Saturday, October 27, 2018

8.5x11 San Laurio Graphite Stick 10/26/18

 









Tried to get this conversational grouping of people standing and talking while waiting for their order










 This guy had a real cool hat we all wanted to draw him. Only managed to get a few lines down when he came over to talk to us. 















Experimented with graphite stick and kneaded erasor this week. I really liked it. Much better than pencil. Liked the wider width and the ability to use the side of the stick.

Wednesday, October 24, 2018

8.5x11 starbucks pencil 10/19/18

 Darkened the pencil lines when I got home so they would scan in better.


















A very quick sketch to place the relative sizes of people when sketching buddy went to wash his hands before we left.


Thursday, October 18, 2018

bee pencil 5.5 x 8.5










Reading our Native Bees by Paige Embry.
Very interesting and good pictures

Tuesday, October 16, 2018

hospital 4x6 pen sketches

 waiting room

 infusion area
hand massage therapist









Lot of people. Everyone kept moving a lot.

Sunday, October 14, 2018

Starbucks 7x10 pencil 10/12/18

Had a good time talking and laughing.

Gary said, "Let's all draw the same person for 5 minutes!" 


























Scanning in pencil sketches doesn't work all that well. Maybe I should switch to pen? Not sure where the dark shadow is coming from. I weighted the sketchpad down with a book but maybe it still is not laying flat.

Showed my buddies a book that I am reading by Mario Andres Robinson called "Lessons in Realistic Watercolor." In the book on p. 78 he showed that smudging the graphite with a finger makes the blended area flat and doesn't recommend that technique. He has excellent examples and ideas in this book.I haven't quite finished reading this book. I heard his interview on Plein Air Art Podcast by Erik Rhoads so had to learn more.

Read "A history of pictures for Children" by David Hockney & Martin Gayford. Interesting. I'd like to learn more about the camera obscura and camera lucida created by William Hyde Wolllaston as a rival to the camera obscura.

Skimmed "The One Thing" by Gary Keller. Basically make blocks of time to focus on the one thing that will make the biggest difference in your life. And "once you've done that one thing for the day you can devote the rest of the day to everything else."

I like these quotes from the book:
  • Page 55, "...success is about doing the right thing, not about doing everything right."
  • Page 159, "...I come from a "long line of lethargic people."" p 207 "Don't sacrifice your health by trying to take on too much....It's important to manage your energy so you can do what you must do, achieve what you want to achieve, and live the life you want to live." I totally agree with this. If I don't get enough sleep, enough to eat, or some playtime, I feel crappy, and don't feel like doing anything.
He suggests to block the following things on your calendar:
  • Time block your time off
  • Time block your ONE thing as early in the day as possible for a minimum of 4 hours. Key is to do it everyday, like Stephen King writes his novels or comedian Jerry Seinfeld wrote his jokes, put a big red X on the calendar, and tried to not break the chain of X's. Post "Until My ONE Thing is gets done - Everything Else is a Distraction."
  • Time block an hour each week for you planning time of annual and monthly goals.
Big Ideas from p 206:
  • Start by saying "no." "...when you say yes to something, you're saying no to everything else."
  • Accept chaos. "...pursuing your ONE Thing moves other things to the back burner."
  • Manage your energy
  • Take ownership of your environment. "Make sure that the people around you and your physical surroundings support your goals.














Friday, October 12, 2018

drawthis practice 5.5x8.5 pencil

Reading Essential Techniques of Landscape Drawing by Suzanne Brooker. Great book! I am trying to learn how to hold the pencil like she says on pp 20-22.















I like drawing people too so that's why I chose to sketch people from drawthis!

Some books I'd like to study when I get back to painting:
  • Landscape Painting Inside & Out by Kevin Macpherson (except I'd probably work in acrylic or gouche)
  • The Painterly Approach by Bob Rohm
(I heard an interview of these Artists on Plein Air Art Podcast by Erik Rhoads and picked up some hints and ideas)

Read Hyperfocus by Chris Bailey. Very well written. Here's what I got out of it.

There are 4 types of tasks:
  • Productive + unattractive = necessary
  • Productive + attractive = purposeful
  • Unproductive + unattractive = unneccessary
  • Unproductive + unattractive = distracting 
There are 4 types of interruptions/ distractions:
  • No Control + annoying which you have to deal with
  • Control + annoying such as phone alerts, email which you have to deal with
  • No Control + fun which you enjoy
  • Control + fun such as social media which you may enjoy
He discussed using hyperfocus to be productive and scatterfocus modes for creativity. He suggested a 15' break every 90' will make you most productive. Some breaks are more relaxing than others, one of the things he suggested was a walk, getting away from electronic media, reading something fun...

3 types of scatterfocus:
  • Capture mode where you identify what on your mind. (Keep notes as things come up in your mind so you can schedule or plan to do in future?)
  • Problem-crunching where you mullover a specific idea or problem
  • Habitual where you engage in a simple task so you can recharge and connect the greatest amount of ideas.


Tuesday, October 9, 2018

Crossover 7x10 pencil 10/5/18











Reading the joy of acrylic painting, expressive painting techniques for beginners by Annie o'brien gonzales.

I like her idea of looking for "artist ancestors" of artists that i like where i analyze why I like them and perhaps try to copy one of their paintings to gain skills/technique.

Monday, October 8, 2018

Delafield Fish Hatchery 7x10 pencil 9/21/18







Well, I'm caught up unless I find some small notebook sketches floating around somewhere. Been a hard summer.

I have been listening to https://www.outdoorpainter.com/podcast/

Mario Robinson paints in watercolor, pastel, and oil. He paints dry not wet in wet watercolor because he likes more control and uses a gray underpainting. I'd like to try that.

John Pototschnik uses a limited palette. He suggested just working with 3 primaries and making color wheels. I'd like to also do value charts.

Tuesday, October 2, 2018