Sketchy Work

Sometimes I get focused on one medium and forget to work in the other areas that I also enjoy. In an effort not to do this, I have written little notes telling myself to work on all kinds of projects concurrently. 

One such project is to work in one of my sketchbooks in watercolour. To help me along I am also taking a short creative course with summer as its inspiration.

This particular sketchbook started life as a novel. I bought the book for $1 at a local library and use it for drawings, collage projects, and watercolour sketches such as this. To provide an interesting and plain base for painting, I covered the pages first in gesso (although white acrylic paint would also work). The gesso doesn't allow the watercolour to absorb into the paper so the finished effect is different.

The Low Down

Here is my latest painting. I have just realised that I don't have a title for it yet. It is of the jetty on the ocean side of Dana Point Harbour. It is at low tide which is why you can see a portion of the beach on the left-hand side. 

Flowering Outcomes

It is good to be painting a little more regularly now.

'Solitude Awaits Below' 8"x10" Oil on Board.

'Gerbera Trio' 5"x5" Acrylic on Canvas.

Drawing Out a Task

It is still difficult for me to spend time drawing but I miss it. So I decided to do a little at a time by splitting the tasks into five minute tasks. Eventually those five minutes will add up to a coloured pencil drawing. At least that is the plan.

First I chose a photograph. This is a 4"x6" photograph and that is the size I decided to do. I'm not a great lover of seagulls but I liked the reflections and texture of the water. Usually I chose a drawing for its challenge rather than liking the picture for itself.

Because the drawing will be the same size as the photograph, I could just trace the main features of the drawing. 

It is perfectly okay to trace an image. I know I can draw and I don't have to prove it to myself or anyone else and tracing saves time. However, if you are learning to draw then drawing items from life is recommended. Photographs flatten objects so practicing drawing from life helps you remember that objects are three-dimensional. When I was learning to draw (of course I am still learning) I would draw anything I could around the house. I even drew a roll of toilet paper once to practice a white item on white paper. Plus it is good to learn how to draw items that are very soft up to very hard.

Here is my tracing. I do have graphite paper that you can put under your tracing paper to transfer the picture onto your drawing paper. However, I find it transfers extra graphite where I am leaning on the paper but I just may be too messy.

So I usually turn it over and go over all the lines before turning it back over and tracing over all the lines again with the drawing paper underneath. 

This leaves a faint image of the tracing on your paper. It is now ready to add colour to.

I should add that the drawing paper is from a larger sheet of Royal Brites. I bought this so long ago that I can't remember what the weight is (it doesn't say this on the label) but it isn't a very heavy paper. Probably as thick as card stock sold in craft shops.

Cast of Colours

This is painted from a photograph I took in Hawaii two years ago. I lived in Hawaii many years ago and I love to travel there, when I can, to visit friends and enjoy the scenery. It was quite overcast during our trip last time which changes the depth of the colours without changing its beauty.

'Kona Clouds' 8" x 10" Oil on Canvas.

Treasured Scene

'Treasure Island' 5" x 7" Oil on Canvas.

This is the southern most beach in Laguna Beach and is named for the 1934 film 'Treasure Island' which was filmed here. 

Egret Success

A photograph I took of a Great Egret in Dana Point, has been chosen to be included in the 2014 City of Dana Point calendar.
I'm very excited because many of the other people chosen are professional photographers with fancy cameras. This means that you can do good things even if you don't have expensive equipment or extensive training or experience.

Covert Action

'Sunny Cove' 6" x 8" Oil on Canvas. This is taken from a photograph by one of my cousins of a beach in Cornwall, England. Cornwall has beautiful, rugged coastline as well as some quaint harbours and towns. I always visit Cornwall when I visit England as I have friends and family there.

I wanted to keep the painting's complexity to a minimum to stress the simple forms of the cliffs and a sense of depth.

Feeling Blue

This was painted from a photograph of a sunset at Doheny Beach in Dana Point.

'Blue Heaven' 5"x7" Oil on canvas.

On a Knife Edge

I haven't painted with a palette knife for a while so it seemed a good time to take a workshop to brush up my skills and pick up some new ideas.

The painting above was done in the workshop from a photograph supplied by the teacher. It is from Point Lobos in northern California taken when she was there on a trip in May.

I had visited the same area in June, so, back home in my studio, I looked through my own photographs of the area and choose this scene to paint. 

'Rocky Cove' 8"x10" Oil on Canvas.

New Painting

My latest painting 'Sweet Spot at Main Beach' 5"x7" Oil on Canvas.

I've spent many occasions doing exactly what the subjects of my painting are doing, sitting in the sun on a bench watching the ocean and what is going on at Main Beach in Laguna Beach.