies in watercolor.

The one below was done in 15 minutes, some pencil lines to give it some direction.

The colors were really fun and I made them really strong compared to what I was inclined to do.  The results were pleasing (colors) and interesting.  Even when you do a quick study, you have to think about what is wet when you paint over it.

The next one, below, I allotted 30 minutes for with the lessons of painting onto too-wet paper too soon.

I think the second one was more successful.  I also did not use any pencil lines but used the white of the snow as a shape to paint around.  That was a challenge in itself!

Quick studies are quite satisfying – no masterpieces expected!

So, Wuzzup?

Wuzzup? 

I have been following my New Year’s resolution pretty steadily.  Painting, photography, study, socializing, reading, and doing things I enjoy.  Somewhat scheduled, somewhat not.  I kept a record for about a week of what I did in the morning and afternoon – in between which was lunch and a nap usually – and thought about how I felt about my day.  In general, I found I enjoyed each day a great deal more.  I didn’t do the same things every day (other than the usual boring daily routines), but found I did enough to find satisfaction.

Doing some watercolors was satisfying.  I hope to do some later this morning before heading out to meet up with a friend.  I haven’t done any gouache this year, but that is also on the agenda.  Here are some of the paintings.

I also read some fiction – a favorite novel from the 1940s – and started some nonfiction, a book about photography I received as a Christmas present, Behind the Camera.  It’s nice to sit outdoors with a book and a cup of coffee or tea, put my feet up, and read.  The weather has varied from chilly to warmish, and so have I!

Add to that, I have been learning about a camera which I recently bought: a used Pentax (Honeywell Asahi) non-MLU (mirror lock-up) 6×7 camera.  It has been frustrating and fascinating.  First, the thing weighs in about 5 lbs.  Lugging it around is amusing.  I pulled out a tripod.  It takes 120 film, and you get ten 6×7 images out of it – supposedly.  Out of the 10 exposures I made, only 3 came out, and all came out under-exposed.  No idea why. 

As a result of these mishaps, I loaded up more film, and logged every picture I took.  And did it with a second roll, too.  I bracketed my images as well as varied exposure factors to get the same picture exposures (i.e. 8 @ 1/30 then 5.6 @ 1/60) using Lomo Color Negative 100 film.  I took the two rolls yesterday morning, and dropped them off around noon. 

Here are the three images from the first roll, which is Portra 400 – what a waste!

Pentax 6×7 Kodak Portra 400
Pentax 6×7 Kodak Portra 400
Yashica D – Fuji Pro 400 H

I am really curious as to what comes back from the photo lab – hopefully fairly soon. If these are also dismal failures, back the camera goes to the vendor!

So, nothing exciting in my life, like flying to Paris for lunch on a whim. But, some satisfaction, and some frustration, just like real life!

The Rock


No, not “the rock” known as Alcatraz, but a rock in the park down the way.

This is only one of three images that were exposed on a roll of Portra 400 on my new-to-me Pentax 6×7 with an 135mm f4 macro lens. First roll of film is very disappointing. Apparently, rumors on the ‘net say, there can be issues loading the film.

It also looks as if there could be exposure issues with 7 missing pictures, but let’s ascribe that to user error until I get a second roll through it, logged for subject and exposure, to see what’s up.

This roll was Portra 400, and it’s a sad statement at the present. Sooooo underexposed, and the pictures are essentially worthless except to see what happens.

I am not happy. I have another fortnight within which I can return the camera . . . but I did test the sounds of the exposures and they seem okay. Thus, let’s wait to see what happens in this next roll.

To even make this image somewhat presentable, I messed with it rather a bit – doesn’t even resemble Portra, much less the original image!

View from the Hills

The miracle of green always happens in the last of the year and the first of the next when the rains come and new growth begins to emerge in the hills of California.  After months of dry weather and fading landscapes. color erupts almost overnight.  Soon, wildflowers will begin to tinge the hills from green to orange and purple and yellow.  Here, a view from the hills toward the Pacific, with the Channel Islands in view, lost in the coastal fog.