#23 - One Year/100 Paintings - Plein Air painting with the Urban Sketchers Baltimore group using gouache and watercolor in a Moleskine landscape watercolor album. I'm very pleased with the impressionistic look of this painting though maybe the red ball in the water is a bit distracting. This was an absolutely beautiful day for painting, the weather was just cool enough for a light jacket and there was a breeze coming off of the water.
One Year/100 Paintings
#22 - One Year/100 Paintings - Something’s fishy... More practice with gouache and watercolor, this was a quick study from a Morguefile.com reference photo during my lunchbreak. Painted in pocket Stillman & Birn Beta Series sketchbook.
One Year/100 Paintings
#21 - One Year/100 Paintings - trying out a new urban sketching painting style - gouache mixed with watercolor. I've seen this technique demonstrated by Marco Bucci (though much more skillfully and with years of practice!) This was painted in a pocket Beta Series Stillman and Birn sketchbook. I like the look of the painting, different than my usual ink and wash style of sketching. The photo reference is from Morguefile.com.
One Year/100 Paintings
#20 - One Year/100 Paintings - Mt. Vernon Place Magnolia Tree - 5 x 7 acrylic on canvas board. I think I overdid this style of painting that I'm using right now, but let's see what develops in future paintings.
One Year/100 Paintings
#19 - One Year/100 Paintings - Gettysburg landscape - 5 x5 acrylic on canvas board. Still working toward the goal of a painting style.
One Year/100 Paintings
#18 - One Year/100 Paintings - Random Map Crunch View - 7 x 5 Acrylic on canvas board. Still working on my technique in this painting, keep painting to reach that goal.
Procreate on iPad Pro 12.9" with Apple Pencil
Digital Urban Sketching
I have spent the past several Urban Sketch outings trying out my iPad Pro with Apple Pencil and the Etchr Slate Satchel. This past weekend was the first time using the Slate for group sketching and I'm happy to say that it performed well.
My large size Etchr Slate Satchel enables me to carry my 12.9" iPad Pro as well as a minimal traditional sketching kit. The satchel is weather-resistant, well constructed, and looks good too. There's a grab handle for carrying, or use the adjustable, padded shoulder strap to carry it like a vertical or horizontal messenger bag. It has loops on all four corners of the bag to attach the strap to your liking. The four loops are also handy for when the bag is converted into sketch mode - the strap is attached to opposite corners to support the slate around your shoulder while standing or sitting. I found this mode to be especially useful as my left arm which normally supports the iPad while I'm drawing gets to rest a bit. There is a tripod mount on the bottom of the bag, which I have attached to my tripod but not actually used out in the field. I believe that it will perform as expected, it looks well thought out and constructed.
The apps that I use primarily on my iPad Pro are Procreate and Tayasui Sketches Pro. Procreate is extremely versatile in the amount of customization with brushes and layer effects. I've become accustomed to the interface while using it for other types of drawings and can work pretty quickly with it's features. I'm getting more familiar with Tayasui Sketches Pro and like the pen tool and watercolor brush, which I think looks more like traditional ink and wash than what's available in Procreate. I could probably emulate the look of the tools of Sketches Pro in Procreate if I played around with the brush settings or sought out other brushes available for download.
Here's what I bring to my Urban Sketch meetups:
Etchr Slate Satchel - large
iPad Pro 12.9" with anti-glare screen protector (also gives the screen a bit more tooth, like paper)
Apple Pencil
Moleskine Watercolor Album 8" x 5"
Stillman & Birn Pocket Beta Series Sketchbook
Prima Marketing Watercolor Tin filled with Prima Marketing Watercolors
Tube of Winsor and Newton White Gouache
Niji Large Water Brush
Pentel Aquash Water Brush
TWSBI Eco Fine Fountain Pen with Noodler's Lexington Gray Ink
Platinum Carbon Extra Fine Fountain Pen with Platinum Carbon Ink
Pentel Pocket Brush Pen
Caran d'Ache Technalo Water Soluble Graphite Pencil
Blackwing Pencil
Col-Erase Orange Pencil
Uniball Signo White Gel Pen
Mini Water Spritzer
Kneaded Eraser
Paper Towels
35mm Slide Holder for Viewfinder
Small bag with charging cables, earphones, and ink cartridges
External Large Capacity Battery charger (sometimes, depending on need)
Sketch Wallet
Flat Water Bottle
Snack
Folding Three Leg Camp Stool with Shoulder Strap
One Year/100 Paintings
#17 - One Year/100 Paintings - Tomatillos - 6 x 4 Acrylic on canvas board. This was another one of the vegetables that we've never eaten that I picked up at the grocery store to use as a painting subject. I took a photo of the tomatillos to use for my painting before cooking them up in a side dish of Tomatillo Rice. Both Brenda and I felt the dish to be a little overbearing, but not horrible to eat. I found the rice was better cooked up the next morning with scrambled eggs and melted cheese.
One Year/100 Paintings
#16 - One Year/100 Paintings - Red Beets, still life - Acrylic on 6 x 4 canvas board. Seeking new ideas for paintings, I picked up fresh vegetables that looked interesting with the intention of finding a new recipe to use them after painting them. We made oven roasted red beets as a side dish for one of our meals, they still tasted pretty much like any other time I've had red beets.
This was painted in the early am, before work, in just over an hour. The short time limit is to force myself to work quickly, and simplify the strokes as much as possible while still being able to recognize the subject matter. Perhaps I should push the limits further and paint in a totally abstract or impressionistic fashion, without worrying about capturing a likeness to the subject.
One Year/100 Paintings
#15 - One Year/100 Paintings - Last week I was on vacation and was able to get out one chilly day to paint at Lake Marburg. I first hiked around the lake, but was unable to find a suitable subject, but then on my way back to my car, I found this view. I had packed a thermos full of coffee, my lightweight pochade box made from a metal document holder and a tripod seat.
Pochade box
Made from metal document holder
I tried to work quickly and not get caught up too much in the details, my painting style is still emerging. Finding the tube colors difficult to mix without being too vivid, I'm going to watch videos by other plein air artists to see what colors they are using on their palettes. It was getting toward noon and my appetite was building, not to mention the chill in the air, so I finished quickly to have a leisurely lunch at The Famous in downtown Hanover.