Pre-Work Sketching Sessions
When I first started my health and wellness journey, I walked. I walked around my city. I walked around parks. I walked at the mall. But pretty often I stopped at Salem Willows. Frequently just called “The Willows” around here. I’d stop there and walk from the free parking lot around the Willows and sometimes around Winter Island. It’s beautiful and the history is pretty nifty.
As I work to rebuild my knee strength I need those easy walks again. So I decided to head back to the start. The Willows features some really beautiful scenery and safe paved walking paths. So I walk a bit and look for a spot to make some en plein air images.
I’ve been a bit obsessed with Dead Horse Beach for years. It’s the name but when I first visited the beach there were pieces of old stuff from around The Willows. That stuff- mostly weird poured concrete with rebar embedded in it has greatly worn down over the last 25 years.* But the interesting scenery remains.
The process for these images is pretty simple- walk, find a spot to draw and paint, look through the viewfinder, sketch with pencil, add watercolor, let it dry a bit, add pastels, colored pencils, etc…
The above images were the first in this series. I realized that I was pretty focused on realism here and not my usual vibes. I was getting frustrated that my watercolor travel palette has only 9 colors and that I only carry a handful of colored pencils.
Again realistic colors, but a bit of a push for myself to use purple and dark blue in the shadows. I had to push myself to ignore watercolor advice I’d gotten over the years to build up layers. I leaned into adding in some teal colored pencil and white paint marker.
In this image I pushed myself more. The retaining wall (the curved piece that spans the page) is yellow ochre in real life, but I didn’t have yellow ochre on my palette. I did have yellow and blue and red oxide. I used what I had to get the value and shadows. It’s cool and shadowed and the tide line is darker. The trees have deep darks and bright yellow highlights. I used some pastels to add in some of the real colors. This one feels like I’m getting there, even if the sketch isn’t great.
This one I really pushed the colors of the watercolor sketch and then added in more soft pastel than I have previously. I’m really trying to get the vibes. More purple for the shadows and I like the layered sky. It feels the way the sky did that day- hazy with distant clouds.
This one feels more like vibes not realism. Yes it’s based in the reality of what is there, but I definitely mashed up what I saw into something that feels like the view. I’m not sure that makes total sense, but in this image I was really pushing the colors and the shadows. More purples in the shadows and more lighter lights. It took me a bit to get the correct colors for the distant tree line, but I feel like the green gray color is a good one to get that distant hazy look.
Up until this image all the images have been 6x9inches this one is 8.5×11 inches. FOr this one I didn’t intend to add pastel I meant to leave it just black and white. I started off with a black water soluble gel crayon and a water brush. I added in white with chalk. Simple. Pretty effective. Then I wanted to add in some blue for the sky so I added in Neocolor 2s and used water to blend them. I liked how the color worked with the brown paper** so I decided to add in pastels. I REALLY like this one.
Each morning when I go out to walk and make art I feel like I’m hitting a new milestone with how I’m capturing the scene.
*I just realized it’s been 25 years.
** I’ve got to do a whole post on this paper.
More Studio Clean Up
The studio clean up stalled last week because of my knee situation.* But I’m moving better and was back at it today.
I have lost count of the number of trash bags I have taken out of the basement. A lot, we’ll go with that. Many. I have been able to keep track of the recycling because well, the sanitation workers are still on strike, so recycling is still not being picked up.**
It’s a LOT of recycling.
Not all the recycling is coming out of the art studio, as I’ve mentioned previously, I’m also cleaning out some other hobby supplies on the other side of the basement, mainly beer and wine and mead brewing supplies. 5 gallon carboys take up a lot of space. I have gotten all the wine bottles out and onto the curb where people may or may not take them.
We had under utilized the space under the stairs and I cleaned that out completely and now have 5 of the 6 larger totes stashed there. 3 of the 5 have paper in them. I might need to evaluate my paper situation.
I also went through my plastic drawers and consolidated a lot of stuff into a few of the drawers. I was then able to move some stuff like small sketchbooks and en plein air supplies into 2 of the drawers.
I discovered that on one of my large shelves I have shipping supplies stashed, in sizes that I no longer use or will find useful. These will get moved off the shelf so that my cardboard drying rack can have a home as well as a few other supplies in totes. I have the dehumidifier running and I’m moving an air filter down there to help with the basement smell.
The bench top is getting more and more clear. I can see the bench in some sections. On more than one occasion I have looked at the stuff on there and thought, I could toss all that. But I won’t because some of it is still good stuff.
At this point i think I need one or two more weekends of work to get the studio to a actual workable set up. Probably 2 week ends before it’s more organized than not.
It’s going to take a lot longer to get the tool situation of the other side of the basement taken care of. Also we are now selling the VW Rabbit and that needs some love before it can be sold, namely, I have to fix the rear hatch lock issue. It’s a fiddly bit of annoying electrical nonsense, and honestly, I’m one step away from buying a whole new rear wiring harness and calling it good.
That said, despite my knee I’m making progress on both sides of the studio and feeling pretty hopeful that I can use it for art making soon.
The idea is that each bin houses only one art method’s supplies. So bookbinding stuff goes in one bin, paint making in another bin, acrylic markers in another, watercolor in another, and so on…
I am really looking forward to getting fully set up in the studio and making some art. Continue reading
The Pochade Box
I recently inherited a lovely little 6x8inch pochade box. It was hand built in 2014 by a dude named Douglas Smith.
The box is compact and has been used sparingly. The artist tended to work much larger than 5×8, but if you’ve been here a minute you know I LOVE working around that size.
The box arrived well built and in great barely used condition.
But if you’ve been here a minute you know I’m not going to use anything straight out of the box. I made a few changes.
First I attached a swiss arca tripod mount. (Similar to this one.)
Then I used 2 friction hinges to update the hinge situation. It arrived with 2 cute brass hinges and an arm that holds the easel section upright. I wanted more versatility in angles. They were easy to install and look okay. They aren’t as pretty as the original brass hinges. I probably could have installed just one hinge in the middle and left the original brass hinges, but through that would look funny. The friction hinges have mixed reviews. They are perfect for this kind of install- they aren’t hidden so they don’t need to fold back flat on themselves and the friction is adjustable. Yes they are plastic and metal would be better, but these were cheap for a lot of them.
The box arrived with a simple and nice enough handle. It’s got brass attachment points and a plastic handle that moves. I will be replacing this with a small strip of nice heavy duty leather in a dark brown shade.
I immediately cut down some chipboard to fit into the wet panel and painting area of the box. It will hold 6 pieces of chipboard with watercolor taped to the center area. In my case I’m attaching watercolor postcards. After all I still have 200+ cards. I suspect I could tape up to both sides of the panels and double the number of painting surfaces. In the end i went with one card per board since I will be working mixed media and don’t want to take a chance that I damage any of the images I’ll be making.
In packing the pochade box I’m figuring out what mixed media I want to include in the box itself and what i want in a separate pack that I can easily bundle with the pochade box. Currently I have 2 different watercolor palettes and a handful of colored pencils. I think I need to add in some oil and chalk pastels. I’m also bundling up a sketchbook pack that I’ll detail here soon.
Thumbnails and Studies
During one of my last few videos I mentioned thumbnail sketches and how they are useful for developing a final art piece. Today I went to the beach and since my knee is still in a brace and I am hobbling around* I decided to park my butt on a beach blanket** and make some thumbnails.
I decided to do several different types of thumbnails or studies:
Notan– A thumbnail that ONLY looks at black and white. That is the darkest darks of the scene. You can sketch all the darker areas in black if you want.Not the greatest Notan ever, but got an idea of the bands of dark and where the lightest lights are.
I added a few too many details for this to be a true Notan thumbnail.
Value– These have a range of shades of gray PLUS black and white. Value thumbnails can also be done larger in what is called a study.I used dark and light green to get different lights and darks.
Color– a color thumbnail looks at a range of colors in the scene. It may or may not take value and tones into consideration. These can also be done as a study. This color study captures some of the colors here.
It is important to differentiate between a thumbnail and a study. A thumbnail should be small, not much larger and 2 or 3 inches on the longest edge. While a study may be much larger. Some folx who work very large might make several larger studies at 8×10 inches or even larger. A study is almost always smaller than the final piece.This is a mixed media color study.
It is important to make your thumbnails and studies in the same aspect ratio as the final piece. I have had several images that I’ve created the thumbnail and sketches in a 3×4 ration while I’ve ended up making the piece closer to 2×3 or 1×1. The image never quite works properly when I try to translate the image from one ratio to another. It can be done but I like to keep those ratios close to the final piece.
Materials used in these:
- Blackwing Pencil and Muji 2mm Clutch Pencil
- Black water soluble gel crayon
- Various watercolor boxes
- Colored pencils
- Chalk Pencils
- Neocolor1
- Sketchbook
- Pochade Box
- Watercolor postcards
A few things I realized here- I’m sticking to attempting to capture “real” landscape colors which is not my favorite. I really need to get back to “my” color sense when it comes to landscapes. I like the mixed media the most on cold pressed and rough watercolor paper.
The thumbnails are especially helpful when I am not sticking to fully depicting reality. They help me organize what is there to something more interesting on the page.
Thumbnails– help me explore the scene and start figuring out the composition in a quick way that doesn’t waste a lot of paper. To me, it is thinking on paper. These are done on cheap paper because I make a lot of them. I fit 4 to a page but I might make 8 or 12 of them before I find a composition I like.
Studies– solidify that thinking into what might be what the final piece looks like but might be discarded. They further evolve the value and colors and composition of the piece. The color and value interact to move the eye around the image. When I make a study I can decide if I want to go further with the image or not.
I’m talking about these in the sense of a painting but I use a similar set of thumbnails and studies when I’m making prints. Especially if I’m doing layers of color. So even though I’m discussing painting I’m using painting as a general fill in for other forms of art making.
*I screwed up my knee on a eBoard that wasn’t even turned on. I’m feeling a lot better. Range of motion is better but still painful and stiff. I’m several weeks out from riding my bike and will likely need to wear a brace for the rest of the summer. I have a referral with an orthopedist at the sports med place associated with my DR office.
**It’s really a polyester tarp IMO. There are dozens of these sorts of super lightweight tarps all over Amazon sold as “beach blankets.” But when you get them they are polyester tarps. This is the one we were using today and I liked it well enough. This is the one I keep in my bike bag when I’m on longer rides and know I’ll be stopping for a snack or coffee outside.
Studio Clean Up
I’ve been posting about this on Threads and BlueSky, but it needs a whole post.
We bought our house almost 20 years ago. One of the things I decided I wanted in any place we’d buy was a studio space. We fell in love with this house and a section of the basement was divided off from the rest of the basement, it even had a workbench and shelves. Perfect.
I used it, and it appeared regularly in my videos, daily. Up until I went to grad school. Then I was too busy to use it. Though it still was used to stash my supplies. Then I started my new career and it was used less and less.
It became a dumping ground for all things art supplies and tools. Over the last few years it’s really piled up. We also had a pipe burst on the other side of the basement. Continue reading
Brown Paper or Chipboard and Drawing on Trash
I really delight in drawing on things that are worthless. One of my favorite surfaces for drawing is the kraft paper that many companies use for packaging. Amazon’s kraft paper is wonderful for drawing on. It’s thin and rough and holds a LOT of charcoal or graphite or whatever else I throw at it.
That said most of that stuff isn’t acid free or archival in anyway.
Now I’m not super hardcore about making sure that all my work is on acid free or archival materials. In my opinion, my sketches don’t need to last forever, just long enough for me to use them. The difficult part is that I often find myself wanting to make more final art on paper that has the same characteristics as that trash paper.
I recently discovered the Guerilla Painter Cartón panels. These panels are essentially a special archival version of carton cardboard. Fun!
But damn, expensive. Six sheets for $12, $2 a sheet. That’s a lost cheaper than a wood or canvas panel but feels super pricey for sketches that might not ever be used for anything. I can get similarly sized canvas wrapped panels on Amazon for $1 a panel.
I also use kraft colored paper with kids- it’s a great sketching tool. They add the darkest darks with black ink or charcoal and the lights with white charcoal or gouache.
So I need cheap but okay quality.
The chipboard I ended up ordering is available (as of this writing) in 100 sheet packages, boasts being acid free, made in the USA of recycled materials, and is 22point in weight. It’s roughly 20 cents per sheet! The one downside to it is that it arrives packaged in clear plastic but with a hard plastic band around the stack. The band damages a few edges. I used the damaged sheets anyway.
I would estimate the weight of this paper to be about 120lb. Apparently cardboard and chipboard are measured by thickness not weight like paper. Which makes total sense given how it is used. They compare 22point to being the equivalent thickness of 6 sheets of standard copy paper.
This chipboard is not fully rigid. It’s a bit soft and flexible much like 140lb watercolor paper. Since I’m working with a clipboard this works for me. However if I were planning to work without my clipboard I’d pick up a package of 50 or 80 point. While still affordable, the cost does increase substantially. While the 22point is around 20 cents a sheet the 80 point is 90 cents a sheet. The 50 point is about 50 cents a sheet.
Why switch it up? Why not just use the kraft paper I get in packages? Well, when it comes to making art for myself or in sketchbooks I’m fine with drawing on trash and if it doesn’t last. However when I make art with the hopes of selling it or gifting it, I want it to last. That kraft paper is going to start to break down pretty quickly. The color will change when exposed to light and the paper will turn crispy and crumble fast.
I’m really loving this kinda rough pulpy chipboard and think it’s a decent alternative to the board that Guerilla Painter offers. However I would say that if you are planning on using chipboard for oils, oil pastels, or even acrylic paint it will need to be sealed with gesso or something like Golden’s GAC200. For oil pastels and even chalk pastels you can increase the amount of tooth with some Liquitex Clear Gesso.
Oils from oil paint and pastels will eventually eat away the fibers and break down even acid free paper. While the absorbency of the paper will make acrylics difficult to move around the paper until a layer of acrylic is built up and the paper is sealed.
Another thing to note for ordering chipboard, a lot of the offerings have additional sizes. These sizes do no correspond to typical art sizes. The card is used in manufacturing and packaging. The sizes available correspond to envelope and packaging sizes, no our more traditional art sizes.
Values Journaling Check In
My values journaling session at the end of 2024 led me to really think about what I want and need from life. I realized through that session that I wanted to put a focus on my own art making and art career.
As a result of this I started to look for artist residencies and grants and opportunities to be more involved in my local art scene.
I missed out on most of the residencies for this year, but I will be applying for residencies next year. I was able to apply for and get into a printmaking workshop as professional development for my DayJob. More on that in another post. I am treating it like a mini residency.
I also missed out on most of the grant opportunities for 2025. I will be looking at grants for next year and the year after that.
I joined a local art association. It has not raised it’s membership cost in many years. It is very affordable. The association is also offering studio spaces inside of the association building. I can also run classes and workshops there WITH association approval. I’m exploring my options.
Joining the art association has been interesting. I joined in on the spring show and won 3rd place for mini art works. I can now say I’m an award winning artist!
Following up on all of this, I have not used my studio space at home in many years. Probably grad school. Due to lighting it has always been more of a storage space. But through grad school and covid it has become a dumping ground for all art supplies and it’s an abysmal mess. The whole basement is a mess.
With my next few days off I’m starting the process of cleaning and organizing the studio space. This means I need to also organize the whole basement. There are bike parts in the studio and art supplies in the non-studio part of the basement. There’s a long reach pruner and kayak stuff in the art studio.
I need to set up a charging station for all my outdoor supplies and get it out of the art studio. (The saw and pruner are in the art studio due to an easily accessible outlet.) I’ve got a table that I used for potting up plants that is now covered in tools that I never put away plus parts and pieces of various stuff that needs to get organized and put away.
Last night after work I brought the speaker out, turned up the music*, and cleared a path through the studio space. I need to really get into the stuff and get some bins to really organize the space though. Getting the path through the space was the most important first step. From that path I made some piles- garbage, recycling, good but donation, and move to a new location.
I also realized this spring that I have seasons with the materials I like to use. But overall I’m a huge fan of watercolors, gelli plates, and bougie oil pastels. So you’ll see more of all that. I also happened to get a whole bunch of en plein air supplies that will work with a lot of my favorite materials so I’m working on some set ups that will work with my bike set up. I will attempt to remember to take pictures.
Honestly I’d like to know when I got so bad at taking pictures of my progress.
Microburst
We had severe thunderstorm warnings for my area last Sunday. I had been getting the alerts on my weather app for the whole day. We felt the wind pick up and my phone started to buzz with warning about wind and lightening. I ran around the house closing windows and was closing the window on the street side of our kitchen when I saw the wind start to change.
The wind started to rip branches off the tree in front of our house and they started to swirl upward. I quickly closed the window and told my wife we needed to get into the basement. We were headed down when we heard a loud bang.
After the bang the noise of the wind changed and when I looked out it was pouring rain straight down and the wind had all but stopped. And the tree in front of our house was on the sidewalk.
Several things happened all at once- a window shade snapped up, four sections of the neighbor’s fence exploded outward, the other neighbor’s porch was pulled away from their house, a metal barrel was blown into our old car, and the tree fell. All this when tornado force winds howled. It was a cacophony of destruction.
We were lucky. The tree fell away from the car. It missed the power, cable, and phone lines to the house and it didn’t touch the street lines either. Our roof is fine, as is our chimney. Our porch is still attached to the house.
The wind pulled some of the aluminum capping away from the trim. I think a section of fence his the new car because there is a small dent on the rear driver’s side door. There was a scuff that wiped off on the passenger’s side door from a trash barrel that blew up my driveway.
On one side of us, one neighbor lost 4 sections of fence. On the other side their roof is trash, their 2nd floor porch ripped away from their house and has to be rebuilt, and one person lost their car though many more were dented and damaged. One house was damaged by a tree falling into it.
There’s a section of my regular bike route where trees are broken in half and others are just gone.
That said the morning after the city had removed the tree and by the time I returned from work they had cleaned up and patched the sidewalk.
A few days later whatever is left of the Weather Service confirmed that we’d had a microburst event
The story in 3 images:
I have an art post but have been preoccupied with this and a few other things, mostly the DayJob.
Rust
During my last foraging walk on the beach I found a large chunk of what I thought was a nice brown rock, I am always looking for brown rocks. Burnt umber is one of my favorite colors. It turns out the brown rock was a chunk of steel coated in a thick rocky coating of rust and sand.
Awesome. I collected it.
I washed it clean of surface sand and salt.
Then I smashed it with a hammer to roughly coffee bean sized.
Very satisfying.
Of course I did not take a single picture of any of these steps, though I did accidentally take a picture of the rust blob through a rock identification app.
From the hammer smashing part I then followed the same steps as brick- it got run through 2 steps of coffee grinder- one at french press size and again at espresso size.
I ended up having to let the french press sized particles dry on a plate for a few hours. When the rock is too damp it binds up the grinder- even when I use a drill to expedite the process.
I process my rocks damp to cut down on dust, but there is a fine line for too little and too much water.
My pigment isn’t dry yet, but the yield was pretty low especially when compared to brick. But then I think everything will pale in comparison to the yield of brick. The color so far is a nice deep brown.