Aircraft and airships

I’m evidently feeling a little atmospheric this week!

The first was an experiment with PB27 and PR179, which I just added back to my palette after booting Piemontite off. Turns out those two neutralize (surprisingly) so I painted a cloud doodle to test them out. The clouds looked so creepy and dramatic, I gave them a jet to menace. It’s in calm air right at the moment, so I hope the passengers aren’t freaking out too hard. I’d be glued to the windows!

The other is a purely imaginary city scene wishing we could all get around by blimp. Life would just be better with more airships, right? This is also to test out a suggestion that cobalt blue plus a touch of black is just the right color for Mediterranean skies. I’ve got a few too many clouds there to notice the effect, but it does seem about right. Will have to do a bluer, broader sky soon and see for myself!

Another Carousel Horse

This horse occupies the same page as the previous jewelry sketch. It came about for a very different reason than the first one. I received some paper samples to test, and decided to paint a full body carousel horse on it. Well, that paper and I are not a good fit! The entire experience was a disaster, drawing, inking, and painting. It felt and looked terrible. I’d taken a couple weeks off of painting to work on some other projects, surely I could not have lost my touch in so short a time… how to find out?

A spontaneous sketch, that’s how! This was done with a few swoops of the brush pen, and a splash or two of paint. So much better! The Garza Papel CP in my sketchbook works like a dream in comparison to the other paper. Not naming names until I’m ready to write a proper review; suffice to say that I won’t be buying that stuff anytime soon.

In the meantime, enjoy some fast, loose fantasy horses done on a joyful whim.

Found: Lighthouse in Progress

Boulder Point Lighthouse IPWent rooting through a paper drawer this weekend, and look what I found! Don’t remember when I started it, must have been 2013 or so. I recall being disappointed with the sky at the time and sort of abandoned the effort. Last night, it started looking good! Some paintings just need to age apparently. Now I like it – time to finish it!

I wondered if this was the lighthouse at Orfordness in East Anglia, but the tops are different. This must therefore be a made-up lighthouse, probably as an excuse to paint the dramatic sky.

Behold the Sunbird

102115 Sunbird_800Had a color fit this week, painted across the spread in my sketchbook. The black lines are freehand drawn with a permanent brush pen, with watercolor and a few touches of white gouache.

On Winsor and Newton 90lb hot press, about 8″ x 10″. Paints used? Oh, goodness.

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Beads and Wire

Bead and painted closure I’m designing a small case, like a mini messenger bag, for my sketch kit. It needs something cool to close it though. Thought about that for a while and came up with a solution based on a little thing that’s been sitting around on my bead board.

Once I had the idea, I painted it out at lunch today just for fun. The original bead design is on the sketchbook page, but it was at home – I did the sketch from memory.

About 6 x 6 on Fabriano CP 140lb.

Originally posted on WetCanvas.com

Another Lighthouse Paper Test: Fabriano Cold Press

100714 Fabriano CP lighthouse test_CCI find lighthouses are irresistible subjects when I want to test some paper… there is no better excuse to paint a sky!

This is some 140lb Fabriano Cold Press that I’m considering for the next sketchbook. Have been using various brands of 140lb rough for the last three books and decided to change it up a bit. I like using something different in each, keeps me from getting stagnant.

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Childhood Friend

sketchbook5 052714This is the last page in my sketchbook, finished today. I painted an imaginary door on the first page and I kind of like to end a sketchbook with a reprise. This time, I painted the front porch of the house I grew up in. Not sure it’s my best work ever, especially the cast shadows from the rosebush. Still, good times, good memories of a place that only exists in my mind now. (The building still stands, but it’s been remodeled, new owners and it’s just not home anymore.)

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Lighthouse Paper Test

042214-Lighthouse-detail042214-Lighthouse-paper-testPaper test! The first washes looked really good, so I decided to finish it up. PB28, PO62, and PBr7 Burnt Umber. It’s 12″ x 4″ on 140lb Fabriano Artistico Rough.

And yes, I love the paper!

Stormcloud Painting

Blue-Lighthouse-crop2That storm doodle sketch inspired me to try it again on a quarter sheet. Same two colors, same method, same laws of physics – totally different results! This is a cropped version, hiding a really prominent breaking wave at the bottom that was just bugging me as soon as I’d painted it.

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