Notable Eggplants of this Year

I am a big fan of eggplants - the color, texture, shape, and, as I found out this year, leaves and flowers - all are beautiful, unexpected and inspiring! 

This year we had a very first eggplant plant (in a pot) that gave us several gorgeously purple and star-shaped flowers that were looking down, and then a lovely berry (did you know these are berries??), even though someone tried to eat before us (see sketch below). 

Then my Dad scored stripy eggplants and was super excited to hear that I've never seen anything like that. And then I got a present of an eggplant with a nose! What a year!

We learned how to make a super tasty Baba ghanoush - before we learned how to spell it :) I should probably draw the recipe before the season is over and we stop making it. 

Gouache Reconstitution Process

I've been working with a watercolor+gouache palette for some time now, and also kept a whole bunch of gouache colors - pre-mixed in various ways. The system is not really systematic - it is more of an "oh, I mixed a really cool color and I will carry it with me for some time" situation. So here is how it looks:

I wanted to adjust some of these mixes and realized that a couple of my gouache tubes are completely dry - as in brick dry. Below is a record of my experiment I did to reconstitute them back to life (successful, if a bit messy).

Summer Travel: Toronto: Urban Sketching Breaks!

I visited Toronto for almost a week, and on some of the days, I got to paint this beautiful city. I was super lucky with the weather and enjoyed the company of the kind people of Toronto a lot! 

The first three sketches were done with ink, and then I added color with my gouache and watercolor palette. In the first sketch, I was afraid that it might rain, and in both the second and third sketches, I was not sure how much time I had, so I wanted to capture the scene with ink before deciding on adding paint and details. 

The last sketch - of one of the many library branches I had more time and painted it without using lines or ink - directly with the watercolor and gouache paint in my horizontal fabriano watercolor sketchbook. It was a wonderful day to be outside and after sketching I got a soft serve from an ice cream truck and did a little people watching by the tennis court (hands were busy holding sketchbook and eating ice cream so no sketches from the match but it was entertaining!). 

Chicago Trip, Part Four: Extra Time

Before my workshop I got to walk the city with a Mary Jo Ernst (finally meeting in person!) and see her do some magic with her blue pen at my location. And then we joined a USk Chicago Seminar Sketchwalk by the Water Tower and sketched a view down the Michigan ave. 

And after the workshop I got to spend time time in the city - I already wrote about my museum visit and sketch of the bean - but after that I drew the lake and at the very end of the day as I passed through the tiny park by the Drake Hotel I witnessed a sparkle of fireflies (and some rabbits too) - being in a tiny dark park in the middle of huge city and watching fireflies dance in front of you was an experience that made this whole trip extra special! My huge thanks goes to my trop companion who talked me into "one more walk before calling it a night" and then noticed fireflies and pointed that in my attempt to make a firefly sketch and video at the same time I did not notice bunny sitting right in front of me. Thank you!

Two more sketches from the Orchard Outing: Teaching Experiment

Last week I shared my sketch - spread over two pages of a new (to me) sketchbook (it is a Pith sketchbook - more about it soon as I continue some experiments). I made two more sketches at the same outing and it took me some time to scan them properly and think about what was working and not working for me. Mainly because I created these sketches based on the workshops that I will be running this summer. I will be teaching two sessions at the Chicago Urban Sketchers Seminar on July 11-13 and then a week later a little different version of the workshop but with the same technique - at the Sketcher Fest Edmonds. Two sketches below were a run through the process which I will be sharing. I know that Chicago is sold out but I believe some tickets are still available for Edmonds! 

A trip to the Iris Garden!

Irises are one of my favorite flowers (though after I typed this I paused to list other favorite flowers for myself and now am over a dozen). For a few years now May means an outing to Nola's Iris garden! Suhita (https://www.instagram.com/suhitasketch/) joined me this time again and we had a chance to look both at the flowers as a field of color on top of the hill and as individual beauties. I tried my new resist crayon and went from some very quick studies to a longer landscape piece to some more detailed portraits of the flowers - wondering about names for these colors and how to find a balance between trying to depict a spirit of the iris and a feeling of the flower that others can recognize later. 

Here are some process photos. And a couple of little videos I posted on Instagram - where you can hear birds and see the sketch with resist and where you can see more of the garden.

I wish the iris season was longer! Perhaps I still have a chance though :)

Wisteria Tree

Now - I am well aware of the fact that wisteria is not a tree but rather a climbing vine. But this one was so masterfully draped over another tree that it looked very much like a tree!

Sketching a hill, looking at waves of grass.

I went back to the fruit tree orchard where I had a painting adventure/disaster before only to find that the trees are no longer white. They still look quite bare though! But before I painted that view (see below) I tried to tackle a grassy hill that had an Andrew Wyeth vibe. Below are two of my attempts to catch waves that the wind created. 

I had a wonderful company with me for this outing - here is a link to what @umapaints created with gouache. As we painted and talked about life, work, and the future, a mowing team waited to start clearing this beauty. I am glad we got to see it! Below are two versions: the color version done in gouache and the black and white version made with ink. And the look at the orchard is done in gouache too. 

Video flip-through my Sketchbook #148

I finished Sketchbook #148 quite some time ago and finally made a video of a flip through - it is below and on my youtube. Some screenshots are also below. 

This sketchbook started with my trip to Croatia to see my parents and their portraits of war in Ukraine are threaded through the sketchbook after that too. There are several outings to sketch with friends, lots of everyday life sketches, and of course, gouache and stencils.

This was a 8.3" x 5.1" Art Creation Sketchbook from Royal Talens which I kept from February 11, 2023 till April 11, 2023 and in these two months time it gained 160g of ink, paint, glue and paper!

Video flip-through my Sketchbook #147

I've uploaded a video of a flip through my sketchbook number 147 to my youtube. Some screenshots below. Many of my flowers make an appearance there, a whole story of a pink and purple bouquet. My parents (portraits of war in Ukraine), experiments with stencils and printmaking and of course - gouache. A barrage of sketches from everyday life.

This was a 8" x 10" softcover alpha sketchbook from Stillman & Birn. I worked in it from December 13, 2022 till February 10, 2023 and it gained 300 grams of weight during this time!

Spring at the Google Headquarters: The Joy of Gouache!

A few weeks ago I got to play with some new materials from Cretacolor (big fat pencils and crayons!) and a new for me gouache from lascaux - all thanks to Lauren Sunila - a Brand Manager at MacPherson’s

And what is the best test for any new drawing tools? A trip to paint and draw on location!

On one of the very first warm days of this spring, I jumped at an opportunity to join my friend at the new Google buildings. We were short on time so all of these are basically painted from around the same spot. Buildings themselves are mind-bending architectural wonders (I cannot wait to visit one of them inside) - so to get some respite from the hard-to-follow architectural structure I painted green hills and a creek too. 

I loved the coverage and smoothness of lascaux gouache a lot! This is not acrylic gouache - it reactivates with water very nicely! I used three different tools to paint with it (including my finger - which is a good test as some paints cause skin irritation - but none in this case!). Both wet and dry brushing was a joy with these paints. I hope to get my hands on more colors to make some special mixes to take with me in the field next time!