Tag: ocean

Big Sur, Looking South

Big Sur along the California coast is an incredibly beautiful bit of the state – at once wildly beautiful, in many ways easily accessible along Hwy 1, but delicate, too, as it is easily destroyed by heavy rains creating mudslides. Parts of it are rugged with mountains rising up and coming down into the Pacific Ocean. Hwy 1 skirts along, and it is always best to be the passenger so you can enjoy the wonderful views.

From where I live, you drive north, past Santa Barbara and then veer off on the 101 in an area marked on the map as Las Cruces. You could continue up the 101 up to San Luis Obispo, cutting west toward Morro Bay and then along the coast. Before you get deep into Big Sur, the mountains are toward the east, and there is a coastal plain. Slowly the landscape changes as the flatter areas disappear and the mountains move ever closer.

The entire drive is a delight. Coastal fog may drift in and out, and no matter where you look, the beauty is breathtaking. I have tried to catch this in the distance and along the horizon. The Canson XL paper is nice to paint on, and I used Gamblin Galkyd gel to speed up the drying time, but it sat in the garage this past week so I could ignore it and look at life away from the studio. Getting some time away from a painting is always a good thing as eyes are fresh upon the return. I was pleased with what I saw, and so scanned it, and present it to you for your viewing.

Painted on 11×14 Canson XL Acrylic / Oil Paper, about 10×10.

New Pen, New Ink

These past several days just seem to have been filled with stuff that needed doing, not necessarily things needed and wanted. Getting taxes done, going to the dentist, etc., are not my ideas of a Fun Life, but things Needing to be Done.

Despite duty, I have been putzing around. I realized that I don’t have a fountain pen and permanent ink for drawing any more as I lost a pen somewhere – which, no doubt, will soon be found as lost objects always are once replaced – and used up all my waterproof fountain pen ink. I now have a new drawing pen, a $17.00 job from Amazon with an extra fine point, and some of Platinum’s Carbon Ink, which is a long time favorite of mine for drawing. My Not Taken Vacation sketchbook was easily accessible, so off I went to the sunny patio to do some drawing. I used a few reference photos for ideas, and then began with ink and pen.

I chose to draw some snow drops in a vase, Pigeon Point Lighthouse here in California, a little cleft in the landscape, and a wintry farm somewhere. From there, my box of Schmincke pan watercolors, some water, and a brush. All this was sort of awkward as I have not done ink and wash for a bit, but it always feels so good to just sketch and paint, more so when it is out on a sunny patio on a beautiful spring day between last week’s rains and this weekend’s expected downpour.

I am quite pleased with my inexpensive fountain pen which came with the fillable screw adapter I prefer to cartridges, and coupled with the Carbon Ink, I think I have landed a rather happy combination for my drawing pleasure. Hopefully you like them, too!

Offshore Fog

Living along the coast, fog is a part of the landscape. Coastal fog in particular is fascinating in California as in many areas the plant life depends on it for water. The beauty of fog is its ability to soften a landscape and create a mysterious effect. Inland, we don’t have much fog where I live, but in coastal areas, just a block can move you from gloomy and depressing by the beach to sunny and shiny and cheery inland. As a result, I prefer to live inland a bit so I don’t get socked in by fog.

There were two goals here. First, experiment with using only linseed oil as a vehicle to smoosh around paint, creating in the process soft gradations. The second was to experiment with using the Canson XL Oil / Acrylic paper. This paper has gotten some of the best reviews, in part because of its linen finish texture. I agree, the paper and the texture are very nice to work on! The rather grainy effect of white on the still water is done by dragging a wide brush across the underlying blue paint with dryish paint. It makes me think of fog resting above the water, but you can choose what it means to you if you are so inclined!

Because I am using linseed oil, the oil paint takes forever and ever to dry; after scanning this, I had to clean off the glass plate on the Epson V600 even after its drying for 2 weeks. So, it is back in the garage to continue drying.

Oil paint, 9×12 Canson XL Oil-Acrylic paper, linseed oil only.

The Not Taken Vacation: Lambay Island in the Irish Sea

Sailing across to Liverpool, or into Dublin, is Lambay Island seen? I would imagine so.

In imagining my non-taken vacation, I have been looking at a lot of maps and finding all sorts of fascinating things! I have always loved maps and globes, so perhaps my broken arm and subsequent repatriation is not such a tragedy after all.

This is a dreadful scan, but I do rather like the painting itself. One edge of the island is seen, along with sail boats. I would enjoy being onboard one of them in a good stiff breeze.

Do read the link above – Lambay Island seems to be a very nice place to visit.

Too Much Work

“For every 100 photos, 1 is a keeper.”

“Two steps forward, one step back.”

Well, that is true for me in the world of trying to make my watercolor paintings more simple in painting style though not necessarily in content. Of late, rocks and plants.

Let’s start with my painting of Greek oregano, growing like a weed in a pot on the patio. The leaves are simple enough, shaped somewhat like an egg (but flatter 🙂 ) on long, straggly stems. The color is sort of that dull, sagey-olive green that plants in the Mediterranean climate often have. In sunlight, a bit of warm yellow shows up. In shade, the greens are darker. Pretty logical, right?

And then there are the rocks I have been thinking about since I did the much more successful cliffs of the other day. The rocks in the fort in the VI was okay as a rock building study, but not so hot as a painting. The beach scene below is of a rocky beach of lava stones – many black ones in particular, but with softer sandy rose colored stones in between. And a few palm trees. And an ocean. And a spit of land sticking out. The rocks were the primary focus as that is the rocky subject I am approaching. Simplification of shape and shadow – some successful, some not.

I sat outside yesterday, using reference photos of lava rock beaches around the world, and then using the oregano plant a few feet away on the concrete. Good to be outside. Good to work on two opposing pages of the sketchbook, waiting for one to dry and working on the other. Back and forth. I was amazed I was out there for at least two hours, with more indoors. I am spending more time on painting a picture than I have before . . .

Success? It comes in steps. A lot of crap with a few successes.

I think it is time to go hem some pants.