Sketchbook Sailboat

Sailboat in Marina - sketchbook

I think this summer will be a time for enjoying sketching and exploring water and reflections. I have two books on the subject of painting water and I will be trying a few of the demo's in both Lakes and Rivers , and Painting Water where I will try to capture some of the scenes around me.

Some smaller works

Three small 5" x 5" Blue Heron paintings

SOLD

In preperation for a couple of holiday bazaar's I'm going to be involved in, I've been working on some small bird paintings. One show is on the 29th of November here on the Island, and the other is a larger two day event starting with First Friday the following week on both the 5th and 6th.

Catching up on a few things

I'm too late to post this one on Karin Jurick's "Different Strokes blog, but I am trying to catch up and paint the ones I've missed anyway - just to give them a try. I find I tend to get bogged down with the detail of some of the photo's she uses, so trying to simplify is a challenge for me. A good challenge none the less.

Also, I recently sent out my first newsletter. I thought I might send my newsletters out via snail mail but with the price of stamps I now think e-mail is the best way. This is a photo of my newsletter I printed out. I have notes all over so I won't forget how I did certain things I felt worked.

Karin Jurick's newest blog:

Who doesn't love the work of the very talented Karin Jurick. Karin recently started a new blog titled different strokes from different folks. Every Wednesday she posts a new picture for folks to try their hand at. I hope to participate on a weekly basis and post my attempt at painting from her photo here each week. Click on the link to check out all the entries.

7 1/4" x 8 1/4" Watercolor and ink

Completed - Foggy Island Bridge

SOLD Foggy Island Bridge 22" x 30" watercolor

Finally .... after thinking about this scene for such a long time, I've completed this full sheet watercolor.

Scenes such as this, with the fog and the green trees, are pretty typical of the Pacific Northwest. When I'm out and about seeing these types of landscapes, they almost take my breath away. I wouldn't want to live any where else.

A full sheet in the works..........

Step one.. pencil lines and first washes

This is a full sheet watercolor I started some time ago. Just saying that makes me think I should write the date I start a new piece on the back. Not knowing the exact date, you should just take my word, it has been some time ago. The painting will be of the bridge to Harstine Island on a foggy day. The fog is pretty thick. You can't see much of the bridge or the Island. Only the beginning and some of the boat ramp this side of the bridge. In the first photo you see I have laid down a few very light washes of an indigo mix on top of my pencil drawing. At this stage, seeing the drawing on the paper, I wonder if the composition will work. It looked fine before I got it on the paper. The ususal self doubt is starting to take over.

Second stage - a few washes plus some large shapes.

In this photo you can see numerous light washes have been added since the initial drawing and washes, helping to give a foggy look to the painting so far. I have started giving shape to a few trees and the structure of the bridge. At the boat landing, this side of the bridge, I will need to pay close attention to so that it doesn't take on too much weight.

I'm hoping by posting these photo's and blogging about this painting, I'll start working on it. I have noticed before that after I start a painting those doubts come as to "can I paint this?" etc. I need to learn from this and just let the doubt come and then move forward ... after all it's only paper and watercolor.