It is Fall and… gourds! I have been taking online watercolor classes taught by my watercolor sensei, Kate Weese, since March of this year. There is still so much about watercolor I am discovering and learning. One of the many things I love about Kate’s watercolor classes are the in-class and homework assignments which push me out of my watercolor-comfort zone of small brushes and wet-on-dry. A couple of weeks ago, this was our homework assignment – Paint gourd(s) from a unique perspective. So off to the market we went… my son picked a greenish, yellowish warty gourd with no stem. Given the variation in color and texture of the gourd, I decided to paint using wet-on-wet letting the water organically move and mix the colors.. I started off with painting the top of the gourd – looking straight down on to it. And then I kept painting… painting the bottom of the gourd… and then the side.

The colors, the texture, the shapes, the shadows… so much to appreciate.

Gourd – Top

Gourd – Green Side

Gourd – Bottom

Things I’ve learned:
– Wet-on-wet : Using big brushes (Princeton Snap 9650 Round #12) to lay down water on paper and then small brushes (Princeton Snap 9650 Round #6 and Rosemary & Co. Ser. 441 Half Rigger #2) to drop colors into the water is fun and meditative, watching the color travel wherever the water takes it.
– Perylene Green and Quinacridene Gold Hue from Schmincke are now on the roster of my favorite colors (joining Pewter Lake, Blackcurrant Red Lake and Indigo from Case for Making)

Painting gourds IS as fun as painting pears! This gourd now sits on my desk begging to be painted again.

A few weeks ago, my son approached me about a project for his Digital Photography class. He had been assigned to recreate a painting through the medium of digital photography, by replicating the subject matter, lighting, etc. He chose a Still Life with Skull by Paul Cézanne. This painting consisted of the aforementioned skull, a plant, 6 pears, and what appears to be a single lemon. I was tasked to buy the pears, since that was the only thing we didn’t have on hand. (In case, you are wondering why we already had a skull… I made a skull in my Ceramics class in college and have kept it all these years.). I don’t usually buy pears as I am allergic to them so now that we had them on hand, I took advantage of the opportunity and used them as subjects for a small series of watercolor portraits. Turns out I r-e-a-l-l-y enjoy painting them. Looks like I will be buying more pears in the future.

PairGreen-800x600_80

PearsInBowlBW-600x600_80

PearsInBowl-800x800_80

After over a year of sheltering in from the pandemic, we are gradually emerging back into the open, into a new normal. In the spirit of stepping out, I decided that it was time to take my very first online class. I had never taken an online class and if you can believe it, never had a Zoom meeting before (I have Facetime and had Google Meet-ings but no Zoom-ing). Serendipitously, my watercolor sensei , Kate Weese, announced she was going to hold intermediate watercolor classes over Zoom – a year after she had cancelled her in-studio classes. I signed up along with some friends of mine, ready to learn and step out of my “comfort zone”.

Looking at my website, you probably already have an idea of my watercolor “comfort zone” – lots of small, detailed, and mostly realistic illustrations of twigs, lichen, leaves, and branches painted wet-on-dry with small (some say, “tiny”) brushes (sizes 3/0, 2/0, 0, 1, 2, 4) on cold press paper.

So, how did I do? Here is a sampling of sketches from my inaugural online watercolor classes:

Watermelon Radishes Study #1

Pears. Wet-on-Wet vs Wet-on-Dry

Landscape – Wet-on-Wet

Watermelon Radish – Study #2

Buddy – a painting of my parrot Buddy in neutral colors

These sketches demonstrate the skills that challenged me and pushed me out of my comfort zone:

• Painting wet-on-wet
• Mixing neutrals using primary colors
• Using big (in my world, “ginormous”) brushes (sizes 12, 16)
• Painting landscapes and animals
• Painting quick studies of under 10 minutes each – which is particularly challenging because I don’t get the chance to let the watercolor dry between layers

I plan to continue practicing these new skills – they aren’t as scary as they used to be, but they are a challenge! Stay tuned – I’ve signed up for more classes 🙂

sketchbooks. I just created a new page on this website dedicated to my current sketchbook, a watercolor journal. I wanted a place where I could present some of my illustrations in my own way, independent of the restrictions on format and intrusions of ads present on social media.

This little sketchbook has become my daily companion, and a keeper of lessons learned and my meditations “to see things as they are”.

Page 6 | Page 7

Back in August, I posted about my participation in The Sketchbook Project. Well, my sketchbook has made it to the Brooklyn Art Library and has finally been cataloged and digitized – and it even has a call number – 400.18-04!

You can view my sketchbook online: https://www.sketchbookproject.com/library/S306347… or if you are lucky enough to visit the Brooklyn Art Library in person, you can check out my sketchbook, turn its pages, and interact with my illustrations and collages. I hope one day to be reunited with my sketchbook – a motivation for me to be creative, to draw, to paint, and to compose. It was my companion for 10 months and a refuge from the anxiety, fear, and uncertainty that defined 2020.

finally.

2020 was one big surreal blur of a year but it did bring into focus what truly is important.

Hoping 2021 will be a year in which justice, kindness, empathy, compassion, wellness, love, and peace prevail.

UPDATE – My sketchbook has been catalogued and digitized at the Brooklyn Art Library. For more information, see my note 400.18-04 from Jan.22.2021.

Years ago, my dear friend Stef introduced me to The Sketchbook Project. Basically, you order a sketchbook, fill it, and send it back to live at the Brooklyn Art Library, where it can be checked out in person or online (if you choose to have the sketchbook digitized). Some lucky sketchbooks even get to go on tours and exhibits! Stef encouraged me to participate in The Sketchbook Project, but I was hesitant. The thought of my work being part of an “official” library/exhibition of art was intimidating. Only up until very recently has my art been primarily a more personal, private endeavor.

In November of 2019, 2020 was fast approaching – a new year, a new decade, a perfect year (so I thought) to embark on a renewed commitment to further my artistic ambitions. So… I signed up to be an “Official Sketchbook Artist of the Brooklyn Art Library”. After the sketchbook arrived, it sat on my desk – intimidating me with its blankness. After a couple of days, I took a breath and put pencil to paper.

Fast forward nine months, today I dropped off my sketchbook at the post office and it is making its way to the Brooklyn Art Library. Once it is digitized at the library, it will be available for you to check out online. If you are lucky enough to travel to the Brooklyn Art Library, my sketchbook will be there for you to check out in person, that is, if it is not on tour.