Thursday, February 21, 2013

Challenge Completion...and what I Learned

Yes, I have decided my specific challenge of sketching the view out my back window is now complete.  I have 20 drawings from that series.  What about the other 10?  Well, I decided that when I was out Urban Sketching, it "counted" for the day's assignment.  I get to make the rules, after all!

I realized the last few days were becoming tedious because the challenge had been going on for 28-30 days.  I found myself looking for a slightly different viewpoint, or zeroing in on my subject.  And I also discovered as I painted the last one that certain w/c papers cause me to paint differently!  I guess that's a logical conclusion, but it became REALLY obvious to me.  So obvious that I set out to prove it, maybe!  I sketched the same scene on my favorite paper, Arches CP 140 wt.  It sure was easier to paint.  And the comparison:

The sketch below, on the left side, was done first on some "Magnani" paper.  To me, it seems flat, and it occurred because the paper was too absorbent.  The sketch on the right was done on the Arches paper.  Better, don't you think?

Soooo what's next?  I have some Urban Sketching trips coming up, both Friday and Saturday.  I am looking forward to both of them.  Friday I will be in the Burke Museum on the campus of the UW.  And Saturday, I will be in  and around St. James Cathedral on Capital Hill with the full group of Seattle Urban Sketchers.

Now I have another comparison for you all to see.  Last week, on the Seattle Urban Sketcher site, I posted a couple sketches from a session in historic "old Ballard."  Sometimes, what I see does not translate to what I sketch.  Sometimes? - more like most times!!  Anyway, I felt I had to use words to describe one sketch, because what I painted wasn't quite clear.  So I did another sketch  Now, you can judge these two sketches:



These 2 sketches are more challenging, especially as they appear here - quite miniaturized.  What I was disappointed with in the sketch on the right, is that the ivy didn't look like ivy!  And the large brick wall appears confusing.
In my redo, well, you can be the judge.

So, stay tuned here, and I will share my next set of sketches, with less analysis, and more simply living with the joie de vivre I feel!!




Friday, February 15, 2013

Having Fun with my Challenge

Seems I've been out sketching a LOT!!  It was three times this week because I built in time to sketch as I went about some other activities.  Now I must clarify one caveat I allow in my 30-day challenge, which is that I can skip my daily sketch if I happen to be out sketching somewhere else.  Thus, I have 16 sketches so far, of which I will share a few in here.  Someone asked me if I thought it helped to do this challenge, and I said yes, because 1) I sketch every day, and 2) I can try out different techniques, and styles, as well as mediums, and 3) it pushes me to be more creative, as I look at the same scene each day and contemplate different ways I can sketch it, or different parts to emphasize.
During the past two weeks, we've had fog several times.  Yes, I have painted scenes in the past, where wonderful pockets of fog create some mystery, but this fog was not like that.  Still, I thoughtI was be able to show that it WAS foggy.  However, in the 3 times I've sketched early in the morning while it's still quite foggy, I end up putting in too much color.  Still,  I will probably have some more days to "practice" fog!

This next sketch is an example of where I was a bit "bored" with the scene, so I "played" and ended up with something that strangely seems to "work!"




I want to show you one more from the series because it's quite different.  You see, I have always LOVED sketching!  I love even the feel of a pencil on good sketch paper.  And since I've started using both a Noodler's and a Lamy fountain pen, I want to sketch and sketch - anything, just to sketch!  Again, it's the joy in drawing, as well as how it feels to hold the pen and "make marks!"  So one day I set out to do some pen and ink before the usual addition of watercolor, however I just kept drawing and drawing, and soon I had a completed drawing.  I decided not to add color, except for those red berries on the holly tree!  But I'm still trying to decide whether to add some green leaves to that holly tree.  What do you think?  The jury is still out - stay tuned!


Monday, February 11, 2013

Attempted Link to my Photostream!

Take a look at my Flickr photostream!!  So I was trying to put a link to my flickr account so anyone viewing my blog could also view all my artwork on Flickr.  I thought it would post as a link on the right-hand side of the blog, but that's what I get for trying to do it on my own.  So far, my fellow-blogger, Tina Koyama, has been giving me some hints!  (Do check out her blog!) So I will get another lesson.
BUT,  I am halfway through my CHALLENGE, so maybe it is time to post the first 14 sketches!  I will do that very soon!!

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

SIX DEGREES OF SEPARATION

 You have probably heard of this phrase, the idea that we are all only separated by six degrees, (or less!)  Well, I'd like to share my experience with this truism.  It involves my grandfather, the artist Charles Burchfield, (whose painting is pictured to the left) and an immigrant who was Palestinian and born in Jerusalem.   So grab a cup of tea and let me tell you about it.

In 1990 I met my life partner, Juanita, and she was, at the time, a nurse who cared for medically-ill ICU patients in their homes.  Her best friend, Deb, was the mother of a young boy on dialysis, and so Deb also became my friend. She learned that I painted watercolors, and that I had a famous grandfather.   Deb's son died a year later, and after a two-year struggle, Deb divorced and moved her other two sons back to California, where she had grown up. She found a small home to rent that was owned by the parents of her good friend from Stanford.  Dr. Bisharat had immigrated from Jerusalem back in the late 1940's, and he studied Psychiatry in New York.  But he loved to paint watercolors, and greatly admired my grandfather.  Though a starving med-student, he was able to purchase a Burchfield watercolor by making monthly payments.

So Deb often visited Maurice and Mary Bisharat, and one day, as she walked about their home, she noticed the Burchfield painting on the wall.  Dr. B proudly told her how he had acquired it, and mentioned how highly he regarded Burchfield's work.  Do you know, Deb asked, that I am friends with his grand-daughter.  Well!   Maurice really wanted to meet me!  A year later Juanita and I visited Deb in California, so of course we went to meet Maurice and his wife.

Speaking of influence, this is a painting by my mother, Martha Richter, done in  1945, one of her earliest.

Their lovely home was full of Maurice's paintings, and I was struck by the Burchfield influence.  Maurice and I bonded almost immediately, talked art and music (he was a talented violin-maker as well!) and eventually we traded some paintings.  As we readied to leave, Maurice talked about how he had actually gone to visit my grandfather.  When was that, I asked.  He guessed it was around 1950-51.  I told Maurice I was around then,  since I lived only one mile away, and often spent time with my grandparents.  We chuckled and said our good-byes. And that was that - except when I returned to my Seattle home, I retrieved my copy of the 10,000 page transcript of my grandfather's journals.  I started reading the pages dated 1950-51 and I found an entry about Maurice!!  My grandfather wrote that a Mr. Bisharat had visited him and they spent the day in his studio.  At the end of the day they came into the house for some tea.  I WAS staying with my grandparents that day, because my grandfather then wrote:  "Peggy crawled up into Mr. B's lap and they became fast friends." !!!!!!  It was nearly 50 years later when we "reconnected!"


A painting by Maurice Bisharat