Germany Plein Air

Here is a small plein air painting of part of the Germany Pavilion at Epcot.  This one was done in two sessions. I had most of it done on the first day and then returned to lay in the background trees and add the details. I like to plein air paint in my sketchbook ( Stillman & Birn Alpha Series)  but lately I have been doing a few on paper taped to a board.  I ordered a sample pack of a variety of watercolor papers from different manufacturers to try them out.  I normally paint on Arches or Twinrocker. This one was done from an Arches watercolor block, 140 lb. I will be trying out some of the other papers in future paintings and let you know how I like them.

Check out my Travel Sketches and other Plein Air works:

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China Plein Air

This plein air painting was done at the China Pavilion at Epcot.  I had all but the last few details done on site and then finished it in the studio.  The challenge on this one was all the colorful ornamentation and details on the structure.  Therefore, this was a great exercise in indication and not getting caught up on details.  The paper on this one is one of my favorites, Twinrocker.

The day I painted this I was getting hungry I always keep a protein bar or some nuts in my bag for just such an occasion.  I had a bowl of almonds with me that day and as soon as I took the lid off of them, I had a buddy!  He was not shy in the least, as you can tell by these photos.  

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Watercolor Sketching Workshop in Winter Garden Florida

The more I teach the more I realize I love to teach!  We had a glorious weekend with the arrival of some cooler weather, which only lasted the weekend by the way, it's hot again!  I can't remember since moving to Florida seventeen years ago it ever being this hot this late in November!  I digress.... I had three lovely ladies join me for a weekend of sketching and they were great!  Sketching in the morning and afternoon is tiring and they were real troopers and really enjoyed it.

Sketching the Red Caboose and Train Station

I'm hearing from students in all of my workshops that I cover many topics that most instructors  don't discuss and they are so happy to discover and learn about!  There were quite a few light bulb moments in this workshop, which I was thrilled about!  I love that I can help others move forward with their painting/sketching practice and that I'm providing them with many take aways.

The Crooked Can Brewery, in Stillman & Birn Alpha Series Sketchbook

In this watercolor sketching workshop since we were sketching in Downtown Historic Winter Garden and focusing mostly on architecture, I covered  different perspective views, horizon lines, vanishing points, one and two point perspective and proportions.  Proportions are key, it took me a while when I first started sketching to figure out how to measure and make sure what I wanted to sketch fit on the page!  How many of you have started sketching something only to run out of room on your paper?

An added bonus for me is that while I'm explaining all of this to others I can't help but grow and improve myself!

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Japan Pagoda Plein Air

The last few months I have been sticking to my every Friday morning plein air sketching and painting practice.  I just got back from today's session, got a good start,  and this is the painting I did last Friday.  I say sketching and painting because I have this thing in my head that says if I'm working in my sketchbook it's a sketch but if I'm working on paper it's a painting.  Even though while I'm working on paper I try to psyche myself into thinking I'm only doing a sketch which makes me paint a bit looser and be less fussy. I'm also not using my easel lately and painting on a foam board or my sketchbook on my lap.   I'm still trying to balance the two concepts in my brain.  Crazy!

If you live in the central Florida area, I will be teaching a Watercolor Sketching in Plein Air Workshop in Winter Garden, Nov. 14 & 15.  

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A Couple Watercolor Sketches and some Workshops

I have been starting up again my once a week plein air watercolor sketch outing.  My goal is to user a larger sketchbook and get quicker with the drawing and looser with the painting.  I'm using a 9" x 11" Stillman & Birn, Alpha Series sketchbook.  I am really liking this painting surface.  A few of my other books have hand-made khadi paper which I also like, but I'm loving how the color is popping off the page with this smoother paper!   The Alapha Series paper is thinner than their Beta Series paper.  The advantage to that is you get more paper in the book and I'm able to watercolor sketch on both sides of the sheet with no bleed through.  That's how nice this paper is.  It's a little more like a hot press surface than a cold press paper, if you were to compare it to watercolor paper, but not as smooth and slick as some hot press papers are.

Watercolor Sketch, in a 9 x 11 Stillman & Birn Sketchbook

The main reason watercolor is my preferred medium at the moment is for my love of sketching in watercolor.  Once I did this for a number of  years I had the desire to try my hand at larger works!  My sketchbooks are like my little children, complete treasures.  I love looking through them to remind me of the memories of the places I have traveled.

If you are interested in sketching in watercolor, documenting your travels or your daily life, I will be teaching a "Sketching in Watercolor: Plein Air" Workshop" at the Winter Garden Art Association.  One this fall, November 14 & 15 and one this spring, April 11 & 12.  Leave me a comment or send me an email if you would like to register for the spring class.

My complete workshop schedule is on my web site here.

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Watercolor Sketch Cassis France

During our recent trip we stayed in Aix en Provence as our home base and drove to other villages in the area mostly in the Luberon region.  A forty five minute drive south form Aix is the lovely village of Cassis, which is absolutely beautiful. I can only imagine in the high summer season how crowed it must get there!  We spent time sketching, walking around and then took a boat tour of les calanques, which are the limestone cliffs along the Mediterranean Sea that connect Marsailles to Cassis.  The water is the most gorgeous turquoise, which photos never do justice to illustrate.

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Watercolor Sketch From Provence

Well I said I was back but I haven't posted since July 8!  It's been a bit crazy in the studio, in a good way!  I got a call to do a Disney illustration protect that has kept me busy the last few weeks.  It was a blast to do and I will share when the illustrations have been published.  This little project couldn't have been more up my alley.  More details to follow.

I thought I would share a watercolor sketch I did while in Provence.  I tried a new sketchbook on the recommendation of Iain Stewart from his workshop I took last spring.  It's a Stillman & Birn Alpha Series.  The size I got is a 9" x 12".  This is the first sketch I did in it and my first reaction was what the #$*%! I'm so used to painting on cold press rough or handmade Twinrocker paper, at first I felt really out of my comfort zone. This paper is a lot smoother.  However, as I progressed I started loving the looseness of the sketches and how the washes dried on this paper!  I'm a convert, not that I will give up on my other books and the variety of papers that are in those.  I just have a bigger repertoire now!

This is Abbey Notre-Dame de Sénanque, a 12th century abbey in a small valley near Gordes, France.

I had to re-read this book when I returned home to keep Provence more alive in my head and re-live our trip a bit.

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Greetings From Los Angeles

If you subscribe to my monthly newsletter you man know  I was headed out to LA last week.  (If you  would like to, you can by clicking here.)   I used to live here when I worked for Walt Disney Imagineering in California  and moved to Florida about fifteen years ago.  Wow, has time flown!  It's been great visiting places I used to go often and seeing old friends and meeting new friends, more on that in a future post!

Every trip I take, if I can help it, involves art!  I always check out what shows and exhibitions are at the museums in the area.  I am a museum junkie!  I also like to make time for sketching or painting.  This trip has been no exception.  I started off my week at the Gene Autry Museum or as it is referred to now as the Museum of the American West,  to see a current exhibition, Floral Journey: Native North American Beadwork.  I am a descendent from the Miami Nation and was pleasantly surprised to see a vest by Katrina Mitten also from the Miami Nation.  The Miamis are not as well-known as other Native American Nations so it was nice to see them represented.

The Museum of the American West at the Autry National Center

At the Pasadena Museum of California Art there is a wonderful exhibition on painter Armin Hansen.  I was not that familiar with his work prior to seeing the show and now I am big a fan! His color sense and brushwork are incredible.   More on this show in a future post.

The Fisher Museum of Art on the USC Campus

As luck would have it the California Art Club Gold Medal Show opened last Sunday at the Fishers Museum of Art on the USC campus.  What an amazing show.  If you are in the area I would highly recommend seeing it.

Painting in Crystal Cove, Laguna, California

Last weekend my husband and I hit the road to Laguna and plein air painted in Crystal Cove and then visited the Red Fern and De Ru's galleries that represent the classic and some contemporary California Plein Air Painters and Impressionists.

From the Hill Overlooking the Japanese Garden

Monday, I spent the afternoon plein air painting in the lovely Japanese Garden at the Huntington Gardens and Library.  I adore this place and used to go often when I lived here.

I'm winding up my trip and have a few more art happenings planned before I go home.  Stay tuned.  I will expand on a few things in more detailed posts in the next few weeks.

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Day 2 of the Three Painting in Five Days Facebook Challenge

DAY 2 of the 3 paintings in 5 days challenge…I postedthree watercolor sketches from my travel journals. I use two sizes of books 8 x 6 and a 10 x 7, one brush, sometimes two, a large round and a flat,  and a small Windsor & Newton travel palette. If you want to know more about my sketching set up you can read a previous post here. Keeping these journals resulted in my passion and path to painting in watercolor!  These mean more to me than any photo I have taken and looking through them occasionally brings back so many fond memories.

Chedi Beach, Phuket Thailand, Watercolor Sketch

Angkor Wat, Siem Reap, Cambodia, Watercolor Sketch

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Good News for the New Year

Star Struck

$500.00

Watercolor 

Mounted on Archival Board with 2" Wood Edge

12" x 12" x 2,"  (30.5 cm x 30.5 cm x 5cm)

Accepted into the 2015 Women Painters of the Southeast Annual Exhibition at the Blue Ridge Arts Association, Blue Ridge, Georgia

Inspired by the light and cast shadows on a bromeliad. 

Email me for purchase information.

Purchase

Happy New Year!  The year has gotten off to a great start!  I received word that Star Struck  has been accepted to the 4th Annual Juried Exhibition of The Women Painters of the Southeast.  So honored to be in the show with so many fabulous artists who do representational work in a variety of media.  This year the show will be at the Blue Ridge Arts Association,  420 West Main Street, Blue Ridge, Georgia.  Dates are April 3-May 1.  This is the third year in a row I have been in this show!

I'm teaching my "Bold & Dynamic Watercolor Workshop" at the 127 SoBo Gallery/Winter Garden Art Association.  Sat. & Sun. Feb. 7 & 8.  This 2 day workshop is packed with information on planning, designing, and composing a painting, all the nuances of painting in watercolor; papers, brushes, pigments, and lot's of helpful tips. The painting we will be painting, is Star Struck!  For more information and to register click here.

Lately I have broken away from my monogamous painting practice and am working on several paintings at once.  I've got a few plein air starts I want to continue to develop, one new larger work, and a 12" x 12" painting.  Will share with you all when they are completed.

In the mean time, I hope everyone's year is also off to a great start.  If you set resolutions or goals, I hope you have had a chance to contemplate what you would like to accomplish this year.  Last year I set a few goals and didn't write them down.  Some I accomplished and some  I didn't.  This year I've written them down and hope to integrate them in my calendar for the year by keeping them in my face!

I would also like to thank all my family, friends,  and followers of my blog, for all your support!  Your kind words and comments are greatly appreciated and mean a lot!

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