Self Portrait

Just to challenge myself, I signed up for an annual self portrait contest put on by the Plein Aire artists of Sacramento, sponsored by Martha Esch. I had not done a self portrait since college and was not sure where to start. I sat down in front of the mirror and did a quick pencil sketch.  I was so pleased with how it turned out, I just left it alone.  I then proceeded to copy my sketch onto watercolor paper with paint.  After a few brush strokes, I realized my mistake...I had not put any sketch marks onto the paper to help with proportion and it became more of an experiment figuring out the layering of color and highlights, and not about proportion. 

Definitely something I can keep practicing on.  As for the competition of about 15 artists, I submitted my original sketch and I didn't place.  The top three artists were all acrylic paint, so my pencil sketch paled in comparison (literally!) but I got to see some really good art and had a good time, and that is one of the goals of my art-- Have fun!

Self portrait sketch scanned with computer enhanced contrast

Artist's Way

The Artist's Way, by Julia Cameron, is a book focused on the spiritual path to higher creativity.  It helps artists discover what is blocking their creativity and connect (or reconnect) to their art, and the process,  in a spiritual way. I took a 12 week class focused on this book and each of its 12 chapters from Vina Parmar of Awakening Creative Arts . At first, I wasn't sure if this was a class for me, but my wife convinced me that I should at least try it.  After being in the class for 10 minutes, I knew that this was going to be a wonderful experience. 

This was a piece I completed the first night of the class using colored pencils on black construction paper.  I used a layering effect that I had been working on with my watercolor to create texture in the trunk of the tree.  I am not sure where the idea of the eyes came from, but apparently I was thinking of a self-portrait. 

The great thing about this class was that each class exposed us to a new kind of creativity. Everything from colored pencil drawing to poetry writing, dance, vision board, and even sand art!  Each week was an adventure in creativity, and learning not to be afraid of something new. It was the inspiration behind this blog!

Check out upcoming classes in 2013!

http://www.awakeningcreativearts.com/artistsway.htm

Effie Yeaw Nature Area

June 9 - On a beautiful Saturday morning, I decided to go to Effie Yeaw Nature Area for a paint-out where artists were suppose to paint and then display their works for a nominal fee on the patio of the museum.  The museum was planning a fund raiser later that afternoon. I wasn't too sure about displaying my art, but I figured I would go and check out what other artists were doing, take a look around, and do a little painting myself, if I was so inspired.  It had been a while since I had been to Ancil Hoffman Park and Effie Yeaw Nature Area, so I took a stroll around. I was amazed at how much wildlife there was: deer, turkeys, egrets. 

Once I had walked around the nature area, I went to find a nice quiet spot (which is pretty easy since the whole place is quiet!) I set up alongside the path next to a large meadow with my chair (a permanent addition to my plein aire supplies) and my watercolors. My goal in this painting was to focus on not a lot of detail in the background trees, while incorporating as much detail as I could in the tree in the foreground.  I reworked the trunk of the tree several times to get a sense of the texture in the bark. After I was finished, I wished that the oak tree was not so “cut off” but more in the painting.

An additional side note: I had seen so much wildlife in the morning that I thought I should incorporate something into the painting. I decided to put a small deer under the background tree on the left. I did not like the way it was turning out so it quickly became a shadow under the tree instead.

Here's one of the creations of another artist that was at the paint-out.  I really liked the way this watercolor looks.  It actually has the effects that I was working on with the background trees and foreground trees, but I  like the way the bridge turned out!  I took a picture of it on the easel while being displayed for the fundraiser.

Painting Locke

On this beautiful Saturday morning I decided to make the drive down to the delta to the little town of Locke. This is a regular Plein Aire Meet-up, every 1st Saturday of the month, thanks to Martha Esch who lives in the area. The interesting thing about the Plein Aire Meet-ups is that you have no idea who is going to be there if anyone.  I am guilty of RSVPing and not showing up as well as showing up without RSVPing. And so, when I got there, no one was there. It was kind of like a ghost town--well, I guess its always like a ghost town, that's part of the charm of this place.  After taking a stroll around town (it takes about 15 minutes to make the loop around the whole town) I set up right on the corner of the main street through town. 

As I first started to sketch, I realized that I was going to need to remember rules of perspective from drawing classes 20 years ago- vanishing points!  Landscapes have some sense of perspective but when you're drawing buildings, it becomes VERY noticeable.  Even now, as I compare the painting to the photo, I can see my perspective should have been "more extreme". It just goes against reason as you are drawing diagonal lines for what your eye sees as straight lines.  This was definitely a new challenge compared to the last building I had painted, the Indian Museum, where I had looked at it straight on.  The eaves on the first building seemed to come straight out at me and were difficult to figure out.  And although the eave supports of the second building aren't quite long enough (they appear to be against the building instead of out to the sidewalk), I really liked the effect of the negative space.  I had wanted to create the same effect on the first building too but with watercolors, once your white paper is painted on, you really can't get it back! Maybe if I tried this again...?  Lots of good thoughts for next time. Of course if I would work in acrylic, it would be more forgiving...hmmm, I still haven't met that challenge yet of plein aire painting with acrylic.

Later in the morning, Martha Esch came by and took a photo of me finishing up my painting and invited me to her studio at the end of the street, The Shack. The building itself is a piece of artwork, with very eclectic art decorating the exterior walls and patio.  And once you are inside, she has on display a variety of paintings that she has done, from views of the town of Locke to old German warplanes, and Mona Lisa! She also has a small room dedicated to the history of Locke.  Martha has a wealth of knowledge about this little town, historical as well as political (oh, does she have stories!). Martha also happens to be the current coordinator for the Plein Aire Meet-ups, so I thought this was a very productive outing!

Acrylic Class

For my birthday, my wife had gifted me an acrylic painting class at Michael's.  I had been commenting that I had been seeing a lot of plein aire painters using acrylic and that was never a class that I had taken in college. I think one of the things that has held me back was the cost, but as I looked into it more, the paint can be about the same cost as watercolor paint.  Of course that doesn't say much because prices vary SO much depending on the brand and quality of paint.  I'm still in the "cheap as you can get" stage, but the class recommended a basic starter kit including a couple of canvas boards, a brush, a palette knife, and 4 tubes of paint for around $25 (I forget if that was the price before or after the 40% off coupon at Michael's).  

The class was was on a Saturday morning and focused on painting a landscape.  I wasn't sure what to expect, having never been to a Michael's class or any painting class. The teacher had a specific paintings that she had created for us to copy.  The students got to choose which one since some of the students had come before and had already painted some of them (returning students is a good sign she's a good teacher!).  Since there were only 4-5 students in the class, the teacher was able to give each of us individual instruction and steps to work on as she walked around to the others. She walked me through each layer of the painting starting with the evergreens in the back, through the details of shadows and even the cardinal.  Luckily, she shared her plethra of paint colors because it would have been quite the challenge matching her coloring with the primary colors I had!  

The interesting thing about acrylic painting is the layering of colors to create depth, and if there is too much of one color then you add more of another. The white trees in the foreground don't have to be planned out because the paint will go right over it. There is no fear of "mistakes" because you just paint over it! This is much more forgiving than watercolor, but it does have a different effect than the watercolor process.  I'll have to consider using this for plein aire painting, but copying someone's painting is a lot different than copying nature.  And having the artist right next to me giving me pointers is always nice, too!  God just isn't as good at giving pointer's when you're copying his artwork!