Landscape Studies

My students are now working on landscape studies.  Their assignment is to choose a photograph of about 4″x6″ or 5″x7″ and sketch out a value study in graphite, roughly the same size as the photograph (without tracing).  The value study should have white, black, and at least one other value.

These are their value studies (photos used with their permission):

Landscape value study by Eloise

Landscape value study by Kate

The next step will be to transfer their drawings to Bristol board (preferably vellum surface), and start adding color with colored pencils.

I think this is a good exercise to break out of the mid-values that some of us get stuck in from time to time (I know I do!).

Catching Up

It’s rather foggy and damp today in Sacramento, so I’ve been thinking about a day-trip my sketching buddy Laura and I took one hot day last summer, to Butterfly Valley in Plumas County, California.  We actually used our art supplies this time, instead of just driving them around all day……ahem.  But that’s another post.

Butterfly Valley is famous, in botanical circles, for the 5 species of native carnivorous plants that thrive there.  Our quarry was the Cobra Lily, or Darlingtonia californica.  It’s not a lily at all, but a pitcher plant.

Stand of Darlingtonia californica in Butterfly Valley

I’ve been fascinated with carnivorous plants for awhile now…aren’t they strange looking?

A little red on this one...

I was looking for one that wasn’t all green all over; even though plants are my specialty, the green, green, green is rather boring to draw sometimes.  The more variable ones were in direct sunlight where it was really too hot to sit for any length of time.  So I found a spot in filtered sunlight and sat for about 5 hours or so.  I was going to do a double-page spread in my large sketchbook, but that was taking too long.

Green, green, green

I settled for a portrait of one pitcher, in a smaller sketchbook.  The sketchbook is a Hand Book Journal, 5.5″x8.25″.  I like this one because the paper is buff-colored, and has a little tooth to it, and takes a little watercolor well.  It also has this nifty elastic closure, so if the paper buckles a little bit, it will still smooth out later.

My field kit, with work in progress

Below is the finished sketch.  I used my favorite green, a combination of Winsor Yellow with Sap Green (Holbein).  A little Moonglow (Daniel Smith) in the shadows, and a touch of Alizarin Crimson and a little Burnt Umber here and there.

Sketch of Darlingtonia pitcher

I plan to spend more time in Butterfly Valley next summer, so look for more posts in the future!

Blue Escargot

This is a new exercise I’m giving to my beginning/intermediate drawing students. I used to give them an escargot shell to draw in graphite on their first night in class, and got very mixed results. A couple of people were so overwhelmed, they never came back! So, I’ve lightened-up on them quite a bit. I’m giving them this exercise after they’ve had a couple of lessons in basic drawing, and geometric shapes and shading.

Escargot study, indigo blue Prismacolor colored-pencil on vellum-surface Bristol

The graphite drawing was almost too easy for some people, but there is something about using color that adds a different dimension. It’s still a monochromatic drawing, but using a colored pencil instead of graphite seems to make people think about it more. I like this lesson, because the students have to figure out shape, volume, shading, pattern and texture….. And this will be their first time transferring a sketch onto Bristol board instead of doing a finished drawing on sketch paper.

Keeping it in Perspective, II

Well, for some reason, this is a difficult one. Maybe because it’s mostly non-plant-oriented (ha ha). Here is my work in progress on the WPA Rock Garden arbor.

WPA Arbor sketch done in the field

WPA Arbor sketch, corrected somewhat

On the left is the sketch I did in the field, while sitting on the arbor.

Next is the sketch after I got back to my studio and decided it had a perspective problem. What was really bothering me was that the “seat” was not very horizontal, so I changed that. Then my friend Laura pointed out that there was really no “eyeline” (or, horizon line) in the rocks on the vertical portion of the arbor. So, I rearranged some of the rock lines to make some of them horizontal.

The third photo is of the sketch, colored. I wanted to try some new Faber-Castell Polychromos pencils I recently acquired. I like them a lot, although this also would have been a good drawing on which to use Derwent Graphitints.

WPA Arbor sketch, colored with Faber-Castell Polychromos pencils

My favorite part of this sketch is the plant (naturally). I decided to leave the background blank because it was taking so long to finish! I guess everything looks better with a little color on it, but there are still some things bugging me about this. If I get them fixed, I will show you. And, the original is a lot less blue than this image. I guess my scanner tends toward blue; I should probably figure out how to fix that. But for now, on to something else!

Picturing Nature

Picturing Nature: Recent Works of the Guild of Natural Science Illustrators, Northern California Chapter, opens next Friday, Nov. 7, 2008 (one week from today) at the Thomas Theatre Gallery at Hutchins Street Square in Lodi, California. I am excited to have two paintings in this show! Here are photos of the framed pieces:

Toyon, acrylic and colored pencil, 300# HP WC paper

Sorry about the glare from the flash, but I wanted to show you what they look like framed. I think they look pretty good! You can also see the calla on my website (I haven’t uploaded the toyon yet).

Yellow Calla, acrylic and graphite, Arches 300# HP WC paper

Eleven artists are showing work in this exhibit, and the subject matter includes botanicals, birds, mammals, insects, and molluscs. The reception is on Nov. 7, from 6:00 pm to 8:30 pm, and features live music, wine tasting from local vineyards, and appetizers.

Our reception coincides with the first night of the Sandhill Crane Festival, which is being held at the same location as our exhibit. The festival also features a fine art exhibit (reception also on Nov 7), with sandhill cranes as the central theme (I think they also allowed habitat and other animals associated with cranes as subject matter).

Wait, there’s more! Nov. 7 is also the First Friday Art Hop in Lodi, where galleries and other art-venues stay open until 8:30 pm to show off the work of local artists.

We’re going to have alot of fun, so if you’re in the Lodi area on Nov. 7, please drop by and say hi!

Coming soon: Keeping it in Perspective, Part II.