Virtual Paintout - Amsterdam!

Thanks to Bill Guffey for restarting the Virtual Paintout!  For September the location to virtually find our view to paint was Amsterdam.  Using Google Street View it seems that every single street, as well as canal, in Amsterdam has been photographed.  Of course I could still be looking around such a beautiful city.  I'll never be there in person so I always love the push from the Virtual Paintout to be there virtually.

Watercolor 5" x 7"

Watercolor 5" x 7"

Virtual Paintout - Maine, Route 1!

I'm still participating in the monthly Virtual Paintouts, still enjoying virtually visiting locations all over the world.  Bill Guffey organizes the Virtual Paintout where artists use Google Street View at the month's location to find their views to paint.  Bill posts all of the submissions on the blog and on Facebook.

For May 2016, the location was Route 1 in Maine from Rockland to Milbridge.  There are some very charming towns along the Maine coast!  It looks like a beautiful place to visit.  Maybe someday!

5" x 7" Watercolor, Camden, Maine

5" x 7" Watercolor, Rockland, Maine

Frank Eber Workshop!

I was lucky to be able to take a recent workshop from Frank Eber.  I took a class from Frank three years ago which was before I started plein air painting and had little confidence.  I was really hoping another workshop with Frank would come my way.  It finally happened, a three day workshop at the National Watercolor Society headquarters in San Pedro.

The first day, after watching Frank paint, we all tried a coastal scene from one of his photos.  A fun scene, lots of green.  In the afternoon, from Frank's photo, we started a pastoral scene with a barn and cows.  Frank loves to paint cows and he had a big board illustrated with basic cow shapes to share.  The next day we met at the Pt. Fermin Lighthouse.  The morning started out cloudy but cleared up and we could add some sun to our paintings.  We watched Frank paint morning and afternoon demos which turned out so beautifully and were so inpsiring.  The last day we all met at the channel next to Ports O' Call and tried a harbor scene.  There is no shade at that location so lucky for me it was overcast.  My boats and water still need practice.  We all chose our views and Frank painted another wonderful piece.  We went back to the NWS studio and Frank advised us on finishing our pieces.  My barn and cows aren't finished yet.  This workshop was such a wonderful experience, and Frank is so generous with his tips and guidance.  So much fun!   

The view I chose - 10" x 8" Watercolor

Frank Eber

The view I chose - 10" x 8" Watercolor

Frank Eber

After Frank's studio demo

Frank Eber

Virtual Paintout - Greenland!

I love participating in the Virtual Paintout each month.  Bill Guffey hosts and chooses the monthly location based on cities the Google Street View vehicles have covered.  Bill posts the submissions on his blog and on Facebook.  For March 2015 we traveled to Greenland for our paint-out views.  Another place I will never see in person!  The world's largest island, Greenland is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark.  Under 60 thousand people live there.  As much as I had time to look around, I didn't see any trees or animals.  According to Wikipedia the most significant inhabitant is the group of microbes that colonize cryoconite (windblown dust) that contributes to rapid glacial melting.  Hmmm.  Of course there were some beautiful views of the ocean, islands, and several harbors.  I had no trouble finding two subjects to paint.  

5 x 7" Watercolor

5 x 7" Gouache

Keiko Tanabe Workshop!

Last month I had the opportunity to get a spot in a 3-day workshop given by Keiko Tanabe at the NWS headquarters in San Pedro.  Keiko is one of my favorite plein air watercolor painters.  I was really looking forward to being able to watch her paint again and absorb some of her expertise.  I took a workshop taught by Keiko two years ago when I was first starting plein air painting and enjoyed it so much.  She is so generous and such a lovely person.  

Our first day was in the studio and we all tried painting from Keiko's photos.  She did morning and afternoon demos and we tried the same scenes of Italy and San Clemente, CA.  The next day we met at the harbor for some outdoor painting.  We had a fun morning watching Keiko paint and then trying the working harbor scene ourselves.  I've mentioned my painting of water and boats needs more practice...still does!  In the afternoon we painted in another area at the harbor and I found something without boats and water to try, a more "industrial" scene that I enjoy.  On the final morning we met at Averill Park which is a beautiful place.  There is a stream with ducks, trees, and dappled light creating a wonderful mood.  In the afternoon we went back to the studio to watch Keiko paint another demo.  She's just so quick and amazing.  Very inspiring! 

9 x 13" Watercolor

Keiko Tanabe

8 x 10" Watercolor

Keiko Tanabe

A diver doing repairs who was surprised to see us .

8 x 10" Watercolor

Averill Park

Ports 'O Call

Last week one of the plein air groups met in San Pedro where the Port of Los Angeles is located.  There is a busy touristy area called Ports 'O Call Village which features waterfront shops and restaurants beside a busy channel with cruise ships, cargo ships, and an occasional fire boat.  Just across the parking lot is another channel where there are working boats, fishing net maintenance, etc. which is a neat place for plein air artists to paint.  I painted there in 2012 and posted my watercolor in San Pedro.     

It was another beautiful morning at the harbor.  Shade was hard to find again.  I ended up painting close to a row boat and pile of nets which had some shade for awhile.  There are so many exciting views to choose from.  I was happy to be satisfied to try what I could see from my bit of shade.  I will bring my umbrella next time.  

Speaking of next time, a fellow painter mentioned a plaza area at the end of the channel which I hadn't checked out before and there were wonderful views.  That's where I'll paint from on my next paint-out there.  At this spot was a fascinating public sculpture, a 40-foot-tall bluefin tuna suspended by its tail from a steel frame, titled Ghost Fish 107 by Carl Cheng.  It commemorates the once thriving tuna fishing and canning industry which was at the site until it began shutting down a generation ago.  (I remember an elementary school field trip to the Starkist cannery there.)  The open frame fish is full of nets, buoys, tools, ropes, license plates, gauges, and other detritus resting at its head.  The fish's eye was especially playful and appealing.

   

8 x 10 watercolor

Ghost Fish 107 by Carl Cheng

Virtual Paintout - Isle of Wight!

The Virtual Paintout for September 2013, was the Isle of Wight.  It's the largest island of England and located in the English Channel.  As usually happens, there is so much to see using Google Street View, that the month-end gets close and I have to settle on a view to paint.  Since the Isle of Wight is an island, I chose two views near the sea.  

As it happened, I attended a lecture at the National Watercolor Society headquarters before I started painting my two pieces for the Virtual Paintout.  The talk was given by Dean Mitchell and was very rewarding.  His watercolors are stunning and his enthusiasm for his work was really exciting to see.  I got some valuable tips from him and things to keep in mind for my own paintings.  It came out during the talk that he usually uses hot press paper which has a smooth surface so it's possible to push the paint around a little.  I used to use hot press paper for the greeting cards I illustrated for years but I haven't used it for my recent landscape paintings.  Dean Mitchell inspired me to try it for the Virtual Paintout pieces.  They are small,  5 x 7", and the hot press paper was certainly a different surface for me.  A fun experiment!

Dean Mitchell at NWS

My 100th Post!

It really is my 100th blog post!  It's quite a surprise to me that I started this blog last July.  Must say I'm having fun posting watercolors and photos of my views while out plein air painting.   

My new-to-me journey in non-commercial watercolor artwork for the most part started in 2011 with Vinita Pappas's first online instructional website.  I initially "met" Vinita on eBay where she was posting ACEO/ATC size (2.5"x 3.5") watercolors!  Vinita's first demos that I tried kind of gave me the confidence to sign up for some local workshops.  I had so much fun taking workshops from some wonderful artists.  It was in a workshop in 2012 given by Brenda Swenson on Negative Painting (which I blogged about in "Leaves and Berries") where she mentioned a local plein air painting group.  Wow, the group has been just what I was wishing to find for years.  Since then I've found two more plein air groups that I enjoy so much.

Vinita has a new version of her inspiring and instructional website, Create 38, which I love.  Below I'm posting my versions of her February demos which were about painting water and boats.  Both paintings were from a classmate's photos.  One is of Greek fishermen and the other is a cold looking harbor in the Netherlands.  I had fun trying these and I certainly need practice with boats and water.  I'm also posting the very first piece I painted from one of Vinita's first demos, a barn, and I learned so much. 

      

No cake, balloons, or prizes but a big Thank You to all who have subscribed, visited, and commented.  I really appreciate your time, interest, and feedback.  

8x10" watercolor

8x10" watercolor

San Pedro

For the past few years we've enjoyed some very pleasurable visits to San Pedro.  It's an active waterfront area, the Port of Los Angeles.  There is a beautiful, updated marina which is a treat to walk around.  It's also the home of the National Watercolor Society headquarters.  The gallery shows there require a visit.  Averill Park is on a hilltop and features a winding block-long stream and duck pond.  I take a lot of photos in San Pedro, hopefully for future paintings.  Of course better than painting from my photos is plein air painting on the spot.

The plein air group I go out with on Thursdays has met in San Pedro twice this summer and my two paintings are below.  Last week we met at the Point Fermin Lighthouse.  Since I had been there before, I had in mind to paint a view from the point looking north along the coastline of the beautiful ocean and cliffs topped with structures and trees.  Standing to paint that view was just too windy and cold that morning.  So, I changed my plans and painted a view of the lighthouse with two friends, Nancy and Phyllis, from under a big tree.  The lighthouse was built in 1874 and not lit since the blackout along the coast after Pearl Harbor.  It is now restored and open to the public for tours.

The piece below was painted in June when the plein air group met at Ports O' Call in San Pedro.  This area of the waterfront features a tourist spot along a busy channel with all kinds of boats passing by - cruise ships, fire boats, tug boats, etc.  My painting friends were mostly situated along a side channel which was where a lot of maintenance work was being done.  I finally found a little shade next to a huge dumpster and set up there.  It was a beautiful day and my first experience painting at the coast.  I hope to paint there many more times.    

Artists and Photos

It was last August that I found out about the wonderful website Paint My Photo, Where Photographers and Artists Meet.  The website was created by Roy Simmons for the purpose of sharing reference photos to be used for artwork without copyright worries.  It is such a helpful site.  I like uploading some of my photos that I think artists might like to paint from.  And I can also add my own artwork to the site if it was painted from one of the photos available there, which is over 32,000 at the moment.  One of the fun things is a themed monthly challenge.  I seem to do well with some inspiration and a deadline.  One thing I'd like to add is how exciting it has been to get to know new friends from all over the world in these online groups, workshops, websites, and this blog!

Here are the first two paintings I did for the August, and September 2011 Challenges, from photos posted on the site.
This painting was from a photo of a grove in Bright, Australia by Robyn Lovelock.

This small boat harbor in Lake Garda Italy was painted from a photo by Oggy.  This was my first try at water with reflections and I found it went better than I thought it might.