Munsell neutrals, oil on panel
I last painted the Munsell grey studies in 2007. This time I want to take the exercises further to get more control so I’m getting organised.
The paint is pre-mixed. I am storing mine in 20ml syringes (no needles!) bought from the stock feed store. The wooden block stays in the studio fridge and keeps the paint usable for months.
Storing oil paint in syringes
A quick plein air painting in an industrial area near Perth, Western Australia. Having a couple of hours to spare was an absolute luxury even if it was stinking hot. Oil on panel, 25x30cm. This is also having a go at photographing a painting following Marc Dalessio‘s method – found here: http://www.marcdalessio.com/photographing-paintings-with-a…/. It still looks washed out so I’m not getting it right yet.
Hot Saturday, oil on panel, 25x30cm
Finally unpacked the paintings I posted back from Adelaide.
Jeffrey Smart fans might recognise this place… In memory. Oil on panel, small plein air study. It was almost sunset and I was huddled into the lee of a building trying to stay out of the wind. Imagine hanging onto a tripod paint box, bag, wet panel and hat AND make fair use of a brush with strong gusts grabbing at everything. Then a car load of young ‘uns drives past & one of them leaned out the window and yells “paint big”…
The last of the Adelaide oil sketches. This one was painted in Port Adelaide on the way to the airport. I had a little time to kill so took a detour to see the harbour. It was bliss to have time alone to stop and look. I even thought I had a quiet, out of the way, spot for a quick painting until a busload of kids came to watch. Art critics start young.
Port Adelaide bus, oil on panel, 25x30cm
Something important that I learned while visiting Adelaide was that the enormous windows in Hans Heysen’s studio are ground glass not clear. Nora’s, on the same property, are white washed to get a similar diffuse effect.
Hans Heysen’s studio
Gobsmacked at the soft quality of their light I just fixed mine with a couple of rolls of Plain Frost Window Film from the hardware store. Less than $35 all up for my glass doorway. What a difference! From glaring light to gorgeous in an hour. Now to move my easel…
Instant diffuse light
A beautiful old house in North Adelaide, oil on panel, painted early this morning. Not early enough to work without interruption though. Adelaide people all seem to walk their dogs early and they all went down Margaret St. 🙂
July saw in the beginning of another new sketchbook – this one a Moleskine watercolour. The paper is great – no buckling… The cover is sturdy and I really like the elastic closure. The only issue is the wide format – I like it well enough for drawing and enjoyed the composition challenge. It feels cinematic. Extremely so when drawing across the gutter as I often do. The hassle is scanning it – solved by making time at work to use a large format scanner…
All Winsor & Newton watercolour, graphite and Uniball gel pen.
Quick catch-up with a few from June. Slowly getting the hang of balancing a sketchbook and watercolour kit on the steering wheel. All Winsor Newton Bijou box watercolour and Uniball Vision Micro pen (or sepia Pitt pen) in a Stillman & Birn Epsilon sketchbook. I’m beginning to think its not possible to get a smooth wash with a waterbrush on this paper – probably not getting it wet enough.
I am most impressed with Goulet Pen Company – 12 days to Western Australia, not a drop spilled AND a surprise Tootsie Pop : )
Even though I opted for the lowest cost shipping it was still expensive. The ink itself was a lot less than any Australian supplier so it didn’t end up being that much extra. If I had ordered a couple of items it would probably have worked out about the same. Noted for future.
I did try to order in Australia first but no one had it in stock.
These are all Noodler’s inks. The only one that doesn’t create a wash with water is the Lexington Grey. That matters a lot for pen and ink if I want to add watercolour. The others are a cool effect too. All are safe in a fountain pen.
A heads up for anyone interested in the preparatory drawings behind the works of great artists. The Whitney Museum of American Art is currently showing an exhibition titled Hopper Drawing. It runs until Oct 6, 2013. Related is a web resource called “Explore Hopper’s studies” – which is not just fascinating but may also serve to remind many of us why we keep sketchbooks…
http://whitney.org/Exhibitions/HopperDrawing/Explore
A big thankyou Whitney Museum for making it available!
