Gouache outing that needed a follow-up

One of my recent outings to paint on location did not go as I expected. My mind was not on the page and not on the subject, neither was it in my gouache palette or on the perspective plane - and as a result, the page was falling apart on many levels. 

I thought that this was another learning experience and I could just move on. I rarely finish on-location drawings after I leave the place where I paint so it would become a spread in my sketchbook which would either be a "flip faster" point or a good conversation starter. But it somehow kept calling me back - so I added some lines here and there, then more gouache, and then some more crayons. And I think it is now in a better place - so I am posting it here as a reminder to myself that: 

A. It is ok to continue working on things for some time. I can go back and revisit things - after a little distance. It is a strategy I often use when working on illustration projects - why not here?!

B. Not everything can be fixed but some things can be improved and there is joy in both the process and the result and in just making things to be better. 

Here are some process photos and at the very bottom - the resulting image. 

Black and White Outing

I had a chance to sit and sketch one of my favorite oak trees in the Bay Area. It is sandwiched between some lovely Eichler homes. And it was a bright, cheerful day when kids went back to school and parents were walking past me exchanging all kinds of sentiments about the season. I thought about a need to refill my pentel pocket brush pen and how time is experienced differently by different beings. Feel the feels - whatever is the season. 

Oh - and these olive trees were a beautiful addition to that outing! Photos of the process - below.

A gorgeous color of a tree in full bloom - in August!

This tree captured my interest from afar - it is a rare sight to see such a grand blooming one in August. This is a Crepe Myrtle also known as Lagerstroemia. July and August are a blooming season for these trees - usually covered in beautiful foliage in addition to flowers that range from dark burgundy to almost white pink. 

But this one either by nature or nurture has fewer leaves than flowers, and instead of one trunk, there are many - dancing with each other - creating support for a wide canopy. I used my watercolor and gouache set and some Neocolor II crayons from Carand'ache. 

Update on my Parents - Refugees from Ukraine - August, 2024. The war is still going on.

An update on my parents - who are refugees from Kharkiv, Ukraine, and have been living in California for over 6 months now. 

My parents counted the number of humans they interact with in person here in California and the number of dogs and decided that the ratio is 1 to 18. I have some plans to change it a little :) Being away from their home is very hard. Still, they are living a life without constant russian bombing on their city and away from the everyday problems of war (like getting food, medicine, and general support) and that is what we all are very grateful for. Of course, we all dream about the time when the war will be over.

The big event this month was the painting of a little mural for them. The story of the project is very typical for my Dad - there was a part of the patio border that was falling apart and when he decided to fix it, it fell with dramatic results. So after a few foraging expeditions on the streets where stuff with the "free" signs could be obtained Dad fixed the fence somehow. However, the new part was white and looked odd and boring. And a request was placed to paint something on it. When we showed up with paints my parents art-directed the whole thing - Dad was explaining the concept and Mom was encouraging us to stop early and "not overwork it". There request was for typical Ukrainian flowers: Mallows and Sunflowers, a rainbow over Ukrainian flags and two owls. 

Here are some photos of the results of this family project:

Fig Tree: and update (and a mystery)

An adventure with the Fig tree part one is here. This week we lost two more figs - one just fell off. Now that I am learning more about this whole tree-care thing it seems like figs go through a settling period when the fruits do not ripen - and that is quite normal. Yet I tasted this one - it was better than the previous but still not ripe and still of a "fig for drawing, not for eating".

However, there was another fig. THE F I G. Our tree is not a fair parent and decided that one fig would get all the resources. This particular beauty started to gain color and weight at a much more rapid rate than others, the progress was visible every day! 

One evening I drew it and thought that I would add color an ornamental header to that drawing in the morning. BUT IN THE MORNING THE FIG WAS GONE! It took me quite some time to find its remains.  I am yet to decide if this page will have color. And a new header for the drawing now reads "drama of a stolen fig". 

It was found quite far from the tree and by using all my detective abilities (after all there should be a use for reading all the mysteries) I deciphered that some animal (squirrel is on the top of my list of suspects) stole the fig from the tree, and tried to eat it but probably got distracted and went to eat something else. Or the fig was not that tasty... (though this one looked ripe and tasty to me). And now ants were having a party to finish off the poor thing.

Other than  the events above, this week the tree did not lose any leaves and there are still fruits (I know they are actually flowers and all - but will call them fruits for digestion purposes) - waiting for their turn to be added to this saga. I will keep you posted.