These are my two favorite sketches from Savannah. (You can see the rest here.) I like these because it is very rare that I get a nice watercolor sketch. I also had a pretty good time doing them as well. I think the shrimp boat day was by far my favorite.  The weather was beautiful, I seemed to be on a roll sketch wise, and the company couldn’t have been better.

I did maybe 3 times as many sketches in Savannah then I did in Santa Fe. The sketchbook that Katie Fowler (soon Bernhard) is a dream.  It makes me very happy.

Savannah really gave me hope for one day having a nice sketchbook filled with decent to beautiful sketches. I am inspired to go out and sketch more.

I hope to have photoshop next week.  Very exciting stuff.

I know I’ve been away, let me just say that it has been a little crazy here. As soon as I returned from Savannah I had to get the whole house packed up and cleaned. Luckily a couple of awesome ladies helped me out as well as Joe of course. Although one can only do so much when working a full-time job.

Before I left for Savannah my computer freaked out and needed to be rebooted so I no longer have photoshop. I am hoping to upgrade to CS4 in a week or 2. I know, I’m a little behind the times. I do still plan on posting, but it will probably be sub-par quality photos and scans.

I am working on my entry for the National Watercolor Society in between unpacking and straightening the new apartment. I will be very busy until the 15th when I mail that off.

Last year was Santa Fe, this year is Savannah 

These first few photos are of the bathroom attached to the bedroom Gabriela and I are sharing.  It’s so big, there is even a kitchenette around the corner.  There are more photos, but I will just send you to the link of the place. Luxury Living

This is The Tub. There are jets in it.

Our balcony off the bathroom.

Part of our backyard. There is a wall of bamboo, a fountain and several verandas for sitting.

The amazing  Kristen Kernats in her fabulous hat. The first day here we found a hat store and loaded up.

I may go back and buy this. It’s a blow fish!

The Katie Fowler in her fabulous hat and her beautiful yellow bedroom, shared with KK.

Today we went to Bonaventure Cemetery. It was very pretty and as far as cemeteries are concerned I think this one is worth the property used.  After the cemetery we went to Wiley’s Championship BBQ. Unreal. The banana pudding was tasty.

Yesterday we went to Vinnie Van Go-Go’s for pizza. Delicious and cheap. That was after sketching at the river front for the morning.

Tomorrow we are going to SCAD for a tour. I can not wait to see that school.

Make an app. out of your artwork! (I can’t wait to try this out)

http://www.artistsketchbooks.com/step1.php

Any other book nerds out there?

http://artbooknews.blogspot.com/

Very good post for all those resolutions made for the new year!

http://ittybiz.com/creative-ways-to-meet-your-goals/

Amazing art work. I love the spoiled walls section. Hello panda watching t.v.

http://www.bananca.co.uk/spoiledwalls.html

I hope these links make your Sunday a little more interesting.

Here is the latest version.

I am really enjoying this painting. I believe it’s the first time I have ever been happy with the process and not pushing myself to an end.

Lately, as I mentioned in a previous post,  I have been in a very big slump. It happens from time to time, but this one has been particularly bad. One of the reasons is $$$$$. One solution to this is so obvious and simple it took me a couple of months to even think of it. I also didn’t think I would need to go this route, but you know, “this economy.”  So I bring it up in case someone else is not thinking of it too. I called all my student loan companies and got my loans pushed back until we move to cheaper housing in June.  I really didn’t think that they would just push my loans back. I called before and asked them to lower the payments, which they all did, but I thought that would be the extent of it. Not so.  That has relieved so much stress I feel giddy!

Now back to the painting. Normally I am beating myself up about how much/little painting I am doing more than anyone else. Then this week I realized that that’s not helping me.  That doesn’t put me in the mindset to paint. Those thoughts make me feel bad about myself and doubt my goals.  So instead, for the moment, I am just satisfying myself with sitting in my studio every day. I sit in my chair and look across the room at this painting. Some days that makes me want to paint, others I just enjoy looking at a painting that is going right. That makes me feel good.

I also mentioned a new medication in that older post. That medication made me freak out and it took another month before I could see the doctor again. However, this new, new medication does not seem to have any bad side-effects so far.  Another reason I am just content with enjoying this painting is because it is going right and so much else is in limbo and still needs more attention.  All this is really personal and I may decide to delete it all later, but it is part of my art experience and it does effect my creativity/motivation.

I have faith that I will know when to step up and push myself. For now I’m not going to feel guilty about not painting every day.  I think that will allow me to enjoy the times that I do paint and sooner, rather than later, I will be painting every day instead of pushing myself and beating myself up. It’s hard to learn to love painting again.  But we’re working through it. Clearly painting is willing to give me another chance, the image above is proof of that.

I have some great links for tomorrow!!

With out further ado, I asked Joe to pick a number between 1 and 4 and he picked 3.  So the winner is Todd!  Todd, I just need you to email me your mailing info and I will have the calendar sent out Saturday.

I am thinking about having a giveaway monthly. I’m not quite sure about next month, but I will definitely start it up in January. I believe next time I will offer three choices of prizes. Now I just have to think of another question.

Here is the painting I started last Friday. This is the first wash of color. I am using a new palette, although still only 4 colors.  1 of each primary and then burnt umber. I don’t remember the names of the colors off the top of my head, but I’m pretty sure it’s permanent rose and windsor blue.  The title right now is  “Discussing the Israel/Palestine Conflict in the Back of a Cab: Thailand, 2009″  Joe hates the title, but Joe can suck it. I may change it, but the story behind the painting is: Once upon a time in a land far far away…..

Anyone who knows me, knows how horrible some of my trip to Thailand was and why. However, this cloud for sure has a silver lining. Because of the horribleness of one situation I was able to meet a lot of new people.  One day two of those people and I set out for the royal palace. This gentleman who lives on the West Bank and the young woman that I was with started a conversation about…what else the conflict between Israel and Palestine.  He has really beautiful eyes so I am hoping I can pull them off successfully. They seem a little small now, but I think it’s because everything around them is painted.

Step 1:

I draw out the important parts of the figure. I lay out what I consider to be the essential parts of the painting. These elements are what I use to express the feelings and mood that I want the finished piece to represent. In this painting I am concentrating on the torso and the turn of the face. The combination of a front facing torso and a face turned to the side shows vulnerability as well as an openness.
Next I map out the highlights and shadows at this point. Not only do the lines remind me later where I want these to be, but the act of doing it gives me a feeling for the shape of the body, the curves and angles. Thirdly it helps me match proportion as close as I can. Anything to help with that is a must for me.
Then I set the drawing aside to work on another painting or a different aspect of the  business. When I come back I will make adjustments to the drawing and lay down the first wash.

Step 2:

I’m still not happy w/ certain aspects. I think I will need to lay out the face again. I also trimmed down the left (your left) arm and shaved her down a few more places. So here is my first layer. I am leaving the background white and like I said focusing on the torso and the turn of the face. Now is the slow process of layering. Laying down the color over and over again to build up my darks and to mold the form. I want this painting to be loose, flowing, and expressionistic.

Step 3:

Now the slow boring part starts. Just layering and molding the body. It’s in the ugly stage of course, but that is to be expected.

Step 4:

I toned down the white of the paper on her torso in this step. More layering, more molding. Trying to fix the face a bit. I went too dark and let the lines dry hard. It’s all a part of the process though. Give and take, fixing the missteps and the push and pull of watercolor.

Step 5:

There are about 5 more steps in this one, but I finished it all in one day and did not stop to take photos. I really just wanted to get the whole thing finished. I masked the torso, legs and right arm. Then I used my three primary colors of my “dirty” palette: yellow ochre, prussian blue and brown madder to pour in the back ground.  I poured several layers. During one of these layers a strand of hair made it into the paint. I didn’t see this until the paint dried. I pulled up the strand and it left a nice line. So I ran to the bathroom grabbed my hair brush and went to work with a couple more layers.  It’s hard to see in this picture, but you can see it most on the left hand side near the body.

I spent the day wandering the booths of the fair and I found a few things worth sharing.

My favorite was Bruce Holwerda. He does some really interesting figure work and I plan on buying a couple prints in the near future.

If you are more into the abstract check out Soo K. Chang. Her stuff seemed to be very tranquil. I really enjoyed it.

Last but not least is Andy Van Schyndle. He does some surrealist type work that is sometimes whimsical and sometimes a little creepy, but always pretty cool.

Note: Originally posted on 8/2/09 at blog.limitedpalette.com