Two Marker Drawings

Orvieto, Umbria, Italy.....
.......is full of narrow winding streets, unexpected archways and out of the way shops.  We were there for a week ahead of the workshop I was teaching so I could get over the jet lag.  I became somewhat of a human being somewhere around two in the afternoon and headed out to sketch a bit.

It is fun for me, while one part is doing the drawing, for the other part to just enjoy watching it fall together.  I looked first for where I could find a 'yardstick'.....something in the scene easy to draw but could be used to figure out where everything else should be.....and I chose the long side of the doorway on the right side.  Then I began, but didn't finish right away, the step up into the store from street level.   At that point I had a sense of how it was going to fit together and hopped over to the little pumpkin sitting on a box next to the door.

In color, and I did a color sketch later, the orange of the pumpkin in front of the gray brown of the boxes and the green of the foliage was pretty outstanding.  In markers and gouache it just became part of the pattern of plants, boxes, and wine bottles.  The canopy I slowed way down to do so I could keep the gentle curves and overall shape.

It was a scene with a lot of stuff.  The challenge was to keep all of that 'stuff' in check so it wouldn't overwhelm the scene but yet give texture.  The street alone was all cobblestone which is only subtly stated.  Oh, and there were lots of people passing by but none stopped long enough to get put in.  The shop owner kept peering out through the display trying to figure out what I was doing.

A couple of days after getting back I had to get our transmission serviced.  The woman had some computer questions and the owner spent a short time, maybe three minutes, showing her what to do.  With little time to think I grabbed the sketchbook and got just the basics of the figures in before they began answering phones and running around the office.  Occasionally they would return to positions similar to this.

My 'yardstick' this time was the edge of the computer screen and the doorway behind the two of them.  Then I put in all the other parts of the scene and used the markers to provide form and guide the eye.  Notice how the computer screen and the guy's shirt are the only placed where I used the darkest marker.  Your eye can wander around but gets sucked right back to that area.  There were lots of dark areas in the scene that didn't get stated just to keep that effect.

By the way, I have a Marker Workshop this Saturday with a couple of open spaces and I have the materials you need for sale (at cost) so all you need do is sign up and show up.  9:30 to 4:30 on Saturday, March 25, 2017.  Contact the Winslow Art Center HERE.

If you can't make the workshop be sure to check out my book (recently expanded and updated) in the page tab up at the top.

I also have a portrait workshop early in May that you can also check out.  Limited spaces.

Thanks for looking.  

Drawings from Italy

Sometime in the Dark Ages,....
....about 1100 A.D., a castle was built.  There has been a castle of varying sizes on the top of this Umbrian Hill to keep watch over the adjoining valleys and hills ever since.  Additions were added, a family church was constructed, wine was made and sheep were sheared.  The descendants of that original family still own it and live there part of the time.  In the earthquake area Northeast of Rome, it underwent a recent and major strengthening done in such a way that the architect owner had to point out to me the steel bars that were drilled through parts of the structure.  Just in time I think.

We had a 'over the top' meal in a remodeled back area.  Still a very rustic and authentic interior, it didn't hurt that a violinist kept us company while we stuffed our faces in multiple multiple multiple courses.  During one of the breaks in eating I had a chance to draw part of the table setting.  Several glasses of wine may have contributed to this effort.

We were staying at a farm near Orvieto.  I dragged the group for one day in the town spending our time sightseeing, drawing and, again, eating.  Here are just of couple of the pages from that day:

Cathedral Square

Market Square

All of my drawings are done in a 8.5x11 sketchbook I make myself from inexpensive but durable paper.  If you read this before I put in something about how to make your own sketchbook for markers, pencil, pen, gouache and (even) occasionally, oil paint, then check back.  I'll have a page on this blog or a link to those directions.

And, of course, there is always my marker book you can order.  Look on the blog for the page that gets you there.  There is a marker workshop coming up this Spring....to be announced.

I'll be back with more.

Almost forgot.  The Winslow Art Center sponsors regular trips to various parts of Italy and soon, other areas of Europe.  Check out the Center's website HERE.

Thanks for reading.

Evening in Umbria Study, 8x10

In only a week....
..... since being announced, the Italy trip to Umbria is close to filled with signups.  If you are even thinking about it,  at least email or call with some indication of intent.  Of course those who have made a deposit will get first dibs.  It will be a fun trip staying at a villa in the country, visits to Orvieto and a castle, plus lots of painting and/or drawing time.  Should be relaxed fun.

I've done several studies lately that are going larger and with slightly different color interpretations, all of the Italian countryside (with a couple from France).  They range from 14x18 ( this one is already sketched in as that) to 30x30.  I'll post them as they get finished.

There is a looseness and tiling of brush strokes in the smaller pieces that I want to keep while also playing with new color ideas.  This one I have in mind for a green/red complementary color arrangement, straying into yellow orange for the bits of glory.  Having five of them going all at once is influencing my eye, keeping it fresh as I bounce from to the other.

Amy D'Apice, who lives in Thailand during the winters, has an interesting blog called ArtConspiracy you might want to check out.  Amy is a talented painter and sketcher with a delightful writing style.  Her word play is as enticing as her art.  You can find her HERE.

I have some upcoming workshops which I will announce later in the week.  You can find out about them and the Italy workshop at the Winslow Art Center  HERE.  The Center has a wide variety of workshops, trips and classes for any artist, beginner or advanced.

Later!

Leaving Orvieto, 8x10

The Winslow Art Center.....
.....has just announced my painting workshop in Umbria, very near Orvieto which we will visit.  I spent seven days in Orvieto during our last trip to Italy and not only is the city amazing but the countryside around it, where we will be staying, is terrific.  Take some time to check out the details HERE.  There are already people signing up.

Open to sketchers and/or painters in oil, gouache or acrylic, we will work both independently and as a group, around the villa and on day trips in the area.  More details on the website and from me later.  It looks terrific.

This small painting is actually on top of a portrait that ended up less than inspiring.  Turning the panel upside down I just blocked in the major 'dark' shapes.  I don't have a pic of the painting process but the block in looked something like this.....but with an upside down face under the paint.

Perhaps this will help to see it:

To me, when I squinted, the buildings were mostly in shadow and the sky and road carried the light.  You could just as easily have said the buildings are warm and the sky and road are cool....doesn't matter.  It's the division of shape characteristics that carries the weight of the painting.  As long as I did't go too far out of my original values (or temperature if that is how you see it) it was going to work.

Yes, there are light shapes in the dark areas.....or there are cool shapes in the warm areas....whichever.  Yet there aren't enough of those to break up the initial vision.

With those shapes loosely blocked there was no reason to draw any lines or create more definition.  I could begin 'paint carving' right away, using a limited number of values both lighter and darker than the shape.  Painting is just 'big shapes and doodads'.....I used to title my painting class that name.

By the way, here is a drawing I've posted before that was done just to the right of this vantage point maybe twenty feet and back.  Those houses on the lower left are the ones in the painting.  I drew it in the rain, shading my paper, markers and gouache with my hunched body.  It was fortunate that the heavy drops held off until about 2 minutes after I finished.

Thanks for looking.  Back soon.

Back Street Montisi, 11x14

Rain, Sun, Clouds, Wind....

.....It was an afternoon that provided everything.  Marianne and I had wandered around our Italian town looking for an interesting place to paint that was a little protected.  This alley was IT.

I liked the way this little road disappeared around the corner and how a 'local' would suddenly appear, obviously taking the 'short cut'.  They weren't sure what to make of us but they were all friendly.

Since painting all those weather conditions wasn't going to work I had to pick one so whenever the sun peaked out I memorized the light pattern.  It is all just shapes and bit of color but I like how it all goes together.

Every town in Tuscany has it's own charm....and we will be going back in 2015.

Marianne painted that little door peaking out on the right.  I'm going to bug her to get it posted.  It was a nice painting.   

Afternoon Sketch, 11x14

There was just enough time....

....to squeeze in an afternoon painting if I worked fast.  Standing in the garden of the villa I could look out over the hills and fields and even see the next town in the distance.  I didn't know Italy was mountainous and I found it a pleasant surprise to be able to include that peak in the distance.

Simplifying all the fields, trees, shapes and colors was a challenge especially with the in and out changing light.  Like I said, a quick sketch.  It was equally hard to get it to adjust on the computer screen accurately....or at least almost so.

I'm looking forward to another attempt next year.

Drawings from Italy

There was heavy thunder and lightning overhead....

.....yet bright low lying clouds in the distance.  It was only a short time before it would rain but I decided to try this one anyway.  I snuck in the last brush stroke just as the first drop of a deluge began to fall.  I hid in a doorway watching the water run down the old cobblestone streets, washing them clean.

I call this kind of thing 'painting with a pen' although I do use markers and some gouache on a brush plus a white pen.  All of my drawings begin with mentally picturing what it will look like on the page.  Then I figure out what is the simplest thing I can find that will form a structure for the rest of the drawing.

This one began like this:

1.  The top of the building....that narrow cornice outlined in dotted red....was the easiest thing to figure out.  I carefully thought through the size, picturing how it would look with the rest of the page.  To aid the composition it was placed just to the right of middle.   A couple of short lines came down from that small rectangle to set up for the next step.

2.  Then the sloping roof line (dotted blue) was done in the same thoughtful way.   The angles and lengths were slight different so I was careful to get it right.  Once the angle and length was in I could draw the overhang.

3.  Lastly, the height on the right side of the the building was placed (dotted yellow).  This was twice as tricky because the pharmacist who ran the shop I was sitting in front of parked her car right in front of me.  Getting it correct involved peering around, over and through the windows.  Fortunately she drove away soon.

After that, everything else could be determined by seeing where it lined up and intersected with what I had down.  The background building to the right, for example, neatly tucked in under, but not touching, the eave of what I had just done.  Kind of like TinkerToys after that basic structure was in.

You will notice that there is no pencil 'sketch in' before the ink pen.  There really isn't any reason not to....I just like the concentration and challenge of putting it down finished from the start.  I make mistakes but they generally get covered up.  Notice how that small bush in the foreground is drawn right over the rectangular box.  I like that stuff.  It says I'm not a robot.

Adding the gouache: I save the straight white paint for the areas that can draw me into the painting.  You know, darkest dark against lightest light, detail against calm.  That is used sparingly.  Most of the gouache is diluted with water to varying degrees.  It always looks intense when first put on but softens a lot as it drys.  Small white accents are done with the white pen.

Tools:  An extra fine point Sharpie permanent pen, a few gray scale markers, some white gouache with a half  inch brush, a white ink pen and a plastic cup with water for cleaning and another one cut off for a 'palette'.  Also a bottle of drinking water.  The toned paper I got at a store....it may have been WMart but don't tell anyone.  Fifty sheets for about three dollars.

Here are some more of the drawings from the Italy trip.  It became easier and more productive to do drawings rather than paint, although I'll begin posting the paintings I got done in a few days.  In the first one you can see some of my color notes in the margin for doing a painting later.  More on that in a week or so.

 

Just Keep Drawing.....