This was in the early morning and the fog was drifting in off the ocean.
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Road Sketch 13
This was in the early morning and the fog was drifting in off the ocean.
Friday, July 29, 2011
Road Sketch 12
With my last few paintings before my trip, I decided to commemorate one of my favorite drives, and one that unfortunately I won't be able to take again this year - that is Highway 1, up the California coast! These memories are even more precious because my data card was defective on that trip and scrambled 90% of the images! The next few paintings are from the photos I still have from that drive.
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Road Sketch 11
Twilight is a magical time, full of muted blues and greens.
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Road Sketch 10
The diffused light was reflecting off the road in this stormy afternoon view. I liked how the road glowed brighter than the sky.
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Road Sketch 9
I allowed a bit of fantasy into this one - the blue hills in the distance came out rather light and looked exactly like water... so I let it be water! I think it works very well with the dramatic sky.
Monday, July 25, 2011
Road Sketch 8
This was on the way home from Kerrville, in the evening when the sun is lighting up the cliffs.
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Road Sketch 7
The road haze was so intriguing I had to do another. I'll definitely be looking for this phenomenon during our trip this summer, and hopefully will have a few more sketches like this in upcoming weeks.
I think this scene was approaching the intersection of 188 at the Sinton bypass.
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Road Sketch 6
There are roads in south Texas that fan out from the gulf coast; they're long, straight and (mostly) empty, now that IH35 is a more convenient route to the coast for most travelers. I prefer these lonely roads. In the morning there's a glow in the sky and a shimmer of 'road haze' on the horizon that's mesmerizing! I've always wanted to paint that. I think I captured it pretty well here.
Friday, July 22, 2011
Road Sketch 5
I'm starting to get the hang of this watercolor a bit more. I felt this one didn't 'need' any ink enhancement.
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Road Sketch 4
These colored ink (marker)accents are fun, but I'm not sure I like them in the landscapes. Sort of reminds me of the old-fashioned illustrations for ad design mockups... Maybe I'll try it with a figure sketch sometime. For these I think I'll go back to just watercolor. I really like the look of the colored pencil, but it took so long!
Why not pastel, you ask? Well I really want to develop something I can handle easily in various locales, stack up, toss into my bag, use as a bookmark (well, maybe) without the hassle of glassine or some other covering. To me, these will be 'travel sketches', and as such, should be able to travel easily. Although, I feel myself weakening, and will probably take along at least one good set of pastel pencils...
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Road Sketch 2
I'm having fun with this new little series so far. This one I tried colored pencil. Since I'm not on the road yet, but still 'trying' this out, I'm using reference photos from my huge collection of travels.
This one is somewhere in Texas, that's all I know!
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Road Sketch
I recently found a bunch of mat 'centers' that were cut out of some 8x10 mats that I used to float some small 3x5 paintings in. Since I can't stand thowing anything away that might have some use, I decided to see how one would take watercolor. Worked pretty well, and I really like the beveled edges!
My real thought behind this trial was the possibility of taking several along on my next road trip, and I'm trying different media to see which might be the least cumbersome to handle on my lap in a vehicle (as a passenger, of course! ;) I may try colored pencil next, although I like the speed and fluidity of the watercolor.
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
"Blanca"
It's not a llama - it's that much cuter cousin, the alpaca. And how much cuter can you get than a baby alpaca? Well, maybe a baby alpaca all fluffed up for winter - but this one still had short hair...
Monday, July 11, 2011
Sunday, July 10, 2011
"Humphrey"
I wonder what he was listening to, off to his right?
Sometimes I wish I had ears like a burro - I bet I'd hear better...
Friday, July 8, 2011
"Scamp"
"Scamp" (pastel, 7x5in) available at The Gallery at Round Top
Another beautiful coat. I have no idea what kind of cow this is (a mix?) bit I do love the coat!
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Tobias
So here's Tobias, my answer to my daughter's possession of Timothy. While this image was still fresh and inspiring, I flipped the photo and did another over the weekend. Different lighting, cooler background (to match his eye!)
Monday, July 4, 2011
Timothy
I couldn't resist adding this cute fella to my animal portrait series. My daughter couldn't resist him either - so we struck a deal. She gets to hang him in her room until she gets tired of looking at him, then I get to sell him.
(The last painting she did that with she kept for 5 years....! I think I might paint another cute rabbit this week.)
(Audrey tired of Timothy, so he's now available at Cactus Jack's!)
Saturday, July 2, 2011
Maisie
Another in my ongoing series of small cow portraits. (Meaning the portraits are small, not necessarily the cows.) "Maisie" will be with me at the Rockport Art Fest this weekend, and hopefully will not be coming back home!
Friday, July 1, 2011
Garden Pond
Here's the last of my paintings from the Richard McKinley workshop. This one was painted (completely) on top of my "Notan" underpainting, which got quite dark and horrid looking! Good thing about pastel, you can always cover up the underpainting if you need to!
(See my IAPS post on my new Art Journal blog to read about Richard's workshop and 'notan'.)