Fall Pansies

A quick little 4x6 watercolor of fall pansies using waterbrushes in my A4 sketchbook.

 

Mountain Lake Landscape

 

This small gouache landscape is 2 1/8" by 5 1/2". It is in my 5x8 Moleskine notebook of buff cardstock. The image is an imagined location, perhaps a scene you might find in Scotland.

Pond at Dusk

 

This mini gouache landscape closes out the Fabriano sketchbook. 

The painting is 3 by 2 inches.

Summer Storm Clouds

 

This small gouach painting measures 3.5 by 2.5 inches. It is in the Fabriano sketchbook I have been working to finish and am almost there. 

I have ordered and received a very nice small easel from cups easels which I plan to use mainly for gouache. It is small and light enough for Plein air work and is able to attach to a photography tripod, sit on a table, or be held by hand.

It is made in Canada. I had a minor problem with the order and the customer service was as excellent as their product.

Pond Tree

In my attempt to fill this sketchbook, I painted another mini gouache landscape yesterday afternoon. This one measures 2 1/4" by 3 1/8". My new easel from Cups Easels in Canada arrived today. It is actually made in Canada by a small company. It will mainly be used for gouache. I also ordered an additional palette for watercolor paints. Excited to try it out.

 

Meadow Spring

 

Another mini gouache painting I did in my Fabriano sketchbook. This little painting is 6"x2". I need to do 3 more then the book will be finished and I can place it on the shelf and call it done.

Celtic Knots Lesson 4

This was the most difficult lesson so far in Valerie Sjodin's class on teachable (https://valeriesjodin-courses.teachable.com/). It reminded me of high school geometry which was the first math class I have ever taken that I really enjoyed.

 

This is my attempt at the third lesson in Valerie Sjodin's class on Celtic Knots and Illumination. The shading around the 3x3 knot patterns is made using a graphite pencil. I was concern about the transfer of graphite from this page to the facing one so I added a velum tip-in to protect the second page (lesson 4).

 

Pointed intertwining ribbons

More playing with the ribbons intertwining. I also added a diagram on the opposite page to help me remember how I made the design.

 

more play with twining ribbons

I decided to play a bit more with the intertwining ribbons and letters. Still working on trying different patterns added to the ribbons. But so far not really liking the addition of patterns to the ribbons.

 

Stone Bridge

Another mini gouache landscape. This one is 2.5 x 3 inches. I only have 3-4 pages left in this Fabriano sketchbook to fill before I can place it on the bookshelf.

 

Hail Mary

 

Trying my own designs using Celtic knots. Coloring with Derwent Inkintense ink sticks. 

Small Waterfall

Truly enjoying playing with gouache. This 3x3.5" mini landscape is done in the Fabriano sketchbook I have been using. This paper doesn't work for me when I am using transparent watercolor but it is fine for gouache paints. May just fill the rest of the pages with these mini gouache paintings.

 

red poppy sketch

In my effort to fill the last pages of this Fabriano sketchbook, I did a quick watercolor of a poppy photo. Not the best illustration but the goal is to paint every day and fill all my partially completed sketchbooks on my shelves. Really don't like the paper in this sketchbook even though it has been highly rated by some artists and the price is a bit high for the quality of the paper. Plus it doesn't lay anywhere near flat when opened.

 

Bind Weed Flower

A quick sketch in a sketchbook which I hope to completely fill in April. I have always liked this little flower. It reminds me of white morning glory. I believe that the difference between flowers/plants and weeds is the amount of effort it takes to grow them. If they grow easily without human intervention, they are weeds. This sketch is 5x5 inches on less than prime watercolor paper which means the pigments aren't as bright and you can't layer or work back into the paint. People who aren't used to working in watercolor will often skimp on paper, buy a cheap one, thinking it doesn't matter. But I think the paper is even more important to a good finished product than pigments. Of course, I like to use the best of both but most sketchbooks are just that, for sketches not paintings.

 

Trees

 Another copy of a Thomas Paquette gouache sketch. It is even smaller than the first one, 2" x 2 1/2" inches. Even though it is so small I am still getting practice mixing colors and applying layers of the gouache paint. Plus learning drying times and how much water, if any to add. But I am not wasting loads of pigment.

Road

 

I am continuing to study other artists. One of the things I wanted to do in 2021 become more skilled with gouache paint. This is a study of one of Thomas Paquette's gouache paintings/sketches. The originals were intended as color sketches for larger oil paintings. They are very small. This one is approximately 2.5" x 3.5 inches which is the same dimensions as Paquette's original. It is in a sketchbook I use for studies.

Vacation Sketching Journal

In November 2020 I made this faux leather traveler's notebook cover. I had a 12x12 inch piece of faux leather in my stash for 15-20 years. I was saving it for something special. Then one day I saw a journal by Sea Lemon on YouTube and went digging through my pile of scrapbook paper until I found this piece. The cover design was drawn with a black gel pen. The four corners have metal tips with an embossed filigree on them. There are 2 rings added to the top held on by the elastic threaded through the spine just in case I find some charms to add. Then there is the extra elastic closure that wraps around the center of the journal. I filled it with watercolor paper thinking I might take it to document a trip.

Inside I had placed 3 signatures, each of 6 sheets of 10x7 inches 140 lb. watercolor paper folded in half. There are only 2 elastic bands on the cover but by using a third band holding 2 signatures together, then slipping the center of the band under one of the existing bands, you can add that 3rd one. Well using the same method you could add a 4th one but the signature would need to be thinner probably.

The Kiss

Another imitation of an art nouveau artist, this time Gustav Klimt's 

The Kiss, 1907-08. His original was an oil on canvas. I had read somewhere that you can use acrylic paint as an underpainting for gouache. Somehow I missed the descriptive of "matte". I mixed a matte white and yellow ochre together, then decided to add a pearl acrylic which changed my mixture from matte to glossy. I painted the entire spread in my 5x8" Moleskine. It is a beautiful metallic gold. The next day when I went to add the flesh tones to the sketch I had done on top, the paint just beaded up and sat there. I wasn't ready to give up so I pulled out more acrylic and painted the skin and hair. Next, I laid tracing paper over the page and drew a silhouette of each of the couple's clothing, and cut out two of my gel press prints for clothes. I finished by outlining the figures and adding a bit of detail in black ink. I had a great time doing this one too.

 

Art Nouveau Lady 1

This was a fun project. I had been wanting to study other artists' works. I have always appreciated the Art Nouveau period and thought I would take a stab at imitating one by Alphonse Mucha (1860-1939). I had also wanted to play around with my gouache paints. Back in November 2020, I drew the pencil sketch in a 5x8 Moleskine sketchbook. I liked it but didn't get back to it until this month. I used gouache, outlined parts of the image in black ink, then glued a fake gold leaf on the surface. It is hardly perfect but it was fun and different. Once it was finished I sprayed it with a coat of Krylon clear spray as recommended. That resulted in a milky coating over the entire image. I understand the coating is needed to protect the "gold" leaf from tarnishing. But before I use it again I need to do some research to find a sealer that does not change the finish.