Marsh Creek

I finally broke down and bought a new paint brush. I started with my $5 set of 10 brushes from Michael's, and now I went back and bought a pointed round brush for $5. Still a far cry from the hundreds I could spend on brushes.  This new brush is very versatile. I completed this painting using just the one brush, from wash to detail work

I found a nice quiet spot in between Clayton and Brentwood off Marsh Creek Road.  Had to hop a couple of fences to get to down to the creek but well worth the hike. I love the rolling grassland in the area with majestic oaks scattered upon the hillsides. It was a great day with big puffy clouds and I was just far enough from the road that the only sound was the gurgling brook.

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! 

Sutter's Landing

 So I go to Michael's and pick up the bare essentials: a generic watercolor paint set with 12 colors, a generic set of brushes, a small palette, and a pad of watercolor paper. All for under $20, a small investment for unlimited creativity!  Add in a little applesauce cup and a piece of a car wash sponge and I was ready to go. The amount of supplies was key to be able to fit it all into my backpack and carry it where ever the whim took me.  I had a couple of hours of free time on a Saturday, I think it must have been sometime in February 2012 (that's the problem with going back and trying to remember! Ideally, I'll get caught up on this blog and be able to say "yesterday"). Anyways, the explorer in me decided to try a spot along the American River that I had not been to before - Sutter's Landing at the end of 28th Street. After checking out the area, including a dog park, picnic area, and skate park (can you tell I was procrastinating the art part of this excursion?) I finally settled down on a log along the bank, put my headphones on with some music, and started putting some paint on the paper. I don't know why I put music on, because I usually like working with just the quiet of nature around me, but it seemed to keep me focused on this particular day.

I started with the sky and worked my way down. No sketching out an outline. As I worked, I was particularly interested in capturing the reflection of the trees in the water, which meant I had to draw and exact replica of the tree I had just drawn upside-down (or at least that is what my mind told me). I tried to keep a space between the shore and the river to emphasize this reflection. There was not much color (It was March after all) other than the mistletoe bunches in the trees. The train trellis was way off in the distance (about 20th Street) but it challenged me and it became more of a focus point in the painting. The afterthought in the painting was the dead tree branch and the bank. The painting needed some balance.   It does help break up the vast sky I laid down at the beginning of my painting.

I was pleased with the first attempt of working with watercolors in 20 years. It was very relaxing and rejuvenating. I was already planning my next outing with my backpack full of painting supplies!