North Cascades -- Progress Report, 12 August

Adding a splash of color... 

This week's tally -- 79 works on paper, 20 oil paintings on panels, 130 photos, and 12 videos. I got a little more wrapped up with the works on paper than I had in mind at the time of my last update. So, I have yet to get back to the oil paintings. But I'm getting steadily closer to project completion. (Yea!)

...to some of the botanicals...

Anyway, I should finish up the current round of works on paper this week and be able to return to oil paints ("Yea!" again) by week's end. After that it's just a matter of proof reading (I'll get 2 or 3 other folks to do this with me to gain fresh perspective.) and then it's Submission Time. (Really big "Yea!")

...and one of the "cultural artifacts" I found in the woods

If all goes well you can expect the release of the free excerpt around the end of August. (Stay tuned for more details.)

With more windows (or maybe a hinged roof) this might make a cozy little studio.

Cheers!

Sneak Peek (A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Making of the "Back to Basics" Workshops)

our Lesson 3 subject (just as the clouds were stealing our light)

Producing an online workshop might best be described as "organized chaos": there's the logistics -- not only of drawing and sketching materials, but cameras, lighting, video editing equipment, and so on; there are lesson plans to write; weather forecasts to consider; shooting schedules to draw up; transportation to arrange; hours and hours of raw footage to edit; and deadlines to meet.

discussing materials options on camera

Fortunately, Texas is blessed with some remarkably mild winter weather (punctuated with brief -- occasionally dramatic -- periods of the nasty stuff.) So, while much of the northern hemisphere is shoveling snow, I have the option of alternating in-studio lessons with on location.

 

discussing a shot                                                            between takes 

Location shooting has involved scouting outings to find visually interesting subjects, to determine the best time of day to shoot (for the lighting), and to identify potential filming issues (for example, nearby construction or area traffic that will reek havoc on sound recording and necessitate time-consuming voice-over recording in the studio.)

scouting possible locations in December...

...when the light was perfect and the leaves were still on the trees

Studio lighting can be consistently maintained. So, it is possible for studio shooting sessions to run on for hours (sometimes late into the evening.) But lighting on-location is fleeting. Sometimes, by the time the crew has set up for a shot fast-moving clouds have robbed us of our light (and shadows.) And natural light is never consistent enough for more than two or three hours of filming on any given day. Often we return to a location 2-3 times to maintain consistent shadow patterns in the drawing and throughout the video.

a pair of "continuity shots" assure us that we'll be able to reestablish the 

same position and angle for follow-on shoots 

Of course, there are the unexpected occurrences that pop up too, incidents that either infuriate or leave the entire crew laughing wildly -- like the clueless driver who deftly navigated his pickup truck through a barrier of traffic cones during our second Lesson 3 shoot at the Fort Worth Japanese Gardens, pulled up between our film crew and the gate house I was obviously drawing, ask me for directions... to the Japanese Gardens!

I've written and illustrated four multi-page Instruction Sheets to supplement the lessons we'll be running in March.

annotated illustration for a lesson handout

Editing the Hi-Def raw footage has involved a lot of late nights (when it doesn't conflict with daylight shooting schedules.) I carefully went through hours of video clips (over 20GB of usable clips and uncounted quantities of rejected files) to create the final 19 minute, 16 second Hi-Def film for Lesson 1 (plus twice that for the two Lesson 1 "bonus" videos.) And, undeterred, I turned around and created a 34 minute, 53 second "blockbuster" on tonal drawing for Lesson 2.

an over-the-shoulder shot of a compositional framing demonstration

All-in-all though, we're having a delightful, highly productive time. And I hope you'll join me March 10 when the first lesson will go live on Strathmore Artist Papers' online workshop page. (And don't forget: participation is free, but registration is required to access both the free workshop downloads and the workshop chat room -- where you'll be able to share your work, ask questions, and mingle with your workshop classmates... and me.)

an  illustration for another instruction sheet

Hope to see you there!

____________________________________________________________________________

Postscript -- Any time a workshop (live or online) involves working with a new line of papers or tools I like to take a little time up front to do some hands-on familiarization. So, before getting under way with the workshop shooting sessions I treated myself to a little one-on-one with Strathmore's "Skills" series -- exploring how far I could push the papers, and what kind of results I could expect to consistently achieve. 

fountain pen and watercolor over Micron pen 

Given how well it handles mixed media (including light watercolor washes) and its high page-count (100 sheets), the 5.5in. x 8.5in. Series 200 "Skills" Sketch tablet could be quite serviceable as a pocket field journal.   

A Salute to the "Little People" and Django Reinhardt

OK, being new to video demos I was bound to make a few mistakes my first time out -- and several of you were kind enough to let me know what I needed to do to get it right. So, here's attempt No. 2 (another page from the upcoming calligraphy book, this time shot from the left). Hope you like it (and, if so, that you'll share it with a friend).

Cheers!

Oh, the soundtrack is an homage to Django Reinhardt and the soundtrack of my favorite movie from 2011. (I thought it went well with the tempo of the demo. What do you think?)

A Word or Two from Pablo

One week into the pen giveaway (and with one week still to go) I'm blown away by all the wonderful comments. (In fact, I think we're going to have to do another giveaway very soon. ;-D)

I've also been busy in the studio, working on the new series of inspirational quotes for an up-coming book, and -- with my daughters help -- trying my hand at producing a step-by-step video (of the creation of this drawing).

           

I hope that you enjoy the video and that you'll pop by on Monday for the regular weekly posting; I'm planning something rather different. (Hint: It has to do with this weekend's Japanese Festival at the local botanical gardens.)

Ciao!

Words To Live By

I begin each new journal not with a drawing but with a quotation. They are inspiration; they are the prime that gets my creative water pump flowing. Throughout my life there have been people whose words have inspired me, comforted me during the rough times, nurtured me during the growing times, and kept me on track when all was going well.

The quotes may be about the wonders of nature, or the greatness of the spirit. Sometimes they've helped me to be a better artist. And sometimes they've helped me to be a better human being. Usually, the quotes are just the words. But this week, while working on a couple of calligraphy pieces, I got the urge to put a face to the words. Things kind of snowballed. And, before I knew it, I'd set aside my originally planned subject for this week's article in favor of something rather spontaneous.

I hope you enjoy the results.

This quote by Robert Frost was the first that I took personally -- the first that I chose, of my own accord, to remember. And it has stayed with me through the years.

Miyazaki-san is a Living Treasure... and  a pixy 

When I was younger Rachel Carson taught me the meaning of courage in the face of adversity. And when I grew older she taught me how to be a better parent.

even if we speak no French, we might do well to take these lines to heart

I first came to Saint Ex through his aviation writing. It was only later that I discovered The Little Prince, but it has been that book more than any other that I have gifted to friends and loved ones. And it has been this passage that I have wanted to share most.

oops!

Mistakes happen. (If you're not making mistakes, you're not trying new things.) But every mistake is a new opportunity to learn and grow. (And, in the long run, mistakes don't matter; after all, who can remember how many times they fell down in the process of learning how to walk?) Let the mistakes commence!

the uncrowned Poet Laureate of the 70s

Preview Note: Along with the regular article next week look for a new prize give-away: this time pens! (Yep, that's plural. In fact, I'll be giving away two sets of pens!) Hope to see you then. (And remember, if you don't want to miss future articles -- and give-aways -- there are now three ways to subscribe.)

Ciao!

A Sense of Place

"Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it."

                                                                                                             -- Norman Maclean

_________________________

If we're lucky, some of us have an opportunity to travel to faraway places where -- because of the exotic geography, unfamiliar language and customs, alien weather, and culinary surprises -- we experience an acute, unique awareness of Place. In such unfamiliar surroundings it becomes quite easy to become aware of the details and specific nature of Place. But, with a little effort, it isn't necessary to travel far afield to become intimately away of Here and Now. Everyplace has its history, its geography, its climate, and its culture. And, with a little practice, we can all discover wonderful stories -- right in our own backyards -- worth recording, and worth sharing with others.

Some time back I was looking for a theme for a sketchbook project I planned to enter in a popular national exhibition, and I was looking for a way to introduce my youngsters to the marvels of the natural world. I found the solution to both in my own back yard; a stretch of river (more stream really) all but hidden by the old hardwood trees that lined its banks, the Clear Fork of the Trinity River.

Our little stretch of the river is one of the few sections that wasn't "channelized" by the Corps of Engineers and the water authority during the 60s and 70s. And one of the first things we learned about our little ecosystem was that where you find vegetation and water you find insects -- cicadas, spiders (in all shapes and sizes), walking sticks, damsel flies, and dragon flies.

And where there are water, flora, and insects we found birds -- aquatic plant-eating ducks, seed eaters, and raptors.

In the spring we were treated to wildflowers that carpeted the flood plane that connected the river to the ponds of our wildlife refuge -- Indian Paintbrushes, Evening Primroses, Bluebonnets, and a dozen other species that arrived one after the other. We drew them, mapped their location, and sometimes pressed them in our journals. 

During our explorations we would occasionally discover old, rusted artifacts -- a fallen barbed wire fence, a line of weathered fence posts hidden in a patch of trees, and old, long-forgotten padlocks. So we researched the ares history and learned that what is now suburban neighborhoods was, not to long ago, a huge working ranch that stretched along the Trinity River from what is now downtown Fort Worth to the town of Benbrook. 

We also discovered that where there is a diversity and abundance of plants and insects, and clear-running water, there a variety and abundance of fish -- and that if you "catch and release" it will stay that way.

We looked at the trees, tried to identify them, and researched their history. We learned that some were a prolific source of high-nutrician, free food, others provided excellent, renewable building materials, and still others had long-ago developed formidable defense systems to protect themselves against ravenous herbivores that went extinct long, long ago. 

Most of "our" Clear Fork is shallow enough that we can explore its length and breadth in calf-high rubber boots -- discovering giant tadpoles (that tickle your hands), crayfish, fresh water clams, and several species of turtles.

We found a weir (which the kids called their "waterfall") that was built in 1914 and a limestone outcrop that once been part of an ancient seabed, replete with a diverse cache of 50 million year old fossils.

And we spent long hours (that seemed anything but) marveling over insect hatches and the "creepy-crawlies" that live under rocks of the stream bed.

So, the next time you're preparing for a globe-trotting adventure and you want to fine-tune your skills before you go, think about trying what we did. Begin in your own back yard!

____________________________

"The river was cut by the world's great flood and runs over rocks from the basement of time. On some of the rocks are timeless raindrops. Under the rocks are the words, and some of the words are theirs.

I am haunted by waters."

                                                                                                                __ Norman Maclean

____________________________

NOTE: For brevity's sake I've only included nine of the double pages from the original Clear Fork journal. If you'd like to see all 38 pages of the complete journal, cover-to-cover, I invite you to click here. 

PRODUCT MINI REVIEW & A TRICK OF THE TRADE: The sponsors of the aforementioned sketchbook exhibition required all participants to use the sketchbook they provided for the project -- a plain 5.2" x 8.4" Moleskine Cahier. The Cahier sketchbook is produced in a handy pocket size and sold in an economical three-volume set. The paper is well suited for dry medium (graphite, carbon, and color) and will handle some fast-drying inks (ballpoint, roller ball, and gel). But it is not intended for particularly wet medium (a limitation that the exhibition sponsors should have taken into consideration.  While using pen & ink, marker, or watercolor will almost certainly result in bleed-through and some paper buckling, there are creative solutions for those who wish to work with this handy little notebook. In my case the solution was to draw/write on two facing pages, skip the next two facing pages (because of bleed-through), write/draw on the next two, and so on. After the sketchbook had been filled and all of the pages were completely dry I pressed the book to reduce page buckling and then -- using Tombo Mono archival two-sided permanent adhesive tape -- pasted the facing pages that had not been drawn on together. This eliminated the bleed-through problem and effectively doubled the ply, or weight, of each page. 

  

     

Old Gold #3 - Venezia

Le Serenissima. Of all the cities I have ever had the pleasure of visiting, arriving by train in Venice has got to rank among the most aesthetically sublime. Approaching Venice over the causeway is visually enticing -- a sneak preview of things to come. The train station is all massive and marble -- perhaps appealing only to those who are fans of Art Deco. But, to exit the station on a sunny day and to be struck by the complementary blues of the Grand Canal and the clear Adriatic sky on the one hand, and the warm earth tone of the Venetian architecture on the other, is to be transfixed.

gondolas (coming and going) near my hotel

And then there are the acoustics. As beautiful as Rome was, the sound level was like that of any modern city anywhere on the planet. After all, street traffic is noisy. In Florence, on the other hand, many of the streets and neighborhoods have been designated pedestrian only, and the only sounds are of voices and the rather soothing rhythmic plink, plink, plinking of masons hammers. But Venice, oh Venice! In Venice there is no vehicle traffic (nor many lanes wide enough to handle vehicles if there were.) The only sounds are those of people and, as you approach the canals, the lapping of water against hulls and the occasional relaxed thump of a slow-turning boat motor.

 a Venetian family "car" 

a peaceful, beautiful backwater 

Granted, there are crowded tourist centers -- historic attractions where visitors frequently outnumber residents. But it is easy to slip away down a narrow calle and spend hours sketching and exploring quiet, but beautiful neighborhoods with their earth-toned houses and small, unassuming churches (frequently housing art treasures that put to shame the collections of many world-class museums.)

 Burano is a delightful riot of pastel colors 

When the heat and the closeness of the alley walls begin to press in on you there are the vaporettos  -- the water busses -- offering a fresh breeze and the open lagoon, making their regular runs to the surrounding islands. Due to the summer heat, I chose to forego a visit to the glass furnaces of Murano and chose, instead, to explore the residential canals of Burano, the Lace Island -- l'isola all'estremità dell'arco della pioggia.

The canals are streaked with every color of the rainbow.

And, in the evening, there were quiet promenades with soothing breezes off the Adriatic, Vivaldi concerts performed by female quartets in period costumes playing period instruments in Vivaldi's own Santa Maria della Visitazione (La Pieta), or simply a late night drink at one of Piazza San Marco's sidewalk cafes (now with most of the tourists tucked safely away in their hotel rooms for the night.)

Interestingly, I usually use the same medium and sketchbook structure throughout a given trip. But not so on my last visit to Italy. In Rome I worked primarily in colored pencil and pen & ink. In Florence most of my work was in watercolor. But in Venice and Burano I alternated between line drawings in pen & ink and oil paintings -- the medium of Titian and Giovani Bellini.

sometimes I sketched on postcards

and sometimes on scraps of watercolor paper tucked into my sketchbook

And, as with so many visitors before me, Venice's siren song continued to haunt my creative thoughts long after I returned home -- even showing up in the form of a glimpse of the Grand Canal (lifted from one of my sketches) in a portrait I did of my daughter in her very first formal gown (for our first father-daughter dance.)

Le Serenissima

I hope you have enjoyed our little visit together and that you'll join me again for the next installment of Old Gold -- when we're off to the Lake District.