High Noon at the Zoo

 

7/2/13 Pilot Namiki Black ink, Stillman & Birn sketchbook

Animals, people, trees and other plants, architecture, wide open spaces, interiors, still lifes – just about anything you want to sketch, you can find at the zoo. That’s why I spend so much time there. Admittedly, with all of those choices, I spend most of my zoo time sketching small portraits of individual animals.


7/2/13 Pilot Namiki Black ink, Stillman & Birn sketchbook

Today I decided to take a variety of approaches. I spent more time sketching larger spaces, such as a group of people looking at the penguin exhibit and a value study of picnickers under a tree. The one I sketched at the penguin exhibit was especially interesting because the sun was almost directly overhead, creating unusual shadows.

I also tried quick gesture sketches of a reindeer and penguins in different positions. Finally, on my way out, I did one portrait of a beautiful heron that likes to preen on the high wall of the penguin exhibit.



7/2/13 water-soluble colored pencils, Diamine Grey ink

7/2/13 Diamine Chocolate Brown ink

7/2/13 Pilot Namiki Black ink



Barcelona Symposium Prep, Part 2: Everything Else

Come hell or high water, this is it.

(See Barcelona Symposium Prep, Part 1: Watercolors for the paints I’m bringing.)

I could have procrastinated a few more days, but being the strong J on the Myers-Briggs that I am, I knew I wouldn’t be able to move on to the rest of my travel prep if I didn’t nail the lid on this one, so I did: I’ve made my final choices of art supplies to bring to Barcelona and Germany. (Anything else I need will be purchased, borrowed or stolen once I get there. Or I’ll do without – what a concept! – by substituting something else!)

Most of the supplies are either items I carry in my bag all the time anyway or rotate in occasionally, and everything fits comfortably in my travel bag, which is a Nomadic Wise-Walker messenger bag. (As much as I’d like to bring my beloved Rickshaw Bagworks bag that I use every day, it’s just not big enough for all the additional things I need in a travel carry-on.)

Numbers refer to the photo above. An asterisk * designates an item I am bringing specifically because a workshop instructor recommended it.

1. Glue stick for adhering mementoes and other ephemera to my journal and sketchbook.
2. A travel-size perfume atomizer that I fill with water to spritz my watercolors. I discovered this only recently while I was shopping at the Savvy Traveler in Edmonds for my small, RFID-blocking, slash-proof Pacsafe sling purse. (I couldn’t find it on Savvy Traveler’s site, so the link goes to Amazon.)
3. Four waterbrushes in various sizes. The short one fits in my TSA-required zip-lock plastic bag, so I carry it onboard filled with water for use on the flight. The others I leave empty until I arrive.
4. Two Escoda travel brushes (sizes 2 and 8). I was supposed to have three more sizes for one of my workshops, but I decided I could do without.
5. My “Stefano” sketchbook system (Not shown: Way more hand-stitched, eight-page, single-signature booklets of 100-pound watercolor paper than I can ever use on this trip. I’m going to take as many as will fit after I put other essentials in).

6. My usual mint tin watercolor kit, shown with palette attached and my current favorite paints.
*7. A second Trader Joe’s mint tin filled with colors I’m not very familiar with.
*8. Eraser.
9. Water brush filled with Diamine Grey ink for shading.
*10. Four Kuretake Zig Clean Color Real Brush markers. I used to carry several of these in my bag regularly, but during my recent attempts to reduce my bag’s contents and weight, I took most of them out. But Lynne Chapman suggested we bring a variety of colored media capable of making big, bold marks, so I chose four high-contrast colors that would be useful in the urban environment.
11. Uniball Signo opaque white gel pen.
12. Two Albrecht Durer water-soluble colored pencils – one brown, one blue.
13. A trusty Lamy Safari fountain pen filled with PlatinumCarbon Black waterproof ink.
14. A very inexpensive and perhaps less trusty Platinum Preppy fountain pen containing a Platinum Carbon Black ink cartridge (see No. 21 below). The only reason I’m bringing this is that I know one pen-ful of Platinum Carbon (No. 13 above) won't last two weeks, but I don't want to pack a bottle of ink (it wouldn’t fit in my TSA zip-lock, nor would I want to risk permanent black ink spillage). This pen, which can be used with Platinum’s proprietary cartridges, writes amazingly well for a little more than 3 bucks. (I just hope it doesn’t leak on the flight.)
15. A Lamy Nexx fountain pen filled with my favorite water-soluble Diamine Chocolate Brown ink.
16. Sailor DE Brush Stroke Style Fountain Pen filled with water-soluble Diamine Eclipse ink. I know that Lynne Chapman uses one of these funky pens with the variable-width, ski-jump nib, so I hope to ask her for a demo during her workshop. I don’t have any cartridges that fit this pen, so when it goes dry, it goes dry.
*17. Kuretake Fountain Brush Pen filled with a Platinum Carbon Black ink cartridge (see No. 21 below). This pen works double-duty: It was recommended by Mark Taro Holmes, and it makes a bold mark (for Chapman’s workshop).
*18. A mechanical pencil.
*19. A charcoal pencil (this was a compromise – I hate using real charcoal sticks, which were recommended by Chapman).
20. Cretacolor Nero Extrasoft pencil.
21. Platinum Carbon Black ink cartridges (to refill No. 14 and 17 above).
22. Lamy water-soluble black ink cartridges (to refill No. 15 above).

That’s it. Have I omitted something crucial? Or can I stand to leave something out?

Edited 7/4/13: I made a dry-run sketch with my bag fully packed with all of the above as well as other travel essentials, and it worked out great! The only thing I had to take out was No. 9, the waterbrush filled with Diamine Grey ink, because it won't fit in my TSA-approved zip-lock bag.

Maple Leaf Water Tower

7/1/13 Platinum Carbon and Diamine Grey inks, Kuretake brush pen,
watercolor, Stillman & Birn Alpha sketchbook

More than a year ago, I sketched the Maple Leaf water tower from the comfort of an outdoor café table at Cloud City Coffee. Today I felt like setting up a more interesting composition, so I walked up closer to it with a tree in between.

Barcelona Symposium Prep, Part 1: Watercolors



Current favorite palette.

In one week, I’ll be in Barcelona! Four days after I arrive, the 4^th International Urban Sketching Symposium begins!

Am I ready?

That’s a relative question. Compared to two months ago, I am: I have comfortable walking shoes, humid-weather clothes and a high-security hidden wallet that’s only one part of my pickpocket-risk-reduction program (which also includes a small, cross-body bag with a slash-proof strap to contain my passport, cash and credit cards not being stashed in my hidden wallet; a backpack with nothing of value in the outer, accessible pockets; and, most important, mental alertness to watch for potential theft!).

But now it’s time to get serious about the art supplies I’ll pack, and I’m not quite ready. Ever since I signed up for the workshops and looked through the recommended supply lists, I’ve been swinging back and forth on a pendulum of indecision. On one end, I think that the symposium will be my most significant sketching and learning opportunity of my life so far, and I would be a fool not to have as many materials as possible, certainly as many as are recommended, because I might miss out if I didn’t.

Less familiar palette.

For example, one instructor recommends a sketchbook at least 8 ½” x 11” in size, and preferably two so that we won’t waste time waiting for pages to dry. So even though I don’t normally use a sketchbook that large in the field, I pulled out two from my shelves to consider. Another instructor recommended a folding palette, which I’ve never used in the field (I’m very happy with the tiny palette I cribbed from my Sakura Koi set). Another suggested a small can of hairspray to use as a fixative for charcoal!

But then I started swinging in the other direction. I’ve been working so hard to reduce the weight of my bag. . . I’m in love with my “Stefano” sketchbook system, which I’m planning to bring, regardless, because it’s the size I’m most comfortable with. Two large sketchbooks – do I really want to lug those? And even if I brought them, would I want to carry them on my back all day during the workshops? We’re going to receive all kinds of great swag from symposium sponsors, including sketchbooks – perhaps we’ll receive what we need there, so I don’t have to bring them from home. Maybe I’ll borrow a stick of charcoal and hairspray from another participant. . . we all learned to share in kindergarten, right?

Back and forth. At this point, I have been holding steady on the minimalist end of the pendulum swing, so as long as I stay there until Friday when I finish packing, I’ll be fine. With that:

Today’s post focuses on watercolors. Choosing my palette had its own small pendulum swing. One of my workshop instructors, Marion Rivolier, recommends some colors that I’m unfamiliar with, so I’m eager to try them the way she uses them. But on the other hand, with my limited use of them so far, I don’t like some of them. I love the palette I’ve been working with ever since Gail and Frank’s workshop, and I worked hard to get it down to eight colors that will fit into my Trader Joe’s mint tin (I dallied for a short time with 12 colors in a larger tin, but it didn’t balance well when attached to my sketchbook, so I went back to my original small square one). But if I’m not willing to try new colors recommended by a watercolor instructor, what is the point of taking the workshop?

Back and forth. Back and forth.

On this one I’ve decided to take the maximum rather than the minimum because paints in half pans don’t weigh much or take up much space. I’m bringing two Trader Joe’s mint tins: One with my familiar, favorite palette, and one that includes the less familiar colors. By the end of the symposium, I’ll decide whether Marion was able to show me why I should use her favorites, and since the half pans are all temporarily adhered with museum putty, I can pull them out, rearrange (or not), and go back to carrying only one tin for the rest of our trip (a week in Germany). An easy, low-maintenance solution.

See Part 2 for the rest of my art supplies.

Dream Cars, or How to Slay a Sketching Nemesis

6/29/13 Platinum Carbon Black ink, watercolor, Stillman & Birn Alpha sketchbook

When I was 16 and barely licensed, my dream car was the Datsun 240-Z. I wondered how long I would have to save my part-time, minimum-wage, concession stand income to be able to buy one. I knew it would be a while, but at least it would give me time to learn how to drive a stick.

 

That’s one of the memory lanes I cruised down this morning at the 21^st annual Greenwood Car Show which, according to its website, is “a mile and a half of classic rides.” Cars are still one of my sketching nemeses – all those smooth lines that are neither organic nor straight, all those shiny surfaces – so I thought the car show would be good practice while also being a lot of fun. It was definitely both.

6/29/13 Platinum Carbon Black ink, watercolor, Stillman & Birn Alpha sketchbook

 

A car that caught my eye first was one of my adult dream cars – in fact, the car I now drive (some dreams are possible to achieve once you start earning a grown-up salary): A red Mazda Miata. Compared to all the other souped-up beauties, this one seemed ordinary, and not even very old. The owner was nowhere in sight, but an admirer walking by told me why this Miata was special: It has a Corvette engine. Right next to it was a gorgeous yellow ’55 Chevy. Its owner, Steve, told me that although he has owned this one for only four years, he previously owned another of the same model that was originally purchased by his grandfather. When asked if he actually drives it, he said he and his wife use it to go get hamburgers.

 

Shortly afterwards I spotted my first dream car, or close to it: A metallic green 260-Z. David, its owner for the past 13 years, told me it is nearly 100 percent original, even the windshield wipers, and the only thing he has changed are the wheels. This baby is pampered – it has “never been in the rain,” he said. Well, except for this morning’s surprise sprinkle.

 

The Greenwood Car Show: I think it could just as well be called The Greenwood Dream Show.

Clallam County Encore

6/28/13 Platinum Carbon Black ink, watercolor, 100 lb. watercolor paper

The danger in sketching the same subject twice is that it invites comparison.

 

Last August I sketched the wonderful bluegrass group Clallam County at the Lake City Farmers Market. This afternoon I was delighted to find them performing again, this time on the “center stage” at Phinney Farmer’s Market. With a repertoire of songs of John Denver, Allison Kraus and the Beatles as well as original songs with political attitude, Clallam County kept everyone’s toes tapping.

 

Last year, not wanting to block their audience’s view, I had the disadvantage of standing to the side – an angle that proved to be awkward. Today I grabbed a shady, front row seat, so I don’t have any excuses. But as I was sketching, a woman looked over my shoulder and told me she recognized her husband (in the center), so I guess I did OK.

Red Building from Jack Block Park

6/28/13 Platinum Carbon ink, watercolor, Pentalic sketchbook

A few weeks ago I sketched the Seattle skyline from Jack Block Park, but I had kicked myself because I didn’t have my landscape-format sketchbook with me. That panoramic view deserves a long, horizontal page. This morning a few Seattle Urban Sketchers got together at the West Seattle park, so I got another chance to sketch the skyline – and this time I remembered the sketchbook.

 

Left side of panorama.

My scanner isn’t wide enough to scan the whole panorama, so I had to split it in half. (The complete panorama at the top of the page was taken with my camera.) Near the center of the composition is a dark red building that I exaggerated with bright red paint. Based on its proximity to the “Darth Vader” (Fourth and Blanchard) Building and other nearby buildings, I’d say it must be in the Belltown neighborhood, but I’m not familiar with it. If you know, please identify it in the comments. (It’s clearly visible as red in this photo.)

 

Right side of panorama.

After the panorama, I moved to a new location with a view of the beach. A man and his son were flying a colorful kite. With only about 15 minutes left before the sketchbook sharing, I used the sketch as an opportunity to practice Gail Wong’s principles of selective painting.

Sketching with friends in the sunshine, the promise of clear skies and temperatures in the 80s this week, driving home with the top down: Life is good. And summer is the best!

6/28/13 Platinum Carbon Black ink, watercolor, 100 lb. watercolor paper