Mud Puddle

Yesterday I took my car to the shop because it needed an inspection. The rain was pouring down. There wasn't much space in the waiting room. So I sat under the awning out back between an old rusty engine and a forklift.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcAwJcvTTe-_k2pT4oIOyuzNZytihyphenhyphenA8Tts86YJNuKr7XT0eSdgb26V14gUILBiE9aJjMpagaw3pDMHJ07HlB_SaSIsmKi0wPF_5_FREw5AsyN82xqFAgIIv_31Mq6S3dYoI53VM9Lt4Y/s1600/Rain+Puddle.sm.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcAwJcvTTe-_k2pT4oIOyuzNZytihyphenhyphenA8Tts86YJNuKr7XT0eSdgb26V14gUILBiE9aJjMpagaw3pDMHJ07HlB_SaSIsmKi0wPF_5_FREw5AsyN82xqFAgIIv_31Mq6S3dYoI53VM9Lt4Y/s400/Rain+Puddle.sm.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />While I waited, I sketched the mud puddle beside me. The rain streamed off the corrugated roof  and splashed the water, making big bubbles. The puddle was a sea of overlapping ripples.<br /><br />I used watercolor and water-soluble colored pencils, scratching through the white vertical lines when I got home.

Mud Puddle

Yesterday I took my car to the shop because it needed an inspection. The rain was pouring down. There wasn't much space in the waiting r...

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Almost a Miniature Mom

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWecFnUzxh_SRuQZ_dxISNjCWAfpo8EtuKOXdEM7QrYURcPHA_CBH-vnrdQv6bTFkFtwNfkfpdHmLFp1MTft0Dpz27rvR0uTaPDbfOgteldQyNL8-7AuGuYq3uIXr4PXbERk7Mmd53-BY/s1600/Skye.sm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a>Everyone at the farm was hoping that Skye, the miniature horse, would have her foal by Mother’s Day. But she’s not there quite yet.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWecFnUzxh_SRuQZ_dxISNjCWAfpo8EtuKOXdEM7QrYURcPHA_CBH-vnrdQv6bTFkFtwNfkfpdHmLFp1MTft0Dpz27rvR0uTaPDbfOgteldQyNL8-7AuGuYq3uIXr4PXbERk7Mmd53-BY/s1600/Skye.sm.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWecFnUzxh_SRuQZ_dxISNjCWAfpo8EtuKOXdEM7QrYURcPHA_CBH-vnrdQv6bTFkFtwNfkfpdHmLFp1MTft0Dpz27rvR0uTaPDbfOgteldQyNL8-7AuGuYq3uIXr4PXbERk7Mmd53-BY/s400/Skye.sm.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />She looks pretty uncomfortable. She stands uneasily and looks around every once in a while to see who’s doing all that kicking inside her.<br /><br />Her patience will be rewarded. Three cheers for Skye! And thanks to moms everywhere for what you go through to make the rest of our lives possible!

Almost a Miniature Mom

Everyone at the farm was hoping that Skye, the miniature horse, would have her foal by Mother’s Day. But she’s not there quite yet. She look...

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Palatine Farmstead

Last Sunday I did a plein-air painting/drawing of the Palatine Farmstead, a historic home in the Hudson Valley of New York State.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmFT_dhBCMV1OYughfl0NoQVUnLOLfmV0cFUUtm82436Or6X2MJXk98d69ZfJoJWtv6fZb5YRi25P9oOFmB94kf3kp-eeLV0PJ2gYBwKWDo2lg7GJON7qhLqYJoOADBVbDF-CXheV9L8I/s1600/Palatine_Homestead.sm.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmFT_dhBCMV1OYughfl0NoQVUnLOLfmV0cFUUtm82436Or6X2MJXk98d69ZfJoJWtv6fZb5YRi25P9oOFmB94kf3kp-eeLV0PJ2gYBwKWDo2lg7GJON7qhLqYJoOADBVbDF-CXheV9L8I/s400/Palatine_Homestead.sm.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />The house dates back to about 1770. It’s one of the last surviving buildings from the Palatine German settlers, who came to the region after being uprooted by the Thirty Year’s War and lured to the New World by the British crown.<br /><br />Until about a decade ago, a very old woman lived in the house with no plumbing or electricity. After her death, the house was donated to a historical society. A careful restoration project is underway to repair the damage from water, fire, rot, and bees. The back of the house, shown in this view, had to be almost totally reconstructed.<br /><br />I wanted to do a present-day view with a retrospective flavor, so I turned to a monochrome treatment, using sepia watercolor and water-soluble colored pencils. It is 6 x 9.5 inches (15x 24 cm) on a large size (about 8 x 11") Moleskine watercolor sketchbook.<br /><br />After drawing the lay-in with pencil, I covered the whole surface with a light wash of tone, leaving only the sunlit white planes of the house on the left. Then I drybrushed and detailed as much as I could with sable brushes, switching over to the colored pencil for the finer lines.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE_LrzZkM21uNOa73EecewvX5xtruC150qFHwPGOO6_kB9iDojCd0I5dj5bzg2J6Lf9MntLudMqglR5I6rVCGEPafOjSlXRW9N_W-Evy7k-0iZOS2cUTuhPFwHSN3RhwNbNDYXiVFgwDg/s1600/Palatine.det.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="303" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE_LrzZkM21uNOa73EecewvX5xtruC150qFHwPGOO6_kB9iDojCd0I5dj5bzg2J6Lf9MntLudMqglR5I6rVCGEPafOjSlXRW9N_W-Evy7k-0iZOS2cUTuhPFwHSN3RhwNbNDYXiVFgwDg/s400/Palatine.det.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />Here’s a closeup showing how the pencil and the watercolor combine to describe details like the chipping paint, the clapboards, the shutters, and the branches. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.quitmanpreservation.org/palatine.htm">Photos of the house and restoration.</a><br /><a href="http://www.moleskinerie.com/">Moleskine sketchbooks </a>

Palatine Farmstead

Last Sunday I did a plein-air painting/drawing of the Palatine Farmstead, a historic home in the Hudson Valley of New York State. The house ...

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Museum of Comparative Zoology

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh95u3_gCXsanfviUZZKy0XodUWnWczeK_EnaJasdS-MF6Mfc-fn2MAeErlUIYE_PbVfEtIZhRHKfZZwayUStwruPqAwlg4tUtuObohOfjvfA7-d1Pm_Io3KPLhwH54-NpKVnTNI9fEV6k/s1600/Bison.sm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="http://www.mcz.harvard.edu/">The Museum of Comparative Zoology</a> is part of Harvard University’s Museum of Natural History  in Cambridge, Massachusetts.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitPmkeo1sKIVSdTBH0OV6SJux_8uGNc4E4Alx0kSORjkp_x3cWdaCwByDSXSojeppSGVkcthcYky67kwMj4YvGw3AOQ8II7mo0cvLtEBGY3xio0YfOOEjOQNSCB4rOMy1ilo9_LOAv7qg/s1600/Bison.sm.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a> <br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh95u3_gCXsanfviUZZKy0XodUWnWczeK_EnaJasdS-MF6Mfc-fn2MAeErlUIYE_PbVfEtIZhRHKfZZwayUStwruPqAwlg4tUtuObohOfjvfA7-d1Pm_Io3KPLhwH54-NpKVnTNI9fEV6k/s1600/Bison.sm.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="281" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh95u3_gCXsanfviUZZKy0XodUWnWczeK_EnaJasdS-MF6Mfc-fn2MAeErlUIYE_PbVfEtIZhRHKfZZwayUStwruPqAwlg4tUtuObohOfjvfA7-d1Pm_Io3KPLhwH54-NpKVnTNI9fEV6k/s400/Bison.sm.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />The collection was formed in 1859, beginning with the work of naturalist Louis Agassiz (1807-1873). It is one of the oldest and most extensive natural history collection on display in the western hemisphere.<br /><br />It’s an animal sketcher’s paradise because there’s a huge collection of skeletons and taxidermy animals on display in glass cases with simple backgrounds. <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi1BLsKo3oFrhSkEVZ1HdTVZctROiubaWl14F0flQdm4Rdjei3W8nymeuasActRfrtqS2AV2B8fwv1bRO81a3rPRl9qXIzRFl9iTpDp71mJMX41FTiLxdfeFsKiTxQQ8Gp8ITQ2PUWvig/s1600/Museum_of_Comparative_Zoology.sm.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi1BLsKo3oFrhSkEVZ1HdTVZctROiubaWl14F0flQdm4Rdjei3W8nymeuasActRfrtqS2AV2B8fwv1bRO81a3rPRl9qXIzRFl9iTpDp71mJMX41FTiLxdfeFsKiTxQQ8Gp8ITQ2PUWvig/s320/Museum_of_Comparative_Zoology.sm.jpg" width="177" /></a>In the back room (which is less traveled), the skeleton and mounts are displayed side by side. If you’re lucky, you can find a folding stool or a chair or bring your own, which is allowed as long as you don’t block the corridors. <br /><br />There’s everything ranging from a whale skeleton to a case of hummingbirds. Because the mounts are old, some of them are a little weird looking or cracking, which adds an odd vibe to the experience. <br /><br />There’s an exhibit right now on color in the animal kingdom, and another on animal headgear--meaning mostly antlers and horns of wild deer and sheep. Part of the $9.00 museum admission is the Peabody anthropology museum and the world renowned Blaschka Glass Flowers collection.<br /><br />My sketch of bison is done in watercolor and water-soluble colored pencils in a Moleskine watercolor sketchbook.<br />-------<br /><a href="http://www.mcz.harvard.edu/">Museum of Comparative Zoology website</a><br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Museum_of_Comparative_Zoology">Wikipedia's entry on the museum</a>

Museum of Comparative Zoology

The Museum of Comparative Zoology is part of Harvard University’s Museum of Natural History  in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The collection w...

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Tunisia

A few days ago, the people of Tunisia ousted Ben Ali, who had been dictator there for more than two decades.<br /><br />I visited Tunisia two years ago on a sketching expedition. My friend Alan Foster and I took a trip by hired car from Tunis to the Roman ruins at Dougga. <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZfvbfqHR-CQ-I0JMAt4Mw7ryJsAqR5RsVSHzs_Fuvk0hOHDJy7aPAYR_GddJVFcyiL7IhQE5YQAweFWV1y-wXIgWYgrkHKQNC83m_fveFRJaBIuV0rk-6ot1qDXrzwj_Ud81mt9MYQ18/s1600/Gurney.Dougga.sm.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZfvbfqHR-CQ-I0JMAt4Mw7ryJsAqR5RsVSHzs_Fuvk0hOHDJy7aPAYR_GddJVFcyiL7IhQE5YQAweFWV1y-wXIgWYgrkHKQNC83m_fveFRJaBIuV0rk-6ot1qDXrzwj_Ud81mt9MYQ18/s400/Gurney.Dougga.sm.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />We arrived at Dougga at the end of the day. We had the whole place to ourselves, except for a lonely shepherd and a flock of sheep.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil2mPn8-r9UUvmZwsNVLc3eWdNSZL_cOPE08CjpC7ktioNlclpvZvXu8LhLc5grIXvbbmq2PDuUoGJSqsRrMkZPHT1aMeEi-jNp6J7KcNK7-qeX1XNQnh00IapkDtEibVza6tsfIVUViw/s1600/Dougga.sm.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil2mPn8-r9UUvmZwsNVLc3eWdNSZL_cOPE08CjpC7ktioNlclpvZvXu8LhLc5grIXvbbmq2PDuUoGJSqsRrMkZPHT1aMeEi-jNp6J7KcNK7-qeX1XNQnh00IapkDtEibVza6tsfIVUViw/s400/Dougga.sm.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />The sun was setting red in the west, and I had to hurry to finish the painting. Just as I was putting on the last touches, a flock of birds l broke free from the peak of the temple and headed up into the sky. <br /><br />When the current troubles subside, I hope that visitors will return. The Tunisians are a wonderful people, and the country is full of rare beauties for artists to admire.

Tunisia

A few days ago, the people of Tunisia ousted Ben Ali, who had been dictator there for more than two decades. I visited Tunisia two years ago...

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Mutter and Growl

Eyewitnesses said that when John Singer Sargent painted in watercolor, he “groaned, swore (if no ladies were present), exclaimed, whistled to keep his spirits up, growled in rage when things went wrong, and then shouted in triumph as he completed his work to his satisfaction. It was a noisy performance.”<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvjvKgU2Xu4YmoKmIaCCL5rpYLpKaETzrlqgfKr4wfus8tCcQhTvu0nreF2CZYVUIc3LaFmjVLtwDLY2dA8WshoJ1mxOUs_9l9ckV_NdEOgBa1QJuo5kQf77BkWi4dcVfWHS6KvkTjmUlE/s1600/Sargent_In_the_tyrol.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="251" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvjvKgU2Xu4YmoKmIaCCL5rpYLpKaETzrlqgfKr4wfus8tCcQhTvu0nreF2CZYVUIc3LaFmjVLtwDLY2dA8WshoJ1mxOUs_9l9ckV_NdEOgBa1QJuo5kQf77BkWi4dcVfWHS6KvkTjmUlE/s400/Sargent_In_the_tyrol.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />Another observer noted that he talked to himself: “This is impossible,” Mr. Sargent muttered. “You can’t do it. Why do you try these things? You know it’s hopeless. It can’t be done.” <br /><br />Then: “Yes, it can, yes, it can, it can be done—my God, I’ve done it.”<br />--------<br />From <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Art-New-History-Paul-Johnson/dp/0060530758/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1291233204&sr=1-1">“Art: A New History,” by Paul Johnson,</a> page 521.<br />Image: "In the Tyrol," 1904, 21 x 13 inches, image courtesy <a href="http://www.artrenewal.org/pages/artwork.php?artworkid=27531&size=large">Art Renewal Center.</a>

Mutter and Growl

Eyewitnesses said that when John Singer Sargent painted in watercolor, he “groaned, swore (if no ladies were present), exclaimed, whistled t...

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The Marais

Around the city of Bourges, France, is a vast system of marshes and canals called the Marais. The low land has been reclaimed as allotments for gardeners, who grow swiss chard and lettuce.<br /><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1LF_w0hnFyEc4gtufNO_Ga_DMTUay_6OcGy7sv16p87oomFAuiZiwiq4CZVNg2bt0KKJpTj3wsm2mR8ggv6r2kFjosEipTVjxFEw-3brtczTR0k8fAX5iuFQqvn-OdqxYkgu_SWdsS2NH/s1600/Marais.vsm.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1LF_w0hnFyEc4gtufNO_Ga_DMTUay_6OcGy7sv16p87oomFAuiZiwiq4CZVNg2bt0KKJpTj3wsm2mR8ggv6r2kFjosEipTVjxFEw-3brtczTR0k8fAX5iuFQqvn-OdqxYkgu_SWdsS2NH/s400/Marais.vsm.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Footpaths follow the canals, punctuated with pollarded willows . Pensioners walk their dogs or ride along on bicycles, greeting each other as they pass. The air is hazy, and fragrant with the smell of burning leaves.

The Marais

Around the city of Bourges, France, is a vast system of marshes and canals called the Marais. The low land has been reclaimed as allotments ...

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Guest-blogger Jeanette

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij2L8BTqhix3TFLw7RXF3CxYAP3ju4K_tHU8A-PNQjTKS8u2HqFsRikKDbchwofmeNescpR7F5GzrfWs44EFrz-8YD2sHcjq-LRmyRJHX28uxnuhySWYn63gHshW7y-wX6AOfvB0230fK7/s1600/Bourges.Jeanette.vsm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a>This sketch was done in ballpoint pen with watercolor wash. I sat next to Jim, and my picture begins just to the left of where his sketch ends. Trying to get the half-timbering (pan-de-bois) correct was insanely time-consuming.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij2L8BTqhix3TFLw7RXF3CxYAP3ju4K_tHU8A-PNQjTKS8u2HqFsRikKDbchwofmeNescpR7F5GzrfWs44EFrz-8YD2sHcjq-LRmyRJHX28uxnuhySWYn63gHshW7y-wX6AOfvB0230fK7/s1600/Bourges.Jeanette.vsm.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij2L8BTqhix3TFLw7RXF3CxYAP3ju4K_tHU8A-PNQjTKS8u2HqFsRikKDbchwofmeNescpR7F5GzrfWs44EFrz-8YD2sHcjq-LRmyRJHX28uxnuhySWYn63gHshW7y-wX6AOfvB0230fK7/s400/Bourges.Jeanette.vsm.jpg" width="277" /></a></div>As we sat there on our folding stools, people from Bourges kept walking by us, saying encouraging things in French. At least I assume it was encouraging from their facial expressions, as I don’t speak much French.<br /><br />It’s amazing how Jim and I can sketch the same subject at the same time and come up with entirely different results. Almost invariably, mine is breezy and cheerful, and Jim’s is carefully drawn, with moody lighting. I see everything in line, Jim sees form and light first.

Guest-blogger Jeanette

This sketch was done in ballpoint pen with watercolor wash. I sat next to Jim, and my picture begins just to the left of where his sketch en...

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Tiny Landscape Nuts and Bolts

This is an answer to the questions from Petr and Vicki from the previous post (by the way, I appreciate all the kind comments, and the haiku, Dan!)<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZQSD9kgGCoisOocL_aQqT4KdsdbdE3ZECymyz5IXbAq3kdo39clKQS-PthZWNCfoUhm6XieEn6VPUZPcJ9PMn9xce9X_mnhQVrtO5IzZ59_AO9TWFR_UNlTOFefDi6wEZiNRFmtRqsYs5/s1600/IMG_2350.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="286" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZQSD9kgGCoisOocL_aQqT4KdsdbdE3ZECymyz5IXbAq3kdo39clKQS-PthZWNCfoUhm6XieEn6VPUZPcJ9PMn9xce9X_mnhQVrtO5IzZ59_AO9TWFR_UNlTOFefDi6wEZiNRFmtRqsYs5/s400/IMG_2350.JPG" width="400" /></a><br />Anyway, the tiny landscapes were done with a mixture of watercolor and water-soluble colored pencils. I usually start with a quick lay-in using a brown <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Caran-DAche-Supracolor-Set-Colors/dp/B0009I52O2/ref=sr_1_cc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1289248450&sr=1-1-catcorr">Caran-d'Ache pencil</a>. The watercolor is a <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Schmincke-Watercolors-Metal-Half-Pans/dp/B000HBUQFQ">Schmincke half-pan set.</a><br /><br />Then I painted the sky with a flat watercolor travel brush. The brush is the gold metallic thing just to the right of the rows of paints. It divides into two pieces, with the handle acting as a cover and protector for the brush tip when stored. I also used a <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Yasutomo-KWB09-Niji-Waterbrush-Small/dp/B000KNNKKE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1289248571&sr=1-1">Niji water brush</a> for softening some areas.<br /><br />Then I painted the other big shapes of the landscape with watercolor, and added detail and foliage texture with the colored pencil. The notes are written with the blue <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Waterman-Phileas-Fountain-Medium-Blue/dp/B000FNBVGY/ref=sr_1_cc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1289248763&sr=1-1-catcorr">Waterman Phileas fountain pen </a>(filled with brown ink) that's just visible above the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Moleskine-Watercolor-Notebook-Large/dp/8883705629/ref=pd_sim_dbs_k_1">Moleskine watercolor book.</a><br /><br />The rag is a scrap of cotton flannel, and the cup is a<a href="http://www.nalgene-outdoor.com/store/detail.aspx?ID=39"> Nalgene plastic jar</a>.<br /><br />Sorry, the <a href="http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.com/2010/11/new-mac-ibox.html">Mac iBox </a>(upper right) is a prototype only, and is not for sale.<br />----------<br /><a href="http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.com/2010/07/how-to-refill-fountain-pen.html">Previously on GJ: How to refill a fountain pen. </a>

Tiny Landscape Nuts and Bolts

This is an answer to the questions from Petr and Vicki from the previous post (by the way, I appreciate all the kind comments, and the haiku...

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Tiny Landscapes

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheeVyC1KUGEfvBu_oAMuEV1FEnaTB-v2d6s73jeitwMNpcz7nIfHvXqpzzs1S-VpwlOx0ukQqY-V-t4HQYkl_rhb5w01QrAgxdixcILt4PQjPEwUFGEooOSq8yULbxFTiU3G1w8iE3vQfj/s1600/Tiny_Landscapes.Photo.sm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div>Traveling often gives you time in 15 minute intervals. This morning, for example, I found myself on the train platform in Bourges from 7:25 until 7:39 AM. <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheeVyC1KUGEfvBu_oAMuEV1FEnaTB-v2d6s73jeitwMNpcz7nIfHvXqpzzs1S-VpwlOx0ukQqY-V-t4HQYkl_rhb5w01QrAgxdixcILt4PQjPEwUFGEooOSq8yULbxFTiU3G1w8iE3vQfj/s1600/Tiny_Landscapes.Photo.sm.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheeVyC1KUGEfvBu_oAMuEV1FEnaTB-v2d6s73jeitwMNpcz7nIfHvXqpzzs1S-VpwlOx0ukQqY-V-t4HQYkl_rhb5w01QrAgxdixcILt4PQjPEwUFGEooOSq8yULbxFTiU3G1w8iE3vQfj/s400/Tiny_Landscapes.Photo.sm.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />But that’s enough time for a painting the size of a postage stamp. I got out my Moleskine watercolor book and the other little tools that I keep in the side pouch of the computer case.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge1vx89KIYj6wtkpWu0XFCji2lu0v99qZFMPWsyBT5S4XfUVkRxAuyAs-iBmn18HrcT4-44BV6hVglLrfDFAQAz-E4pRPEPIrIaNrBar8YxDf3_ZTlFtt5rL7X1PvuP55pyPpfM7rVNiBO/s1600/Tiny.Landscapes.sm.mq.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="261" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge1vx89KIYj6wtkpWu0XFCji2lu0v99qZFMPWsyBT5S4XfUVkRxAuyAs-iBmn18HrcT4-44BV6hVglLrfDFAQAz-E4pRPEPIrIaNrBar8YxDf3_ZTlFtt5rL7X1PvuP55pyPpfM7rVNiBO/s400/Tiny.Landscapes.sm.mq.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />There’s the painting on the far right of the second row (click to enlarge). A few minutes later the TGV train passed farms near Vierzon, where the lights of the houses still glowed. The landscapes—and the weather—changed moment to moment.<br /><br />This is a really fun way to work if you want to tackle new subjects, or to try a new medium, or to explore new compositional ideas.

Tiny Landscapes

Traveling often gives you time in 15 minute intervals. This morning, for example, I found myself on the train platform in Bourges from 7:25 ...

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Bourges Watercolor

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSkpnLAbMdXvo2qo6eT60vG8rENNZbT_1SIbqp3FOp43ylusiP5ypZveEy6nPVCJdSB8Zl3oyCRRDxk5yCQN76iduSeC6NjZP2ET54_HGMT-owFh9NcB9Xfm3O8ZE_jelZTLw3PBBRfajS/s1600/Bourges.F.sm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a>We set up our folding stools in the middle of the old section of Bourges, France, yesterday, looking toward the half-timbered houses that were built soon after the great fire of 1487. <br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifkXGNfrcuW2mROj2uJ2qxc1w5VXB1KrpNsEmPD3h8HiBkimbXAhwBuVD3XJZ5WFUxMTFJ1tAYV0h6WsCs3DT2YLp2hIuEzm9tvxBcQPkhv_EsiA9OsE9ElWUtfcdKaLDi1qbHjpWs_rAc/s1600/Bourges.1.sm+copy.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="177" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifkXGNfrcuW2mROj2uJ2qxc1w5VXB1KrpNsEmPD3h8HiBkimbXAhwBuVD3XJZ5WFUxMTFJ1tAYV0h6WsCs3DT2YLp2hIuEzm9tvxBcQPkhv_EsiA9OsE9ElWUtfcdKaLDi1qbHjpWs_rAc/s400/Bourges.1.sm+copy.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />I spent the first hour working out the pencil drawing on the 6x8 inch Moleskine watercolor book. I then laid very light washes in gray and brown, leaving the white of the paper only in the far, upper plane of the central building. <br /><br />Then, starting with the very dark doorway, I painted the structure area-by-area. The whole painting was done with a folding travel brush, a 1/4 inch flat. The flat, chisel shape can be used edge-on for a fine line, or full-width for wider shapes, such as the reddish brown sill piece at the top of the first floor.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSkpnLAbMdXvo2qo6eT60vG8rENNZbT_1SIbqp3FOp43ylusiP5ypZveEy6nPVCJdSB8Zl3oyCRRDxk5yCQN76iduSeC6NjZP2ET54_HGMT-owFh9NcB9Xfm3O8ZE_jelZTLw3PBBRfajS/s1600/Bourges.F.sm.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSkpnLAbMdXvo2qo6eT60vG8rENNZbT_1SIbqp3FOp43ylusiP5ypZveEy6nPVCJdSB8Zl3oyCRRDxk5yCQN76iduSeC6NjZP2ET54_HGMT-owFh9NcB9Xfm3O8ZE_jelZTLw3PBBRfajS/s400/Bourges.F.sm.jpg" width="261" /></a><br />In the final painting I lightened the further buildings on the right side, both to vignette the subject and to give a sense of fog.

Bourges Watercolor

We set up our folding stools in the middle of the old section of Bourges, France, yesterday, looking toward the half-timbered houses that we...

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True to Nature

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic5QU2o_2c52CJMtxRTSNaA3CY8iF1mL5DYRbzLIoep5ORltbRGUirAYD3Ucopupk7JXjGh-eftCnxD_OqAAQDn1NamRi4wPj66EleA9E9496uyALhjf3mpQkg-R9RDaVa_Psm3wvJQlk6/s1600/William-Trost-Richards-Rock-Cliffs-and-Cove.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic5QU2o_2c52CJMtxRTSNaA3CY8iF1mL5DYRbzLIoep5ORltbRGUirAYD3Ucopupk7JXjGh-eftCnxD_OqAAQDn1NamRi4wPj66EleA9E9496uyALhjf3mpQkg-R9RDaVa_Psm3wvJQlk6/s1600/William-Trost-Richards-Rock-Cliffs-and-Cove.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic5QU2o_2c52CJMtxRTSNaA3CY8iF1mL5DYRbzLIoep5ORltbRGUirAYD3Ucopupk7JXjGh-eftCnxD_OqAAQDn1NamRi4wPj66EleA9E9496uyALhjf3mpQkg-R9RDaVa_Psm3wvJQlk6/s400/William-Trost-Richards-Rock-Cliffs-and-Cove.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />A<a href="http://www.amazon.com/William-Trost-Richards-Drawings-Watercolors/dp/0856676780/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1287938562&sr=1-1"> new book</a> about American landscape painter William Trost Richards describes the artist’s tribulations while painting the sea from life. Richards says: <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>“I watch and watch it, try to disentangle its push and leap and recoil, make myself ready to catch the tricks of the big breakers and am always startled out of my self possession by the thunder and the rush, jump backward up the loose shingle of the beach, sure this time that I will be washed away, get soaked with spray, and am ashamed that I had missed getting the real drawing of such a splendid one, and this happens twenty times an hour and I have never got used to it.”</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMaNfE-QdMddFpsLFEfc42Ud8ZlWdaF8tFXWrGfu3EL6u5jHCVqZgKR6jJ6L1g7G5fr_uvzjoQB3jo-bUW6-WLdDPTFTbTUCiM-FL_8ojQ5t-DrGdh0W1wr6_VitrqPHomDdC7vAafnJgY/s1600/William-Trost-Richards-Trees-and-Rocks.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMaNfE-QdMddFpsLFEfc42Ud8ZlWdaF8tFXWrGfu3EL6u5jHCVqZgKR6jJ6L1g7G5fr_uvzjoQB3jo-bUW6-WLdDPTFTbTUCiM-FL_8ojQ5t-DrGdh0W1wr6_VitrqPHomDdC7vAafnJgY/s400/William-Trost-Richards-Trees-and-Rocks.jpg" width="293" /></a></div><br />The book was produced by the Cantor Arts Center of Stanford University in California, based on the sizable collection of WTR’s studies inherited by his youngest son in 1905 and donated to the museum in 1992. <br /><br />The 9.5 x 11-inch book has over 204 pages, with 250 color reproductions documenting the entire collection at Stanford. It includes his Ruskin-influenced early pencil studies of plants, his Adirondack landscapes, and his seascape studies in gouache and oil. Trost Richards was the king of gouache landscape, often working on toned paper to capture transitory atmospheric and aquatic effects.  <br /><br />The emphasis is on his small plein-air studies, which rival those of Frederic Church, Peder Monsted and Ivan Shishkin for impeccably accurate observation. Because Richards worked in this mode well after it was fashionable (he called  himself a “fogy”), he is not as well known as he deserves to be.   <br /><br /><br />---------<br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/William-Trost-Richards-Drawings-Watercolors/dp/0856676780/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1287938562&sr=1-1">William Trost Richards—True to Nature: Drawings, Watercolors, and Oil Sketches at Stanford University,</a> by Carole M. Osborne. <br /><a href="http://museum.stanford.edu/index.html">Cantor Arts Center’s</a> recent exhibit ended September 26.<br />Previous GJ posts on Trost Richards: "<a href="http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.com/2009/02/outer-limits-of-pencil.html">Outer Limits of the Pencil</a>," "<a href="http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.com/2008/12/trost-richards-watercolor.html">Trost Richards Watercolor</a>," "<a href="http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.com/2008/09/called-away.html">Called Away</a>,"<br />Thanks, Margaret!

True to Nature

A new book about American landscape painter William Trost Richards describes the artist’s tribulations while painting the sea from life. R...

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Hazy Light

I have an almost insane love of the hazy light of LA. Clear skies are pleasant, but when I'm painting, the more smog the better. <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrtMlVWADMeBksHAVSNeydNVGxhb8F2u2e14mDs6H3M5JWdMUu2bHkc24EVIxBbz9n0b6aN8TzMq2AVl12UGNir2ZSLLQ2w9WVpFzzXZosFQb8DkvzjTk1iZhcflrSH5eSkmUyRt58APpb/s1600/York.Eagle.Rock.sm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="251" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrtMlVWADMeBksHAVSNeydNVGxhb8F2u2e14mDs6H3M5JWdMUu2bHkc24EVIxBbz9n0b6aN8TzMq2AVl12UGNir2ZSLLQ2w9WVpFzzXZosFQb8DkvzjTk1iZhcflrSH5eSkmUyRt58APpb/s400/York.Eagle.Rock.sm.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>I was sitting outside a restaurant in Eagle Rock, looking toward a hot, low sun. The palm trees and utility poles were pale and milky silhouettes. This was painted in watercolor in a 5x8-inch Moleskine sketchbook.<br /> -----<br />Let me take this moment to thank everyone for hosting my presentations so far at the studios and art schools: Trion, SJSU, A of A, CCA, TAD, Otis, Atelier Marchant, LCAD, <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1287158534_1" style="border-bottom: 2px dotted rgb(54, 99, 136); cursor: pointer;">DreamWorks and Carlsbad Library</span>! It's been a blast meeting you all and seeing your amazing artwork. My head is spinning! Today we go to the Watts Atelier in Encinitas (which is sold out), and then across the desert to AI Phoenix!

Hazy Light

I have an almost insane love of the hazy light of LA. Clear skies are pleasant, but when I'm painting, the more smog the better. I was s...

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Overlaid Wash Test

Here’s a chart of watercolor pigment combinations. The purpose of the exercise is to see how colors interact when they’re superimposed, rather than mixed wet. After one color swatch is painted and allowed to dry, a second color is laid over it.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG9QYQeankecR6b5IWR7Q6EKrI_uQc4agpizgABkbYHODNgsgKiZA9GEVRPFcyPCFtUG9DLXG9XLA-6ohyiVgvUvudzPIH410bPUfAvWGumUEHWwCLpMyh6vHwY1wL27cYJE2VVunGJdgO/s1600/Watercolor_Combinations.sm.W.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5525316449403982242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG9QYQeankecR6b5IWR7Q6EKrI_uQc4agpizgABkbYHODNgsgKiZA9GEVRPFcyPCFtUG9DLXG9XLA-6ohyiVgvUvudzPIH410bPUfAvWGumUEHWwCLpMyh6vHwY1wL27cYJE2VVunGJdgO/s400/Watercolor_Combinations.sm.W.JPG" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 242px;" /></a>The starting colors, on the diagonal from lower left to upper right, are: Winsor yellow, Winsor red, permanent alizarin crimson, ultramarine blue, cerulean blue, and Winsor green. Each possible mixture sits at the intersection of a horizontal row and a vertical column.<br /><br />The arrow, for example, shows a combination of permanent alizarin crimson and ultramarine blue. Farther to the right, the mixture of Winsor green and alizarin crimson makes a beautiful gray whose component colors are still visible.

Overlaid Wash Test

Here’s a chart of watercolor pigment combinations. The purpose of the exercise is to see how colors interact when they’re superimposed, rath...

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Scart Road

Yesterday we set up our folding stools at the top of Scart Road looking down into Bantry, Ireland. Occasional sprinkles of rain and gusts of wind gave us some trouble: At one point the wind knocked over my water cup and dumped three ounces of water all over the half-finished watercolor.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQwaxXNaLzRlq31NsnKdrQPqX04OLJ2sGL7B2Bd5eee8Om66IVqw41Pw6m28JSO8xOsAmesffXHvrLFTth0FiDIzZi2oiUvyRYIeb-4TR1kb-r_8_uxqHNVeOlgaHM4kbyhoeCX2fMk5Q_/s1600/Scart_Photo.sm.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5504889700021929890" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQwaxXNaLzRlq31NsnKdrQPqX04OLJ2sGL7B2Bd5eee8Om66IVqw41Pw6m28JSO8xOsAmesffXHvrLFTth0FiDIzZi2oiUvyRYIeb-4TR1kb-r_8_uxqHNVeOlgaHM4kbyhoeCX2fMk5Q_/s400/Scart_Photo.sm.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" /></a>The thing I found the most challenging was the perspective drawing. Here’s the scene as it looked to the camera. I knew all those buildings have different vanishing points from each other. And the road has its own set of vanishing points below eye level. And I expected I would be tricked by those building fronts, which were extremely foreshortened. <br /><br />But even knowing all that, I still had to erase and redraw the pencil drawing three times until I was convinced I had it right.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEistunDIkbokSZfpsDSJEWPjy67Nz3lYEqHANlzW_4-EVu0rrcbVtYSzmpq_3lDyM33WrK3BdTzcWFqUtQvBPjQD7-9uvVUEAm_gjRyS60-1-cOAAfKcZY2h8rxNrXCyivuKy__dXpogbDK/s1600/Scart.Line_sm.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5504889710875460946" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEistunDIkbokSZfpsDSJEWPjy67Nz3lYEqHANlzW_4-EVu0rrcbVtYSzmpq_3lDyM33WrK3BdTzcWFqUtQvBPjQD7-9uvVUEAm_gjRyS60-1-cOAAfKcZY2h8rxNrXCyivuKy__dXpogbDK/s400/Scart.Line_sm.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 278px;" /></a>Here’s how the line drawing looked after about three hours of measuring, erasing, and redrawing. I used a regular #2 pencil and I didn’t use straightedges. I tried to pin down some measurements using the central pole as a fixed unit of length. <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5IBWpVBJ_1uVQUMWoNZNbcOdS_SxJru52FGeuZk1WT6Mh2E-Dz5gpDwPlvuWrxOIUiOJ55vS_hKDtY-dgVp-5xxHdGU2Iuw_GBZJ4Yrg77IMJ2uCPisb-bxSplpdOVMH1xn0BAXuKEGow/s1600/Drawing_Photo.sm.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5504889694143848978" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5IBWpVBJ_1uVQUMWoNZNbcOdS_SxJru52FGeuZk1WT6Mh2E-Dz5gpDwPlvuWrxOIUiOJ55vS_hKDtY-dgVp-5xxHdGU2Iuw_GBZJ4Yrg77IMJ2uCPisb-bxSplpdOVMH1xn0BAXuKEGow/s400/Drawing_Photo.sm.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" /></a>Just to remind myself how much I need to improve, here’s the line drawing superimposed over the photo, after the fact. I made the yellow building on the right too big, and misplaced the windows and doors on the gray building on the far left. What would have cured a lot of these errors would be to measure across the scene, holding up a level pencil in front of me to judge relative heights—and I’ll do that next time. <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8XZ4tnQneeAQ_POG2SGEdk8M8oaW0uisexdkE_i017dwammZyn3aWE55A69BJxTR6pwpNuvEDqh1VHSz2DltbAi-e5dhgLJv_hZbxAgUVJp0EsFmylXZ_yGohrDdNfwraR5qHhI5IceHs/s1600/Scart_St_Bantry.sm.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5504889705614665186" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8XZ4tnQneeAQ_POG2SGEdk8M8oaW0uisexdkE_i017dwammZyn3aWE55A69BJxTR6pwpNuvEDqh1VHSz2DltbAi-e5dhgLJv_hZbxAgUVJp0EsFmylXZ_yGohrDdNfwraR5qHhI5IceHs/s400/Scart_St_Bantry.sm.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 272px;" /></a>Here’s the final painting, after two sittings on location, and about five hours work. I did make a few conscious changes, such as eliminating the wires, and raising the value of the illuminated roof on the red building in the middle distance. <br /><br />And I regrettably left out of the drawing the wonderful people of Bantry, who passed by with a friendly hello while we were working—especially Brendy, who lives in the house at the far left.<br /><br />“I like to say hi to me neighbors,” he said to us. “Me neighbors is mankind of every description.”

Scart Road

Yesterday we set up our folding stools at the top of Scart Road looking down into Bantry, Ireland. Occasional sprinkles of rain and gusts of...

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Megalithic Vista

In the southwest corner of Ireland, long rocky peninsulas reach like bony fingers into the Atlantic. Prehistoric people raised Megalithic tombs and stone circles in the rocky foothills. <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0prVyKuJLahnfvndJftUifOTlJSTwMKbmpwv6Elm3iW33TmMELD8OldEM48ZCUearyT2PaFR0kTQ8D7f5lTvxBTq4iyCITtxJqH8j7x31J1JOquTO8Tj1c-yQRRvXKouS3mHpGwbeJZh5/s1600/Leitrim_Beg_Beara.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5504085370771478386" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0prVyKuJLahnfvndJftUifOTlJSTwMKbmpwv6Elm3iW33TmMELD8OldEM48ZCUearyT2PaFR0kTQ8D7f5lTvxBTq4iyCITtxJqH8j7x31J1JOquTO8Tj1c-yQRRvXKouS3mHpGwbeJZh5/s400/Leitrim_Beg_Beara.JPG" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 180px;" /></a>The standing stone of Leitrim Beg perches atop a hill overlooking Bantry Bay. Yesterday, Jeanette and I scrambled over a stile and waded through holly, heather, and gorse until we found the monument. We set up our tripod stools and pulled out the watercolor gear.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuJCIlW0ZMkYfMxXJBzvokUigiF1_5zP7ppmVABY3oefvRnpXb39OvhyphenhyphenxNQ8VunwwECM84exoe5_IPYlEy_UPpOzPp3AmsNifwffoxYS-jlvYDm9JIe2KlvgjfhFE1QjB1U7Hsz1Cb5bB0/s1600/Beara_Peninsula.sm.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5504085365484605346" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuJCIlW0ZMkYfMxXJBzvokUigiF1_5zP7ppmVABY3oefvRnpXb39OvhyphenhyphenxNQ8VunwwECM84exoe5_IPYlEy_UPpOzPp3AmsNifwffoxYS-jlvYDm9JIe2KlvgjfhFE1QjB1U7Hsz1Cb5bB0/s400/Beara_Peninsula.sm.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 250px;" /></a><br />The Slieve Miskish Mountains brooded with their heads in the clouds. Alternating patches of sun and shadow swept across the small farms, each of which was ringed with trees and hedgerows.

Megalithic Vista

In the southwest corner of Ireland, long rocky peninsulas reach like bony fingers into the Atlantic. Prehistoric people raised Megalithic to...

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Godson’s Folly

Chapel Street leads up to the hilly neighborhoods above Bantry in County Cork. The road is hemmed in by 12-foot walls of rock, topped with ivy. <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK3UjE1LNmo2WJNfezJDtYjSzQIdR_-30ZtDy2GPn8fOK19PSWQIafiQlEn4XyMYN4fk6tVj7400RA48QfpfGl72BZNoMQ-OQgRl6EQgz3Qsa8K5OGarKe42vMpagOMxNkv8Lxn_56UPRj/s1600/Chapel.St.sm+copy.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5503747257557759538" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK3UjE1LNmo2WJNfezJDtYjSzQIdR_-30ZtDy2GPn8fOK19PSWQIafiQlEn4XyMYN4fk6tVj7400RA48QfpfGl72BZNoMQ-OQgRl6EQgz3Qsa8K5OGarKe42vMpagOMxNkv8Lxn_56UPRj/s400/Chapel.St.sm+copy.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 264px; height: 400px;" /></a>The road was created by a fellow named Godson, who wanted to provide a convenient route for customers to get to his hotel in the town below. <br /><br />At great expense, Mr. Godson hired a team to dig with hand tools through the solid rock. The expense proved too great for Godson, who went bankrupt. Ever since, Chapel Street has been known as “Godson’s Folly.”

Godson’s Folly

Chapel Street leads up to the hilly neighborhoods above Bantry in County Cork. The road is hemmed in by 12-foot walls of rock, topped with i...

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Galway’s Back Streets

Galway is a sketcher’s paradise, and it gets even more interesting when you stray a few blocks away from the central tourist track. <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE1Bm3_qk0q0IiqCxualGp5Y7RjquCKtFDXA5gE-87CBdwXqF3FnoK7oOQsD4QNHApxbFG73rs3rnwX5Snf131wec5Noqdhx43FKU_sF2MXYqlhSqusi1Mq2nySWUpzLlicW5nRgZH8t4T/s1600/Galway_Woodquay.vsm.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5502924235105987410" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE1Bm3_qk0q0IiqCxualGp5Y7RjquCKtFDXA5gE-87CBdwXqF3FnoK7oOQsD4QNHApxbFG73rs3rnwX5Snf131wec5Noqdhx43FKU_sF2MXYqlhSqusi1Mq2nySWUpzLlicW5nRgZH8t4T/s400/Galway_Woodquay.vsm.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 280px; height: 400px;" /></a>At the corner of Eyre and Woodquay, the shops don’t cater as much to the visiting trade, and appearances aren’t kept up too carefully. <br /><br />In places like this, the city displays the history of human ingenuity, as its exterior skin is retrofitted for new ways of living. You can trace how the old houses adjusted from coal to electricity, and how they strapped plumbing pipes on the outside. <br /><br />The utility poles are made not from wood but from steel pipes of graduated thickness. They support automobile traffic signs, electric lights, Internet and television cables, and security cameras. <br /><br />One lady, perhaps expecting a more postcard view, stopped and said, “It’s a lovely drawing, but I wouldn't think of making a picture of it.” <br /><br />But for the next couple hours, three or four guys saw my wife and me painting, looked at the view, decided it was “artistic,” and took out their cameras to snap a photo.

Galway’s Back Streets

Galway is a sketcher’s paradise, and it gets even more interesting when you stray a few blocks away from the central tourist track. At the c...

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Elgood’s Secrets

George Elgood was one of the great Victorian watercolorists specializing in flower gardens.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKXJxeVURkoNmrGACAyHj9wB9OIOynrL88iuosBsClYGgh1b7SwZNUwfzGdjus8CTW4_sx67DUozpz0serH6o32Tm1Lotoa9mxEbxok4APhEPhWk_bDEVDQt6617ZRg7ktjckFTwHnhkDw/s1600/Elgood_Levens_Hall.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5502308389522575074" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKXJxeVURkoNmrGACAyHj9wB9OIOynrL88iuosBsClYGgh1b7SwZNUwfzGdjus8CTW4_sx67DUozpz0serH6o32Tm1Lotoa9mxEbxok4APhEPhWk_bDEVDQt6617ZRg7ktjckFTwHnhkDw/s400/Elgood_Levens_Hall.JPG" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 304px; height: 400px;" /></a><br />His paintings show botanically accurate flowers in natural groupings, often with architectural or landscape elements. Flower gardens are a brain-busting challenge to paint in watercolor because you have to paint precisely around all the light shapes. <br /><br />Let’s go back in a time machine 100 years to see how he does it.<br /><br />Mr. Elgood draws the whole subject carefully in pencil, especially if there are architectural elements. But he prefers not to tie himself to a hard and fast outline, instead drawing as much with the brush as much as with the pencil. <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjODuQAxtKMVLeHEZHjGa1xgxNffIwySUKes8toG2FVihoJbKTJBF8giOmDF9TuI0QKZ6aYzyQhQPgHZG1x9Ud4KHHxHPBb-rKU05hzRGsX6Lt4LpTcM_b17TWITGNKhgx8km4PmgY8mQ3I/s1600/Elgood.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5502308391568608482" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjODuQAxtKMVLeHEZHjGa1xgxNffIwySUKes8toG2FVihoJbKTJBF8giOmDF9TuI0QKZ6aYzyQhQPgHZG1x9Ud4KHHxHPBb-rKU05hzRGsX6Lt4LpTcM_b17TWITGNKhgx8km4PmgY8mQ3I/s400/Elgood.JPG" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" /></a>According to A. L. Baldry, who watched him work, he often “lays the whole thing in at once, sometimes in colours which are not by any means those he sees in nature,” thinking ahead to the colors he wants to add later when finishing.<br /><br />He then builds the rendering from a strong dark and light focus. He works fairly rapidly, often focusing on a group of flowers that is in peak bloom. <br /><br />He then moves on to other groups on subsequent days of a multiple-day plein-air study. All of his works are done primarily on the spot, though he doesn’t copy what he sees, but rather uses nature as a reference for a composition that he assembles from the best elements.<br /><br />He uses no opaque white and limited scratching out. His preference is for lifting lights out of wet washes and in general working simply and directly. He works on smooth, stretched Whatman paper with a relatively small palette of colors.<br />-----------<br />A. L. Baldry “<a href="http://openlibrary.org/works/OL408267W/The_practice_of_water-colour_painting_illustrated_by_the_work_of_modern_artists">The Practice of Water-Colour Painting</a>,” London, 1911

Elgood’s Secrets

George Elgood was one of the great Victorian watercolorists specializing in flower gardens. His paintings show botanically accurate flowers ...

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A. Wyeth at the Hyde Collecton

Today would have been Andrew Wyeth's 93rd birthday. <br /><br />In celebration of his work, the Hyde Collection of Glens Falls, New York, is hosting an exhibition called "Andrew Wyeth: An American Legend," consisting of about 45 drawings, watercolors and egg temperas.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyx7JP1SFBh38bKchpPwBN29_0fjiW6sDGk4-r95LumriycmBOiQkJ15vObeKiusZg-IUF1sRPXDD8_gdbjLe3VzaN5RGD51sQA1_L_u31wddFZfPBI6nB6YzSKOs8MoGmwXDTJM9K9Sqz/s1600/Wyeth.Long+Limb,%2BTempera,%2B1999,%2Bby%2BAndrew%2BWyeth..jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5493087456424819874" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyx7JP1SFBh38bKchpPwBN29_0fjiW6sDGk4-r95LumriycmBOiQkJ15vObeKiusZg-IUF1sRPXDD8_gdbjLe3VzaN5RGD51sQA1_L_u31wddFZfPBI6nB6YzSKOs8MoGmwXDTJM9K9Sqz/s400/Wyeth.Long+Limb,%2BTempera,%2B1999,%2Bby%2BAndrew%2BWyeth..jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 277px;" /></a><br />The exhibition closes September 5.<br /><a href="http://www.hydecollection.org/exhibitions/index.cfm">Hyde Collection Wyeth exhibit</a><br />Image "Long and Limb," 1999, from<a href="http://www.newyorkhistoryblog.com/2009/10/hyde-collection-to-present-andrew-wyeth.html"> New York history blog, <br /></a> which has more info about the show.

A. Wyeth at the Hyde Collecton

Today would have been Andrew Wyeth's 93rd birthday. In celebration of his work, the Hyde Collection of Glens Falls, New York, is hosting...

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