desert – Page 2 – Ink, Yarn & Beer

Watercolor Triad – Desert Wash Scene

Well, the electricity is off again. I feel like I am living on a little island because only a few people in my neighborhood are affected. Fortunately, we have our generator! So, light, electricity, internet, and the opportunity to continue with my course on color triads by Shari Blaukopf.

I did the first one, a tropical scene in Florida, and this is the third, the Arizona desert. The second one is winter and since it is cold and rainy outside, the desert appealed to me a bit more. The color triad used here – and easily, too – consisted of New Gamboge (yellow), Ultramarine Blue, and Burnt Sienna. I did not have the New Gamboge, so I mixed Cad Yellow Medium with a bit of Pyrrole Orange to get the color she suggested. These colors are perfect for a late evening in the Arizona desert.

The above scan is with VueScan. It is a bit more subdued than the one below, scanned with Epson Scan. I like both of them, but think the richer colors of the Epson Scan are a bit more to my liking. The warmth of the scene is well done here, and matches my own colors perhaps more closely.

All of Blaukopf’s courses have been a real pleasure to follow. If you like watercolor, I suggest her more than any other online teacher. I never fail to learn something new. For instance, in this class, the golden middle ground, just above the opposite shoreline, included painting the colors up into the trees on the left. From there, at a later point, more detail was added.

The other thing I learned was a really interesting and unique way to do reflections in water. The two colors – golden yellow and then blue – were mixed up in big puddles. First the golden yellow was laid in, with a bead of color at the bottom. Then, with the blue, with space between it and the gold, the blue was brushed in with only a touch onto the golden yellow here and there. This allowed the colors to merge, but not become murky or form blooms. Finally, the darker water of pure ultramarine was mixed with a bit of the golden yellow mixed with burnt sienna.

This triad study was so much fun to do! Time to try some of my own from my own photos.

Watercolors, Arches 140# CP, 9×12. Cad Yellow Med, Pyrrole Orange, Ultramarine Blue, Burnt Sienna.

Sand Dunes in Death Valley

Death Valley is up and off Hwy 395 along the Eastern Sierra Mountains in California. It’s a strange and eerily beautiful place with a lot of surprises and history. It is preserved as Death Valley National Park. The website is filled with great information and it is one of the best places to visit – in the right season, and in the right weather. People die in the desert because they do not understand it, so if you go, be careful!

Sand dunes always amaze me. I am still stuck in my child’s view of the world that sand dunes exist only in the Sahara, and can only be found by riding a camel. Silly, yes!

There are sand dunes everywhere – beaches and deserts mostly, but sometimes in places you least expect. Their shifting shape in the wind and blowing away foot prints or burying ancient cities all lead to a fascination as they make everything seem so temporal.

Anyway . . . . this is an oil painting using a limited palette. Some of the goals in doing this painting included smooth, smooth brushwork for the dunes. I tried to catch the gradual gradations and color changes I saw. In the distance is the flat valley before the towering mountains. For each I used directional brushwork and a deliberate vagueness to create a surreal effect. The mountains, when I look at them afresh, can also be visualized as swirling clouds. Interpretation I will leave to your eye.

Oil on canvas panel; 16 x 20 inches.

In the Devil’s Garden

The American Southwest is amazing. Austere, rugged, rich colors of red barren stone showing sedimentary rock layers in many different colors. Plant life is tough and diverse and needs to be able to withstand extreme heat and cold, as well as arid conditions. Portraying these colors is really a challenge and a lot of fun as well! Here is the Devil’s Garden Trail area in Arches National Park. I thought doing it in pen and color might be the easiest route . . .

Strathmore Vision paper, 9×12, ink, watercolor.

A Sunday Painter

These past two weeks have been rather a waste – bumps in the normal routines create havoc and everything just seems to fall apart. When that happens, it really does require a focused effort to get back up and into whatever interests me. I am just coming out of a cold – thankfully, not a sinus infection – that has made me not really tired, but just lethargic and lazy between bits of fever and congestion. Lounging around and doing very little and sleeping a lot has been my agenda, filled in with little fun things like dishes . . . .

Actually, yesterday was possibly the real turning point. I was feeling better, so I did some sewing in the morning. I am hand-sewing a top without a machine (including finishing the seams with a whip stitch), just to do it. Then blob time. Miss Marple entertained me for an hour or two between naps. And then it hit me – I was just unhappy because I wasn’t doing what I like to do best – paint or draw! I didn’t want challenges or messes (ie oils) to clean up, but …. what?

Gouache!

I haven’t used gouache for some time. I keep it in the fridge between uses. So, while it was coming to room temperature and soaking up the water I put on it, I taped up a piece of 9×12 CP 140# Arches into two somewhat equal sections. Hot press paper is my preferred paper for gouache as it is smoother and lets the paint move over the paper more easily than cold press.

If you have been following my blog, you know that of late I am rather focused on lavender fields. This first painting was no exception. I wanted to see what I could produce, sort of from a photo, sort of off the top of my head. I wanted a gloomy-looking sky to match the grey, rainy sky of my own world this Sunday, and so moved along. Landscapes are very forgiving (I think) and are a good way to warm up when re-acquainting myself with a medium. So, a lavender field, somewhere in the world.

Then, more of a challenge: Buildings, water, plants, and a boat on a river.

Somewhere in a mythical village along the Nile in Egypt. The traditional sailboats – the felucca – are just so beautiful to see because of their simplicity in shape and line. I sourced a number of photos to create this one. I drew in some basic lines, but that was it. I started with the buildings and then the sky, painting the palms and plants before beginning the river its banks. I left the entire area of the felucca as blank paper, waiting until the end to fill it in. The sail was fairly easy, but the shape of the boat and the suggestion of a person was the most challenging. In the end, I was really pleased with how I met this challenge I presented myself!

Paintings are about 4.5 x 10 each – maybe more or less, I am not going to measure! – using gouache on Arches CP 140# watercolor paper.

Ink and Color

Today is one of those busy days, but I have promised myself a bit of painting or drawing every day. This morning I thought I would do more saguaros, as seen from the road on our trip to Tucson. Every morning, the sky is usually a bright, clear blue, but as the day progresses, the skies change and clouds develop. What a delight to someone where skies are blue for days on end, nary a cloud in sight!

Ink, for this drawing, is the iron gall ink I have made, and a stub pen, on watercolor paper. After it dried, colors could be applied. Perhaps the colors are a bit heavy and a lighter touch might make a more effective painting. That could be something for tomorrow.

As the watercolors dried, on the opposite page in the sketchbook are the cactus flowers were ready for more ink. Below is the original from the other day.

Part of the drawing was begun with ink, specifically the large cactus on the left. The rest was done with direct watercolor. This morning I thought I would add some ink to see how it affected the rest of the painting – did it help enhance it or make it a mess? See below.

Now I have kept my promise to myself and feel satisfied as only doing something you love can satisfy. Not a lot but a bit. Even a taste of something can make your day!