Limbering Up for the Sketchcrawl Tomorrow

Here are two pieces I did today (I can't call them drawings since one's a painting! lol), both were done in my garden.

The rose comes with a survival story. This is an old, well-established rose and that's the only reason it survived the neglect it suffered for several years before I bought the house.

It was being strangled byCampanula (Bellflower) on one side and Bearded Iris on the other. I've been spoiling it for a few months and it's come back to strength and glory. I thought it deserved a victory lap. 

"Fourth of July Rose," watercolor & gouache in a Moleskin sketchbook

This page is a quick series of sketches, really just to limber up my hand. Although they're in reverse order here, the pen & ink was done first as a warm-up.

Plant studies, pen & ink

Painting of the Week – "Spanish Aqueduct”

“Spanish Aqueduct,” 10” x 13” mixed watermedia.
Copyright Sara Light-Waller, 2015.

This painting was an interesting challenge. I was so inspired by the beautiful, blue sky in the photo reference that I decided to use that color as the unifying theme for the piece. To begin, I laid down a thin wash of Ultramarine Blue acrylic, then washed in areas of Quinacridone Violet (also in acrylic) towards the bottom of the paper. When this was dry, I started building the piece in watercolor. At this point I wasn’t sure how much gouache I’d be using in this final piece. Just enough for end highlights? Or more? As it turned out…I used gouache for at least half the piece, and I’m glad I did. The more opaque paint gave the rocky scene the feeling I was going for — solid, heavy, and old.

I’ve seen this remarkable location (Ronda, Spain) painted in the most gossamer of watercolors, creating an ephemeral look. I’m not sure I’m ever going to be that kind of painter…and I’m not sure if that’s a sad thing or not! As it is though, I’m pleased with the results, it’s not just a copy of a photo…I can feel the place! One day I’ll go there and see if I’ve caught it right.

Spanish Aqueduct, mixed media

Value study for Spanish Aqueduct painting

There’s a fantastical Roman aqueduct in Ronda, Spain that’s been used time and time again in fantasy and children’s book illustrations. I'd love to paint it en plein air some day but since I'm here and not there, I've picked out a good photo to work from. 

Early stage of the painting, showing acrylic underpainting
and rough blocking in of watercolor and gouache

This piece will be a mixed watermedia of acrylic, watercolor and gouache. My plan is to go slowly, creating a tighter rendering than I’ve done in a while. I'm going to rely heavily on glazing to create the colors and that requires a patient hand....typically not my strong suit in watercolor! But never mind...I'll turn down the throttle and make it look good.

Stay tuned…I’ll be back with more updates on this one…

Painting of the Day

"St. John's Episcopal Church, Snohomish" 9" x 12" gouache
in a Stillman & Birn Beta journal Copyright, Sara Light-Waller, 2015

This painting is of a local church, St. John's Episcopal. I drive by it all the time and thought it was high time I painted it.

This painting gave me an excuse to try out some super short-handled travel brushes I bought over the winter - the Jack Richardson Plein Air Travel Brush Set. This set has seven synthetic brushes, packaged in a small stand-up travel wallet, making them really handy for taking out plein air painting. I was a little concerned about the length of the handles, which are half the length of "normal" watercolor bushes. But after giving them a thorough test in this painting, I'm happy to say that they worked out fine. The synthetic bristles were durable, made a good line, held color and water well. Thumbs up all around for the travel brushes! They'll now get a permanent spot in my plein air kit.

I only used five gouache colors for this painting - Cadmium Red Light, Cadmium Red, Cerulean Blue, Phthalo Blue, and permanent white. This seemed enough for the subject.

I was looking back at my first gouache sketch, done eight months ago, and was noting how much I've learned since. It was a nice seeing the progress, it made me grateful for the opportunity to continue learning.

Painting of the Day

"Snoqualmie Falls" 9" x 12" watercolor & gouache.
Copyright Sara Light-Waller, 2015

Painting of the Day

“Blaze of Fall,” 7.5” x 13” mixed media on illustration board
Copyright Sara Light-Waller, 2015

Painting of the Day, “Summer Pasture”

“Summer Pasture,” 7” x 9” mixed watermedia on cold press illustration board.
Copyright, Sara Light-Waller, 2015

“Summer Pasture” is a mixed media painting with an underpainting of acrylic, then overpainted with watercolor and gouache.

“Underpainting” refers to the laying down of an initial wash of color before the rest of the painting (which I’ll refer to here as “overpainting.”)  It's a traditional way of unifying a composition through color.

For the underpainting in "Summer Pasture" I used a graded wash of yellow to yellow-orange acrylic. When this was dry I did the overpainting in watercolor and gouache. Because acrylic won’t move when dry, I was able to lift off color bringing back the original yellow/yellow-orange color as needed.

I’m pleased with “Summer Pasture.” The underpainting pulls the composition together, giving the feeling of warmth and strong sun. Though the colors are somewhat unrealistic, they imply realism, which I like. I find the juxtaposition of translucent color (gouache) next to transparent watercolor satisfying. And the brightness of the gouache adds interesting “pop” to the painting.

Double Posting

So I’ve started another blog which I’ve designated as my “writing” blog. It’s called Through the Looking Glass: My Life as a Mystery School. I’ve been writing a multi-part faerie tale in drabble format, which means that each part is done in a one hundred word segment. Although I’m going to keep my two blogs distinct (this being the ART blog, and that the WRITING blog) there is some overlap when it comes to artwork. I thought Flying Pony Studios fans might like to see my newest pieces, illustrations that go with parts II and III of the story, called “A Patchwork Tale.” You can read the entire thing (without the pictures) here.

“The Faerie-Knoll,” watercolor & gouache on paper,
8″ x 10″.  Copyright, Sara Light-Waller, 2014.

"The Elfin-Knight's Mount," pen & ink.
Copyright, Sara Light-Waller, 2014.

Sketches from Sequim

Gouache painting in a Moleskin journal

I spent the last few days at a professional retreat for massage therapists on the Olympic Peninsula. It was a beautiful location and I did quite a bit of sketching in-between planned events. Although the entire setting was lovely, I was particularly inspired by the windswept trees on the bluffs overlooking the sea.

Fast colored pencil sketch showing light at sunrise

Loose graphite sketches of trees

Pen and ink sketch

Here's a photo of some of these remarkable trees.

Windswept trees before a storm

Plein Air Painting on Ebey Island

"View of the Trestle" 6"x 6" gouache in a Stilman and Birn Beta sketchbook

Today, we visited our dear friend Mac, who lives on Ebey Island which is just a few minutes away from Snohomish. Mac has a pear orchard and the trees were brimming with Asian pears, plums in two varieties, apples, and of course the bushes were filled wild blackberries. There is a family of osprey nesting on the property and their voices added a lovely accompaniment to the “little Woodstock” music festival next door. It was pretty idyllic and of course, I had so do a painting. 
 

Sara and Mac clowning around

Ebey is very flat and I wondered if I could capture it properly. I decided to give it a try. I still don’t have a complete set of gouache colors so this painting is done with two pairs of complementary colors and one other color that I don’t yet have the compliment for. I used lemon yellow, permanent green light, viridian, quin. violet, dioxinene purple and white gouache.

Painting in progress

P.S. Did I mention that we brought a big bag of fruit back with us? Yum!!

Plein Air painting in Carnation

"View from the Pasture" Gouache, 6" x 6" in a
Stillman and Birn Beta sketchbook.

Yesterday, I spent a lovely few hours sharing a pasture with my horse Percy, with me painting and him grazing. I’ve always loved painting like this, it’s both the companionable and peaceful.

I’m currently experimenting with different ways of capturing massed green shapes in a landscape. With this little painting I feel like I’m finally making some good headway.

Plein Air Painting in Seattle

"Lower Fields, Woodland Park" Gouache, Stillman & Birn Beta journal

Another gouache painting today. This one done in the lower fields at Woodland Park in Seattle. I’m very happy with this one, it captured the feeling I wanted perfectly.

Plein Air Sketching Today in Gouache

“Near Blackman’s Lake,” gouache 7” x 7”

I decided to give gouache a try today, as I’ve only used it a few times. I found a nice shady spot a few blocks from home and did a sketch, just to try things out. I like gouache, but I think I like casein better. Next time I’ll have to take my casein paints out for a spin. Or, just return to watercolor, as that has been going well.

Sketching supplies (and no, that's not a bottle of beer!)