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 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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Shipping Large Artwork Follow- Up

Since I had to ship a very large painting to the Southern Watercolor Society show recently I thought I would do a follow-up post on my shipping artwork series.  Artist Margret Mcdermott was kind to make some comments recently on my post “Shipping Artwork FedEx Ground vs. UPS:  What I've learned,”  with some of her recent experiences.  Since I have been shipping artwork to shows for about three years now, the consensus among artists is that although we go to great lengths to try to do our research and protect our art as much as we can in the shipping process.  It is all essentially a crap shoot if we were ever to file a claim.  The kicker will be what we have determined the “declared value” to be.  Shipping companies won’t just take our word for it.  There attitude is, we are the artist, we could put any price on it we want!  I have been told by one shipping company they would take the word of an appraiser though. I don’t know of anyone that sends painting to shows that hires an appraiser to appraise their paintings!  I have heard of artists having to jump through hoops in the process of filing a claim for damages and the best we can hope for is they would accept documentation of your sales or sales records from your galleries as proof of the value of your work.

The best strategy is to pack your work as best as possible and hope for the best.  If anyone out there has filed a claim for damaged artwork. Please share your experience here in the comments section!

But I have digressed, I wanted to write a little bit about shipping a large painting!  In my article, Shipping Large Paintings: What I’ve Learned, I went into detail about how to calculate whether your box is oversized.  Instead of turning my large Air Float box into a workbench, which I had threatened to do, I did use it again to ship my painting to the Southern Watercolor Society Exhibition. I bit the bullet and just got over the fact that my painting is big and yes I was going to have to pay extra to get it there.   This time the box was sent using FedEx vs. UPS.  I just wanted to share that the charge for the box being oversizedwas less with FedEx than the UPS oversize charge the first time I used the box.

Whenever I send a painting to a show I always check the prices with FedEx and UPS in the estimate calculator, which is so easy to do if you have an account you can save all the address information so you only have to enter it once. If you are shipping work to shows I highly advise setting up an account with both companies!  It’s free, you can schedule pick ups and you don’t always have to rely on the UPS store.    In this case with my oversize box it was more economical for me to go FedEx.  Always try your own dimensions with both to see what works best for you!  Please feel free to share in the comments any knowledge  you have had with shipping so that others can learn and benefit from our experiences!

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California Art Club Gold Medal Exhibition, Hurry Only 2 Days Left

I’m finally home after an extended trip to Los Angeles, Atlanta and Savannah, Georgia.  I have lots to blog about!  I thought I would mention a few exhibitions I attended and will talk about the ones that are closing first in case you live in the area and haven’t seen them yet, you should! While in LA, my husband and I had the pleasure of seeing  the Annual Gold Medal Exhibition of the California Art Club at the Fishers Museum of Art on the USC campus.  The show closes on April 19 so only 2 more days left!   Founded in 1909 by some of the classic California painters such as William Wendt, Franz Bischoff, and Hanson Puthuff, the California Art Club is one of the oldest and most prestigious art societies in the United States.

The Gold Medal show is juried from its roster of “Artist Members,” who have been juried to reach that particular status within the organization.  Needles to say, the Gold Medal show is the piece de résistance show of the year.

I felt every painting in the show deserved to be there.  Did I like every painting in the show?  Not, necessarily like anything I have my tastes and preferences, however from a quality and execution standpoint they are all good.

If you enter shows, which I do, it is always a good idea to see these juried shows in person.  You just cant get the full effect of the work from a show catalogue or an image on the monitor.  If I had just looked at the catalogue there are a few pieces I may have just glanced at, but in person they were worth an extended look.

The other takeawayI gleaned form the show is framing is important!!! There were some killer high quality frames here that very effectively enhanced the paintings.  If you are ever juried into this show, do not skimp on your framing or your painting may reside on the lower end of the totem pole compared to the others.

If you miss the show this year, there is always next year, and in the following years if you are inclined to be a part of this great organization,  something to aspire to.

The show catalogue can be purchased from the California Art Club web site.

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Books That Inspire: Alla Prima by Richard Schmid

I’ve been sticking with my new year’s goal to spend some time reading art books every morning.  So far I have read quite a few so I thought I would start sharing and recommending a few.  One book that most artists have on their shelf is Richard Schmid’s Alla Prima: Everything I Know About Painting.  I have had this one for while but had never read it cover to cover until recently.  There is an expanded edition of this book out now, Alla Prima II, which I hear is full of a lot of new material, but this post is about the older one. Many watercolor artists may not have this book since Richard is primarily a very well-known oil painter, but honestly if you are a painter no matter what media, you will geta lot out of this book.  It’s not a how to book per sayeven though there are plenty of color plates and some work in progress photos.  However, it’s a very detailed description of how Richard paints and what he thinks about during his painting process.  All things every artist should consider to achieve their best work.  An extra added bonus is, his wit and charm comes through on the pages!

Chapters are titled:  Good Ideas and Free Advice, Direct Painting, Starting, Drawing, Values, Edges, Color and Light, Composition, Technique and The Magic.  There is so much information here it will be hard to grasp on the first read.  This will be one you will want to refer to and read again.

Richard Schmid Color Chart

One of the biggesttake away exercises from the book are his color charts.  Many artists have done them and given their thoughts.  Just Google “Richard Schmid Color Charts,” and you will get a few hits.  He has taken every color in his palette and mixed it with every other color in the palette and charted it out.  Once you compete this exercise you will know your palette  inside and out and you willhave to use as reference the color families and harmonies for each color.  Richard’s teacher and mentor Bill Mosby made him do the color charts early in his career and he says, “ The charts took only two weeks to complete and when I finished I knew more about my paint a than I had ever thought possible. It was an astonishing- imagine being taken into the kitchen of a great chef and shown everything he could do with flavors-that was what it was like for me!”

I have seen him in a video show his charts done on what appears to be foam core, and he describes how he has taken them out plein air painting.  Holding them up to the scene he is about to paint, he can identify which color family fits the scene and know exactly which colors to use and mix on his palette.

The exercise does seem tedious and may take a while to do. However,  you would really learn your palette and not only what colors you will get when all of them are mixed with each other but what they will do when mixed with white as well if you are an oil or acrylic painter.

If you have a set palette be it watercolor, oil or acrylic you could do the exercise to make your own chart of the colors you typically use and you wouldn’t have to follow Richard’s exact palette. I’m very intrigued by this and hope to do it in the future.  This would be a great exercise to do if you feel you were experiencing artist’s block.  I can’t help but think mixing all that juicy color wouldn't get one inspired to paint!

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Books About and by Mary Whyte

One of my goals for the new year was to get back to reading more books. I have found myself the past year  being more self absorbed with reading on the computer, iPad, and checking Facebook which has taken away too much  time I would normally spend reading books from my library, specifically my art books.   How did I let that happen?

Starting with the new year I have been spending a little time in the morning and during breakfast reading my art books.  Since I received the lovely book,More Than a Likeness: The Enduring Art of Mary Whyte, by Martha R. Severens, for Christmas. I started there.  After, I felt compelled to read again Painting Portraits and Figures in Watercolor by Mary Whyte.  I have skimmed and read this one several times since it is chock full of so much good information.

I don’t know of anyone who paints in watercolor and is familiar with Mary Whyte who doesn’t admire her work.  More Than a Likeness is a beautiful coffee table book that features many of Mary’s paintings from her early years, commissions, oils and many of the paintings one might be most familiar with from her “Working South” series and the paintings of life on St. Johns Island.  This is not a technique book but a lovely narrative of how Mary became the artist she is today.  It reads in chronological order from her early years as a student, how she started her art career,  to how she was inspired to paint the Gullah women on St. Johns Island, South Carolina,  to the years she spent traveling the United States to capture people that are working in dying industries in the South.

Demo Page from Painting Portraits and Figures in Watercolor

Written by Martha Severens, an art historian who served as the curator of the Gibbes Museum of Art in Charleston, South Carolina, the book captures the essence of who Mary is as a person and how her experiences have influenced her work.

Painting Portraits and Figures in Watercolor, is a more of a technique book written by Mary.  Even if you don’t paint figures or portraits, I highly recommend this book.  What you would learn you could apply to anything you would paint in watercolor.  The chapters are broken down to:

• Getting Started
• Materials & Tools
• Techniques
• Drawing
• Values
• Edges
• Color & Light
• Backgrounds
• Life as an Artist

I have put this book on my recommend reading list for my workshop students.  Her chapters on design and composition, value, edges, color and background are important aspects to the whole painting processthat many fail to consider when they start out painting regardless of the medium one would work with.  Especially if you paint in watercolor, I feel you would find both of these wonderful books inspiring!

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Good News!

It has been a great week for good news!  Lion Dance has been accepted into the Southern Watercolor Society's Annual Exhibition which will be at the Customs House Museum in Clarksville, TN. May 8-July 5. Thank you to juror Kathleen Conover for adding this piece to the show!

Mayan Gate

$1,500.00

Watercolor, Framed

14.5” x 21.5,” (37 cm x 54.5 cm)

Framed Size 21.5" x 28.5," price includes frame

Selected for the Louisiana Watercolor Society 44th International Juried Exhibition 2014

Selected for theFlorida Watercolor Society's On Line Exhibition, 2014

Selected for Pennsylvania Watercolor Society's 34th Annual Juried International Competition, 2013

Selected for the Annual Central Florida Watercolor Society Exhibition 2013 at the Terrace Gallery, City Hall, Orlando Florida

This painting was inspired by the wonderful Mayan Revival Architecture at the Maitland Art Center, Maitland Florida, designed by J. Andre Smith. 

Email me for purchase information.

Purchase

Also got word this week that Mayan Gate was accepted by juror Iain Stewart, for the 2015 Georgia Watercolor Society National Exhibition. This will be my third year (in a row) in a GWS National Exhibition, which means I will be a Signature Member. Woo Hoo! Show will be at the Ogelthorpe University Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA, March 14-April 26. I'm very honored to be in the show, and to be a Signature Member with GWS!

On an artists note, I just wanted to mention once again, if you enter competitions or have an interest to, keep trying!  Lion Dance was passed over a few times, to finally land a spot in a show.  It's never a good idea to try to second guess the taste or preference of the judge because you just never know.  It is a good idea to submit the best work that you have in your inventory at the time.  Make sure you read the prospectus carefully for size restrictions, and other criteria for EACH show.  They vary from show to show.  Keep those brushes wet and good luck!

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Plein Air Painting at Epcot, Morocco

There is a group of artists that goes out every Friday to paint at Epcot and I'm joining them to make it a "painting practice" similar to a yoga practice.  Just like yoga, it clears the mind and you feel great after you do it! I'm really enjoying it because it reminds me of watercolor sketching on my travels, and since we are painting the countries in World Showcase at Epcot, it especially feels that way!   This was my third time and already I can feel an improvement in drawing, painting and time management. (I have posted a number or my watercolor travel sketches you can see by clicking here.  You can scroll through and look at a number of older posts.)

These sessions I'm painting a bit more in detail than what I normally do in my watercolor sketch book but I'm trying to stay loose and spontaneous as I do while sketching.  It's hard not to get too caught  up in the details.

Work in Progress

I feel the key has been for me to take time with the drawing, site measuring and getting the proportions accurate.  There is nothing more frustrating than to put a really loose drawing down, start to paint then realizing there is something way off, which is what happened to me a few weeks ago.  I spent about an hour on this drawing, block in.  Knowing I was going to paint, I wasn't too detailed with the pencil work. I'm drawing with a mechanical pencil and painting on a  9 x 12 Arches Watercolor Block.

The last couple of times I stayed for two hours, this time three.  One hour dedicated to drawing and two for painting.  Having more time for the painting allowed me to get closer to a finished painting, but I still feel I have a few areas and values I would like to tweak.

I'm also being more conscious of composition and editing out details, not wanting to paint an area just because it's there if I feel it won't work in the painting.  You can see from the view that I edited out the white building on the left.  I didn't want a big white block on one side of the painting.

If you paint plein air or sketch in watercolor, I wold love for you to make comments and share any tips!

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Shipping Artwork FedEx

I recently shipped this painting to Wichita and have shipped several paintings with FedEx since I last posted several articles on shipping artwork: Shipping Artwork FedEx Ground vs. UPS, Declared Value for Shipping Artwork: What Does This Mean & What Do I Need to Know?, and Shipping Large Paintings: What I've Learned.

I wanted to add another tip that has seemed to work for me so far with the issue of the declared value and return labels.  All the shows I have been in require that you include a return shipping label with your artwork so that it can be sent back to you if it does not sell.  If you ship FedEx Ground service and you select the "return label" option to create the return label.  FedEx will only let you put a declared value of $1000 on the return.  Therefore, what do you do if your painting is worth more than $1000?  Here is how I have gotten around this issue, which has worked so far.

Do not choose the "return label" option, but save all of your data in the address book for the shipment going to the gallery or show, and then create a new label reversing the addresses.  FedEx will make you choose a shipping date for the return, which will usually always be sooner than the show will be over.  I choose the last date possible.  The reality is the return won't go into the system until the label is scanned by the driver at pick up.  So the date you put filling out the label is a moot point.  By creating this second label as opposed to indicating you want a return label on the one you create to get the work to the show, lets you put the same declared value on the painting, you had when you sent it there, instead of the FedEx default value of $1000.

If my painting is valued at less than $1000 then I go ahead and choose the return label option.  I hope this helps fellow artists. If you are new to sending your work off to various locations learning all the ins and outs of shipping can be a bit daunting!

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Plein Air Painting at Epcot

Last Friday I painted with the Walt Disney Imagineers again from one of the bridges overlooking the lake and a view of the Japan Pavilion at Epcot.  I am loving my en Plein Air Pro Easel the more I use it.  It is so easy to set up and I find it very comfortable to work on.  We had a bit of a cloudy over cast day and at one point it started to drizzle a bit, but not enough to pack up. I thought I would show  bit of a progression.  It took about 2 hours to draw and paint.  I got it to a point I feel I can finish it in the studio.  I'm working on an Arches Watercolor Block and a palette of various colors I'm experimenting with to determine a good plein air palette with the number of wells I have.

Drawing and Sky Block- In

Working in Some of the Foliage

Starting on the Pavilion and the Tori Gate

Stopping Point after 2 Hours

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