Flanders Poppies - Take Two

After a lovely painting outing to the hill covered in Flanders Poppies, there was no stopping me - and I went back - with both Uma Kelkar and Suhita Shirodkar this time!

I planned to experiment with some of the premade backgrounds that were a result of my recent printing explorations. It would be best to take photos of the original backgrounds and some process shots too - but I got too distracted by the process and joy of sitting with friends by a sea of color :)  

There is one experiment that I will share next week once I figure out how to show it best or how to explain it better. But for now - here are some process shots and final poppies!

People Sketching: what to do with all these sketches of strangers?

During many years of on and off people sketching I got into a nice rhythm of drawing and then throwing my sketches away and then drawing again. I often keep even the most random sketches if they tell a story about my life. But these outings to just work on anatomy or movement are usually in a recycling bin by the end of the week. This works in general as the idea is to do an exercise to get the eye-hand coordination and noticing muscles stronger, yet sometimes some sketches have something in them that makes me want to go back and look at them, sometimes long after. I am also working on pointing out things that I like in my works - in writing - so that I can see the thought process and work on those ideas and techniques that keep popping up more. 

So when I participate in an online drawing event - like pencils4tea (join from anywhere in the world via Zoom and people draw each other and each portrait is timed with a piece of music) I go over the results and save some of the sketches - with notes. You can see some below - click on the image to see it larger. 

What do you do with all the sketches of strangers?

 

p.s. now that I am participating in these events more regularly some of these strangers are becoming not so strangers :) I am starting to think that it would be fun to learn more about them! Many are on instagram - we all draw each other :) (last week I was posing - if I find my portraits I will share them here soon :)

Lilacs in Gouache - with palette photos.

I have several friendly lilac bushes that I enjoy visiting during the lilac season. Some were out of sorts this year but I was super lucky to find some new ones - and one of them was white! 

When I was growing up in Ukraine, there were two complementary theories about lilacs. One was that lilacs love when you break the branches and not cut them. And another was that lilacs grow much better if someone steals some from the bush. I do not remember ever buying lilacs. My grandmother had a white lilac bush with a lovely fragrance and my other grandmother loved purple lilacs so May was a month filled with large bouquets of lilacs brought by various family members. I liked painting them and how they worked in a glass jar or intricate vase and in general how wide these bouquets were, how they commanded the space! 

Later I learned about a third lilac-related theory: if you ever find a 5-petaled lilac flower you should make a wish and eat it. These days I diligently start looking for an odd-petaled flower but usually quickly get lost in trying to see all the colors and decipher all the shapes.

I feel like lilac painting can always be better - but I think this was a satisfying experiment in losing control with very watery gouache and some creamy application too, a bit of finger painting, and some search for colors in white. I see that I enjoyed looking for the light and finding edges. And will try to paint lilacs next season again! 

Flanders Poppies - Take One

Flanders poppies (Papaver rhoeas) are in full swing in my part of the world and I am having a blast painting them. This is a report about the first outing. From previous experience, I knew that I would need all kinds of reds with me and some sort of approach to not be overwhelmed by all the shades of colors that I see. But the first problem that I encountered on that day was not with the oversaturation of color but with the fact that I forgot all my brushes! So I used my fingers on the first sketch and then borrowed some lovely dagger brushes from Suhita (Suhitasketch) to paint the second and third pages. 

From the ground point of view where I was sitting a house looked like a proper castle, and I imagined myself a tiny traveler in the forest of these amazingly textured red giants! 

Some neon color influences courtesy of:

• Maru Godas (and her palette that Suhita brought from their recent teaching adventure in Santa Fe);
• Beatrice Alemagna;
• Anni von Bergen. 

I can tell you one thing - I needed a black-and-white day after this sketching trip! :)

Lunch and Sketch Outing Under California Oak Trees

It is a time of rapid changes in color in California: greens are turning ochres, lots of fields are getting mowed, and a completely ahead of the fire season and new textures emerge in the process. This is a time when I rush to see some greens and one of these days a lovely lunch with friends was spent under a canopy of oaks with brushes and watercolors and a sandwich with the first strawberries of the season.