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.

Drawings from Montana

Looking out at the Swan Mountains....
...while sitting on the ground drawing with Noelle the 'wonder dog' is a decent way to get an oil change.  We were in Montana for about two weeks to open the cabin, go for walks and listen to the thunderstorms on the roof.  Pretty relaxing.

I took a day to drive down south of Missoula to the Bitterroot Valley and visit my good friend Bob Phinney, one of the more talented artists I know.  After a little catch up we went out sketching.  Here are a few of mine.  I'm going to feature some of Bob's drawings in the next week or so.

Rocque's Place

Just a black pen (Sharpie extra fine), three Copic Markers, some white pens I got at Michaels and then a bit of white gouache because the white pens were running out of juice.   Beginning with a black pen on a blank sheet of paper always involves a willingness to trust that something interesting will happen.  When I'm finished, even though a drawing may have glaring things I'd change, it gives me a deep sense of satisfaction and wonder.

Did you hear that they found prehistoric art recently that is 300,000 to 500,000 years old and far surpassing in age the art from the French caves?  The urge to create imagery must be hard wired into us.  So I was wondering the other day which animals have that same urge?  Orangutans, chimps, gorillas all do, as do elephants.  They will get mesmerized just making marks.  They like music too but so does our cat.....however, she has no interest in crayons and paper except to chew.

I did one more but used it to do a color sketch and then a larger painting.  I'll post all three tomorrow or Monday.

'Blowing it Up', my workshop on turning sketches into larger paintings is next weekend.  Find out more at the Winslow Art Center HERE.

Keep Drawing!!

Thanks for looking.

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.....

McNab Marina....and others

Failure, rejection and defeat....

                               (This post was added a few weeks ago but didn't show up on Blogger  so I'm re-posting it.  Sometimes the computer gods are mystifying.)

.....have been some of the best influences on me.  Just when I'm ready to throw in the towel forever and for good, something comes along that clicks me back into the game.  As long as I'm willing to say 'yes' to it, I get somewhere exciting.

This happened when I stumbled onto drawing with valued markers.

  

By simplifying form and detail, the markers allowed me to pay more attention to  design and story.  Using them I could 'paint' when I didn't have brushes....just some paper would do.   And then I blundered into toned papers and a white pen or gouache.....

So when I was casting around for how to teach a beginning artist how to see conceptually these techniques came to mind.  She is going on the Italy trip and I wanted her to experience loads of success in the easiest way possible.

Anyway, just when I needed inspiration in this direction, my friend Kathy Weber posted some recent drawings she had done, and I got what I needed.  Here is one of Kathy's drawings and I've linked her name to her blog so you can see the rest.  I hope she doesn't mind my sharing this pic.

 

Notice how simply and beautifully stated her shapes are and how economical her description of form.  Beautiful.  The strong feeling of light flowing into a quiet room is very nice.....but those foreshortened feet anchoring her to the floor are terrific.  Thanks, Kathy.

So, as examples, I did several more and here are a couple of them.

Just Keep Drawing.......