Autumn in Virginia

We spent a week in southern Virginia earlier this month. The fall colors were peaking while we were there, lighting up the hills and mountains with bright yellows, gold, reds, and rust colors. There were enough trees clinging to green to brighten everything. 

"Across the Pasture, Fall," wc/ink on paper

Although the nights were near the freezing point, days were pleasant enough for outdoor sketching. Traveling light, I took only a few watercolor supplies and a couple of sketchbooks. The work above is about 5x8 in a pocket sketchbook. 

Visitor

"Visitor," casein on panel

A few years ago I was experimenting with casein paint, an older medium that was once pretty popular. While I was working I noticed a doe bedded down in the woods opposite my studio. The time was early winter, still barren of snow, so the doe's coat blended into the surrounding dry foliage. She had been there for a while, resting from her usual route along our creek.

As I've commented in the past, casein is a wonderful medium. It is buttery from the tube, handles much like oil paint, and dries rapidly. Because it is opaque, the quick drying means you can layer paint quickly and accurately. Aside from the odor, I enjoy it.

Biergarten Redux

"The Biergarten, Waterworks," we/ink

The weather here in central Iowa has remained moderately warm. We haven't even had a frost. The sketch group spent an hour or two in Waterworks Park last weekend. The biergarten--a seasonal offering--is still in business until the end of the month. 

I spent a pleasant hour in the shade, watching the passing parade of cyclists, visitors, beer lovers and others. A lovely afternoon. 

Life Portrait Sketch

"Hon, Terry Branstand, former Iowa governor," oil on panel, private collection

This is a never-before-shown life study of a former governor of Iowa, Terry Branstad. About a decade ago I was commissioned by Des Moines University to add a portrait of this former governor (who was then President of the university) to their  collection. 

We had several life sessions before I completed the work. This one was gifted to Mr. Branstand and his wife.
 

Iowa Capitol

"Capitol Dome," wc/ink 

This is a Saturday sketch, done with the sketch group. The day was unseasonably warm and sunny. A great day.
 

Snowy Iowa Day

"Stormy Day," oil on panel, 16x20, private collection.

It will not be long until we face scenes like this in Iowa. This painting is a street in Iowa City, done from a photo reference. The snowfall was perhaps six inches deep that day, and very cold. 

This work sold to a private collection years ago. 

 

Casein Studio Study

Almost a decade ago, I began using casein paint. It's a kind of paint that's been around for almost a century, and once was more commonly used until replaced in part by acrylics. Both mediums dry rapidly, often to a matte finish, and are therefore useful in commercial work where images have to be produced and ready fairly quickly. Casein is a milk protein that is emulsified with oil and pigment to produce a soft, buttery paint that handles nicely and can be immediately painted over. Because it dries so fast it's a little more difficult to blend than oils but feels a lot like oil paint. 

Studio Shelf," casein on panel

This painting was done spontaneously in my studio while I was trying out the paint. It's my work table shelf below big, west-facing windows that overlook my backyard creek. It was summer, and the woods of the opposite bank were thick and lush. On the shelf is a wine bottle with a plant, a potted jade, various bottle and a vase. In front of the right hand window are bottles and various containers of oils and mediums. This rough sketch could have been a larger painting, but somehow remained forgotten in an old computer file.

Saturday

While it is fun to sketch or paint the same subject in a group--similar to being in a workshop or class--our Saturday group doesn't always agree on subject matter or location. So we often split into smaller groups for the session. Last Saturday some of us went to the Iowa capitol grounds east of downtown, but some went to the local park along the Raccoon River, and a few scattered into older residential areas. 

"Monuments on Capitol Hill," watercolor in a sketchbook

I sketched the capitol grounds but turned my back on the enormous Capitol and instead spent some time on the monuments to its south. I sat on the steps of one monument and set up a composition including the dome of the Supreme Court building. The result shows two memorials, the lush trees and a bit of the grounds. 

Travel Sketching

"La Rambla, Barcelona," wc/ink 2017

Sketching has been one of my favorite activities when we've gone visiting nearly anywhere. Often I sketch on watercolor postcards and mail the paintings home. But I also use pocket sketchbooks of various sizes to keep a kind of visual journal of wherever we are. 

The watercolor above is a distillation of many visits to Barcelona's justifiably famous Rambla pedestrian park. Part street cafes and bars, part shopping, part tourist shops, it's one of the places we loved when we were in the city a few years ago.

Below are a few sketches from days gone by. The first two are a villa in France and medieval village not far away. The final is a street light at dusk in Vienna. All were done with a small travel kit of watercolor pans and a couple of waterbrushes. Everything else you can get as you go. 

"The Villa, France," wc/ink 2019

"Eze, France," wc/ink, 2019

"Nightfall, Vienna,". wc/ink, 2013

 

Nifty

Long ago, the denizens of an online art forum decided to exchange watercolors of postcard size. The idea was that groups of ten would each send an original watercolor to every other member. That is, you would do nine originals and receive nine in return. As is often the case with such ideas, it was only partially successful. The exchange was at least twenty years ago, and I retained only a few images of the works I sent others. The ones I received in return have disappeared. 

This particular little work was drawn in ink and then painted. 

 

the Painter

"The Painter (after Leyendecker)" oil on panel, private collection

This painting began as a copy of a work by JC Leyendecker but rapidly changed into its current form. In the Leyencecker a young painter is roasting a hot dog over his pot-bellied stove. But I wanted something more immediate so I made the old man who stares at us, holding his palette. In effect, making a painting in whoch the viewer is the subject's subject. 
 

Oktoberfest

Yes, of course it is not yet October, but the fall events here have already begun. The biergarten in  Waterworks Park (see my September 2 post), not far from my home studio, had a weekend Oktoberfest event with music, food trucks, exhibits, a pen full of baby goats for kids to pet, and a lot of beer (mugs too). My Saturday sketch group--well, some of us--decided to take a look. 

"Oktoberfest in the Biergarten," wc/ink on paper

There had been rain in the morning but the clouds were scudding away to the east and skies were beginning to clear. We got a mug and sat in the shade, watching the crowds build, now that the rain had stopped. It was cool and pleasant and not so crowded as it would doubtless be in a short time. 

I sketched and painted this small watercolor in a small sketchbook. 

The Blue Dome

"The Blue Dome (Arnie's), Tulsa," oil on panel 

A decade or so ago, after a visit to Tulsa, Oklahoma, my old home town, I painted a cityscape of the emerging arts district that was at the time reclaiming an old and decrepit area northeast of downtown. Anchored by a circular building with a blue done (and named The Blue Dome District) the area now has fine dining, clubs, art galleries, and shopping of course. 

The blue domed building was once a service station in the Art Moderne style, with numerous gas pumps, service bays, and a big office. Over the years it faded, closed, and went to ruin. Now it's been repurposed as a bar and grill named Arnie's Bar, that traces its own lineage to another part of town. Arnie's was once owned and hosted by it's namesake, a former big-band musician. The original Arnie's was a long, narrow room with a door to the sidewalk and one to the back alley. Any day, if you walked in, big band or jazz music would be playing on his reel to reel recorder. 

Age

"Age," graphite and chalk on paper, 8x10

This study of an elderly woman's face was a personal drawing exercise. It is graphite and chalk on toned paper, lighted and shaded using a method known as chiaroscuro (literally clear and dark). Many of my earlier charcoal and graphite works have not been digitized. This one is relatively recent. 

Nocturne

"Washington Square Nocturne," oil on panel, ca. 2003

One of the more interesting and difficult subjects for art is the night. When done effectively, nocturnes evoke the dark hours whether colors are true to life or not. 

Certain painters like Frederic Remington are known for their paintings of darkness and shadow. Although his work was as an illustrator of Western life, Remington's nocturnes transcend. Using his personal experiences in the West he evoked the dim lights of night, from pale green moonlight to the cold flicker of steel in darkness. 

Long ago Remington's example gave me reason to attempt similar ideas. In the end, only a few of those studies has survived, the others having gone into hiding somewhere. 

 

The Glass Palette

Sometimes, when no important project is pending but I want to paint, I simply look at what is in front of me and start. This painting was done years ago in response to just such a situation. I was standing in my studio, looking for subject and spotted these three bottles, each with a different color of water. They made an interesting subject, but I needed to see how they transmitted light, so I sat them close to the window, on the edge of my steel table, next to my round glass palette. Using an old failed painting as my surface I quickly did this work (about 11x14 I think). If you look at the lower right corner you can see vestiges of the older painting, which I think look like reflected light. 

The bottles have three simple shapes and three colors and make for great drawing practice. 

Emulating Paint

Although it isn't my maintstream medium, digital drawing and painting has undeniable allure for me. First, there is little prep and zero cleanup Second, today's computers and other digital equipment like display tablets and portable sketchbooks (think iPads) make images that are superior to those of a few years ago. 

"Portuguese Coast," digital painting

This digital painting was done using a photographic reference, with considerable modifications. The program was Sketchbook and I used a Wacom display tablet. If you thought it was actual paint from a tube, I wouldn't be surprised. This project shows how well a computer can emulate a real-world oil painting. The result could be transferred to canvas--printed--and sold, I suppose.  

In the Biergarten

The big park near my home studio hosts an outdoor beer garden during the warm months of the year. There are chairs and picnic tables scattered in deep shade under ancient trees. The selection of brews is adequate and tasty and the setting pleasant and cool. A bike trail nearby brings cyclists needing a rest as well as plenty of folks who come to the park for the garden itself. 

I spent an hour or two under the trees, savoring a cool breeze and a cooler beer. 

Test Garden

"Shady Corner," wc/ink on paper, 3.5x9

In downtown Des Moines we have a hidden gem in the Better Homes and Gardens Test Garden, a private area of garden beauty owned by Meredith Corporation, the long-time publisher of Better Homes. Now absorbed by a digital media company named People, Inc, it opens on Friday afternoons, noon to 2 pm, May through September. Over the years I've spent some wonderful lunch times there with friends or alone, sketching. 

Last week I visited the Test Garden for the first time in a few weeks. As always it is a spectacular place, full of beauty and grace. I sat in a shady corner and sketched the southwestern and shady corner of the garden, which is dominated by big, mature trees.

The sketchbook I've been using is 3.5x5.5, just right to fit in a pocket. I carry a metal watercolor box that holds a pencil, kneaded eraser, and waterbrush, and I put a couple of folded paper towel in my other pocket. Makes for light travel. 

 

After the Fair

"Discovery Garden," wc/ink on paper

In years past I went to the Iowa State Fair every year (sometimes every day) to sketch, and then posted them here, until the pandemic in 2020. After that I have occasionally gone to the Fair but more often my visits have been after the exhibition. 

This year the Saturday sketchers went to the fairgrounds after the livestock, food vendors, kitchen appliance hucksters and all the other exhibitors left. The quiet was lovely, the weather hospitable, and the Master Gardeners' Discovery Garden was still in full flower. 

I sat on a shady bench and sketched a corner of the garden, its foliage masking a service barn in the background.