Chex mix, berry trifle

We recently visited the Ohio Glass Museum, arriving too late for the tour, but just in time to view the holiday gift shop offerings.  A few shelves of interesting, inexpensive Anchor Hocking pieces were stacked in the back, behind aisles of colorful blown glass.
I picked up a sturdy trifle bowl for $6.00, and a few days later, layered my first trifle. Prepared ingredients made it easy.  The next time, I want to try making the components from scratch.

My mother sometimes made Chex mix to snack on, when we started off on family vacations. I decided to make it this holiday season, for old times' sake.

(I can tell my sketching practice has been neglected, when "hairy lines" creep onto the page.)

Green thoughts

Jill Weber, an illustrator living in rural Vermont, teaches one of my favorite Sketchbook Skool classes. She makes little books with stories from her life. I miss summer greens, in this week’s frigid weather, and thought of her garden book.

One of January’s garden tasks is to pore over nursery catalogs, planning orders for spring planting.

More: Behind the scenes with Jill Weber

"Art Haul"

Breakfast at Bob Evans

Kuretake Gansai Tambi Starry Colors

My "art hauls" usually consist of one or two items purchased online or at a local art/craft supply store (often on sale, clearance, or with a 40% off coupon), just enough to anticipate a new way to play with mark making.
This time, it was Kuretake Gansai Tambi Starry Colors,  which I used in the ornaments depicted above. The six shades of sparkly gold appeared gaudy until the Advent season; then suddenly, they fit. The metallic paint, while rather opaque for watercolor, retained a surprising amount of sheen when dry.

The top sketch also shows a couple tables of friends engrossed in breakfast conversation, at the local Bob Evans.

Friends, memories, feelings

These were sketched after watching illustrator Marloes De Vries's Sketchbook Skool class, a month ago.
1. The first assignment was an experience. The identifying caption in that sketch required kept it private.
2. The second, shown here at the top of the page, was to draw a few friends, reduced to simple lines and labels. (I doubt anyone here can be identified! I am having a hard time remembering who they were intended to portray, myself.)
3. Childhood home, from memory.
4. Internal (art) critic.
5. A feeling. (This was while listening to Willie Nelson's Down Yonder, even though I mistakenly wrote Bandera in the note here. I think it features his sister, Bobbie, on the piano. The whole Red Headed Stranger album is great.)

This type of drawing can be very therapeutic.

Dublin Green, November

This is a quick sketch of the west side strip of the new Dublin Green shopping center being built. I over worked it once I got home, losing some of the tonal gradient, getting too busy with the bricks. The windows became too dark. Sometimes you just enjoy laying down lines and pigment, even when you know you're done.

Experiment

I am not into drawing from imagination, but had been confined to home for a few days, so gave it a try. 

This sketch was a mix of impressions left after viewing Ohn Mar Win's Sketchbook Skool class and listening to the Areopagus podcast interview of actor Jonathan Jackson. It turned into a bit of pattern play.

Ohn Mar's sketchbooks contain several pages of depictions of sea animals.
In one of her demos, she lets shades of blue and green watercolor mingle to form a background, then layers an abstract design over it, using blue and white Posca markers.

Father Andrew Damick, one of the podcast interviewers, appears to keep an aquarium in his office. (Patience as an attribute of love surfaced during the Jackson interview.)

My white gel pens had been in various stages of drying out; this was partly an exercise in trying different methods to revive them. I used a few colors of Staedtler triplus fineliners, for the aquatic plants and jellyfish.

Focus objects

A few weeks ago I was homebound, ill; I drew my reading lamp, finding the curve of its adjustable neck interesting.
The lower sketch was influenced by the floral demo included in Ohn Mar Win’s Sketchbook Skool class. I had purchased a few spring bulbs, and was imagining how they would look in April.

Poppies

Toward the end of last week, I drew poppies in remembrance of lives lost in World War I.

"In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place;...." John McCrae

Gettysburg

Little Round Top, just below the Maine wall

We visited Gettysburg National Park and Museum. I hardly know what to say; the scope of suffering during and after the battle is humanly incomprehensible.

 Gettysburg museum, from the refreshment deck

Hard Road Library

So far, my major Inktober accomplishment has been the (overdue) cleaning and inking of my fountain pens. Drawings are being done with both them and the dip pen, but knowing they will not necessarily be posted gives more freedom to experiment.

This one is from the end of September. The dots in the upper left hand corner came through from the next page, blots from shaking a just-filled pen to get it started.

Watercolor Sketching and Journaling

Last night I went to the first art league meeting of the "new year." Members shared art work and photography done over the past summer.

The last participant had been too busy to create in her customary format, but had found Gay Kraeger's Strathmore watercolor journaling classes on Youtube, and shared her own sketchbook, applying the lessons. Gay's classes are a great introduction to the practice of  keeping an illustrated journal. She also offers a class on Craftsy, which overlaps the Youtube material.

Watercolor sketching and journaling (Youtube)
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4

Watercolor artist Cathy Johnson also did a good Youtube series for Strathmore. She offers online classes through her website and contributes to Sketchbook Skool's Seeing class.

Watercolor sketching (Youtube)
Part 1, Bonus
Part 2, Bonus
Part 3, Bonus
Part 4 , Bonus

In addition, Cathy offers tutorials on her youtube channel: Cathy Johnson.

Coffman Skate Park building

This building next to the skate park appears to house restrooms for skaters and users of the coming platform tennis and basketball courts. It looks like a concession stand, so maybe there are additional long term plans for it.

burning bush

The other day I saw a row of euonymus alatus, beginning to turn. Fall is in the air.

Wet in wet watercolor, followed by ink, then a little watercolor pencil.

carrot cake, fries

Rows of beautiful desserts line the display case at Panini Opa. Here I drew the carrot cake, as I waited in line.
The fries are always good. (The foil-wrapped gyro next to them needs a little work.)

fire hydrant

This Lowes fire hydrant unintentionally turned out looking a little like a fireman holding a hose (made of the yellow line running down the middle of the street).

Palette

Current palette

Tonya just posted a palette review over at Scratchmade Journal, so I'll post an update of mine here. I keep coming back to the Sennelier half pan sampler set of six. It measures about 8.5 by 3.5 inches.
I ordered 25 empty half pans from Kremer Pigments, removed the plastic insert, and used Loctite Fun-Tak to fasten the extra pans in.
 
I made a brief detour with the Alvin Heritage palette, but never became comfortable using it. I like the Sennelier's portability, enamel mixing areas, and the flexibility to rearrange the pigments and choose pan size. Might even be able to get some brushes in there.

Autumn is here

Fall in Ohio brings pumpkins, chrysanthemums, and Buckeye football.

Rolls

A few weeks ago, we enjoyed a meal amid the fun retro decor of the new Cap City Diner.
Parking was free across the street, at the Longshore Garage.


Bar stool

Wonky purse drawing

My REI cross-body bag lost its longer strap a few years ago. The lightweight fabric was easy on my shoulder. I'm getting to the age where it's hard to get rid of the familiar; newer is rarely better, as it used to be.

That Micron fineliner has seen better days, too. I got a few for the urban sketching workshop last spring, and have been using them the past few months. I still prefer the smooth flow of the Lamy Joy's nib across the page.

Sweet autumn clematis

The sweet autumn clematis is blooming with wild abandon once more--as it has every fall, without fail, at both our houses.

The aging grill, huddled beneath its cover, looks like a little black ghost, awaiting Halloween.

This was my first try at using masking fluid. The contents of my three-year- old jar have taken on the consistency of marshmallow crème, so it went on in clumps. I used a small, inexpensive craft brush to apply it. Waiting through the drying time does add a significant amount of time to the sketching process, as I expected.

Montage

On this day we ate breakfast out, ran errands, then took a drive to Sunbury, to see St. Barnabas the Apostle Orthodox Church. It's always interesting to see how an Orthodox congregation adapts a (previously occupied) building for worship and congregational life. The large flower garden at the foot of the exterior cross, backed by a sunny yellow cement wall, evoked Easter morning.
*******
The guy in the lower right corner, lolling against the dessert display case, was on staff at Jason's Deli that evening, awaiting the supper rush.

Beefsteak tomatoes

This was a good year for tomatoes from our back flower bed. These are some of the last.

Drive-thru

During busy lunch hours, Chick-Fil-A demonstrates amazingly efficient coordination of staff, along its drive-thru queue. The first takes orders; the second gives receipts as you round the corner of the building; the third delivers drinks and small orders from the open window, back along the waiting line of vehicles. A driver with a large order doesn't slow the flow. (A flagpole goes up the middle of the sketch.)

Farm market

Yutzy's farm market added an open air fruit and vegetable barn this summer. Garage doors are raised on the west side, allowing easy unloading of produce and air circulation.

WIndow

Vase

I can always find five minutes and something to draw at Amigos.

I'm not sure why all the vases in the front windows have a hole through the middle. I recently saw a vase of this shape in a décor advertisement, so it must be a style.

Under construction

Dublin Green

The new Dublin Green Bibibop will share a building with the recently opened Tim Horton's. A busy construction crew wove a tapestry of wires, pipes, and tools between a foreground of cloud and asphalt reflections and a background of pink insulation.

A man raked soil around a large tree, just planted in one of the islands of the Dublin Green T.J. Maxx/Home Goods parking lot.

Summer Days

View from Potbelly patio

The flower baskets no longer hang from the railing; the large planter is now filled with a mass of white petunias, not so tempting to draw.
This patio is a nice place from which to watch the world go by, humming along the thoroughfare across the pond.
I'm always surprised not more people choose to enjoy it. They may not realize it's tucked away in the back, or just be in a hurry at lunch hour, which seems to be the busiest time here.

I needed more time to work on getting the right shades of green for the water, somewhat grayer than this, reflecting grass and trees.

Textures

These are textures and materials viewed from the Kroger parking lot: awning, brick, bicycle rack, bushes, shingles, stone (with downspout), faux gable window.
When I was young, we shopped at a Kroger built on the edge of a parking lot decked with sculptures of the Seven Wonders of the World. Those were the days.

Further reading about Ivan Pusecker, Walk of Wonders artist:
Pusecker family featured at Church at Mill Run

Panini Opa

Another quick sketch of the egg basket lights at Panini Opa. The longer you look at them, the more you notice the differences.

Flowers on front porch

This summer we have amaryllis, purple cosmos, pink verbena, pink geraniums, and yellow kalanchoe in pots out on the porch. A few inches of lantana leaves survive; a small animal nibbled away the petunias. It doesn't look like the gladioli, free nursery leftovers planted late, will bloom. Pink roses and golden stella d'oro are blooming in the front flower bed.

Bibibop

Bibibop is one of our new favorites. The interior is light and bright, and the food nutritious. They have a short assembly line, where staff add ingredients to your bowl as directed, similar to Piada and Chipotle. We are happy a new one will be opening fairly close to our house, in a couple months. Free miso soup.

Here, I just quickly played with angles, sketching from the car. I also tried to pay attention to tones. Within four letters, I managed to commit what Roz Stendahl calls a "write-o". So it goes.

My somewhat-new shoes

The heel of one of the soles came loose, on my old walking shoes, so I bought another pair.

Sometimes, as here, I enjoy using the blue Koh-I-Noor Magic Pencil over gray.

The John Deere Year

The Miami Valley Threshers reunion meets in Plain City, mid-July, every year. A highlight is the parade. This year's featured manufacturer was John Deere, with entries ranging from lawn mowers to full-size tractors. Some pulled wagons loaded with friends and family. Once in awhile, a red Farmall chugged past. My Farmall sketch is a bit messy, because I accidentally (automatically) painted it green, then had to correct it.

Some vehicles displayed signs advertising services or upcoming events. I didn't see nearly as many antique, or even old, tractors as in previous years. The elderly farmers have been leaving us.

The steady pace made sketching a challenge. Each tractor was slightly different than the one before. I found the variation in air intake and exhaust pipes (on top) interesting. Overhead trees dispersed the early summer evening light, eliminating shadows.

View from Darree Fields, in the rain

The Darree Fields park was nearly deserted on a recent rainy afternoon. We meandered around to the far end of the parking lots, and looked across a grassy lawn to see a few silos, partially obscured by a hill of gravel. At the time, I thought they must be those by the elevator at Kileville, but later figured out from the map that they are probably along Houchard Road. Heavy rain and hail began to pound the windshield a few minutes into the drawing, so couldn't see much depth or detail.

Churches

Fellowship Baptist Church, after the rain, 6/23

St. Brigid's Catholic Church, 6/26

Northwest Presbyterian Church, 6/28

First Presbyterian Church, Ada, Ohio
7/2



I find the churches in this area the most interesting buildings to draw, because architects seemed to place a higher value on beauty than with other modern buildings.

As usual, when I change sketchbooks, I find it difficult to adjust to the new paper. I liked the large Stillman & Birn Alpha I used a few years ago. The size of this Stillman & Birn A5 feels a bit cramped, and the paper doesn't take as much water as the Pentallic Nature Sketch I had been using. I used a little colored pencil over the watercolor on St. Brigid's, and a little pastel pencil on Northwest Presbyterian. (It was difficult to add watercolor layers, to get an even wash with a water brush, and to get pages to lie flat while photographing.)

I have learned from ArtTutor.com, that in order to improve my sketches, I will have to:
(1) Use heavier weight watercolor paper
(2) Give up the water brush
(3) Dedicate larger blocks of time to a piece
(4) Sometimes practice specific techniques working from photographs, where I can focus on difficult elements of a scene, over a period of time.
(5) Stay out of art supply stores; use the time to practice and improve
(6) Clear a space on my art table to actually work
(7) Get over my fear of masking fluid
(8) Become more comfortable working wet-in-wet
(9) Reduce dependence on ink lines to establish form
(10) Hold mark making tool further from the tip
(11) Try mixing more on the paper and less on the palette
(12) Experiment with glazing
(13) Consider negative shapes
(14) Try to fit sketching into a time of day when there are more shadows
(15) Draw thumbnails before sketching; consider options
(16) Experiment with limited palettes
(17) Be willing to sacrifice a great deal of pigment in the Pencil sharpener and the water jar.
(18) Work larger
(19) Use fresh paint

Urban Sketchers - Columbus

Urban Sketchers recognized its Columbus chapter this past December. A November Dispatch article introduced the group:
Artists are drawn together regularly to sketch public scenes, connect

Further reading: The Art of Urban Sketching, by Gabriel Campanario.
USKSingapore 2015 handouts
Video:
Sketchbook Skool interview of Jason Das, former USK president: What Is Urban Sketching?
Nina Johansson's intro to her sketches of Gaudi's  Sagrada Familia.

The view from here

Sketchbooks, 2014-1017

Daler Rowney Cachet

Fabriano Venezia

Moleskine: Planner, Watercolor

Pentallic Nature Sketch (spiral)

Stillman & Birn: Alpha, Beta (spiral)

Strathmore: Visual Journal (spiral), Toned Tan (spiral), Mixed Media (500 series)



Rogation Days

From Steve Roud's The English Year, p. 176-177:

Rogationtide is the Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday immediately preceding Ascension Day, the 40th day after Easter Sunday.....It was traditionally the time for the faithful to go in procession around the parish, led by the clergy, carrying crosses and banners, giving thanks to God, and blessing the fields, crops, and animals. This three-day festival was inaugurated in Gaul, in the late fifth century, ostensibly as a direct response to a period of earthquakes, crop failures, and other disasters, and from there it spread to Rome and on to other parts of the Christian world. It was introduced to the English Church in 747 [A.D.], and came to be known as Rogation, from the Latin rogare, 'to ask or beseech'.
The division of the country into parishes also took place about this time, and although it is not clear when it happened, the procession to bless the fields came to include the notion of checking the parish boundaries, and what is now called 'beating the bounds' was born....

Ascension Day will be Thursday, May 25, this year. This blog continues to take its name from the annual practice of walking the parish boundaries, in the days just prior to it.

Plateau

I've reached a sketching plateau, over the past few months. The shift to the opacity of casein threw the gaps in my skill into high relief, so I have subscribed to ArtTutor.com, a British online art instruction service.  I'm pleased with the quality of teaching, value for the cost, ease of use, and  opportunity to interact with other students. The discipline of practice is up to me.

Note:  Art Tutor offers free instruction on its youtube channel, and coupons toward subscription content to followers on Facebook.

Experiment

Rose Red, Titanium White, Ivory Black

I am playing with Richeson Casein for the month of April.  James Gurney and Stephen Quiller like it, but not many contemporary artists seem to use it.

I am not used to opaque paint, so am at square one.  It is milk-based, and does not re-wet like watercolor and gouache, so you have to squeeze out only the amount you will use in one sitting.

I am using the paint in a Canson Montval 5.5 x 8.5, cold press, 140 lb, twelve-sheet watercolor tablet I had on the shelf. (I plan to use both sides of each page.) I read it is hard on brushes, so picked up an inexpensive set of Artist's Loft craft brushes. I am starting with freezer paper, clipped to a drawing board, for a palette.

The picture is of a prepared background using Rose Red, Titanium White, and Ivory Black.

Messy pages

Eggs

This messy, mixed media page began late at night. The object that reflected the most lamp light was the white egg timer (now gone over several times with chalk and white pastel, in an attempt to reclaim the lost white).

The next day, that sketch reminded me of an egg carton I opened a few days ago, to find one brown and eleven white eggs. I sketched it from memory, painted it with gouache, then prepared the lowest rectangle of the page with golden water color to match the table the timer sits on.

The chicks were an accident. I was drawing a border of eggs cracked open, and the far left one developed a beak and an eye, so I added legs and two chick siblings. (One of my earliest memories is being chased by the neighbors' barnyard chickens, when I tried to pet their baby chicks. The screen door swung shut behind me just after the first pecks landed; nerve endings sealed the memory.)

Today, I drew another carton from observation, then two of those eggs as they fried. (A row of narrow, protective cardboard cones ran between the two rows.) I used pastel pencils, colored pencil, and white charcoal, maybe even a little graphite.

I dug out a lino stamp I carved last year, inked it brown, and added its pattern to the page.

Sorry if the photo is not clear. I am still figuring out an alternative to the defunct Blogger app.

Artist, book maker, and Sketchbook Skool teacher Roz Stendahl:

I view my journal as a workbook for my brain. It’s a place for experimentation. In fact I feel so strongly about this that if I don’t get a really messy page every four or five pages I feel that I’m not pushing myself hard enough. 

The journal is a place for me to not only write down and draw what I see in my daily life, but to reflect upon it and to experiment and to develop new skills. Drawing skills, writing skills, to just work.

The Pentallic Nature Sketch journal is nearly filled. I have gotten my money's worth out of it. 

Irish blessing, in memory of an Irish friend, on St. Patrick's Day

May the road rise to meet you...                                                  

May the wind be ever at your back....

May the sun shine warm upon your face...

The rains fall soft upon your fields...

May the prayers of those whose lives you've touched...

Whose hearts you've wared...

Light your way into the arms of the Good God...

Who has awaited your coming lo these many years...

And when, together, you sit to learn...

The many reasons God is grateful that you have lived...

May God reward you by bringing you into the company...

Of all those whose love has fashioned you...

Into the wonderful person you are...

May our Gracious God hold you now and forever...

In the palm of His hand.

Lenten Sketchbook: Paul Soupiset

Drawing Close // Documentary on Illustrator Paul Soupiset from Isenhower Productions on Vimeo.

Artist Paul Soupiset sketches, designs, and illustrates from his community in San Antonio, TX.

Shelves

A few weeks ago, I read an article offering free home decor ideas. You can give your bathroom towels a spa look by rolling them rather than folding them.

Star

Someone recently gave me a belated Christmas gift, a chocolate-filled star, another reminder of the Nativity story. The candy, wrapped in colorful foil, was delicious. Now I will remember it for years.

I sketched very little the week or two after Christmas. Then, my Lamy Joy fountain pen appeared to have become clogged. Maybe I left it lying flat too long? I rinsed it; it revived, but reluctantly, scratching, skipping. I gave it a break and used a few other pens for a week or so: the Platinum Carbon, the new Lamy Safari (stilled filled with a cartridge of water-soluble ink), the tinted Uniball Vision Elite.

Then the light returned; the days got longer. Suddenly, the Lamy Joy began writing smoothly again. The line seems a bit wider. The right, familiar tools make a big difference in comfort and keeping a habit.
*******
Today is a gold star day: the three-year anniversary of my beginning to keep an illustrated journal. My first drawing was a tiny thumbnail sketch of our poster of the Grand Haven pier.

Incense

It was trendy to burn incense in the 70's. I had a little burner I used a few times back then. Eastern Orthodox Christians still burn it today, part of their (sensory-rich) worship services--or to accompany prayers at home. I ordered some, along with a burner and a roll of charcoal, from Legacy Icons to see what it's like. The burner is a work of art--the frankincense kit, tactile and beautiful. I am fascinated we can come so close to this physical element of the Nativity story, one of the gifts of the magi.

Video: How to burn incense

The mystery of art

Jonathan Jackson, The Mystery of Art: Becoming an Artist in the Image of God, Clergy-Laity Congress, Greek Orthodox Church in America,  Nashville,  2016.

Seek silence. Listen for the still, small voice. "The whole world is a sacrament."

Gala apples

Another pattern, this time with watercolor. I painted yellow circles, gave them time to dry, then added a watery glaze of cool or warm red. After the glaze dried, I added stems with a Uniball Vision Elite pen, and shadows at their bases with neutral mixes left on the palette, adding a little purple.

As an afterthought, I sketched in part of our new wire fruit basket across the bottom, from memory.
Pentallic Nature Sketch.

Getting back in the groove

More gouache and pen

A further riff on Koosje Koene's gouache and pen exercise, this time inspired by a bag of Trader Joe's tangerines picked up yesterday.

Pigments:

M. Graham gouache, Gamboge and Pyrrol Red

Holbein yellow (contaminated with Holbein blue, which I found interesting)

Pen: Uniball Vision Fine
Paper: Cachet (Daler Rowney) 4x6 sketchbook, final page

Veronica Lawlor (Sketchbook Skool teacher), in a recent interview about the challenges of sketching in winter, mentions drawing patterns from observation. These are not from direct, specific observation, but were inspired by actual seeing, peeling, and tasting. I think of patterns as training wheels, to get back into the groove of sketching after the holidays.

Recommended reading: John Muir Laws, The Enemy of the Good: moving beyond perfectionism

Gouache and pen

This exercise is based on Koosje Koene's gouache and pen demo in her Draw Tip Tuesday video today. I didn't finish the pears off with internal patterns, as she did. I copied her mix of blue and yellow (but skipped white),  and left highlights. The dried out Holbein gouache I used was thin upon reactivation, and created interesting shading on the lightweight paper.
This page is the next-to-last left in my 4x6 Cachet sketchbook, used mostly for tv sketching, with dry media.

Pen: Uniball Vision Fine

(Greenery is Pantone's color of the year for 2017.)