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!!

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!

ANOTHER CHALLENGE

In my last blog, I was talking about some of the challenges I've given myself in the past.  The idea behind these are to explore, to play, to stimulate my creativity, and mostly to get myself painting more, sometimes every day.  The interesting thing about my 30 day challenges is that even though I am depicting the same scene, or item each day, they always turn out differently.  I should confess that this idea isn't my own; I read about it one of my journaling books.  The idea is that where we are internally, emotionally, or even what's happening in our surroundings affects how we render a subject.

I promised some pictures of my last challenge, to depict the scene out my studio window, which faces north, towards NE 55th St.  The above two were among the first few in the series.  Hazen, my Siamese cat, would often sit next to the window, forcing me to share my small work table with him!  During the time I was doing this series, just about a year ago, we had that great snowstorm!! - And I love to paint snow scenes!!

Towards the end of the series, I had to get a little more creative, or playful, and one time I simply painted the awesome sky!!  Also,  I experimented with different techniques.

SO!  The reason I was talking about challenges is because I have decided to accept another challenge.  And I've finally decided what the subject will be:  a different view out the bedroom window, looking northwest this time.  In fact, I just finished No. 1 ( shown above.)  In this sketch, I used a Lamy Safari pen with a mix of two water-soluble inks.  Thus when I added WATERcolor, I had to work with the color I was picking up from the ink as well.  It was fun, and I want to play with this method some more.  

I hope you will follow along with me as I work on my challenge.  Perhaps you can judge as to whether I am achieving my goals of "loosening up", so that more spontaneity is evident, as well as becoming a faster sketcher.  Often when I am with the Seattle Urban Sketchers, and we have a little over 2 hours to sketch before we rejoin our group, I am barely finishing one scene, while many sketchers have done 2 or more!!  AS is often the case, I have a vision and an idea of how I want something to turn out, but that doesn't often come true!!

Oh, I am now one of the "official correspondents" for Seattle.UrbanSketchers.blogspot.com, so do go there and check out what I've posted, as well as the excellent work of my fellow Urban Sketchers.  And, stay tuned!!

WINTERTIME ART CHALLENGE

When I was perusing some of my handmade watercolor journals in order to photograph some of them for my Flickr account, I was reminded of a winter challenge I've given myself in the past.  Seems I get a little "stuck" in the winter, so several years ago while I was on staff at Holden Village <www.holdenvillage.org> I remembered something I read about setting a challenge of say 30 days of painting (or sketching) the same scene each morning.  The idea was that no page of artwork would be the same, because as artists, we bring our thoughts and emotions with us as we work, that wherever we happen "to be" (inside) does affect what we "see."

I was fortunate at the time to be living at 3000' el. in the remote North Cascades of Washington.  And I was doubly fortunate to have a front window view on the 2nd floor that looked south to the stunning Copper Basin, flanked on both sides by perfectly peaked mountains.  My view overlooked the lodges and "hotel" of the village, and the tall pine trees nearby added to the perfection of the framed scene.

So each morning for the next 30 days, I sat at my desk and painted what I saw.  Since I was also interested in the concept of where I was emotionally, I wrote a few journal notes with each sketch.  Sometimes I was up before daylight, and I could see the stars, and there was enough moonlight that I could see everything.

Well I really enjoyed the exercise, so I gave myself another challenge. When I went out of the village for a weekend, I found one of those winter cabbages at a nursery in Seattle and I brought it with me, on the 30 mile boat ride up Lake Chelan, to Lucerne, and on up the 11 mile mountain road in an old schoolbus, to Holden Village, and into my chalet apartment.  And for the next 30 days, I painted my cabbage!  What fun!  I kept the cabbage  outside, bringing it in each morning to draw.  A few times it snowed! and so I had to work fast to  get a sketch before the mound of snow on the cabbage melted!

Jump forward to October of 2011 when I created a small "studio" area in our den, so I could return to my art.  I decided to give myself a challenge again: 30 days of sketching the view out my back window, where I sit at my art desk.  Once again, it was so interesting to see how different every sketch turned out.  During those 30 days, we got a 6" snowfall!! - and I LOVE to paint snow scenes!!  Come around for my next posting, and I will share a few of the sketches from that challenge as well as a couple small paintings I did while we had snow.  Thanks for visiting my blog.