Sketching in Pat's Garden

Whidbey Island Sketchers member Pat Brookes invited us to her garden in Langley to sketch and socialize. It was a lovely day, with the sun peeking through the clouds. This, of course, gave me my now standard Sketcher's Sunburn. I didn't mind, as it was
warm and lovely, there were dozens of singing birds and flowers were blooming everywhere. I didn't want to paint green Green GREEN again, so I went in search of a view that would give me COLOR. I found just the spot, where I could see several different colors of green and yellow, a deep wine and brilliant vermillion Japanese maple, a planter pot with geraniums, some little bright blue blooms and a touch of yellow, and some distant purple iris. Lots of color! And a nifty little birdhouse tucked into the edge of the forest.

THE EVOLUTION OF "A DANCE FOR JOY AMONG THE STARS"

I am so pleased to have my painting chosen to be the "face" of CHOOCHOKAM 2013, the Langley Festival of the Arts. Here is a step-by-step of the process:

It started with just the roughest sketch of an idea. I knew what I wanted, I could see all the colors in my mind's eye. All I had to do was get in down on paper.

Step one - lay out the main shapes and apply masking, then put down the washes of color. New for me - color straight from the tube. New Gamboge, Cobalt Teal, Ultramarine, Cobalt. Laid down very wet on wet, and used a spritzer to get movement.

A BIG change-up here -- no pen and ink-work, at all. Instead, I re-discovered a treasured paintbrush - my #6 Dragon's Tongue. Such a sharp point, it almost works like a pen. I used it and a combination of Ultramarine and Purple to get my deep "blacks" and to do my line work. It worked great!

Choochokam is a Hopi, First People's, word which means "A Gathering of Stars". 

Here the Heron, Eagle and Crow, iconic Langley characters and symbols, dance for joy along the edge of the sea, among the gathering stars.

 I am hoping that the plans for all the "swag" at Choochokam pan out because they are all great. This is the proposed small graphic for the front of the t-shirts, with the full color graphic on the back.

I hope that's the way it works out. I hope, I hope. 

I got totally impatient waiting for the graphics people to come up with and show me their lettering layout for the poster, so I made my own. This is what I would have done if it had been left to me. Now all I have to do is wait to see what the professionals do. We'll see how close they come to my vision!

SKETCHING AT CLOUDSTONE SCULPTURE PARK ABOVE MUTINY BAY

     I had another spectacular day with the Sketchers today. This time we traveled to the Mutiny Bay side of Whidbey Island, way up on a hill tucked back among the woods and fields. Out of sight on twenty acres of secluded land is something that most Islanders never even know exists -- Cloudstone Sculpture Park. Here stone sculptor Hank Nelson and his crew take monstrous pieces of stone (and I am talking 5 ton! pieces of stone and marble) and turn them into huge, monolithic sculptures. 

     Hank also has a foundry where he casts giant bronzes, and welds sculptures from discarded metal objects, such as oil barrels and pieces of heavy machinery. Everywhere on the property are sculptures of abstract beauty and strength, from pieces that can fit in your hands to pieces that require a huge crane to move. 

     There was so much to see and sketch that all I could do was pick one thing and try to concentrate on sketching that, without getting distracted by everything else around me. 

I picked the first thing I saw when I came up to the foundry building - a free-form abstract sculpture of weather reddened bronze that seemed to almost undulate when viewed against the brilliant blue sky behind it. It was stunning. 

I also sketched a darling little stucco and log cabin that I passed as I first entered the grounds. 

And, just before I packed up for the day, I spied a pile of rusty oil-barrel shaped forms that formed bases for a trio of big bug-creatures crawling along their surfaces. HAD to get a quick sketch of those. 

I also could not resist purchasing a really GREAT Hank Nelson stone sculpture. I looks to me like a pteradactyl egg. What it also looks is GREAT in my "stone and rock garden". Money WELL spent!

Evolution of "CROW STEALS THE EYE OF THE GOD"

The Artists of South Whidbey group is having their Annual Art show and sale at the Fiargrounds next month and for it tomorrow I have to have a painting to put in the Silent Auction. As of Friday morning it was only a glimmer of an idea in my imagination. I didn't work on it on Friday because I was at Sketcher Barbara's house have a grand time at our First Annual Sleepover Pajama Party. 
And I didn't work on it Saturday night because I went with Sketcher Susan to "Star Trek - into Darkness" and for pizza. 

I'm glad I had all that fun before, because Saturday night I came down with my yearly spring head cold and was down for the count. Sunday I climbed into my ratty old bathrobe with a box of Kleenex and two bags of cough drops and started to bring the painting out of my head and onto paper. I began at 7AM and finished at 11PM, with a couple of breaks, a meeting with the new yard crew and the Tony Awards in there somewhere. Finishing touches and a new box of Kleenex this morning, and it is ready to go (or at least as ready as it is going to get).

Here is the evolution of the painting.

 Rough Draft, layout.

 The crow masked out with Peabo.

 The wet into wet wash of the pebbles.

 Starting the painting of the negative spaces around the pebbles.

 Laying in the first wash layers on the crow. I under-painted the iridescent areas with New Gamboge, then a layer of cobalt Teal, then a layer of Opera Pink. Sounds crazy, but that's how you get the glow. 

Added the marble, after agonizing about what color it should be. I finally settled on electric green for contrast with the pebbles. 

Here is the final (I think) result, after tweaking. I think it is done, but I could be wrong. It is now a multi-media piece because I picked out areas of highlight on the pebbles with watercolor pencils. No black or brown ink though!

"CROW STEALS THE EYE OF THE GOD" - image size 7 x 10, mat 11 x 14, 

mixed media original

It will be for sale at the Artists of South Whidbey sale auction, July 26-28. Minimum bid $35, final bid 1:00 PM, July 28