Moleskine - What's the Deal?

Well, I tried a sketch (from the PoseManiacs site) with 2B graphite in the moleskine journal. And I just don't like this slick paper at all. So - I've tried it and it's going back on the shelf to be a backup to my Exacompta.

Sorry, all those Moleskine-ites out there but this just doesn't do it for me. I like a paper with a bit of texture and toothiness. I even got out my graphite set and using my new mechanical pencil with a 4B lead + an 8B graphite pencil, I did a portrait. Better - but the 4B lead seemed to incise the paper and then the 8B over it left white lines. This is a (not very good) portrait of my artist friend, Mary. She definitely has beautiful "Bette Davis Eyes," and I was trying to capture that.

I really should be embarrassed about this sketch - I've tilted her nose straight when it should curve around and that makes the fact look odd - I couldn't draw a decent thing in open figure session Saturday, either. It's like I can't SEE anymore when it comes to faces and figures. I'm sure it will come back...won't it?

Noni Plant in Watercolor

Here's the painting - I think I may leave it white in the background but your comments are welcome. Should it remain white or blush a color over the background?

According to a search, here's what I found about noni:

Traditional uses of the noni plant are varied and virtually every part of the plant is used as some form of medicine. Healers used noni leaves as a bandage or poultice for wounds. Young, green fruits were crushed and the extracted juice was used as a remedy for lesions or sores in the mouth. Root or stem bark was typically used to treat inflammation or infections. Other conditions treated with noni include fevers, skin disease, respiratory problems, gastrointestinal upset, menstrual or urinary problems, diabetes, and venereal diseases. Research into the traditional uses of noni indicate that it was the second most popular plant used in herbal remedies with approximately 40 known and recorded formulations. Noni is included in the traditional pharmacopoeias of Native Hawaiians, other Pacific Islanders, and Asian populations.

Noni Plant from Belize

WatercolorWorkshop is having an open January project. Y can paint any medicinal plant. I chose this noni plant we saw when Jerry and I took an anniversary trip to Belize in 2006. You may have heard or read about noni, which is supposed to cure cancer. It sells for ridiculous amounts of money for little bottles of the stuff. I've seen it in Hawaii and in northern Florida being sold. Apparently, the ants like the sap that comes off the bulbs very much but I don't know how healthy ants are...hmmm...

Here's the photo Jerry took - a strange looking thing.

I'm working on the painting slowly and will leave the background white a la botanical painting style and should have it finished tomorrow.

WatercolorWorkshop Artist of the Year

I can't believe I won this award - but I did. It is a yearly award that is voted on by the members of the WatercolorWorkshop yahoo group. I was in a group of 7 who were nominated for it and any one of them are deserving for their work on their art. I am now in some fine company, including Gina Hall, Mohan Man, Susan Roper and Jane James, who have been previous winners (see sidebar for their sites/blogs).


You can see the very colorful spread our List-Mom, Susie Short, created by going here


http://www.susieshort.net/2008-wcwaoty.html

Please feel free to comment on the guestbook, if you choose. I'm hearing from people I hadn't heard from in years - hi Natasha!!! :)

Now after that puffery, I hate to post this mess! ha-ha But I will...

Mermaids reworked but not much better. I still need to fill in that seaweed between the 2 mermaids - it's too pale right now.

No painting this morning - off to Open Figure Drawing through Manifest Gallery. It's been a month since we met and it will be fun to get back to it. I also signed up for a class on Figure Drawing through the Cincinnati Art Academy (their continuing ed department) that starts later this month!

(Did I mention that this painting of the mermaids is on Tyvek? The real construction type Tyvek. It works somewhat between yupo and gessoed paper.)

Little Landscape - WcW Group Project + Radial Girls Finished

I've been having some internet problems connecting for a couple of days now so I'm posting early while my connection is working. Hopefully, my ISP will solve the problem (they admit they have today) they said wasn't their problem 2 days ago. Since when did it become standard operating procedure to "first deny any fault" in all areas of life?

Here's the start of the group project (a landscape) at WatercolorWorkshop.

After misketing the foreground weeds, and darkening areas, here it is. I liked it better before I putzed with it. Landscapes are not my forte by any means!

And I finally went back to Radial Girls and worked on them more - working with the design and darks. I think it's finished. Comments welcome. This January challenge by Myrna is really showing up my defects as a painter! Whew! Well, maybe it's not defects as a painter but defects as a planner?? Yep, I have to admit it. I jump in all excited and ready to go without thinking about where it's going to end up. You'd think, after 5 year's of painting this way I would learn to slow down and think more. Must be a defect in my system somewhere - need a major overhaul! ha-ha

Which Creature Are You? I Think I'm an Otter...

My teacher and friend, Sandy Maudlin, sent me this today:

So which creature are you?
If at first you don't succeed ... ask yourself, Am I an otter? A squirrel? A mouse? The answer could spell the difference between things going swimmingly and squeaking to a halt. Find your own winning style.
Does your style resemble an otter, mole, squirrel or a mouse?

(From Kathy Kolbe, a specialist on the instinctive patterns that shape human action.) Kathy's father pioneered many standardized intelligence tests, but Kathy was born with severe dyslexia, which meant that this obviously bright little girl didn't learn in a typical way. She grew up determined to understand and defend the different ways in which people go about solving problems. Kathy often wears a T-shirt that says "do nothing when nothing works", a motto that typifies her approach.

"There are four basic action modes: 1) The Quick Start - when you want to learn, you just jump in and start messing around."

"2) The Fact Finder: before you start a task, you need to know all about it. You need to go through the instructions and analyze them for flaws, then get more information to fill in the gaps."

"There are two other typical patterns," Kathy explained. "3) Implementors -- like Thomas Edison, for example -- need physical objects to work with. They figure out things by building models or doing concrete tasks. Then there are 4) The Follow Thrus. They set up orderly systems, like the Dewey decimal system or a school curriculum."

To identify your own action-mode profile, you can take a formal online test (the Kolbe Index at kolbe.com; there is a charge), or just observe your own approach to getting something done. To give you an example, people with different profiles might respond to a challenge -- let's say, learning to crochet -- in the following ways:

• Quick Start (Otter): If you're a Quick Start Otter who wants to crochet, you'll probably buy some yarn and a hook, get a few tips from an experienced crochetmeister, and jump right into trial and error.

• Fact Finder (Mole): You'll spend hours reading, watching, asking questions, and learning about crocheting before actually beginning to use the tools.

• Implementor (Squirrel): You pay less attention to words than to concrete objects, so you might draw a pattern of a crochet stitch or even create a large model using thick rope, before you go near a needle.

• Follow Thru (Mouse): You'll likely schedule a lesson with a crochet teacher or buy a book that proceeds through a yarn curriculum, learning new stitches in order of difficulty.

None of these approaches is right or wrong. They can all succeed brilliantly. But someone who's programmed to use one style will feel awkward and discouraged trying to follow another. We can all master each style if we have to, the way a mole can swim or an otter can climb trees, but it's not a best-case scenario.

Once you know your instinctive style, brainstorm ways to make it work for you, not against you. Play to your strengths. To really boost your sense of self-efficacy, think of ways you could modify your usual tasks to suit your personal style.

This is the very best way to leverage an understanding of conative style -- to create useful, complementary strategies instead of disheartening, competitive ones. Many of us have spent a lifetime trying to be what we're not, feeling lousy about ourselves when we fail and sometimes even when we succeed. We hide our differences when, by accepting and celebrating them, we could collaborate to make every effort more exciting, productive, enjoyable, and powerful.

Tuesday's Class - Mermaids

Even though I didn't finish the first January challenge painting, I started a second (because today in class we painted on tyvek - the actual stuff from a construction site that a student's husband "borrowed" for us). It wouldn't take the paint at first and then Sandy tried putting down a thinned layer of acrylic matt medium first. Then it worked fine.

I knew this time I had to work with 1) Vertical + 2) Value + 3) Permanent Alizarin Crimson and it was difficult to get this to work - kept fiddling and it's still not right. Sandy says the mermaid in the bottom part is too much a right angle and it stops or cuts the flow there. Cropping it at a severe angle might help but I may just have to start over on this - or consider it a learning experience and move on. I should have thought out the composition more and spent less time painting and trying to get it to work :(

Oh, well...I still have to finish that little landscape painting, too. And after 4 hours working on this mermaid painting, I'm mentally exhausted and need a nap!




Sandy commented that I cut off too much on the left side on the previous showing of the painting - and she's right (I was trying to tilt it to crop it and did too much, I think).


So here's the original - see the white line through the left side? Well, I'm not going to tell you what I did when I got home but needless to say I have to redo this one or toss it now...I shouldn't make decisions when I'm tired and hungry. Maybe I'll try again tomorrow...

No Painting - In a Reading Mood

Well, I didn't paint anything Sunday and just did a small start of a painting from a WatercolorWorkshop group painting of a landscape. It needs some work to finish it up and then I'll share. Here's the photo we are all working from...

I've been reading.

I wanted to read Atonement by Ian McEwan. The movie is being touted as the greatest love story since The English Patient, and that's saying a lot. For me, I found it lacking. I actually found myself quickly skimming over parts and it took an interminably long time get to the action for which Briony must atone. Perhaps the movie will be better. And I'm not giving away the secret - just in case you want to read the book or see the movie without having the story spoiled :)

I'm already 1/2 way through another book called Obsessed by Ted Dekker. It moves along well and is a mystery surrounding the Holocaust and the stones of David (the stones he gathered to use to slay Goliath). Interesting and fast moving so far. Maybe I needed that after the slow-moving Atonement.

What are some of your favorite reads?

Radial Girls - Redo

I just wasn't happy with the first start - didn't think the leaves fit or did anything for the composition so I just wiped them out (didn't know how easy it would be but, apparently, paint over texture medium wipes out easily!). And then went for my original idea - the dark hair and tying the figures together with that.

It's not finished yet - things to do but not sure what or where - and some more shaping of the bodies a bit. Wondering about still tying things in with some line work in that star shape? Will think about it.

Today has been a busy day. A few photo members came by at 10 for a mini-workshop Jerry was giving. Then we visited one of Jerry's former students this evening who is in from Oregon. (We were awakened this morning at 4am by the neighbor's car alarm going off. Turns out, it was deer setting it off! They were in our back and side yards. He's a hunter so they were probably trying to steal his truck as payback! :)

Radial Girls - Where Am I Going With This??

I'm not sure where I'm going with this and probably needed to do more sketching in designs before I put this one down on the wc paper...but couldn't wait, of course! Jumped right in. I worked in graphite, adding more shadows to the main figures, and traced them down over a star shape that is supposed to show you the sweet spots in a painting if you put things on the correct axes.

I chose these colors:

1) My "mother color" that was picked blindly from the hat = Natural Amiata Sienna

2) Cobalt Teal Blue

3) Rhodonite Genuine

I plan to use RG more often this year and might as well start now.

I didn't want it to be just the girls - so added some leaves (the same leaf traced over and over around the center ladies). And I also put down texture medium in the background (not all over but in most areas) so the paint on the leaves shows that texture. I didn't put any on the girls but wherever there was a strong highlight, I took a white china marker and colored that white in - it will add more texture, because it resists the watercolor paint.

So this is where I am right now. I'm thinking the leaf shapes may not work - but I can push them into the background as I move along. I just thought of something else entirely to do for this project using these guidelines and I may end up going there instead - we'll see! ha-ha So far I just have the body color on the girls (no hair or shadows that will tie them together more). The leaves are filled in a bit with color. I'm thinking about those lines (that are in the star shape) - should I use them or not? So much to think about!!! I do have the Natural Amiata Sienna in the girls and the leaves but nothing in the background yet. It should be fun to play with the bg, though, since it's almost all covered with texture medium.

Stay tuned...

January Challenge from Myrna - Radial Girls, Step 1

Well, she has given us another interesting and growth-producing (I hope) challenge! Who? Why Myrna Wacknov (http://myrnawacknov.blogspot.com/), of course! This time, we choose our subject matter first. Then 1) choose one of the 7 elements of design. What are they? They are 1. Line 2. Shape 3. Size 4. Direction 5. Color 6. Value and 7. Texture

Then?

Well, then you choose a composition/format from the list of:

1. Horizontal 2. Vertical 3. Pyramidal 4. Checkerboard 5. Asymmetrical

6. Staggered 7. Frame in Frame 8. Cruciform 9. Cantilevered

10. Radial 11. Floating

Whew! That's a lot of compositional styles to choose from but you can learn more about them all in the book by Marianne Brown titled "Watercolor by Design." Now how

did Myrna know I had this book?!?

So is that all? Nope! Not yet.

Next you choose one color to be a "mother color" a la Stephen Quiller - a color that touches each area of the painting in some way or blends in some way or influences all of the painting in some way to being harmony to the painting.

So I have my subject chosen - a nude figure from my new Virtual Pose cd - I didn't limit myself to one pose but left that open.

Then I pulled the Design Elements and the Compositions/Formats from the box, blindly (after printing out the list and putting them in 2 separate boxes for drawing).

And then I used the last of the watercolor titles I had left in the hat from December's challenge - and pulled 1 for the mother color.

And what did I get?

1. Image : Nude Figure

2. Design Element : Texture

3. Composition: Radial

4. Mother Color: Monte Amiata Natural Sienna (no, I did not buy this color, it was a freebie from Daniel Smith when I bought a lot of other colors!)

I thought, okay, not bad but how does one make a nude figure radial? Thinking some and in my limited way thinking about radial designs from the center outward and came up with this as a starting point: Radial Girls - step 1

Now to see where it goes from here.

Colorful Drawings in My Moleskine

The Greater Cincinnati Watercolor Society meeting is cancelled this morning due to the horrid cold and just enough snow on the roads to make driving in Mt. Adams treacherous - so I'll be home again (I'm beginning to feel like a bear hibernating!) and may start Myrna's January challenge.

I'm still studying 2 of my newest art books and getting lots of ideas while reading, absorbing new information, and then sketching in my Moleskine when I want a break. The Moleskine has very smooth paper and so far I've just sketched in graphite and then gone over it with the Elegant Writer pens (the bright, vibrant colors) and the Inktense pencils (a bit more muted). I put a bit of water on the heart lock to blend the color more and the EW's wet and blend well. The paper won't take a lot of water but a nice wash works okay. Now I need to get in with the graphite or conte sticks and blending to see how it goes. So far, so good - plus it's lighter weight and thinner than my Exacompta so fits in my purse easier (I have a big purse!).

What I've done so far:

1) From a photo taken by Jerry in Scotland - a blue lock that was rusted and interesting and shaped like a heart. I love that photo and wanted to try a sketch of it and see if I could get the color and texture.

2) A sketch of a field of lavender (took a photo of the scene from the movie, Perfume) + the flat plate and candles (apple and blueberry) I bought my sister-in-law for Christmas (I liked it so much I almost kept it but didn't - but I did take a photo before wrapping it).

Best of 2007 - Cool

Can't do warms without including the cools. Here are 7 "best of" paintings I did in 2007, all in cool colors.

Happy 2008!!!

Best of 2007 - Warm

I picked 7 paintings I did in 2007. These are all done with warm tones. I prefer cool colors but often end up doing warms, starting with a yellow underpainting to give it a glow.

Monday, December 31, 2007 - The Last Day of 2007!!!

I'll be drawing the New Year In with my brand-spankin' new Moleskine Sketch Book. Testing this baby out to see what all the fuss is about.

In the meantime, here are the last sketches I did in my Exacompta Sketchbook. The first page and the pears were inspired by photos in Shirley Trevena's book. With the pears, I was playing with designs and working with "odd" formats per the Robert Kaupelis drawing book.

Sunday, December 30, 2007 - Art Books to Study

I have several new books that I haven't studied yet. Oh, yes, I have opened them and looked at every painting and picture in them, but haven't sat down and read and applied some of the lessons yet. I need to do that because they are all great books:

1. Master Class in Figure Drawing by Robert Beverly Hale

2. Experimental Drawing byRobert Kaupelis

3. Expressive Portraits by Jean Pederson

4. Taking Risks with Watercolor by Shirley Trevena

and

5. Wet-on-Wet Watercolor Painting by Ewa Karpinska

So, on this dreary, bleak, cold winter day, I'll snuggle in with some beautiful art and new techniques and, hopefully, learn a few new things. And, of course, I'll take a break from the books and visit some of my favorite blogs today, too. Seems like most of them are back from the holidays and are posting again - which I love to see!

BTW - I only got one comment on the new blog layout, colors and style (thanks, Myrna!) so I'm assuming it's fine with the changes I made :) So this is it until spring maybe when I want something a little more warm and green (green, did I say green???!? ha-ha)

Saturday, December 29, 2007 - Drawing My Day

Drawing my Day:

Out of bed at 7 am.

The moon was still shining in the dark sky. Only just past half full right now (the full moon was the 24th).

Put on the coffee and waited for it to brew and fill my favorite handmade cup.

Then to the computer to connect to the world.

An Elegant Writer and a Tombow pen for sketching.

Smudge fed and in his favorite place, under the end table.

My new pedometer - I put it on each day and count my steps.

The last set of colors for the December 3-color challenge are Lemon Yellow + Olive Green + French Ultramarine Blue.

And here is the painting - no photo, just a quick sketch and painted on a small piece of Fabriano Artistico 140#. Pears and Grapes.

And did another - still no photo or drawing, just outline and color put in - in my sketchbook so it's part of Drawing my Day. But couldn't leave it so muted and needed to see something bright with color - so just put in some cherries! Yay, red!

And this is all just AM stuff. Plus helping Jerry reformat and print out spreadsheets and doing 2 loads of laundry and fixing lunch and...no wonder I feel like I need a nap! ha-ha

In the afternoon/evening:

Finished reading Jodi Picoult's
latest book, Nineteen Minutes.

Watched Smudge sleep in my spot
on the sofa (didn't want to wake him).

Watched the much anticipated game between
the New England Patriots and the New York Giants.
It would be nice if they could both win so NE could have a perfect record and NY could win tonight - hey, what can I say, I like any team with a player on it named Plaxico Burress! (I once was a Tennessee Titans fan because they had Yancy Thigpen on their team!)

2nd 3-Color Challenge Slide Show

The 2nd of the 3-color challenges. This may be the last for the year. It sure has been fun, though! Now to take these small paintings and the color combinations and see what I may want to add to my palette for 2008 that I hadn't used much before. I definitely am adding Rhodonite Genuine!

Friday, December 28, 2007 - Another Day in the World

Last night, I intended to do some sketching but just doodled.

I intended to do a portrait of Benazir Bhutto, the previous prime minister of Pakistan, who was assassinated Thursday in a rally of supporters. I printed out the pics and took them to my sketchbook. But it was just too sad. I did one today, though. It doesn't make it any less sad.

I read most of the evening. And ate homemade fudge. And wondered what will happen next.

Jerry is reading Stumbling on Happiness by Daniel Gilbert. I'm reading Jodi Picoult's latest, Nineteen Minutes. I just finished reading Divisidaro by Michael Ondaatje. Not as good as The English Patient which I will read again. Have you read it? Have you seen the movie? Do you remember the part where Almasy asks his friend, a physician, what that certain part of a woman's anatomy is called: that dip at the bottom of her throat. It's called a suprasternal notch.

I got a very nice comment from Perriette from http://exquisitedream.typepad.com/dream_asylum/

I entered her contest to win one of her great works of art - but I didn't win (I am definitely not lucky when it comes to contests or gambling). Check out her site - it's creative, unusual, interesting and a bit strange in the best possible way :)

Thursday, December 27, 2007 - Man and Horse

I couldn't wait - I changed my template. Tell me what you think. I think it looks cold like January and February here in my part of the US so I'm okay with it - but I would like to know if you like it more, less, or don't care.

The next 3-color challenge painting using Ultramarine Violet + Indigo + Tigers Eye Genuine (this is a terribly ugly color and I guess I got it because it granulates but it's a terribly ugly brownish green color :( and I wouldn't recommend buying it unless you want an ugly brown-green color!

I used a photo from a magazine of the actor, Ken Watanabe (The Last Samarai, Memoirs of a Geisha) and a pale horse. Guess he's been riding and is sitting down for a rest since he has his riding boots on. I think I need even darker darks in places.

I may not do another painting but pull out my Virtual Poser cd and work on some sketches instead. I haven't been drawing as much as I should - just sketches on the wc paper before painting. Although I did pull a blue and a yellow this next 3-color draw so it may tempt me to do something else to finish up the year. Afterall, there are still 4 more days of the year left before I do my Drawing in the New Year challenge to myself (you are very welcome to join me on New Year's Eve Day and draw and draw and draw).

Wednesday, December 26, 2007 - Kwanzaa + Boxing Day

Happy Kwanzaa + Happy Boxing Day



Christmas is over, the presents have been unwrapped and the enormous amounts of food have been eaten (well, we tried to eat it all, piggies that we are! :) I got artist things: a block of Fabriano extra white Artistico paper, Virtual Poser 3 (shows models on your computer screen you can draw, paint, or just print out for reference), and a Daniel Smith gift certificate - so I'm ready to rock and roll!!!

Back to the gym for me today with a brand new pedometer - counting those steps - and brand new shoes. Jerry got a ZenStonePlus (mp3 player) and we oldtimers finally figured out how to get it to work and downloaded some music from cds last night so he's ready for the treadmill. I figure between us, we need to work off about 5,000 calories from the 24th and 25th (and I didn't even have the chicken wings or the persimmon pudding with real whipped cream).


I finished the madrone tree today. I really needed a warm yellow for that central part that is smooth, where the bark pulls away and shows the red underneath the "peels" but didn't have one so here it is. I put the Periwinkle in the background as a thin, pale wash.

And I can't finish one without choosing the next 3 colors which are:


Ultramarine Violet
Indigo
Tigers Eye Genuine

Tuesday, December 25, 2007 - Christmas Day

Yesterday, I pulled 3 more colors from the hat and began a painting using a photo taken by Susan Roper of a Madrone tree.

So, with Quinacridone Magenta, Periwinkle, and English Red Ochre, here is what I have so far.

I probably won't get more done today - places to go, people to see, presents to share... but maybe tomorrow. This is on 300# Arches coldpress paper which takes drybrushing well.

Monday, December 24, 2007 - Christmas Eve

Sharing these thoughts with you (from http://www.dailyom.com/) :

Kindness is an ideal that is easily accessible to all of us. We all know that a small kindness can make our journeys lighter and more enjoyable. Even bringing an instance of kindness to mind can put a smile on your face days or weeks later or perhaps even inspire you to share kindness with another. Though it may seem simple to the point of insignificance, many cultures throughout the world and history have recognized kindness as a powerful virtue. It may be the simplest way to experience and share all the grandest ideals of humanity. We can make the choice to act from the best place within ourselves at any time, while simultaneously recognizing the highest potential in another with the smallest of acts, nourishing the seed of hope in each soul we encounter. In a way, kindness acts as the oil that makes the engine of our world move more smoothly and with less friction. We can still get where we are going but the ride is more pleasant, and those around us can share in the ideal world that we help to create. We are all fortunate that kindness is limitless in its supply and available to everyone.

May you all share many kindnesses throughout the holidays and in the coming New Year.

And here's what I've been doing today.

1) Worked on the hair of the Pretty Hat painting. Now she doesn't look so much like she has Elvis sideburns behind her ear! You can lift the color but it took a bit of rubbing (I think because Phthalo Blue is staining and that was in the mix).

2) The Hay Doodles and Sheep painting - another 3-color challenge painting and the colors weren't very exciting (Burnt Umber + Quinacridone Burnt Orange + Zoisite Genuine), but I did my best.

And then the next 3 colors drawn out of the hat are:

Quinacridone Magenta + Periwinkle + English Red Ochre. I've forgotten how many of these I've done - is this # 7 or #8?

Sunday, December 23, 2007 - Pretty Hat

Check out my slide show below this entry! It was really easy to create and download.


Here is my Pretty Hat lady. I'm not happy with the hair and will work on that a bit more.
(Susan, this is also SWAP sized :)

The photo looks blurry to me but I've tried taking a photo of this twice and it looked the same both times. Maybe it's the texture of the board that is making it look fuzzy? It doesn't look fuzzy in real life.

And the next challenge and 3 colors are:
1) Burnt Umber
2) Quinacridone Burnt Orange
3) Zoisite Genuine

The photo is by Jerry - 2 photos I combined of a field of hay doodles (hay bales) and cows plus a photo of sheep in a field. I cut off the cows and put the sheep there instead. And ready to start...I misketed the highlights on the haydoodles and misketed the sheep and put in the first colors.

3-Color Challenge Paintings Slide Show!

I decided to make a slide show of the 3-color challenge paintings - these are the best and I think I'm going to continue with this until the end of the year.