Plein Air Sidewalk

 This is the view out the south window of my studio. We have been having some fantastic sunny weather here in the Pacific NW.  I'm sitting at my desk, working on ......desk stuff....and the urge to go out and paint is irresistible.



 I've spent some time making a contour drawing with a 2b pencil on 140# D'Arches watercolor paper.

Whew! these black pants are burning me up! No time!

Now for the rest of my setup! I have so many outdoor painting kits, you wouldn't believe! Just search this blog for descriptions of a few (watercolor outdoor kit, and/or plein air).

So what do I use for painting 4 feet away from the studio? A camp chair, cardboard box, folding palette, two or three brushes and a water container. I just flick the excess water off my brush into the bushes, no need for a sponge.

Gotta stop, haul everything back into the studio, shower, change and zip off for my night class at SVC. Weather's supposed to be good tomorrow, so I'll take this up again then. I'll update this post with the finished painting as soon as it's done.
Stay tuned! :-

It took a while, but here is the finished painting.

Cat Sketches - Line and Wash

This is half of a page of sketches I did of cats. The large one is pencil and the others are pen, all on 140 lb watercolor paper.  The small ones are diptychs, paintings meant to be viewed as two together. The concept is opposites.

What kind of titles would you give them?
Tune in tomorrow to see the watercolor "wash" part of line & wash. :-)

Spring sketch

From the Watercolor Sketchbook
Original Pen, Pencil & Wash  7"x9.5"
$50

"Is she still there?"
"Um hmm."

Monday at Pike Place, Pencil Sketch

Pike Place sketch, pencil
Original 7"x10" (two facing pages)

This is typical of my quick pencil sketches in preparation for a watercolor painting. It takes only about 10 minutes or less. I use this method to work out my composition, capture fleeting effects of light and shadow and eliminate unnecessary detail.