Sunday Painters - tools of the trade

Making a stone wall-tools large and small

Just in case last Sunday's teapots and lavender are a bit too civilized for you, how about "finding a still life of tools"?

These were left at the work site while the masons took a break. (See my post about this location.) Zoom in for your choice of colors and sizes. Or maybe you will do an entire composition, including the rocks!

Hammers, chisels, gloves and bamboo "pipe" to blow away debris

Kubota Gardens Sketchbook

My sketchbook impressions of the day - 8/8/14

They seemed to merge with the stones. Chisels ringing, stone masons from Japan and around the country worked together at Kubota Gardens yesterday as a group of USk sketchers observed and created pages in their sketchbooks. Once in a while, a whiff of dust would come through the chain link fence as a stone worker blew it out of a granite crevice with his bamboo "straw". Cranes lifted the stones, one or two at a time, and placed them where directed by Junji and Suminori Awata, 14^th and 15^th generation stonemasons and masters of their craft. In just 14 days they will dry fit the granite into an 8 ft. base for the new Terrace Overlook.

Called Rock People Chisels, I am grateful to have shared the experience with my granddaughter and great-granddaughter yesterday.

Rock People Chisels

The sound of chisels on stone rang out over the 20 acre grounds at Kubota Gardens in Renton today. Over 300 tons of High Cascade granite will become an 8-foot high “ishi-gaki” stone base, for the new Terrace Overlook. They use the same techniques that were used to build Japanese castles before the 16^th century. It will be completed during a two week workshop with 20 participants, August 7-20, 2014 – a community effort and rich East-West cultural experience. The public is encouraged to come and share this historical event. Watch as this amazing project transpires!

Front to Back - Susan, Tina, Masons

Meanwhile, approximately a dozen Seattle Urban sketchers of all ages and experience sketched and observed in the shade of a canopy nearby. Be sure to read Tina Koyama's account of the experience and see other photos of the masons at work and the sketchbook pages created by USk. (I'm in the group photo...back row with my sunglasses still on!)  I'll post my sketchbook spread from this historical event tomorrow.

 

Making Water Portable for Sketching

Recently, I posted the first sketches of my equipment for small, portable water containers, etc.

My Portable Water System

Here's the page after I finished it today. These are the solutions I've come up with for minimal but effective ways of transporting the water you need for on location watercolor sketching.

Brushes: As you can see, some brushes come with water in a handle/reservoir, which can be squeezed out as needed to wet the paints or onto your palette or paper. Other brushes are made to fit down inside their own handle to protect the Kolinsky sable tuft. I like that the travel brushes extend to make a normal sized handle when taken out and screwed back onto the end. (Short handles make me clumsy!)

Sponges: I find that I need a synthetic sponge to regulate the water on my brush, as well as for cleanup after using my smallest travel paintboxes. The natural sponge is nonabrasive for pre-wetting the sky area, making it more receptive to soft, blended washes. (Sponges are better than tissues or paper towels because they can be rinsed clean, squeezed nearly dry, and there's no disposal problem. It's no fun trying to figure out what to do with a handful of soaking wet paper towels or tissues!)

Water Containers/Sprayers/Misters: The tiny Mister Atomizer is quite powerful and will wet down my whole palette in just one or two spritzes. With that and the water brush, I usually don't need to carry any more water for ink and wash sketches. (I use the sponge to clean off my brush between colors.)
The larger spray bottle and cap can hold enough extra water for an 8x10 or 11x15 sketch. (I pour half the water from the sprayer into the larger cap to rinse my brush.) Most times, you can refill as needed from your bottle of drinking water or a restroom faucet.

This page will be for my 2015 Sketchbook Project.

Barn Shadows

Barn Shadows - Watercolor by Michele Cooper

This is the final result after working on this composition from yesterday. It was a lot of fun working with the variety of shapes provided by the years of wear and repair on this old barn. After sketching in my sketchbooks, it was wonderful, being able to use bigger, better brushes and larger format. It's the first time I've painted this one, but I feel like I could explore it a hundred times over and get a new viewpoint each time.

"Barn Shadows" - Original Watercolor by Michele Cooper
Size: 11x 15"       Price: $200 (unframed)

Value vs. Color

Black and White iPad photo of preliminary washes

I have passed by this barn for years and wanted to paint it, but the location does not allow for easy access.

You never know what's going to happen to barns, and I am determined to find a way to paint it before anything changes.

Here's what's on the easel. I know I won't have time to do the entire painting today, so I'm only going to show you the preliminary washes in black and white. That's what I'm usually thinking about at this stage anyway. More tomorrow.................................

Sketching at Cap Sante - Anthony's Dock

Tucked under the gangway, near the boat lift at Anthony's Dock, my "sketchy" friends and I enjoyed another summer afternoon in Anacortes today. With a clear sky and temperatures in the 80's, we set up right on the water, where cool breezes refreshed us. (See more photos of our day on the ASk blog.)

It was a pleasant surprise when Kevin Paul, the Swinomish Coast Salish master carver, stopped by to chat while we painted. Coincidentally, I had just seen his totems at the houseboat docks at Lake Union recently.

Watercolor Line and Wash - Anthony's Dock, Anacortes

Below is my ink line drawing, sketch, before adding watercolor. I am really enjoying the way each medium works on the paper in my new Stillman & Birn Beta sketchbook.

Micron Pen in my Stillman & Birn Beta Sketchbook

Sunday painters – Lavender Earl Grey tea

Try a variety of arrangements and alternative viewpoints.

Last time, I found my still life on the kitchen window sill. This time, circumstances led me to it. My coffee maker was all warmed up, I went to the fridge to get milk for a latte' and......horrors!......no milk! What to do? Well, when life gives you lemons.......you slice them and put them in your iced tea!

It's been hot for us here in the Pacific NW. We've been having temperatures averaging 84°F. Add to that the fact that the lavender harvest has just peaked and the plants along my driveway still have blooms. A caffeine kick start may still be had if one makes tea, iced tea for this weather! Lavender Earl Grey seems just the right blend.

^{Remember when setting up your own still life, that appropriate objects are just the beginning. You must keep in mind that the viewpoint, compositional placement, color scheme, and lighting need to be considered. Which of the three choices above seems to work the best, in your opinion?}

Life in the rearview mirror

Micron Pen/WC Wash

Both metaphorically and literally, I was sitting in the ferry line looking back on my day at Cloudstone Sculpture Park.

Clinton Dock Ticket Booth

I still felt like actually sketching instead of serious plein air painting and decided to use materials at hand.  There was the boarding ticket for the ferry which I had just received, and my handy extra pen from my purse on the seat next to me. While waiting for the ferry, I quickly sketched the ticket booth while looking at it through my rear view mirror. Once I got home, I added a few light washes of watercolor.

Looking back...............

Portal Tomb at Carrowmore 7.28.99

Fifteen years ago, I participated in an international cultural exchange between Women Painters of Washington and women painters in Ireland and Northern Ireland. Between the two exhibits, we had time to tour the land and paint on location. I stood under a tree at the Carrowmore Megalithic Cemetery, and painted this view (above) of a tomb and the distant view of Maeve's tomb.

Work in progress on Friday at Cloudstone. 8.1.2014

 I spent a lot of time reminiscing about my trip to Ireland, while working on my sketch (above) at the Cloudstone Sculpture Park on Whidbey Island yesterday.

Cloudstone Sculpture Park

Urban Sketchers Seattle joined Whidbey Island Sketchers at a thought provoking location today.

Cloudstone Sculpture Park showcases the art of Hank Nelson. Surrounded by nature you will find works of carved stone, cast bronze, cast iron, monumental steel, and earthworks.

On Whidbey Island in the Puget Sound area of Washington, residents deeply care about indigenous trees, ground cover, watersheds, shorelines, and wildlife. While maintaining eco-stewardship Nelson creates synergistic relationships between the land and his hundred sculptures. Serpentine pathways lead visitors past great pyramids, monumental steel structures, story filled ruins, and spell binding carved stone totems. Conceptual works urge visitors to take care of our planet and our people.-quoted from Cloudstone website

The Sculptors at their work

Cloud/Stone, Earth/Sky, Man/Nature, Transience/Eternity, Growth/Decay--This place kept showing me the idea that such disparate concepts might be able to coexist.

Surrounded by shapes