Lillian

"Lillian," oil on panel

This portrait is a work completed from photo references and life. Lillian was about eight years old at the time, and is now about twenty years older. I liked the open-eyed wonder captured in this piece, which I've retained in my studio. 

 

Saturday Summer Sketch

I ordered a new sketchbook from Luchetti, a new company that makes their books lay flat (somehow) without the usual gutter that fills with puddles of paint. It's utterly flat when open, without any groove at the junction of pages. Remarkable. These currently can only be ordered directly via the link above. They come as hardcover in a single 8x8 size, though a new 5x5 square size is coming available. They are available as either hot or cold press and very heavy paper. 

"In the Biergarten," wc/ink on paper, ~8x11

This is a view from the Birgarten in Waterworks Park, which is open May through September for al fresco imbibing and hanging out. I sat at one of the picnic benches with a couple of colleagues and faced away from the group to focus on one of the vast landscape views one can see in the park. As ever I laid in the composition in graphite and then painted. After everything was dry I went back and added very narrow ink lines in selected spots. 

The Bike Trail

"The Trail," oil on panel, 9x12

This oil painting is a view of a pedestrian/bicycle trail that winds through Grays Lake, not far from my home studio. The asphalt trail is part of an extensive system that runs throughout Des Moines and connects to trails that go to other towns here in central Iowa. Cycling is one of the most popular activities around here. 

I set up my easel in the shade of one of these enormous trees that surround the lake and enjoyed a cool south breeze as I worked. This was completed on the spot.  

Fifth Street

"On Fifth Street," wc/ink on paper, 8x12

Saturday our sketch group headed for Valley Junction, an old shopping and downtown area that was once home to a railroad town before changing its name and losing the railroad connection. The original name stuck to this district, which recovered as a funky, trendy area of shops. There are bars, eateries, art galleries, jewelry shops, and the like plus a great deal of century-old architecture. The main business street is 5th.

Although the day was broiling, it was pleasant enough on a shady bench with a light breeze. I sketched a converted theater on the opposite corner, it's old movie marquee still there. The occupant now is, fittingly, a costume shop where you can get anything from theatrical costumes to Frankenstein masks. The Junction was quite busy that day, despite the oppressive heat. 

This watercolor followed my usual method--graphite sketch, paint then ink, then modify.
 

Saturday on Sherman Hill

"On Sherman Hill," wc/ink on paper, ~8x15

Last weekend the Saturday sketch group had difficulty deciding where to go, with several groups going to different locales. I chose to go to Sherman Hill, an enclave of Victorian houses just northwest of downtown. After scouting sites I decided on a big house surrounded by nature trees. The gables and turret were deciding factors. This part of Des Moines dates to the late 19th century, after a pioneer entrepreneur built his home there.

My usual technique came into play--graphite sketch, paint, adjust, ink--but not being used to this size sketchbook it took longer than expected. Although most of this one was done on site, I finished some of it later on in my home studio.
 

Coneflower Cornucopia

While organizing file the other day I came across images of an interesting experiment. Some years ago while learning new painting mediums I did a number of studies of purple coneflowers in my garden. The idea was to learn to handle media besides my usual oil and occasional watercolors. With the subjects at hand just outside my studio door I did the four little paintings posted here. These are all 4x5 and done on the spot. 

The first (right) is oil paint on a 4x6 gesso panel. Like the others below, the small size allowed for quick execution and therefore loose treatment, encouraging close observation and significant simplification. 

Oil painting is probably the most satisfying medium I use. It's a suave, semi-opaque paint that stays put and dries to a durable, long-lasting film. But it's less portable than others and more expensive. Still, I love oil painting outdoors. 
 

The second image is a watercolor done on a postcard sized piece of  cold-press paper. As is clear, this kind of paint is quite transparent in comparison to somewhat more opaque oil paint. Again the small size and limited time encouraged detailed observation and rewarded simplification. Watercolor is a wonderfully quick and fun medium for outdoor and alla prima painting. Simple, portable materials continue to make this my go-to for outdoor work. 

Another art medium I've continued to explore for years is digital drawing and painting. This particular digital painting was done on an iPad using a program called Sketchbook. It is sized like the other images here, though it could be any size the user chooses. 

Examining this one after a lapse of several years suggests to me that digital painting can result in higher chroma images. It's also fascinating how digitally-made images like this can strongly suggest the use of traditional media. 

Coupling an intuitive and complex program with a tablet like iPad ought to be another even simpler way to sketch outdoors. Of course, learning a digital art program and tablet pose significant learning curves. Notheless I may begin using a table outdoors too. 

 

Finally this image was made using casein paint. Casein paint is actually a stable emulsion of oil and casein (milk protein) and comes tubed like other traditional paint media. It handles a little like oil, but is water soluble until it dries. Once casein is dry it makes a tough and durable paint film. (Think of dried milk in the bottom of a glass.) Casein isn't used much any more, being replaced by acrylics. Looking at this little painting--another 4x6--the image is at once simple but also solid-looking. 

Casein is an interesting medium that might be useful outdoors but will demand care. Some kind of drying retarder is likely available and might help keep the paint open longer.  

 

At the Marina

"At the Marina," wc/ink on paper, ~8x11

Our sketch group met again last weekend, and this time we went to an area northeast of downtown that features a marina along the Des Moines Rive and a large city park across the street. Some opted for the park but several of us went to a spot along the bike trail where there was live music and snacks. I had a Guinness (canned, alas) and spent nearly two hours drawing the building and the crowd. 

I have a new sketchbook that's larger the last few I filled, so it takes longer to finish a sketch. This one is about 8x10 so I didn't have time to complete the lower right section. Perhaps later on. 

This painting went through my usual routine of graphite drawing, painting, inking, touching up.
 

Rivulet

This new oil painting has been on the easel for a few weeks. The subject of water comes back into my work again and again, most commonly in oils. This work is a distillation of a reference image and personal observations on many creeks and rivers. The idea is to show the many features of moving water--transparency, refraction, reflection, shine, splash, and so on. The rocky bank was an interesting subject, as well. I actually close-cropped a considerably larger photo, then enlarged the result. 

"Rivulet," oil on panel, 8x16

To transfer the photo reference image to my support I simply drew in the boulders, fallen tree, and foliage. For the rocky bottom of the stream I roughed in a series of circles, ovals, and other geometric figures, using raw umber..I began with a white support, and in retrospect might have benefited from toning it. On the other hand, working somewhat transparently gave sections of the painting a nice glow.

Once I had the basic plan on the support I immediately began to vary my palette, adding earth reds, ochres, umbers and occasional brighter passages. Once the white of the support was completely covered I began working in dark passages beginning at upper left, then working across and down in a relatively orderly way. That is, left to right and up to down. Although sometimes I try to work to a complete finish in each region before moving on, many times I work to a certain level of finish, stop for a time (to allow undercoats to dry, for example), then go through the entire piece again, refining, then refining again, as I did here. 

The most difficult aspect of moving water (for me anyway) is splashes and reflection. It's awfully easy to overwork moving water, tempting to add just one more wave, one more sparkle, one more tiny ripple. But in the end I have to exercise a lot of care not to overwork. Another crucial issue is maintaining soft edges for objects below the surface. In fact it's partly the play of soft and had edges that make this kind of painting work. 

This is probably the final iteration of this work, but you'll notice I haven't signed it yet. 

4th Street

This small watercolor is actually a decoration of the front flap of my current sketchbook. I like to make a title page in my books and this one accompanies the iris I posted here a few days ago. The interesting this is the density of the colors these watercolors have. That is, they have a high pigment load that can produce wonderful opacity, when needed. 

"4th Street, Downtown," wc/ink

This sketch is about the same size as the iris I posted a few days ago, maybe 6x8, and shows a short street in the downtown entertainment district. I drew it from a snapshot of mine, drawn by the colors and shapes, mostly. The process of drawing, painting, inking and so on was fairly routine but I tried to simplify the facades and windows, particularly of the tallest building. The drybrush technique on the side of that same structure was fun, too. 

Here is the spead front page with both sketches.
 

Iris

Watercolor has become more and more important to me these past few months. Besides sketching at least once a week with my outdoor group I've also been doing smaller watercolors in sketchbooks.  

"Iris," ink and wc on paper, ~5x8

This particular watercolor is actually a decoration of the front flyleaf of my newest sketchbook. When I've worked in watercolor outside it's usually been in a 5x9 watercolor sketchbook. That size allows good attention to detail and a relatively quick finish. Most of my sketches that size are sixty to ninety minutes. Unlike those, this watercolor has much more detail and so took more time. The bicolor iris is from a personal reference photo and includes a peony in bud and about to open. The date in the upper left is the date on the flyleaf. Although I drew this in graphite, I inked it before painting, whereas I usually ink the finished painting. I reversed the steps because I wanted to study the intricate anatomy of the open flower and wasn't sure when I'd be able to add color. 

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Pairings

My New York art club--the Salmagundi Club--has a new exhibition opening Sept 1 and lasting through Sept 25 titled "Pairings." This members-only show follows an interesting premise. Entrants have submitted two works of art (any media) from their practices, separated by 20 years or more. It's a chance to contrast early works with later ones. 

I submitted these two oil paintings. The winter scene dates from 2003 while the second, summer landscape is from last year. Although my oils have evolved over the two decades separating them, realism is still my main interest.  

"Winter Walk," oil on canvas, 24x20

The street scene is a look at a Boston street after an overnight snowfall. The summer scene is a view of the back of the Des Moines Art Center. The building partly seen in the painting was designed by I.M. Pei, the well-known architect of the Louvre pyramid. 

"Behind the Museum," oil on panel, 12x16

 

Another Saturday

Last weekend the sketch group decided to spend a couple of hours at the local baseball park. There are quite a few views from the parking lot that merit sketching, including the river and bridges, the downtown skyline, the ballpark itself, and so on. 

"From the Ball Park," wc/ink on paper, 8x13

I chose downtown, which is challenging because of the jumble of building shapes and sizes. This was the beginning of a new sketchbook, too, so I wanted a relatively panoramic picture. This particular book has fairly heavy watercolor paper, bound to lie flat. I drew the skyline, then inked it and corrected drawing errors as I went. The painting step involved several layers to add depth and separate values. The new book is larger and sketches cover more, so a wider variety of compositions and sizes will be possible.

Striper Time on the Hudson

"Striper Time," oil on panel

Back in 2019 I attended a plein air painting workshop in upstate New York, the Hudson Valley to be exact. One of our painting sites was the shore of Newburgh Bay, a remarkably wide place in the river a few miles north of West Point. I used the sketches for that experience (plus photo references I snapped) to develop this oil. It remains in the studio as a reminder of a lovely few days.

Besides painting at this locale I was fortunate to spend a day there with my host and his fishing buddies, angling for striped bass as they ascended the river from the sea, to spawn. Every year a group of fishers gathers daily during the season, vying to land the largest fish. . 
 

Saturday

The weather was wonderful last weekend--dry, temperate and partly cloudy. Most of the sketch group decided on something besides the confines of city streets. Eventually we decided that either Waterworks Park or Grays Lake would be good venues, and off we went. 

"Grays Lake Underpass," wc/ink on paper, about 5x17

A few years back the city built a wide underpass below Fleur Drive, the boulevard that divides the two areas of parkland, and it's usually busy with walkers and cycles. I opted to sketch the lake side of it. On a day like Saturday the bike/pedestrian trail that passes through it is even busier than usual, crowded with people enjoying the sun. I sat on a rock beside the trail and did a panoramic view, putting in a couple of strolling people, to define scale.. 

As ever, this is the result of a sequence of a graphite sketch, watercolor painting, and ink accents and lines.  

Casein Still Life

"Studio Arrangement," casein on panel, 6x8, private collection

One of the joys of learning to make pictures is trying different mediums and methods.

Many artists routinely draw with graphite but a great many use other mediums like charcoal, ink, crayons of various kinds, and metal point (a rare one). 

Over the years my primary painting medium has been oil paint, but I've experimented with most other paint mediums, including acrylics, gouache, and watercolor (all water media) plus another relatively rare paint called casein. 

Casein paint is made using a casein-oil emulsion as the vehicle. Casein, of course, is milk protein and the oil it's emuslified with is usually linseed oil. When I use it I'm pleased with its opacity and handling. Like acrylics, casein dries very quickly. And also like acrylics, casein is waterproof after it dries. In fact casein was the choice for quick-drying paint until the advent of acrylic vehicles. 

The painting posted here served me a dual purpose. First, it gave me practice in setting up and making a still like painting. Second, it was an early, fairly experimental use of casein. The view is of my glass studio palette on a grey tabletop near a big studio window. The light seemed to spill over the sill and onto the arrangement at that time of day. The entire work was done alla prima. The multiple pieces of glass allowed exploration of the properties of glass--transparency, opacity, refraction, reflection and so on. 

Historical Building

The subject of this plein air watercolor is Hoyt Sherman Place, which is not only a historical building but also a long-serving art gallery and performance venue. The original building was built as the home of Hoyt Sherman, whose older brother was William T. Sherman, the famous Civil War general. Hoyt Sherman was an early settler who became deeply embedded in the political and social life of Des Moines. In the late 19th century he built a brick home northwest of downtown. In later years a large auditorium addition turned his private home into its current form. 

"Hoyt Sherman Place," wc/ink on paper

Last Saturday the sketch group decided to spend some time drawing or painting the grounds and site. I sat under an ancient tree and made this image. The auditorium addition is just visible on the right side; the left side is (mostly) the original house.  

As always, my approach is to make a graphite drawing with more or leas detail, trying very hard to capture perspective and proportion. After that I usually add watercolor, then ink touches or emphasis.  

Mug

"Mugshot (glasses)," oil on panel 16x12

Police mugshots are fascinating and often overlooked images. Some years ago I made a number of portraits based on mugshots, some of them of relatively famous criminals, some of unknown miscreants with memorable faces. The crimes of this particular person are now unknown because I've lost the source. Still, there is something in the face that seems maimed and enraged so my suspicion is that he was a violent person. 

 

Iowa State Fairgrounds

One of  my favorite spots for sketching is the Iowa State Fairgrounds, on the east side of Des Moines. Every year the Fair generates more than a million in attendance over it's 10 day run, the crowds topping a hundred thousand most days. But the rest of the year the old fairgrounds are peaceful and shady under hundreds of old trees surrounding huge exhibition buildings. One of my particular favorites is the Agriculture Building, which hosts all manner of exhibitions from flowers to enormous pumpkins. It's a giant two-story masonry affair, and on it's south side is a wonderful demonstration garden run by the local Master Gardeners. 

"Discovery Garden," wc/ink on paper

Last Saturday the sketchers went nearly en masse to scout spots to draw and paint. I chose a shady spot with a decent breeze and did a corner of the garden. As ever, I did a modified version of the background building and surrounding garden in graphite, then painted the scene, trying to capture both color and value. Showing three-dimensional volume is difficult for me in watercolor unless I manage to pay sufficient attention to my darks. 

Behind the Museum

The Des Moines Art Center has three connected buildings surrounding a courtyard. The first building was designed by Eliel Saarinen, a well-known Finnish architect, in the 1940s. About twenty years later, the Art Center commissioned I.M. Pei, who would later become world famous for his work, which includes the pyramidal entrance to the Louvre. The third building was designed by Richard Meier, famed for designing the Getty Museum in California as well as many other buildings.

"Behind the Museum," oil on panel, 12x16

The Pei Building is in the brutalist style--angular, unpainted concrete, unusual shapes, and so on, with an array of enormous windows facing south down the slope of Greenwood Park and its rose garden. My Saturday sketch group meets there weekly before dispersing, and sometimes we stay in the garden behind the museum. This painting is a studio version of a watercolor sketch I did there one Saturday last year. The Pei Building is the angular, pale ochre building in the background.  

Pei did something clever with the poured concrete. Concrete is composed of cement, sand, and aggregrate (commonly called gravel); Pei used aggregrate identical to the midwestern limestone of the first building, which gives the concrete a warm yellowish tone.  

Sketch Outing

"Toward Downtown," wc/ink on paper, 5x8

As we always do, the Saturday sketchers met at the Des Moines Art Center last weekend, then spent time sketching around the city. Sometimes most of us go to the same location but other times we disperse. This time I was planning on working among the taller buildings downtown. But as I drove toward the city center the view above seemed inviting, so I pulled over and did yet another Des Moines skyline, The site was a busy thoroughfare but I changed it somewhat, making the street seem quieter. This particular angle on the skyline is somewhat different than some others I've done. 
 

Spire

"Spire," wc/ink on paper, ~8x3.5

As readers of this blog might imagine, the subject of this watercolor sketch dominates the skyline in Des Moines. It's the 801 Grand Building, sometimes called the Principal Building, situated in the center of the cluster of downtown high rises. Being the tallest building in the state, it's not surprising that you can see it from nearly any place nearby. A while back I wanted to visit a downtown garden but found it closed, so I sat in a convenient spot and did a small study of the 801 building in my pocket sketchbook. 

The paper in this tiny book is a bit lighter than I usually employ for watercolor. The color muddiness of the skyscraper is likely the result.

Imagination

"Fall," wc/ink on paper, 3.5x5

Sometimes, when no obvious subject for drawing or sketching is available, imagination serves. One day, while between oil paintings, I was casting about for a subject but none came. So I did this little study of autumn from memories. I fiddled about and added color swatches here and there with watercolor, then realized it resembled a traditional landscape, and the warmth of the toned paper suggested autumn. After some thought I added the trees and figures in ink. 
 

Summer Garden

"Summer Garden," wc/ink on paper ~8x5

This small watercolor is a quick sketch of a corner of one of my flower gardens at home. The black-eye susans and lillies bud and flower at nearly the same time every summer--around now. This was done in a small pocket sketchbook, using my standard techniques.

Downstream

"Downsteam," oil on panel, 9x12

This springtime view of the streambed of Druid Hill Creek was done during the early days when foliage on the honeysuckle undergrowth was just emerging. I set up my pochade box just above, on the bank. The rock in the stream has fallen from rip rap that was used along the banks for erosion control. The stream is maybe six inches deep.

Outdoor Oil

Painting outdoors ("en plein aire" if you want to be fancy) is a great way practice careful observation. A session of studying the world in all its myriad shapes, colors, arrangements and more gives an artist the opportunity to not only see the world but also to translate it, to make it attractive or at least acceptable to the eventual observers. Plein air painting forces the artist to confront the world, as a teacher of mine used to say. 

"Grays Lake North Shore," oil on panel, 12x9

This oil is a good example of my outdoor work. The trees on the opposite bank were lush and very dark green. The challenge for me working outside is the million hue and shade of green, complicated by the infinite variety of tree shapes, leaf shapes, and more. I did this one standing on the northern shore of Grays Lake, near my studio. I've painted there many times, often choosing to focus narrowly on a small portion of the shore. This was late summer so that the surrounding woods and trees are fully leafed.  

Skyline

"Rooflines," wc/ink on paper, 

Last Saturday the sketch group splintered into smaller groups. Some of us went to the Botanical Center, on the east bank of the Des Moines River. Some painted in other spots. I went to the park next to the river, just downstream from the dome of the Botanical Center, where I could sketch the downtown Des Moines skyline, The tallest building houses the home of Principal Insurance, a locally-based firm. The dark brown building is the Ruan Center, named for a trucking firm that built it nearly 50 years ago. The Asian roof is the top of a pavilion in the Robert Ray Park on the river bank. The graceful arch is actually the top of a pedestrian bridge you can take to go to the opposite bank. 

 

Veterans

Although I do watercolors of automobile subjects, they rarely figure in my oil paintings. Nonetheless, over the years I've done quite a few watercolor sketches of pickups and cars. This particular work was done one Friday while I sat in the shade across the street from a local antique car dealer. The two cars in the sketch were both painted and accessorized as police cars. 

"Veterans" wc/ink on paper 5x11

"Veterans" is two late 1950s Chevrolets. One is a '57 and the other a "55. Long ago I actually owned a 1957 BelAir that resembled this one. Antique cars of that vintage now sell for enormous prices, depending on condition. 

 

The Dock

"Grays Lake Dock," wc/ink on paper, ~5x15

Last weekend we selected Grays Lake for a visit from the sketch group. As always, of course, people chose other venues too. I set up on a picnic table near the parking lot, by a floating dock they put out every summer. Two guys were on the dock but weren't fishing. In the distance across the lake you could just see a pedestrian walkway that skirts the opposite shore. 

This began as a graphite sketch, after which I added watercolor. The two fishermen on the dock and the dock itself were accented with ink. 
 

Goldsworthy Group

Andy Goldsworthy has a piece in the garden surrounding the Des Moines Art Center entitled Three Cairns. Materials used in Goldsworthy's art include natural materials, from flowers, leaves, and twigs to stone. This is because of his intense commitment to nature and an intent to work with its entirety. The piece is just south of the Art Center buildings, situated just by rose garden that's currently in full flower.  The three large cairns are perhaps 8 feet tall while a central, pear-shaped cairn is perhaps five feet. The pieces are limestone, carefully dressed and laid without mortar. The Art Center's original building is clad in a similar limestone. There are two other cairns, one in New York and one in San Diego, which with this one form a nation-wide sculptural group. 

"Goldsworthy Group[," wc/ink on paper ~5x14"

Our sketch group elected to stay on the grounds of Greenwood Park, which contains the Art Center, rose garden and a number of outdoor sculptures, including works by Richard Serra and Henry Moore, among others. I sat at the edge of the rose garden on a stone bench to draw Three Cairns in the wooded area they occupy. Built in 2002, these have become popular as backgrounds for wedding photos and other significant events, as happened Saturday. A bride and groom in full dress were posing among the cairns while several of us worked away. 

Because I enjoy a panoramic view I started on the left side of the open sketchbook with a fairly detailed graphite sketch then proceeded directly to full-bodied watercolor, sometimes trying for translucent or transparent effects, sometimes trying for opacity by loading thicker, nearly dry pigment for dark values. After I was mostly satisfied with the colors and values I accentuated parts of the cairns to emphasize the center of interest.

 

Sculpture Park Panorama

"Sculpture Park View," wc/ink on paper, 5x16

Last week I stopped at the Pappajohn Sculpture Park downtown and spent a couple of hours on a view of one of the sculptures and the contemporary buildings across the street. The sculpture is T-8, a huge work (28.6 × 24 × 37 ft.) by Mark di Suvero, an abstract expressionist whose sculptures reside in U.S. collections and worldwide. The artist is well-known for having made cranes and heavy equipment part of his sculptural tools. He takes great pride in making and assembling is art on-site. This particular work was one of the group originally donated to the city by John and Mary Pappajohn. The long building across the street was designed by Renzo Piano (famous for the Pompidou Center in Paris) as headquarters for the Krause Group, based here.  

As ever this watercolor began as a graphite sketch, then watercolor and ink were applied to finish.  

Grays Lake Sketch

"Grays Lake," wc/ink on paper, 5x10

As a personal exercise in keeping sketches loose and not overwork them, I did the sketch above in perhaps forty minutes, sitting a shady parking spot at Grays Lake in the park not far from my studio. It was a wonderful late spring day with a soft south breeze. The lake was smooth, placid, the color of polished pewter. I was drawn by the old, v-shaped tree and the rocky bank. The work was a standard graphite sketch followed by watercolor, then inked details here and there. 

In the Garden

"Lantern," oil on canvas, 20x16

Sometimes a limited perspective is useful. This painting focuses on a metal reproduction of an Asian lantern hanging on a shepherd's crook in one of my gardens. The retaining wall behind and the trees above formed a wonderful backdrop in this shady spot. 

This particular work has been a favorite of mine and remains in my private collection
 

Anthony's Garden Redux

Our Saturday sketch group revisited a favorite spot last weekend--a private garden that welcomed us warmly a couple of weeks ago. The day was delightfully sunny with a faint breeze. Our group scattered through the garden, many finding a place to sketch near the tall central fountain. Although I've drawn this particular feature numerous times, it continues to be a challenge. Giant mature trees and well-maintained hedges and shrubs add to the peaceful atmosphere. Although this is a working fountain and was running at the time I chose to depict it without attempting to render the myriad rivulets and splashes. 

As is my usual practice, I began with a fairly accurate graphite drawing of the fountain. When drawing any vertical object--bottles for example--it's useful to establish a vertical as a center line and draw the symmetrical parts equally distant. In general, when drawing it's useful to draw shapes rather than objects, so I made the bowl shapes match as closely, side to side, as possible. 

After drawing, I added colors in a range of values and chroma. The changing colors of the fountain were the result of reflected sun, since the basin below is painted blue. To bring the fountain forward in the image I added ink lines to show shapes and suggest ornamentation. Distant shapes like the windows were kept looser, with edges considerably less distant. 

 

 

Demo Garden

For the past several years, the gardens downtown that are part of Better Homes and Gardens magazine have been an occasional sketching subject. The gardens are beautiful in concept and execution, and represent outstanding examples of garden design and maintenance. Because the gardens are used for various publications and purposes, they are only open to the public Fridays, noon to 2pm, May through September. 

"Better Homes Test Garden," wc/ink

Last Friday was my first visit to the gardens this year, on a beautiful late spring day. The sun was out and a light breeze played through the branches above. I sat in the central paved area--patio?--at one of several wrought iron tables, next to its central, multi-tier fountain. Others were sitting here and there while more toured the pathways among glowing flower beds. My view was to the north, toward downtown Des Moines but screened by large evergreens and deciduous trees. In front of those were bright red Japanese maples, stuck by mid-day sun and footed by a small green meadow. In front of the green, spiral-trunked crabapples stood like sentinels. The fountain bubbled and frothed just to my left as I tried to capture the multiple layers, colors and textures. This sketch began as a graphite sketch to which watercolor and ink were added.

Plein Air Sketch

This week one of our sketch group members kindly hosted us at her (and her husband's) farm a few dozen miles from Des Moines. Their farm occupies a big patch of rolling prairie east of the city, where they raise cattle and lease much of it to others. Lisa, our host, has a small studio in a converted shed on the farm, which has many subjects for sketching--huge grain bins, barns, farm implements of all sorts (historical and contemporary). They even have a century-old Ford farm truck in running order. 

"At Lisa's Farm," oil on panel, 9x12

When I paint outdoors I'm desperate at first to cover as much of the bright white bareness as I can. For green landscapes--pretty common--I start by washing the surface with burnt sienna or an earth red, thinned to a watery consistency. After that wash-in I sometimes work the red earth monochrome into a relatively detailed underpainting, but sometimes I move on more quickly and loosely. In this case I washed the lower half or so with red earth, leaving the sky area white. Then I laid in the series of conical shapes that constitute the evergreens as simple loose shapes. The shed (her studio) was too red so I wiped out much of the red color with a piece of rag and turp. The brushes I used for those steps were the largest in my roll. 

Next I mixed a series of greens using cerulean blue, sap green, ivory black, cad yellow and y. ochre. and used them to paint the trees and grassland, varying the mixes without premixing, doing all wet-in-wet. The studio building was simplified and horizontals added to suggest distant grassland (left) and tree shadows (right) to provide an illusion of depth. Working with progressively smaller brushes I painted the building carefully to separate values and give it volume and shape. Then working into the foreground I used lighter mixes of green, raising the chroma and enlarging the brush strokes to suggest the more near grassy patches. During the entire painting process I was at pains to keep the vast majority of edges soft and vague, saving sharper shapes for emphasis--note the studio eaves and roof line and the peaks of a limited number of evergreens. The piece is still wet and unsigned, pending a rest and further review. 

Sabasa

"Maria Garcia Perez de Castro, after Goya," oil on gessoed hardboard, 24x18

As I've written in previous posts, copying master paintings has long been a practical way for painters to learn how those masters achieved their effects, particularly with oil paint. Of course copy practice with other media can be very helpful, too. But most of my copying has been oil masterworks, from Goya to Leyendecker to Rembrandt to Rockwell. Recently I unearthed a copy I made more than 20 years ago of a beautiful work by Francisco Goys. It is a portrait of Maria Garcia Perez de Castro, who was known to friends as Sabasa. Goya painted her in 1804, supposedly after he saw her while he was doing her uncle's portrait. Struck by her beauty, he asked permission to portray her as well. The actual portrait was very challenging, particularly, the shawl. If you click the link above you can compare the original to my copy.

Anthony's Garden

"Anthony's Garden," wc/ink on paper

Last weekend the sketchers decided to visit different parts of the city for plein air work. I went to a private garden in the Sherman Hill district of Des Moines, which is an area of houses and apartments dating to a period from the late 19th century to the early 20th, with many fine examples of Victorian architecture. One of the places we sometimes go is this private garden, which Anthony, the owner and gardener, has made into an oasis of green filled with flowers, fountains, any much more. 

It was a warm, sunny day and my companion and I had a wonderful couple of hourse. 

The workflow on this one began as a graphite drawing, then it was painted, then inked.  

Honeysuckle Haze

"Honeysuckle Haze, watercolor on paper, 7x5

This watercolor dates to a few weeks ago, after my post about the hazy green of spring, but before warming temperatures and abundant rain brought the flush of new green to trees and undergrowth. These hardy, brushy plants open tiny yellow-green buds over dark ground and twiggy wood before nearly any other plants. The creek even looks dark this time of year. 

Even two weeks after my first sketch the tiny honeysuckle leaves had opened only a little, their green haze thicker and more obscuring. The other visible greens came from sparse grass along the banks. .

I painted this from my studio window, looking north along Druid Hill Creek. 
 

State Park

The weather last weekend was particularly fine--warmer, sunny, and less wind. The sketch group went to Walnut Wood State Park, which is only five miles or so from where we meet. We had anticipated that a big field of bluebells would be in flower, but warm weather had accelerated their fading, so none could be found. Nonetheless, I sat at a picnic bench and sketched one of the park buildings. I changed it from a rather rustic sanitary facility to a cozy cabin, but otherwise the scene is pretty accurate. The west entrance of the park is at the end of the receding road. The most enjoyable part of this little piece was the dark values. 
 

Courtyard

When the weather moderates in the spring, people come to the Des Moines Art Center courtyard for lunch. A small cafe comprising maybe ten tables expands with outdoor seating. It's a cool, shady spot with a big reflecting pool, views into the galleries and a big bronze sculpture. 

Last week I spend an hour there, sketching the contribution of Richard Meier to the architecture of the Art Center. The original building, opened in 1948, was designed by Eliel Saarinen, the renowned Finnish architect who designed many landmark buildings in the 1940s and 1950s. The second building, by I.M. Pei, who also designed the pyramid entrance of the Louvre, enclosed the courtyard on the south. The Meier building is much more than the cafe in the corner of the courtyard; it's about twice the size of the Pei but that part of the three story addition can't be seen inside the courtyard. 

"In the Courtyard," wc/ink on paper

This is a watercolor and ink sketch done similarly to many others. I begin with a graphite drawing, add watercolor, then ink and then more color if needed.  

The Painter

Most artists acknowledge many influences on their work, from their families to their home countries to mentors and masters from the past. In my case, one of mine is J.C. Leyendecker, an exceptional illustrator from a century or so ago. Leyendecker was an outstanding draftsman whose work is immediately recognizable once you know it. Today he is overshadowed by other famous illustrators--Norman Rockwell for example. I've studied Leyendecker's work and done a number of copies of his works, particularly interested in his brushwork and color palette. 

"Studies," J.C. Leyendecker

This is sourced from a Leyendecker illustration that can be found online showing an elderly painter in smock and beret, cooking a sausage over a charcoal stove. The artist is probably poor, surviving on not much. The work seems to have been intended as a wry comment on Thanksgiving and feasting. But the smock, beard, eyebrows and the figure itself were more interesting to me. Instead of an outright copy, I decided to use the master's work as a jumping off point. 

In my painting, the old painter is not cooking but instead is looking directly at us, the viewers, and holding out a loaded paintbrush. The implication intended is that we the viewers are the subject of his painting. As you can see below, my work owes a great deal to Leyendecker's but is an original idea superimposed on his.

"The Painter," oil on panel, 16x12, 2008. Private collection

 

Greening Iowa

The season seems to have turned at last. Days are longer, skies brighter, and crucially the world is greening. In the parks and along waterways, honeysuckle is lush and leafy. The grasses are that deep arresting green of springtime. And now the giants of the woods are greening at their tops. 

"Spring in Waterworks Park," wc/ink

The sketch group, mindful of new flowering in Waterworks Park, elected almost to the person to sketch there last week. The sun was bright but the wind was strong and cold. I sat on a bench in the sun, back to the wind, and drew this sketch in a fair bit of detail using pencil. When I got cold I went back to my car and inked the drawing while I warmed up then went back outside to paint. After that it was again time for the car and a few finishing grace notes with ink and paint. 

 

Mountain Study

"Mountain Study," oil on panel, 6x8

When you live here in the upper Midwest, you don't see mountains. There are big hills, even distant vistans, but no true mountains. Most of Iowa is rolling or flat plains. One of my personal exercises is to imagine other landscapes and other climes. Clearly, either photos or previous travels, or both, have been useful. 

In Mountain Study I was interested not only in the trees and colors but in depth. To suggest distant mountains meant light values and virtually no identifiable edges, with distant colors going bluer and bluer and more and more pale. Studies like this can translate into believable works on a much larger scale. 

Pappajohn Sculpture Park

 

"Sculpture Park View," wc/ink on paper

At the west end of downtown the Pappajohn Sculpture Park occupies almost five acres of parkland reclaimed during around of urban renewal over fifteen years ago. The Park was the brain child of the Pappajohns who also donated their expansive eollection of contemporary sculptures. The park was designed as a kind of outdoor museum, with :"rooms" made by berms and fencing, with serious consideration given to viewing experiences. The landscape architects considered views from cars passing on either side, views from the sidewalks, and views from the interior toward points of importance. 

A group of the Saturday sketchers went to the Sculpture Park last weekend. I sat on a bench and sketched the view toward the downtown skyline to the east, with several sculptures in view (and a few omitted here). The figure on the left is a a hare sitting on a boulder, "Thinker on a Rock" is by Barry Flanagan as an homage to Rodin's famous figure. A duplicate is in the National Gallery. Just it's right is a headless life size figure "Post Balzac," by Judith Shea, a sculptural allusion to Rodin's study for a monument to the famou French writer. And to the right of that is one of Louise Bourgeois' spiders, which is perhaps seven feet tall. The early spring colors are still muted but the grass is turning bright greens.