A Morning Vista

I was taking an early Sunday morning walk several weeks ago when I noticed the early sun illuminating the fog-draped hills north of my house. I dashed back to the studio to sketch out my interpretation of the long shadows arcing across the hills and the row of houses along the road in the distance.

At the time, I was very excited about the sketch and couldn't wait to put it on paper. I am pleased with how the fog dips over the peak of Mt. Burdell, the subtle green against the light lavender/grey of the sky, as well as the small spots of color that I used to interpret the houses.

As I stepped back, I also saw these bits of color as sailboats on distant bay. I really enjoy elements of a painting that can be perceived differently by several viewers. A friend was looking at an older painting (Almost Full, below), and he interpreted the edge of some breaking waves as a whale's tail. Very rewarding when others see things in a painting that I had not imagined.

Note: My original sketch had the cast shadows of several large trees washing over the foreground at the left. I decided to omit them as busy and distracting. I'm still undecided whether to go back and add them in.

Re-thinking and re-directing

A couple of weeks ago, while working on a sketch for the painting posted directly below, I started working with just outlines and bold shapes, as a way of taking a fresh look at the subject. At the time, I thought "why not just paint the sketch?" One of the feelings I have had in the last couple of months is that I have been doing too much painting, with too much unnecessary fiddling around.

I re-thought my entire work process, ditched the use of photo references, and worked solely from sketches to produce a bolder look that is graphically-stronger, featuring more saturated, spontaneous color. I am pleased that, although this painting went through several preparatory sketch revisions, the final has the carefree quality of an impromptu sketch.

One of my goals for this Spring was to get to a place, in a new medium, where I was eager to be painting again: a feeling of "I can't wait to get back to the drawing board". This re-direction is satisfying because it sets aside many work habits that had been plaguing not only my recent work, but perhaps my output for quite some time. I've also had my fill of agave for the time being, and a new painting is in the works.

A Third Try and a Different Approach

I set out to tackle the Agave subject and be less static than the last one, let the color "flow" more, and see what might develop. I worked almost exclusively "wet-on-wet", where the paper is moistened either with water or a thin wash of color, and then stronger, less diluted colors are washed on and allowed to flow together.

Certain areas were painted purposely less defined and softer than my last attempt. I think this painting establishes lights and darks well, and I am pleased that "happy accidents" of color flowing together (the foxing edges can be seen in the close-up) urged me to keep moving and exploring this new (at least for me) technique.

I stuck to the classic "warm colors advance, cool colors recede" axiom, and in that respect, I am pleased with this step. For my next installment in this series, I would like to soften up areas of the painting, pull out edges in certain places, but not let the overall piece be so "in focus".

A new sheet of paper has been taped to the board for the next adventure.

Let's Try This One Again

I decided to revisit the agave image with a slightly different approach. I tightened up the composition a bit, and scaled back the palette. This is still not what I am looking for, but it is moving in the right direction. Ideally, what I am after is a series of color "blobs" that are intricate and unresolved at close viewing, yet come together at a distance for a recognizable subject.

In the case of Watercolor and Me, this comes down to using bigger brushes, with less focus on detail, color accuracy. More about the stroke and the paint. That said, there are areas of this version that are satisfying, with the veiled layers of color interacting up close, and the contrast balance is good. The "whites" are actually not white paper, but veiled with a light, warm wash to reflect the tone of the afternoon.

OK, enough of this one, on to the next.

Production Notes: This is painted on 140 lb. Fabriano Artistico Rough, the first time I have used this paper. I have been a die-hard fan of Arches drawing papers, but for watercolor, the Fabriano is slightly heavier, less prone to ripple after a heavy coat of paint, which I favor, and it dries faster, allowing less "downtime". I'll never abandon Arches BFK for drawing, but for watercolor...

Restart.

After 35 years I have decided to revisit painting. In particular, watercolor. The reasons are many-fold, but fundamentally it has to do with trying to get out of a rut, stop repeating many of my old work, and restart my direction.

Watercolor is challenging, and I have much to re-learn from years ago, but I am exhilarated to be on a new path, and however bumpy it may be, am looking forward to the ride.

I recently moved and where I now live boasts an abundance of succulents, agave in particular. It seemed fitting to choose one of these as my subject. Also, while I haven't abandoned figure work, or for that matter, some of the abstractions that I had been working on the past summer, I needed to have some constants in place when exploring a new medium. A neutral subject, grabbed from a snapshot, and free for exploration.

I will revisit this scene in the next version, with a simplified composition, more extended palette, and hopefully more satisfying results.

Almost Full.

I have a "half-full cup" feeling about this drawing. On the one hand, I am pleased with the way there is a semi-abstract, gestural quality to the finished piece: you know that it depicts rushing water, but the cropping and aspect ratio keep it from being recognizable as a specific vista. On the other hand, what is on paper does not match what was in my mind's eye as I was creating the drawing. I have decided to not be overly concerned with this, and continue to let the drawings "flow" and evolve, letting the marks fall as they may. OK, maybe "three-quarters full".

This drawing is a touch different from previous works in that it is multimedia. I started in the usual manner of blocking in areas of color in pastel, but then added some sprayed watercolor to increase the depth of color. There is also some fain line work added in in pen and ink, followed by heavier areas of pastel, and the highlights are pulled out using the eraser. Some of the fine squiggly highlights were achieved using an eraser stub clamped in the bit of a 1/4" drill.

The Beginning and The End.

This drawing marks a beginning of a new series that I hope to complete this summer: my first series of land-inspired "scapes". I do not want to brand them "landscapes" because they are not derived directly from visons or images of the the land or sea, but rather, are based on impressions of land, sea, and human events that intersect. I want to avoid the "horizontal view of the nice barn by the tree" type of thing and create a image that evokes an emotion derived from a place or event, and subject-free.

The recent horrible and damaging events of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico provoked me to thinking about creating images that are triggered by events in, by, and on nature, both man-made, as well as part of the natural process of the planet evolving.

POSTSCRIPT: Tentatively titled Hubbel, this was inspired by a photo taken by the Hubbel Telescope: facinating that space can be colorful and complex. This drawing took a while to reach conclusion. It is not that I had trouble with certain areas, it just, well, took longer to reach an end than I anticipated. I am not sure the reason for this, or if this is actually an "issue". Nevertheless, it is good to get this one off the easel and on to the next.