which green?

I have tweeked the limited palette that I recently put together, replacing the raw umber with burnt sienna — I can always mix a near-match to the raw umber with ultramarine. Then I wondered whether to keep the one single-pigment green as perylene green, or replace it with phthalo green BS?

So I mixed it with my other colors. If what I’m after is “bright”, the phthalo is a better choice; for subtle, realistic color, the perylene works better. . . . . Still undecided. What do you think?

The other choices in this limited palette are quinacridone rose, quinacridone gold, Hansa yellow medium, phthalo blue GS, ultramarine, burnt sienna, Payne’s gray, and a dab of white gouache. Plus a  Loew-Cornell #8 round and a 3/4 flat for my brushes. The flat’s handle has been shortened to fit the box and pointed for scratching effects.

Texas wildflowers

The first explosion of native wildflowers has begun, the first I found up close being the blanket flowers growing on a street corner in Somerville, Texas. Yesterday I stopped to get a closer look at the bluebonnets, Indian paintbrush, and tickseed blooming near highway 36 and FM 1948. Washington county will soon be covered in glorious color — this year, the peak bloom time is expected on Easter weekend, though they will continue through next month. And summer varieties will soon follow . . .

Lately I find myself not sketching every day, but just adding bits here and there to my journal when the mood strikes, whether text or drawings. But I just can’t let the first wildflowers of the season get by without trying once again to capture their likeness.

a really tiny mint tin palette

On our recent trip to Fredericksburg, I purchased a tiny mint tin because it reminded me of a friend and co-worker who portrayed Rosie the Riveter in historic presentations. Teresa's aunt had actually been a riveter during World War II, and much of the material was based on her memories. And now the tin has been turned into a wee paint box. I tested my color choices on this page.

A silicon mini ice cube tray from Amazon was cut up to fit the tin with 9 spaces for tube paint to be squeezed into. While I was at it, I cut another to fit the Texas mint tin I purchased when we were planning to move to Texas. Formerly it held 6 half-pans of paint; now it can hold 12 colors plus a bit of a natural sponge.

The bare minimum of tools to take along with me . . . one of these tiny tins, a fountain pen, a waterbrush, and my journal.

playing with Sailor fude pen and water-soluble ink

Last week we went to a Houston greenhouse in search of tomato plants for a fall garden. Up till yesterday, it's been in the 90s here in central Texas and we had heard that there are two growing seasons here, before and after the big summer heat.

We found no tomatoes there . . . Apparently fall gardens are put out in August and they had sold out. But we were able to find some nearby at Home Depot. Bill also found this purple leafed perennial ground cover he wants for the planting box he built next to his woodshop's porch. We're trying a couple of these plants, along with some tiny pink lilies our friend Ron recently gave us, to see if either one likes the location. And whether the deer like them. Whichever wins gets to fill the bed.

I'm continuing to play with my inexpensive Sailor fude de Mannen pen with its water-soluble ink cartridge. When the cartridge is used up, I plan to fill it with a water-resistant ink using a syringe. I also used my muted granulating earth watercolors on the plant . . . then wished I hadn't. The leaves and flower should have been a bit brighter.

a rehabbed vintage Prang box

Last year I took my vintage Prang box, refit with my own choice of tube watercolors in pans, to Mustang Island, camping with the family. With it being so exceptionally windy and the sandy beach so fine, my paint box was literally sand-blasted -- a real mess! Not sure what to do with it, I set it aside.

This month, I finally took the paint pans out, cleaning them as best as I could with damp paper towels; most of the paint was still good. Then I sanded the inside surfaces with the fine-grade sandpaper that came on my pencil-sharpening block. 

I taped off the black edges with masking tape to keep them black. The black finish was worn with age even before the beach trip.

After several thin layers of white enamel spray paint, the inside is clean and ready to go. Pans were set in place with a dab of rubber cement, leaving room for a blue-gray watercolor pencil and a #7 round sable travel brush.

My tweaked color choices:

permanent rose, pyrrole scarlet

quinacridone gold, Hansa yellow light

sap green

cerulean chromium blue, ultramarine blue

yellow ochre, burnt sienna, raw umber

mixed gray (ultramarine and burnt umber, stirred together)

and half pans of:

Indian red, perylene green, and buff titanium.

Stillman & Birn Epsilon sketchbook

I still have one more un-used hand-bound journal on my shelf, but this time I decided to use this Epsilon sketchbook from Stillman & Birn that a dear friend gave to me. The paper is made more for ink than watercolor, but light not-too-juicy washes work well on it. And my fountain pens simply glide over the smooth paper!
Every one of Stillman & Brin products are a dream to use, and the binding lasts no matter how rough I get with it.

As always, I drew my current sketching palette on the first page. Actually, this is the second 2-page spread -- I left the inside covers blank for collecting random quotes. Lately I have been carrying a larger purse than my norm, allowing me to carry a full-size sketchbook and this pocket art toolkit from Expeditionary Art inside the bag. Smaller bags only hold my tools and I carry the book separately. 

In the kit are two fountain pens (one with water-resistant ink and one with water-soluble ink), a waterbrush, two travel brushes (a #8 round and a dagger), a mechanical pencil and tiny case holding a kneaded eraser, a tiny stencil brush for spattering, a shortened white pencil, a shortened blue-gray watercolor pencil, a re-usable towel for wiping, and two pocket palettes, also from Expeditionary Art. I can switch out either of these palettes with a third one: one holds a basic warm/cool limited palette, one holds granulating earth colors, and one holds gouache. Not shown is a 4th set I made myself using a business card case that holds a basic palette of 14 paints.

Just after putting together my pocket palette set of granulating earth colors, Jane Blundell posted one she put together . . . so I had a bit of fun comparing our sets side-by-side. I have a set of Daniel Smith color dots that I used for the colors she uses that I don't own. She also recently put together a set for urban sketching along with some suggested options, so I added that just for fun.

playing with a fat 4-color watercolor pencil

Quite some time ago, just after we moved to Texas, I had a 'splurge' day at Jerry's Artarama in Austin. Among my purchases was this fat watercolor pencil containing 4 colors. For some reason, I never got around to playing with it . . . until this week.

It is actually a lot of fun to sketch with! I like letting go of color expectation, allowing the color just to happen. And the subtle effect of just touching a damp brush to singular areas only. I added watercolor to the flower blossom in the upper right corner just to see how that worked; I also added watercolor in the sketch of the pencil and sharpener.

My favorite is this quick sketch of Beorn Bearcat, with just a hint of green watercolor added for his eye, plus a bit of black ink for the pupil.

Arkansas Ozarks

Driving the Ozarks is always lovely. I had never been here in the winter before --- there is less color but it is still beautiful. Sketching in a moving truck proved a bit too bumpy so I snapped several photos through the windshield to sketch from later. I planned to sketch during our trip but we were too busy (or exhausted!) helping to move our friends from Arkansas to Kansas (both of them have dementia). So I am documenting the trip in my journal with some sketches from photographs.

a small "just in case" sketchbook

For the past three days Texas had "tax-free days" for back-to-school shopping. Since I had a money coupon and a 30% off at Kohl's, I bought these sandals from Naturalizer . . . only $13.40! Very comfortable. So I drew them before church with my large sketchbook and bag.

I took the large sketchbook to show the kids at church my recent dinosaur sketches, but I drew this in a tiny purse-sized sketchbook. The cover was from a used Moleskine-like book that a daughter-in-law gave me. I gutted it and refilled with small scraps of various watercolor and Bristol papers. The papers didn't quite fit heighth-wise and the gluing job wasn't very neatly lined up, but I like having a smaller "just in case" sketchbook in my bag. Especially since my new regular sketchbook is larger than the bag.

a new hand bound leather-wrapped journal

This art journal was bound last year using Kilimanjaro paper from Cheap Joe's and a scrap of leather from an upholstery shop --- they let me have the leather scrap free! It's soft and pliable, wrapping around the text block. This time, I sewed the paper signatures directly to the leather, one at a time, using hand-dyed silk threads. Which means the middle two-page spreads of each signature will have colorful silk thread running down the middle, but I like how the colored threads look on the outside spine.

sketching during grandchildren's visit

Three of our grandchildren are visiting this week. Yesterday we had a bit of a tea party, trying out one of the blooming tea buds that came with my glass tea pot. This sketch shows the flower it formed as it brewed.

Today is a painting day. All three chairs are taken so I snuck a photo of them instead of painting with them. Earlier, we had a chocolate breakfast: sourdough toast with chocolate hazelnut butter, strawberries topped with the same, and chocolate milk.

old sketch kit, refitted

Years ago I sewed this denim sketch wrap following a design from a library book --- I think it was from one of Claudia Nice's books. I remember using it on my first sketch crawl with Kate.

This time I filled it with a landscape-shaped pad of watercolor paper plus a watercolor block off my shelf -- the pad is Arches, a paper I don't like, which is why it has stayed on my shelf so long. The block is Fabriano Artistico paper which I love. The palette is a flat-profile tin with half-pans of watercolor attached with rubber cement. I like the extra room for travel brushes. It fits in an outer pocket with Velcro closure; inner pockets hold a mechanical pencil, pens, and larger travel brushes.

beginning a new hand-bound journal

With my previous post, my journal was filled and I have begun a new one. For this one, I cut sample sheets of Bockingford tinted papers in half, then bound them into an antique book cover. The end sheets are made from a sheet of Saunders Waterford --- I often skip using separate paper for end papers, choosing to use watercolor paper here as well since it is usually drawn on.

Inside the front cover, I glued the front illustration from the original book. The old book block was bug-chewed and crumbling but I wanted to save this bit. As usual, a palette on the first page: this one, a pocket palette made from a business card case filled with earthy, granulating paints. I will fill in personal contact info after posting this, in case the book is lost.

binding sample journals

Reading through comments on a recent post by my dear friend Kate (aka Cathy Johnson), I remembered a pack of sample watercolor papers purchased several years ago from Legion Paper. Kate mentioned binding a journal of a similar sampler pack.

Nearing the end of this journal, I've been considering buying more paper to bind a few more. But why not use what I have? First I cut the Bockingford tinted samples in half to make a smaller purse-size journal. Then I used most of the other sample sheets as-is, folding once to form signatures.

I checked in the old steamer trunk that holds my bookbinding materials for cover boards, planning on binding both of these with an open spine & Coptic stitch. But I found these two book covers, bug-chewed text blogs removed, that were rescued from a discard pile at a library sale years ago. Totally unexpected, BOTH of them fit the signatures I just made! The only adjustment needed was to remove two papers from the larger set, since the original book was rather thin. With the title "Near to Nature's Heart", the small book may be dedicated to nature sketches.

After cutting and folding new signatures, I leave them under this weight (an antique iron from Bill's grandmother) a few days before sewing. It helps the paper hold it's new shape.

This is Corpus Christi as seen from the Texas State Aquarium. An artificial barrier has been built along the sea wall with mangroves and other plants, much under water from recent heavy rains. Waves wash over this barrier, sometimes trapping fish and other sea life. Usually there are plenty of seabirds taking advantage of easy fishing, but this was a particularly stormy day.

A shrimping we will go

We recently took a trip to the Gulf of Mexico. Just across the lane from Our Place on the Bay, the Bed & Breakfast we stayed at, a shrimp boat was waiting for its next trip out. So I sat nearby and drew her. Early each morning the crew takes her out, then returns to load up their trucks with the day's catch.

new drawing pens and pencils

Having found the best pens to use on this handmade paper ___the Uni-ball Signo UM-151 gel ink pens___ I ordered a couple more colors of them. They are waterproof when used with watercolor, and come in .28, .38, and .5 nibs.

At Jet Pens, I also found these two pencils. The long 2-pointed Auto Point Turnpoint Mechanical Pencil has a .7 graphite lead at one end and a .9 red lead at the other. I thought I would replace the red lead with a softer 2B graphite for wider, darker pencil lines. The Ohto Wooden  Mechanical Pencil Mini is very tiny! Fits easily inside my favorite watercolor palettes for on-the-go sketching.

bear-making and sketching

When our first grandchild turned 7, I made her a hand-made teddy bear with antique shoe-button eyes and real mohair fur. I used to make these to sell in the 1980s/1990s. So I made it a tradition by doing the same for each grandchild on their 7th birthday.

This year, it's Quen's turn. Because he loves wearing button-down shirts with real ties, and loves to sketch and paint, the style was obvious --- a wee artist bear. I only need to sew the ears on and he will be finished. And then sew a tiny sketchbook bound in leather for the bear (or Quen) to fill up with drawings. I used leftover bits of paper from binding regular sketchbooks for the pages, which will measure just under 2" when done.

I'm in more of a mood to sketch, so I took time to do so instead of finishing the bear yesterday. Sketching also helps me decide on facial expression and outfit.

moving and remembering

We are still dealing with the craziness that comes with relocating to Texas . . . and I'm sketching bits of our old home when I find time. This is a small section of the vintage kitchen Bill made that I am sadly leaving behind. We moved all my paints and inks last week when we went to close on the cabin. So I just have this simple "warms and cools" palette with me. If I remember right, the pigments are as follows:

cadmium scarlet  /  permanent rose
hansa yellow med.  /  hansa yellow light
serpentine genuine  /  sap green (not really a cool)
ultramarine blue  /  phthalo blue
quin. burnt orange  /  burnt umber
quin. gold  /  payne's gray

a secret to quicker sketching

Normally, I am a very slow sketcher --- slow at choosing a subject and slow at determining how to place it on a sketchbook page. Usually penciling in the basics (or more) before ink, then inking in just the most important lines, erasing the pencil lines, and finally adding watercolor washes. Overall, a very slow process!

Lately I have been trying to streamline my process. I've been carrying a pen, one small plastic pill box, a waterbrush, and reusable cloth. I'm getting braver at drawing directly in ink, though sometimes I'll use a blue-gray watercolor pencil which does not require erasing. But the best thing I've found to speed things up has been to cut down to only 2 watercolors: ultramarine blue and burnt umber. The above sketch was painted using only these (except the tiny diagram of optional color). When drawing on-site, I add just the warm and cool shadows. Later at home, I can add a bit of color if I wish. This really lightens my bag as well as taking away distracting options that slow me down.

If I think I'll have time to add color on-site, the second pill box holds 3 half-pans of basic color: quinacridone red or rose, a cool yellow, phthalo blue, goethite brown umber, and quinacridone burnt orange. All my recent sketches have been using these, and I am actually getting better . . . more confident in drawing as well as faster. Maybe I'll get more than one thing drawn at the next sketchcrawl.