This is my mini-setup...someday I hope to have a better camera and find a screw for my intermediate tripod! Still, I love using my dad's old one I've posted before...
That was the video you saw HERE.
This is a wooden TV table that works quite well in a small area, which my studio definitely is!
I used to feel like I had to wait till I had the perfect, professional setup...but people seem to like my casual videos, so I forged on ahead!
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
My sketchbook from Lisbon
I had grand intentions of doing a special post here of every day at the symposium...but too much going on... but here is the sketchbook in full
My main aim in my travel sketchbooks is NOT to produce perfect sketch after perfect sketch but to tell the story of my adventures and capture 'the moment' which (somewhat tragically!?! )is resulting in me trying to sketch everything I do!
A few thoughts...
- I hardly need to say that the Urban Sketchers Symposium was AMAZING! It was an overwhelming 3 days of inspiration and meeting other wonderful artists, talking non stop (for me!) and trying to sketch non stop... as such I am somewhat amazed at the amount of sketching that I was able to do
- A little ambitious was my intention to make sure that I recorded every days event with a map... non of these for my stay in Lisbon got done at the time so this has generated quite a lot of work since I have got home.
- I wanted to include more collage in my sketchbook and did manage to achieve it this trip. I did find that it was always better to stick down the item before I started sketching - hence I got into some strange habits such as ripping up the placemat before the meal arrived.
- The collage/map/as-many-notes-as-possible approach this year was somewhat experimental and I think that some pages (in particular my opening spread for each day) are too crowded...so my conclusion is that to add maps and collage I should leave MORE white space as I am sketching through the day... leaving an entire spread for the map would have been better.
Here is every page in a single image too - if you prefer to look at that- click to go to flickr to view larger.
My main aim in my travel sketchbooks is NOT to produce perfect sketch after perfect sketch but to tell the story of my adventures and capture 'the moment' which (somewhat tragically!?! )is resulting in me trying to sketch everything I do!
A few thoughts...
- I hardly need to say that the Urban Sketchers Symposium was AMAZING! It was an overwhelming 3 days of inspiration and meeting other wonderful artists, talking non stop (for me!) and trying to sketch non stop... as such I am somewhat amazed at the amount of sketching that I was able to do
- A little ambitious was my intention to make sure that I recorded every days event with a map... non of these for my stay in Lisbon got done at the time so this has generated quite a lot of work since I have got home.
- I wanted to include more collage in my sketchbook and did manage to achieve it this trip. I did find that it was always better to stick down the item before I started sketching - hence I got into some strange habits such as ripping up the placemat before the meal arrived.
- The collage/map/as-many-notes-as-possible approach this year was somewhat experimental and I think that some pages (in particular my opening spread for each day) are too crowded...so my conclusion is that to add maps and collage I should leave MORE white space as I am sketching through the day... leaving an entire spread for the map would have been better.
Here is every page in a single image too - if you prefer to look at that- click to go to flickr to view larger.
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Interview # 14--Meet Nina Khashchina!
Hi all! This interview's been derailed a couple of times...both Nina and I have been busy, and she traveled in between there! Believe me, it was worth waiting for...
Let's jump right in and let Nina speak for herself!
-----------------
I started drawing very early and had a lot of support from my parents - until I stopped. I also kept a diary of sorts since I was a little child - but never consistently. There was a period in my life when I did not draw at all, I became a graphic designer and got completely computerized. Drawings were on little post-it notes, napkins, separate pieces of paper. And then the whole hand-made painting and drawing thing came back and I discovered a pleasure of keeping it all in one place - my sketch book.
Since summer 2005 I filled 57 journals - large and small, some I made myself (my favorite kind of
journal). Some I love for the paper, some for the cover. Some journals were filled in one breath, others took a long time, some became my friends as we went through life together, others I conquered with time :)
I draw in the park while my son unwinds after a day in preschool, while taking a breather when hiking, when chewing my lunch, while cooling down after the jog, in doctor's office, waiting in long line, waking up before everyone else does - the perfect time is right now :)
I seldom have time to finish things to the perfection or even correct mistakes but I enjoy the process – mistakes and all. This way I see time, I feel alive, feel the changes and notice beauty everywhere.
Drawing things helps me understand, slow down and see what's important for me and make choices. I think about sketching as a way of life. Way to travel. Way to think. Way to explain.
It would be impossible for me to choose one medium as my favorite, mostly because they change a lot. Anything works if I NEED to draw, but I often have cravings for certain things to try. Just like with food - you can stop the hunger with ... WHATEVER but some food combinations work better with each other and a little variety always is an adventure ;) Right now I am a lot into a purple ball point pen and a diluted ink in Niji waterbrush plus some dip pen experiments.
Little watercolor set and brush pen are always in my backpack :)
I just came back from the Roatan island in Honduras. This trip came when I was in the middle of a power struggle with a sketchbook I liked at first sight and hated later. Store purchased 8.5 x 11 soft cover spiral bound book with some glossy paper. Surface very much like illustration board – smooth and slick. Pens and Markers were fine.
Paper was refusing color pencil after just two layers of application.
And working in watercolor was very frustrating since there was no chance for color to flow – only paint with brushstrokes and color was changing dramatically between the moment of application and when dry.
My first thought was to take different sketchbook but after some consideration I took this situation as a sign to try different things and it worked out great!
First – I decided to take more supplies with me than I usually do (the good thing is I can share it with my son – so it does not look like I took THAT much:)
Here are examples of what I usually take:
This time, I took a nice large palette of watercolors with a couple of real brushes, a tiny set with gouache with 2 waterbrushes, about 20 color and watercolor pencils and 10 Pitt color brush pens, plus my regular pens (purple ballpoint, Pentel Brush Pen, UniBall Vision Micro pen and Niji waterbrush filled with the diluted black ink). Plus tiny spray bottle, scotch tape and an old film container. This all fitted within a small first aid bag :) In retrospect I think I could have done without pencils and markers – but my son used them a lot – so I think this was the right choice!
Second thing I did to conquer this sketchbook was to take some small cold press 100 lb watercolor sheets, place them in an envelope on the back of the book and try to incorporate them whenever I could. This allowed me to work on several pages at once (humidity is very high on Roatan so there was a lot of waiting) and gave me a break when I wanted to enjoy real watercolor washes.
Third thing was that I had a little Moleskine Cahier book with me almost at all times – I was drawing at any opportune moment – while waiting for dinner, waiting for boat to load, sandcastle to be finished… This provided me with sketching time without interrupting activities of other company members. And every night I was tearing filled pages and posting them in my main book with some comments if needed. This way my tiny book was almost always empty and I was free to take it with me even when I knew it might get wet: I’d put one pen, gray waterbrush and my book in zip-lock bag and be ready for anything :)
Many of my pages are scanned and can be found here:
One of the projects I am working on continuously is a Badger Log.
Both the idea and inspiration came from my wonderful family and they support this log from the very first thought till today’s drawings.
Badger Log is about my interactions with a little badger I know, who happens to be related to me - how he is looking at the world and how I look at things because of him. I keep it as a sort-of a diary but only a few drawings so far made it to the scanner – so I am thinking about collecting a whole bunch together and making this log more public - how - I'll tell you later! :)
-----------------
Nina, thanks much for this wonderful, useful interview! Can't wait to see more of the badger's adventures--and yours!
Let's jump right in and let Nina speak for herself!
-----------------
I started drawing very early and had a lot of support from my parents - until I stopped. I also kept a diary of sorts since I was a little child - but never consistently. There was a period in my life when I did not draw at all, I became a graphic designer and got completely computerized. Drawings were on little post-it notes, napkins, separate pieces of paper. And then the whole hand-made painting and drawing thing came back and I discovered a pleasure of keeping it all in one place - my sketch book.
Since summer 2005 I filled 57 journals - large and small, some I made myself (my favorite kind of
journal). Some I love for the paper, some for the cover. Some journals were filled in one breath, others took a long time, some became my friends as we went through life together, others I conquered with time :)
 |
| Another of Nina's wonderful sketches of her little boy in the park... |
I draw in the park while my son unwinds after a day in preschool, while taking a breather when hiking, when chewing my lunch, while cooling down after the jog, in doctor's office, waiting in long line, waking up before everyone else does - the perfect time is right now :)
I seldom have time to finish things to the perfection or even correct mistakes but I enjoy the process – mistakes and all. This way I see time, I feel alive, feel the changes and notice beauty everywhere.
Drawing things helps me understand, slow down and see what's important for me and make choices. I think about sketching as a way of life. Way to travel. Way to think. Way to explain.
 |
| The purple ink makes a wonderful, colorful vibration in many of Nina's sketches. |
Little watercolor set and brush pen are always in my backpack :)
I just came back from the Roatan island in Honduras. This trip came when I was in the middle of a power struggle with a sketchbook I liked at first sight and hated later. Store purchased 8.5 x 11 soft cover spiral bound book with some glossy paper. Surface very much like illustration board – smooth and slick. Pens and Markers were fine.
Paper was refusing color pencil after just two layers of application.
And working in watercolor was very frustrating since there was no chance for color to flow – only paint with brushstrokes and color was changing dramatically between the moment of application and when dry.
My first thought was to take different sketchbook but after some consideration I took this situation as a sign to try different things and it worked out great!
First – I decided to take more supplies with me than I usually do (the good thing is I can share it with my son – so it does not look like I took THAT much:)
Here are examples of what I usually take:
This time, I took a nice large palette of watercolors with a couple of real brushes, a tiny set with gouache with 2 waterbrushes, about 20 color and watercolor pencils and 10 Pitt color brush pens, plus my regular pens (purple ballpoint, Pentel Brush Pen, UniBall Vision Micro pen and Niji waterbrush filled with the diluted black ink). Plus tiny spray bottle, scotch tape and an old film container. This all fitted within a small first aid bag :) In retrospect I think I could have done without pencils and markers – but my son used them a lot – so I think this was the right choice!
Second thing I did to conquer this sketchbook was to take some small cold press 100 lb watercolor sheets, place them in an envelope on the back of the book and try to incorporate them whenever I could. This allowed me to work on several pages at once (humidity is very high on Roatan so there was a lot of waiting) and gave me a break when I wanted to enjoy real watercolor washes.
Third thing was that I had a little Moleskine Cahier book with me almost at all times – I was drawing at any opportune moment – while waiting for dinner, waiting for boat to load, sandcastle to be finished… This provided me with sketching time without interrupting activities of other company members. And every night I was tearing filled pages and posting them in my main book with some comments if needed. This way my tiny book was almost always empty and I was free to take it with me even when I knew it might get wet: I’d put one pen, gray waterbrush and my book in zip-lock bag and be ready for anything :)
Many of my pages are scanned and can be found here:
Both the idea and inspiration came from my wonderful family and they support this log from the very first thought till today’s drawings.
Badger Log is about my interactions with a little badger I know, who happens to be related to me - how he is looking at the world and how I look at things because of him. I keep it as a sort-of a diary but only a few drawings so far made it to the scanner – so I am thinking about collecting a whole bunch together and making this log more public - how - I'll tell you later! :)
-----------------
Nina, thanks much for this wonderful, useful interview! Can't wait to see more of the badger's adventures--and yours!
My big fat black journal, revisited
Back in March, I posted about my way of keeping an illustrated journal... big, messy, and personal. Now, I'm here with a tale of even messier and more precious (to me) pages! From January to April, I used a large, cheap, black hardbound blank book and loved the fact that it was so NOT special. I could, and did, let go completely in that book. Still, the painter in me longed for sturdier pages and so I took up a Stillman and Birn Alpha Series book and there was no going back. They are expensive, but for someone like me who paints with acrylics in my journal and make lots of layers, they're worth it. My illustrated journal has become my portable art lab and, I guess, my life lab, too. Here are a few of the uses I've put my journal to recently.
I'm on my third journal of the year. I figured I'd go through one a quarter, though I'm almost at the end of my current one, and September's looming! I look back over what I've written, painted, and drawn this year.I see changes in my narrative, my line work, my imagery, my focus, my energy... and it's exhilarating! Not only is this trajectory documented in my journal, it exists largely BECAUSE of my journal! We know who we are by reading what we've written, by looking at the images we've created. In these pages, I see my own signposts and I follow them.
Monday, August 29, 2011
Annual Summer Camping Trip - Utica Reservior
by Gay Kraeger
Every August our neighborhood goes camping in the central Sierra Nevada mountains in California. Years ago a friend of mine found this secluded reservoir in the Stanislaus National Forest. She told me it was like having your own private Sierra lake and I would would never want to leave. We did leave, but I have gone back every year since that first trip.
This year I was a little disorganized with the packing. My youngest daughter had a baby shower the day before we left. I was not the one who couldn't find my sunglasses though...
I love waking up in the morning and sitting on the granite and having a cup of tea
We hiked up to Lake Alpine, six miles up the hill from Utica. The spot where we stopped for lunch has a lovely creek that flows directly over the granite rocks. I have drawn it a couple of times. It is always a hard decision, eat, or draw. I usually draw fast then I have a little time to gulp my food. I color when I get back to the campsite.
Every August our neighborhood goes camping in the central Sierra Nevada mountains in California. Years ago a friend of mine found this secluded reservoir in the Stanislaus National Forest. She told me it was like having your own private Sierra lake and I would would never want to leave. We did leave, but I have gone back every year since that first trip.
This year I was a little disorganized with the packing. My youngest daughter had a baby shower the day before we left. I was not the one who couldn't find my sunglasses though...
I love waking up in the morning and sitting on the granite and having a cup of tea
We hiked up to Lake Alpine, six miles up the hill from Utica. The spot where we stopped for lunch has a lovely creek that flows directly over the granite rocks. I have drawn it a couple of times. It is always a hard decision, eat, or draw. I usually draw fast then I have a little time to gulp my food. I color when I get back to the campsite.
Thursday, August 25, 2011
The Making of a Page
There was a lot of room left on the paper when I finished my plein air pen and watercolor sketch. And, since it was May Day and the sketch of Sparkleberry... Well you know, just that tree's name on my tongue makes calligraphic notes sing in my head! I decided to settle into a more controlled environment to finish the dressing on this May Day page.
A tissue paper overlay is a great way to experiment with the placement of other elements you want to add to your page. It keeps the paper from being compromised from too much erasing.
The trick is matching the same placement that you like on the overlay. There are transfer papers you can use, or you can flip over the overlay and trace what's on the front side using a very soft pencil. Once finished, flip it back to the original side,lay it over your journal page and retrace your original lines with a sharp pencil. Lift the overlay tissue off of your journal page and your lettering will/should be on the paper beneath.
But, I know from experience that I lose total spontaneity when I use these methods. My lines become stiff as I get caught up in left brain control. I honor my free flowing plein air sketch too much to let that happen. I want all the elements to compliment that freedom. So I guess-ti-mate :)
My version of cooking without a recipe :)
 | |||||||
| Click on images to enlarge :) |
Monday, August 22, 2011
Lighten up!
We've talked a fair amount about lightweight supplies for journal work, particularly when traveling. This is about my lightest "practical" kit, in a white plastic Sucrets cough drop box. That gives me a small white mixing area as well as plenty of colors.
These were left over from my rehab of my ancient Winsor & Newton travel box...I'm not wild about half pans, as I've said, but I didn't want to throw then out, either, so this little kit rides in the glove box of my Jeep.
It weighs 1.6 ounces!
More about it HERE in my Flickr album.
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