Thursday, May 27, 2010

More Pen and Ink

Last Painting Class at RAC

These are pen and ink studies I did while teaching at the Richmond Art Center. Those are the students. I like drawing people the most when they are not posing. I used a drawing metal nib, a watercolor brush and india ink on 140 lb Cotman paper. The paper was roughly 8 x 10."

Monday, May 10, 2010

Sausal Creek Abstraction

I returned this Saturday determined to redo Sausal Creek in a different manner, with oils and a 20 x 20" canvas. I wasn't, however, planning to do an abstraction, it just came out like this. I begin all paintings with the spatula, and this one did not want me to pick up a brush. I meant to continue working on it, but after about an hour it was clear nothing else needed to be done. I didn't feel good either, so I left. When I came home I looked at it and did not feel revisions were necessary.

Monday, May 03, 2010

Sausal Creek, Dimond Park, Oakland

This creek runs through the middle of Dimond Canyon and in some parts the children and adult visitors can access it. I sat on the edge of a retaining wall bordering the creek to paint this 20 x 16" acrylic. It was a challenge not because of the many children who stopped to give me compliments, but because I was sitting in full sun. The glare was hard to avoid. The sun dried up my acrylics in half the time it normally takes them to dry. On top of all of this, my eyes had to adjust to the relative darkness of this green tunnel, then back to the canvas's glare. This painting will never do justice to the colors I saw reflected in the water, but it is a good first attempt.