Daily Watercolor Sketchbook, Days 13 and 14

I am born and raised in Brooklyn (well until 13 - but those are some formative years!), so it has always had my heart. And I have always been in love with the bridge.

This sketch of the Brooklyn Bridge from Dumbo, is the first step in a series experiment.

Maybe I am cheating here a bit, as I drew it yesterday and added watercolor today - so counting it as one each! I get a pass as I am buried in prep for the Maplewood Art Walk and Music Festival that is happening tomorrow. It’s my first show in 6 months and I always forget how consuming the prep is.

Daily Watercolor Sketchbook, Days 11 and 12

I have a fear of plein air painting! It’s a loss of control thing I guess… you gotta just jump in and do it in the moment. No planning or roughs, no control over the elements… the wind, the sun, the rock hard apples falling!

But on Wednesday I had an opportunity to participate in a Plein Air event at Greenwood Gardens. It is such a beautiful and amazing place that I couldn’t pass up the chance.
I decided to keep it simple and low stress by focusing only on sketching
And taking photos for reference for more sketches, and for larger paintings.
Bringing a sketchbook and pencils/pens felt less scary. And would give me the time to walk the grounds and gets tons of photos.
I was very impressed with fellow artists who brought easels and oils, and spent their time on one piece in one location.
Greenwood gardens has such varied and interesting locations with a mix of plant and architecture that I wanted time to really walk around.
I collected lots of reference pics and also had the very soothing experience of drawing 2 different locations on site


The first two I drew yesterday on site and painted when I got home.
The summer house detail I drew Friday from my photos. Best part was I felt like I was there again.

I intend to do more plein air and on site sketching so I get more and more comfortable with it. It’s also a really great way to loosen up your drawings and trust your instincts.
I don’t love hauling the stuff, including a chair, which was invaluable.

What are your thoughts about working live

Have you tried plein air painting or drawing?

Daily Watercolor Sketchbook, Days 8 and 9

I have sketching and posting daily and made it through the first week. Some days were definitely more challenging to carve out the time.
But it is so worth it. It’s fun to look forward to, and very satisfying when completed. 
Posting them on the weekends will be difficult as family is a priority. But I can catch up with the postings on Mondays and just make sure I do the sketching.

So it stays fun and achievable - which is key!
Yesterday we went to Montclair State University for their open house event and this is a sketch from one of their buildings. Love the red Spanish tile roofs!

 And those vivid red rooftops inspired my desire to paint more red… hence the cherries today.

Vivid juicy and chock full of anti-oxidants.

 

My sketchbook is a Canson XL Series Watercolor book, 7x10, 140lb paper

My pens… Micron, 05pt

Daily Watercolor Sketchbook, Day #4

I am currently working on a large custom house portrait with beautiful and extensive landscaping. One of the dominant landscape features is a very large Rose of Sharon tree, and I have been hesitant to work on it. The house is coming along so beautifully and fear that I might mess up the tree is really holding me back. 

Enter… my daily sketchbook challenge, swooping in like a superhero to save the day! It occurred to me this morning that it’s the best place to play and practice the tree and work out the tricky parts.  And the cute little daffodils blooming beneath it.

Now I am ready.
Well almost…
Still a little trepidation putting color to paper, but readier than I was.
So off I go…with my painted sample to guide me.

Daily Watercolor Sketchbook, Day #3

Echo Lake Park

5 straight days of rain. And grey, grey and more grey! All that dreariness and rain grinds me down, so last Wed when it finally broke I went for a walk in the park. To see a blue sky was truly a gift. It was early so I practically had the park to myself.

I was able to get this amazing photo… feels like an impressionist painting, doesn’t it?

So, I definitely have to make it a painting of it – but first, a watercolor and ink sketch so I can work out angles, color palette, overall layout. My sketchbook is the perfect place to do a little no-stress planning, and playing.

 I sketched it in pencil first, then inked it. (PS – my initial sketch had all the angles off. I was able to correct them with my ink lines)

 Then I went in with paint. I heightened the colors for emphasis and to match how it felt to be there. The colors felt more intense and vibrant in contrast to the preceding 5 days of rain/grey.

The world felt fresh, alive and so so colorful!

It’s fun to take a favorite scene, landscape, photo, etc. and make it your own. I think I will do this one more than once to play with different color combos.

The beauty of artist license.

 What are you drawing today?

 

Daily Watercolor Sketchbook, Day #1

Inspired by artists who have done 100 day challenges (or longer) I have decided to try my own. Seems very fitting to begin on October 1st when so many daily drawing challenges kick off… Inktober, Artober, Catober, etc.

My parameters… a daily watercolor and ink drawing which I will share here on the blog. I can do anything I want but will use some of the daily challenges as prompts, if I am ever in search of inspiration. The goal is to keep me sketching. Everyday.

I believe a daily sketchbook practice is tremendously helpful and important. For creativity, for health, for focus, for connecting with your inner being and your voice, for feeling your feelings, for fun. Fo Fun! Is there any better reason?! And I haven't been doing it consistently enough. It will be a challenge to do one daily, and post it - but that’s why they are called challenges! right?!

For my first I am turning lemons into lemonade… we have had SO MUCH rain recently. The unending grayness was really getting to me so to cheer myself up I had sketched some bright, mod 1960s raincoats last week. Thought it could make a great surface pattern design so this morning I filled another page.

I had a great time creating these little ladies… and I love painting the little squares of color for my palette. Day 1 of 100 completed!