Watercolor Musings: A No-Excuses Travel Kit

Watercolor Musings: A No-Excuses Travel Kit: "Materials with the first drawing of an oak tree outside Tablas Creek Winery This last weekend we were in the Central Coast with a group ..."

A No-Excuses Travel Kit

Materials with the first drawing of an oak tree outside Tablas Creek Winery

 This last weekend we were in the Central Coast with a group of University of Redlands Alumni on a wine-tasting adventure. I put this small kit together that would easily fit in my purse to have "just in case." I have been in too many places without materials and either waste time finding something to use or been frustrated. I included a "palette" of 6 colors (2 yellows, 2 reds and 2 blues) in a pastilles box. Empty pans are available at many art stores and online. Any metal box such as altoids work well. A white lid would be preferable since it would show the color better than this metallic one...but I had this one already. I also included a Niji waterbrush and a pentel ink brush with water soluble sepia ink. The Moleskin watercolor sketch book is 5"x8" and makes a nice wide panorama when opened. The book has an elastic band which holds it tightly closed. That's all I used for this work.

My chance to draw came with an "oops" on the bus drivers part...he took a corner a bit too close and got hung up. We later found out that buses do this routinely. When it looked as if we'd be there awhile, I got my kit out and drew the oak tree. As time progressed I began another drawing and had time to add color.

Tablas Creek #2

We stopped for lunch at Denner's Winery and I had just a small amount of time before we were off again. In this drawing you can see the advantage to the ink line. I only had time to add color to the central part of the drawing but I like the way the lines extend that. I later found out that my nephew's young vineyard is in the distance. I visited with my sister before we came home and hadn't realized the proximity when I drew this.

From the patio at Denner Winery

At the last winery, I let everyone else go taste and I just drew. Vines are in the foreground and the oaks with their dark foliage are a wonderful contrast to the warm tones of the vines and golden hills.

Last winery stop

Each of these drawings is as I left them at the time of drawing. The second image took about 30-40 minutes and the final two under 30 minutes.

Having a small, portable watercolor or drawing kit is a real advantage. I hadn't expected to have time to do anything, but have learned the hard way to be prepared.

Watercolor Musings: Provencal Pumpkins - Mixed Media Stained Collage

Watercolor Musings: Provencal Pumpkins - Mixed Media Stained Collage: "I love working with a combination of materials. Stained paper collage is an exciting way to work in the studio. Watercolor-stained rice pa..."

Provencal Pumpkins - Mixed Media Stained Collage

I love working with a combination of materials. Stained paper collage is an exciting way to work in the studio. Watercolor-stained rice paper is affixed to a sturdy ground (I use 300# watercolor paper) with matte medium or a mixture of white glue and water. The whole surface is covered with the rice paper. Some of the drawing shows through but you can't count on that. Too much medium or glue will make it difficult to paint watercolor on top.

After the first step is thoroughly dry, the painting is finished with both watercolor and white gouache. The final version is pulled together by the painting process and is enhanced by the wonderful colors and texture provided by the collage beneath. In this one, I was slightly worried that I'd made a hash of the first step. It was so "clunky" compared to what I had in mind.

 

 

 

 

If the painting looks familiar, it was in an earlier post about paper surface. In that post, only the final version was shown so I thought that the beginning might be interesting for others to see. The size here is about 6" square so I like to work on several at once.  They can be done in any size but this small image with a larger mat is jewel-like when framed.

Watercolor Musings: Paper Makes a BIG Difference

Watercolor Musings: Paper Makes a BIG Difference: "Provencial Pumpkins on Yupo by Judy Schroeder Two paintings of the same subject, painted on paper with watercolor yielded completely diff..."

Watercolor Musings: Crystal Cove and the Benefits of Working on Locat...

Watercolor Musings: Crystal Cove and the Benefits of Working on Locat...: "Usually I try to get several reference photos when painting on location. Once I've visited and painted a place, I feel comfortable p..."

Watercolor Musings: Sketching En Route

Watercolor Musings: Sketching En Route: "Finding time to do the things we really want to do, rather than squishing them in when time allows, takes some creativity and planning. If y..."

Watercolor Musings: Adding Ink to Watercolor

Watercolor Musings: Adding Ink to Watercolor: "I have been doing a version of ink and watercolor at least since high school. In 2001, I began to use it more frequently and made a habit of..."

Watercolor Musings: Everything But the Kitchen Sink

Watercolor Musings: Everything But the Kitchen Sink: "Whenever I'm off on a painting trip, I gather books, pamphlets, newspapers, tickets, etc. Mostly, these questionable 'treasures' stay in a f..."

Watercolor Musings: Waterbrushes on location

Watercolor Musings: Waterbrushes on location: "The University of Redlands, my alma mater, celebrated it's centennial in 2006-2007. Because of that, there was a float in Pasadena's New Yea..."

Waterbrushes on location

The University of Redlands, my alma mater, celebrated it's centennial in 2006-2007. Because of that, there was a float in Pasadena's New Year's Parade on January 1, 2007. After being introduced to the delight of painting in the float barns by my painting buddy, Brenda Swenson, I secured permission for us to visit the Redlands float as it was being readied for the parade.

Everything But the Kitchen Sink

Whenever I'm off on a painting trip, I gather books, pamphlets, newspapers, tickets, etc. Mostly, these questionable "treasures" stay in a folder. With this technique, however, all those bits and oddments have a purpose and a place to be.

The surface is drawn upon, collaged with various papers, painted with watercolors, gessoed, re-drawn upon, re-collaged with papers relating to the subject, painted with gouache and again with watercolors, over and over again until the image is pleasing to the artist.

The upper image is of Bibury, Cotswolds, England. It was the home of wool weavers long ago and is rumored to be the most photographed spot in England. I love the way the houses hug the hill, each reflecting the lovely golden Cotswold stone. The lower 2/3rds is composed of all the aforementioned gatherings from my trip. There are doilies, photographs, words from newspapers, written  words and fascinating words from signage.

Signs at Restaurants:

Fish & Chips

Mushy Peas

Bread & Butter

And a Pot of Tea

OAP Special (Old Age Pensioner)

On the Roadside:

Well-Rotted Manure

The Brits are mad for gardening!

A Prayer Found in Tewesbury Abbey

Prayers for the Departed:

Show Us, Good Lord

The peace we should seek,

The peace we must give,

The peace we can keep,

The peace we must forgo,

And the peace you have given us in Jesus Our Lord. Amen 

Adding Ink to Watercolor

I have been doing a version of ink and watercolor at least since high school. In 2001, I began to use it more frequently and made a habit of taking small handmade watercolor paper with me on travel workshops using a roller ball pen with water-soluble ink. I liked the way the ink moved and ran as I worked, creating passages within the piece. That led to a chapter in "Work Small, Learn Big," a book on sketching in pen and watercolor published by International Artist Magazine in 2003.

Subsequently, I wanted to work in a larger format, but the small pens were not appropriate for that. I finally found a watersoluble ink brush with a cartridge in the Daniel Smith catalog...a brush pen used for sumei. It took awhile to get the courage to spend over $60 for the Kaimei brush pen, but when I did and used it for the first time, I was hooked. Finding the brush pens is now easy...D. Smith still carries them and typing "oriental brush pen" in a search engine leads to many more sources.

Recently I found a brush pen with sepia ink and I like the warmer tones of the brown ink. Here is one of the most recent, a painting of the southwest quadrant in Old Towne Orange's Plaza Square. In this case the under-painting in blue was done before I went out to paint. I find that I like the results better if the under-painting is done with no thought of the subject matter to be superimposed on top. When I begin to draw, I watch the placement of the shapes to make best use of the lighter areas and draw directly in ink. My brush pen basically goes for a dance across the page and my drawings are more fluid with this technique. Watercolor is applied when the line drawing is complete and if done immediately the ink blends with the watercolor. If you wait a number of days, the ink is set and washes can be applied across the line with no bleeding. You lose the variation in edge quality however.

The addition of ink to watercolor is especially helpful when working in a sketch book with limited time. If you have a good line drawing, you can add minimal watercolor paint to have a good representation of the scene. And by holding back a bit on the brush pen, the line can be less powerful in a smaller format.

Watercolor Musings: Sketching En Route

Watercolor Musings: Sketching En Route: "Finding time to do the things we really want to do, rather than squishing them in when time allows, takes some creativity and planning. If y..."

Sketching En Route

Finding time to do the things we really want to do, rather than squishing them in when time allows, takes some creativity and planning. If you've always wanted to do a journal with drawings when traveling, perhaps this will be an encouragement.
The small (5.5x3.5) accordian-style Moleskine sketchbooks have become favorites for daily travel sketches. The paper is smooth, almost velvety, and takes rollerball pens for a "skate." The nib glides over the surface and makes drawing effortless. This is not the paper for watercolor - I use it for contour drawings. The fold out pages allow a very wide landscape drawing if you like though mine are usually a double, or 7" wide.

The images shown are from a 2008 trip to Prague which preceded a river cruise to Berlin and then on to London to meet my husband. I made a sketch each day from May 26 to June 29, just a simple contour to serve as a memory and to hone my eye and hand. This can be surprisingly difficult to do whether you are on a painting/sketching trip or traveling with others who do not draw. By making that pledge to yourself, the daily log is more likely to be accomplished.

This tiny sketch book is a wonderful distillation of that trip. In the first drawing I'm reminded of that first overeager, exhausting day where I gratefully sank into a bench to sketch beneath a leafy tree. The second was done with a cool drink in Prague's Old Towne Square where we were treated to a raucous parade celebrating something and then the 148 steps I climbed in the lesser Town Bridge Tower to get a different view of the city. 

The first of the second group was done while I was sopping wet and grateful to get out of the rain. Brenda Swenson and I had misjudged the storm and finally sought refuge in a bar where the proprietress gave us handfuls of napkins since she had no towels. This one evokes strong memories but likely would not have been included in a larger sketchbook. The Municipal House was an Art Deco delight and these are just a suggestion of the stained glass windows. Prague's many towers and spires  made for a fun day which we declared "wonky style". We worked in this whimsical way for the entire day. 

Daily sketches, whatever size, build skill and the "hurry-up" element is good for looking clearly and working quickly. I find these wee sketches an amazingly accurate way to recall the sights, sounds and experiences - even those several years past.
And the best thing? Your travel mates will love to see what you've done and the more you do the better you get, no matter what age. How many things can you do with that promise?

Keeler Jumble

On the last day of a 4-day workshop in the Lone Pine area, I did this quick ink and watercolor sketch of tiny Keeler. I worked in a bound sketchbook full of handmade paper, one of my favorites since I love the way the paper takes watercolor in these books.
The ramshackle scene is adjacent to the Keeler Schoolhouse which is close to the talc mill, once the lifeblood of this place. It now looks near to ghost town status but there are many hardy folks who like living in such a remote area, away for the hustle and bustle. It's a lovely place for interesting shapes, varied textures and unique architecture.
I remember vividly the advice of Betty Lynch, a fine painter I met in a Robert E. Wood workshop many years ago. She urged me to work in pen in my sketchbooks, not pencil. The reason? So that the work would be permanent (pencil lines smudge over time) and so that I would be even more careful when I put down a line. You look carefully when you know the line cannot be erased.

Crystal Cove and the Benefits of Working on Location

Usually I try to get several reference photos when painting on location. Once I've visited and painted a place, I feel comfortable painting it again in the studio. Even though I know how much I unconsciously edit the scene, sometimes I'm still surprised at the changes. This is an example of that. Drawings, sketches and paintings are really each individual artist's response to the place - thus the powerful draw of working on location.

Crystal is a wonderful, historic beach between Newport Beach and Laguna Beach. Several years ago, our family was lucky enough to rent the tall cottage on the right of the images. It belonged to Alice and Roger Armstrong, both artists. It was a magical week and we only went "outside" for a visit to the art fairs and the grocery. Otherwise we stayed close by watching sunsets, taking long walks, feeling the gentle sea air and eating on the porch.

Paper Makes a BIG Difference

Provencial Pumpkins on Yupo by Judy Schroeder

Two paintings of the same subject, painted on paper with watercolor yielded completely different results. One was painted on yupo, a plastic originally created for signage. It's non absorbent nature makes the paint sit on the surface and makes for juicy washes. The other was created by pasting bits of watercolor stained rice paper onto the page. The painting is tied together by painting with watercolors and gouache. Until that last step is done, the image is at best, fuzzy.

I like to use favorite subject matter in different ways and these examples are only two of so many other ways to work. Since I prefer to paint on location and because I have a gallery to run, these exercises make me content to explore in the studio.

Just as I began to make an initial post to this blog, the building began a gentle roll - earthquake. Hmmmm. Auspicious or not?