Koi pan watercolor set – Ink, Yarn & Beer

Lands End, SF

I think every country has some form of a “land’s end” – at least if it borders on water, like an ocean. Lands End in San Francisco, CA, is a park overlooking the Pacific Ocean and part of the Golden Gate National Recreational Area. It’s a beautiful, wild, windy place – and it has a ridge of Monterey Cypress as well.

Note: Click on the image to enlarge.

I did a quick sketch in pencil, just to get the general shapes of the trees and the land. I put in the tree trunks first as I wanted to be sure I knew their placement along the land. I used a mixture of blacks and greys, pale to dark, but initially light to indicate placement. From there, the foliage and the land. Once established, detail began, with dry brush strokes for vegetation and later for the leaves on the cypress. More than anything, I wanted a loose, windswept look with a sense of direction and sky.

Planning a loose painting takes a bit of forethought. I put in the tree trunks first, then some foliage and land. The sky was done after all these with a large, soft flat watercolor brush. Final touches came after all was dry. I made this into a panorama, spanning 2 pages of my sketchbook, to give a sense of expanse. In the end, I was rather pleased with this.

Koi pan watercolors, watercolor, about 8×18.

California Coastal Cypress

Stuck at home for the most part because of my ankle, I need to find things to do. It turns out that my ankle, while a mess of historical injuries, has no tears in the soft tissues. That is good. However, my heel bone has “microfractures” from the hard landing dodging the car last month. This is a bone bruise, and it is painful! I finally got into see the orthopedist, got a walking boot, and return in a month. The boot makes a big difference though it does take some getting used to wearing and using. I have to be careful not to pitch forward or backward. And you can hear me coming a mile away – squish, squeak, squish, squeak.

Of course, painting is the first choice! I am still tired intermittently from Covid, but I don’t have brain fog (at least I don’t think so), and look for things to enjoy but not be a source of frustration. Thus, ink and watercolor.

The Monterey Cypress is a tree that is common along the northern central coast of California. It is shaped by the environment as it moves with the wind and seems to grow away from the prevailing winds. To me, this quality is what makes it so beautiful and eye-catching. The coast is also subject to foggy days, damp and dreary, even in the height of summer.

Carbon ink, watercolor, Koi pan paints, about 8×10.

Flower Farm

Since my return from Oregon, a lot has happened, much of which just threw life into chaos. I still have a messed up ankle which limits my ability to walk a lot – couch surfing became a major part of my life because Josh and I got covid. I don’t recall being so sick but luckily I got Paxlovid and that seemed to make a major turnaround in how I was feeling. Josh didn’t, but he recovered although he is still coughing. With covid and a bad ankle, TV was my friend, as was endless sleep. Before we got covid, though, we had to put our lovely dog Smudge to sleep – but that is a story for another time perhaps. We just miss her.

My energy levels have been really inconsistent, some days I sleep a lot, others I feel like my old self. The biggest issue has been getting back into our lives – doing what we like to do and completing them. Josh has been insulating the garage, and I have been thinking about things to do. Finally I had the energy to clean up the house a bit, and the studio, and finally to just get it together enough to fill a pen with ink and find some paper and paint.

I did a pencil sketch first, and then inked in the above using Carbon Ink by Platinum. Very nice stuff! You can put it into a pen and draw without too much worry about clogging up your pen. I think it is a pigmented ink, but I may be wrong. It is different from writing ink because of its intensity and being waterproof, which most inks are not. After inking in the drawing and letting the ink dry, I erased my pencil sketch and scanned the image.

From here, just find the right pan paint set. This is one by Koi, and as it got a good review, I thought I would try it. It is inexpensive, but the colors are really nice and have a clarity and beauty that many cheap watercolor sets lack. Very pleased with the results – good transparency combined with richness of color.

It always feels good to get back to what you like, doesn’t it? Slow steps. I am so bored with not feeling good and hobbling around! Hopefully the visit to the orthopedist – delayed because of covid – will not indicate surgery for messed up tendons and sloppy joints. Ah, well.

Carbon ink, 100% cotton paper, Koi watercolor pan paints; about 8×10.