More watercolor only, with lines added after.
Images in Stillman & Birn Alpha journal with watercolor paints;
after, graphite or white pen lines added.
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Mitchell and I bought this vase from an antique store in Rogue River
when we were first together, out exploring. No label.
The cup is one of many brightly colored pieces from Mamma Ro.
It has that watery quality, and feels like the era in which we should have been living.
It is one of our most precious pieces, such sweet memories.
All watercolors, no lines, a nice experiment.
Images in Stillman & Birn Alpha journal with Daniel Smith and QoR watercolor paints.
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Some of you know I am doing a year-long study of Weeping Buddha
along with the lojong postings on my other blog. Thanksgiving, the first
was a simple line drawing of Weeping Buddha.
Now all color, pale wood colors and darker wood colors.
Some shadows influenced the color of the wood.
Finally shadow using a Lyra water-soluble graphite crayon. I love this technique.
After the initial sketched charcoal I wet it with a #8 or #12 round, and then put some
on my fingers and smudged it and smeared it. I love the color of graphite and
when it becomes a paint-like substance it is quite beautiful.
Painted in OKINA (Cadic) journal with Lyra Graphite Crayon + various watercolor paints.
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I recommend taking the time for this film; amazing.
While you are at it, check out Open Culture, which is where I found it!
I haven’t done these kinds of formal studies since college, drawing shapes for
buildings in the abstract. BTW, USC taught me nothing about drawing.
Ed “Big Daddy” Bowen from Laguna Beach High School drafting classes taught me everything I used daily for fifteen years. This was more fun, less stress.
The hardest one to execute was the negative space — I simply kept losing my ability to see the shape proportions clearly, and almost veered wildly off into another direction.
I enjoyed the graphite “shadows” the most, especially when I added water.
Oddly enough, almost everything I chose to draw for this came from my architectural self. The original Pottery Barn (before it was a chain) white pitcher from the Westwood store, the red teapot I carried all over London and then for two months through Europe,
my hot pepper shakers, and my stainless steel Star candleholders.
I rarely see them all out in one place, these graphic remembrances of my old self.
She’s been integrated with Booby Gurl, Buddha Gurl, Tibetan-Mexican Gurl,
Cowgurl, Monterey Gurl, California Beach Gurl.
I could not resist adding a little line to the color-blocked painting.
Always the rule breaker. Nice it no longer gets me into trouble.
I think these items will have to go on our Turkey-day Table, with the 7-lb hot pepper turkey with blackened pepper corn break stuffing and guacamole.
When it is just-us I can cook for just-us and stay in my pajamas and paint!
Happy Thanksgiving to all of you!
Images in Stillman & Birn Alpha journal with Lyra Water-soluble Graphite crayon,
Daniel Smith and QoR watercolor paints.
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Playing with my tools in this exploratory, and thinking of Andrea Joseph, I had to also play with the various types of ball-point pens in my stash. Uniballs have been my favorite for so many years, first the older Vision Elite, now the newer sleeker Vision Elites.
I found the new color+black inked versions completely wonderful (left side, above),
and only wish they were waterproof. Not quite black, toned down, a great drawing color.
I use the brown-black pen often, but after seeing the red-black wet, I will use this one often too — it looks like sepia brown architectural prints! Mitchell has all the green pens . . . I need to order one of my own. It has a nice forest-green spruce washed color!
I won’t buy the 207 Uniball again. I took a chance on back-to-school sales,
less than a buck a pen. Not too bad, but I like the flow of the Uniball Vision Elite.
Then I channeled Andrea and picked up the pile of freebie ball-points.
(I guess I combined Andrea Joseph with Cathy Johnson in the pen-play! Ooops!)
It is the only way I own a regular ball-point. And I only keep those that have some emotional or memorable significance, with the exception of our accountant’s contact info.
I also through in a few of the “stolen” green pens from Mitchell’s stash (in all honesty these were a gift) and some fine point Uniball Signos that I tried and did not like — but had never tested with water. There is not a pen here I would reach for, except maybe the Pilot G-2, because it has a nice flow. Flow is the reason I don’t like ball-points, I don’t
like their scratchy nature. Contour drawings below in various pens.
I admit I didn’t try a normal ballpoint drawing. Weeping Buddha was drawn with the Uniball Vision Elite purple-black. Images in Stillman & Birn Alpha journal with various Uniball and giveaway pens. Daniel Smith and QoR watercolor paints.
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I bought a few more Primatek (Daniel Smith) watercolor paints from Merriartist; they are having an amazing sale on watercolors this month (ask for the sale code.) I had to play with them, of course, and think I have fallen in love with two I would not thought I would love. I bought them to use in buildings, for marble and brick color, but they are both versatile. The first is Piemonite Genuine, from Piemontite, from the Prabornaz Mine, in Saint-Marcel, Aosta Valley, Italy. Above, what it does when mixed with my traveling palette is amazing — creates rich colors with depth, and surprising effects.
It is my new favorite. I am fickle with color.
The second color is Yavapei Genuine, from the home of Montezuma Castle Monument
and Agua Fria National Monument in Yavapei County, Arizona. Like my other
favorite, Hematite Genuine, this burned biscuit color creates swirling earthy colors
even when combined with brights like Opera Pink and Amazonite!
Kyanite Genuine is made from the mineral by the same name, which is found in
many places and also comes in rare variations, though it is usually a blue grey.
I am not sure how often I will use this — it is quite iridescent.
One thing that may interest you, is what happens when you come back and add water drops to the Primateks. They layers of color as the minerals separate. Look at the Serpentine, Piemonite, and Black Tourmaline mixed with the Kyanite, above.
Amazonite Genuine does not have the same mineral quality of the other Primateks,
but behaves more like a finely ground paint. Amazonite is a form of microcline fieldspar, found in Colorado, Virginia, and Russia. I used it often in my jewelry line
(shameless plug), because it is the soft blue of the sky.
Below, Amazonite, Hematite, and Lapis Primateks by Daniel Smith.
Stillman & Birn Alpha journal with Platinum Preppy fountain pen,
and various Noodlers ink. Daniel Smith Primatek and other colors,
with Holbien, QoR and Sennelier watercolors.
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Thanks to Wikipedia for info and images not mine, and to Daniel Smith for paint images.
The brushes I use with watercolor are very different from the brushes I use when painting with acrylics.
When painting with acrylic, my life revolves around flats with an occasional liner or small round for detail.
When I started out, I didn’t study brushes, I simply
bought a bunch of brushes and dove in, experimenting. The size of the canvas and paper dictated the sizes of the flats I gravitated toward, which allowed me texture and control. Many of these same brushes followed me
into the world of shellac in our conservation business.
In our conservation studio, I use medium stiff 1-inch flats for shellac, and extremely small liners and rounds for infill. I use flats when applying barriers on museum objects. When I need to touch up shellac color, paint details, or add wood grain to match an area that has been filled using museum materials, I go through liners of all sizes like crazy. With the unusual mix of chemicals I am using, the liners, which are temperamental anyway, are damaged quickly.
My damaged brushes are cleaned and used as glue brushes for hide glue in our conservation business, so nothing is wasted until it is falling apart!
Watercolors made me gravitate toward rounds, and to get to know rounds like never before. I still use flats, especially those that are a bit more like a mop for applying washes to skies or backgrounds, but now they must hold water without dropping it where I don’t want the color to drop!
Rounds hold exactly the right amount of water with enough control. Typically I use sizes 6-8-10, unless I need a mop, then I reach for my Windsor- Newton #12. And I love using liners or riggers, in the 5/0 size, because the smaller size just doesn’t hold enough watercolor.
But here is the best discovery in the quest to look at my unused materials and tools hanging about my studio: the Leow-Cornell Golden Taklon Series 7900 Miracle Wedge, size 8! I know I used it at least to try it, maybe 15 years ago? I’ve had it floating around the studio, and since it was not a win with acrylics, I never picked it up again. I picked it up Thursday, and WOW! What a great brush. It works a lot like my liners, but it stores much more water in its fat base, which flows out the lovely tip. I was able to paint all the lines as indicated above with just one wet dip! And it makes nice flowing ribbons too.
And then there are the brushes I want to try, the Escoda Long Liners. Their short handle and longer hairs intrigue me. I think with the shorter handle there might be more control.
More cheat cheets or pages on brushes:
Brush shapes — the best single page is at Blick’s, though the pages from Loew-Cornell offer excellent imagery, especially their miscellaneous shapes! That is where a second Golden Taklon Wedge and the Halcyon Rigger Brush, both on my list to Santa.
Blick’s also has a good single pages on brush hairs + how to measure, and a size chart for their brushes. There is a good overall history and discussion of various aspects of brushes on Handprint. In fact, Handprint is a great resource you need to know!
Painted images in Stillman & Birn Alpha journal with a Platinum Preppy fountain pen, and various Noodlers ink. Daniel Smith Deep Scarlet watercolor paint.
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Heading toward the new moon, ending a turbulent month.
I woke at 5am to lok for the crescent moon.
Traces of sunlight in a lapis blue sky at one end of the view;
but cloud cover hid her over the mountain where I expected her. I know she is there.
A tsunami of emotions this moonth.
I feel them receeding. Looking toward the new moon.
I can’t be in silence for this Dark of the Moon, but my husband and I work in our studio together, and he is intent as I on what is in front of us. And I am working between shellac
(wet and unpredictable) and textile (wool, tiny stitches, meditative) in our “work”.
☾
Watercolors created with Noodler’s pen using Lexington Grey Noodler’s ink in a square Aquabee Super Deluxe journal, with Daniel Smith, and QoR watercolors.
☾
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I was challenged to use a tool I have but am not fond of for a week,
and to figure out why I never reach for it; mine was watercolor pencils.
I have a mess of them that I bought a millions years ago.
I began the week by picking a good range — one I might add to my travel kit —
and playing with them. I laid a lot of pigment on the page and then a little. I laid yellow (along second vertical line), red (along third vertical line) and then blue (along fourth vertical line) on top, seeing how the primaries mixed with the other colors, but also seeing the effects of mixing two watercolor pencils + water. I added a “black” (along fifth vertical line), a warm grey (along sixth vertical line), and a cool grey (far right). You can see both the watery mix and the lightly sketched pencil on either side of the lines.
After this week I have a better idea why I am not drawn (excuse the pun) to watercolor pencils.
It is not the brand — Caran D’Ache makes good materials. Currently I use them for light under-sketches with watercolors or acrylics. In college I used a lot of colored pencils in architectural renderings. No one used paint — watercolor or acrylic — but mostly reached for colored pencils on graphite drawings. I am good with colored pencils, and created several figures on black paper long ago. But the pencil thang just didn’t take.
I tried a weeping Buddha, and will use it in a my post on a series I am writing on my Buddhist practice, tonglen. I would not normally create light sketch lines on something small and familiar like this, but this is what I do when I have a complicated watercolor in front of me; this is to show you. I also added pencil for the wash. Ho-hum.
I have two types of pencils from Caran D’Ache, and the one labeled “soft” is better.
One of the reasons I don’t like water-color pencils is that they wet directionally.
They sit on the page and are pushed by the brush (image 3, above), instead of acting like watercolors or Caran D’Ache Neocolors II, which I have in my travel case, and use — I like the way Neocolor II color distributes, as it is can be manipulated much more like a watercolor. In fact, it is easy to pick up Neocolor and use it like watercolor in a pinch.
I used pencil below in a sketch with a pen, but I think watercolors would have been better. I then tried them by themselves, and really did not like the results. Granted, if I used them a lot I might have skill, but I just don’t see the point! I hate to say this, but none of this playing around made me interested in any way. I wish; as I said, I have a ton of these pencils. I continued to play with them, and picked a few colors out and will hold them aside in case I decide to keep them. I guess I will end up gifting some of them!
Can anyone else tell me why they love them other than they travel well?
Stillman & Birn Alpha journal with a Lamy Safari pen, a Noodler’s giveaway pen, and various Noodlers ink. Caran D’Ache watercolor pencils and Neocolor II crayons.
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All waterbrushes have their problems, but we love them anyway, because they let
us travel lightly without carrying a mess of dirty water, and frankly, they are pretty inexpensive. I want to talk about three that I use most often.
First is Pentel. I have many of them, and love them because their point stays pointy longer. I use them as waterbrushes and also fill them with a few Luma liquid watercolors to keep by the bed for middle of the night sketching. Before I assign them to be used
with Luma, I test them because some of them are pretty leaky! It doesn’t seem to be a normal problem, but I recommend testing any waterbrush you intend to fill with a colored liquid and see if it is going to leak. The downside is they don’t hold much water.
Upside is they are a bit shorter, hold a point, and will fit into a small pack.
The second is Kuretake. I’ve never had one that leaked easily. It may be because of the little black cap on the top of the water-barrel, which, by the way, if you lose, renders your waterbrush useless. I bought a set, and so tried the flat. It is not great — mostly because it twists easily and so the “hair” has to be repositioned, which gets messy in the field. It holds a good amount of water, which is also nice.
The third brand is new to me; a present for my birthday. Sakura (Koi) advertised their waterbrushes having more water capacity. It is more than Pentel but not more than Kuretake. The flow is slower also, so no accidents of a rush of water flooding a drawing. So far the tip has also held. I will use it a bit more, but it may become my favorite brush.
There is a fourth brand, Holbien. Holbien is hard to find in the states, and is akin
to Kuretake, except it hold a great deal of water. I drips fairly easily, like Pentel.
The point doesn’t stay pointy, but here is the best tidbit: the screw goes the other direction, so before you take pliers to fill it, screw it opposite from your instinct.
(FYI I grabbed the pliers. Fortunately it survived.) I’ve not been tempted to buy another.
Stillman & Birn Alpha journal with a Lamy Safari pen, a Noodler’s giveaway pen, and various Noodlers ink. Daniel Smith, Holbien, QoR and Sennelier watercolors.
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I love paint colors. Friends have been pushing me to get serious
about a travel palette so I can paint comfortably onsite, and I resist because
I love all my colors, especially the transparent parrot colors and
earthy mossy greens and don’t forget Daniel Smith’s Primatek minerals and . . . and . . .
Look at all those luscious colors in my primary palette. How to pick?
But I can’t carry all these colors around with me. I tried making a travel palette
from half-pans so I’d have more colors, but I hated the half-pan sizes.
I needed a good working travel palette of versatile colors.
T
he first pass was the fifteen colors above.
I based my travel palette choices on
building colors, Portland colors,
and also how a couple of the colors mixed
to give me a bronze color and a brilliant orange. I needed to methodically practice mixing. I began my career in acrylics,
which I mixed in small jars.
The problem was, after spending time mixing my first palette, I realized that I had too many colors which I could mix to give me close to the same hue, shown left. I also knew I would miss Caput Mortem, an odd purple-brown that I reach for so often when I am painting buildings. I chucked QoR’s Bohemian and Green Gold, and Sennelier’s Raw Umber. I pulled in two yellow oranges, and a few more Primateks. I chose Holbien’s Permanent Yellow Orange because it less muddy than M.Graham’s Indian Yellow. I was surprised that I could mix my Caput Mortem from Yavapei and Peimonite! I wanted to put in Serpentine but it will mix onsite like a Sap Green, and Sleeping Beauty Turquoise is quite close to Amazonite in the mixing ranges. I could not choose a third pan!
Finally I said, “Enough!” Everything can be changed as I work with it.
I have a lovely range of the Primateks to play with, and parrot colors, and
Portland colors. Opera Pink (yes it is fugative but this is for my journal), Quin. Red (Sennelier), Quinophthalone Yellow, Piemonite, Permanent Yellow Orange (Holbien),
Sap Green Indigo, Quin. Burnt Orange, Green Gold, French Ultramarine,
Quin. Gold, Amazonite, Lapis, and Yavapei.
And room for one more color . . .
Stillman & Birn Alpha journal with a Lamy Safari pen, a Noodler’s giveaway pen, and various Noodlers ink. Daniel Smith, Holbien, QoR and Sennelier watercolors.
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I think these are my last lamps for a while.
I’m not sure I want to become Kate-light!
To draw this last Tiffany chandelier I could stand and rest my notebook on the marble railing, next to Big George.
All of the Tiffany chandeliers have small design details that are sweet. I don’t know that photographs do it justice, and I doubt most folks walking through are able to notice. Drawing makes me notice.
There are tiny (almost) hearts at the bottom of the dome (above) that allow light to shine through, and a floral filigree pattern on the bottom (all images get bigger).
Teeny-tiny lights accent the floral pattern that graces the top of the lamp.
And the entire chandelier looks like a miniature gazebo, waiting for lovers!
The entry is an unusual space. It is like they split a small inner dome
(and if you can’t visualize the plans you might believe it is a dome, somehow)
because the coves at either end simply suggest a split apart dome!
Back in the Senate Chambers, I sketched a final hanging lamp,
but never wrote where I was, and know these exist in a couple of offices and
possibly the Democratic Caucus Room. I sat and sketched in a few places
from hallways and in rooms in two different sketchbooks, so not sure which was where!
I spent a bit of time sitting below one of the arches, contemplating the crazy spheres, arches, and marching colonnades in the dome tower. I would’ve liked to do the formal drawings for this building; right up my alley. Born at the wrong time!
A former Washingtonian artist spoke of climbing the dome prior to the earthquake,
when it was still open. Apparently it is quite a hike (she was a teenager) with steep steps, and she remembers that. I’m not sure I’m up to it but I’d like to try!
All drawn onsite in a Stillman & Birn Delta journal (rich ivory paper) with a Lamy Safari pen, a Noodler’s giveaway pen, and Polar Brown Noodlers ink.
In the studio I added color: Daniel Smith (green umber, quinophthalone yellow, grey), Holbien (quinacridone gold = super creamy), QoR (terre green, bohemian green) and Sennelier (raw umber, quinacridone red, white) watercolors.
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Images of the Legislative Building courtesy Mitchell Powell and myself.
It is unusual for me to start my sketchbook posts with photographs, but this Tiffany chandelier is simply too beautiful.
I did not do them justice!
They line the hallways and mark entrances
to the various rooms, providing a delicate glow to the halls (see more images below).
The globe is a luminescent milky glass and
I cannot tell how they created the globe
(even with the images, and the above image
I left full size for you).
I laid on my back to get the photograph above.
Yes, people stared. I am over it!
The design is from the Art Deco period,
and is a throwback to Greek times.
The Etruscan design reminded me of black painted vases, while the color reminded me
of the Athenian red pottery.
Drawing slows me and brings me to the details that I overlook when I am simply walking and touring.
I think about Louis Tiffany, the unnamed artists who worked for him, and who inspired him.
Did the architects request these designs?
So much is not discussed in the books we buy.
As I was drawing the details of this chandelier,
my hand remembered drawing the Mason Monterey floral patterns as I have conserved and restored
so many painted decorative pieces of Monterey.
There was one artist who created lovely flourishes. While drawing I had a physical memory and realized their origin began in the floral flourish above.
Attention to was paid to the chains and the cover plate in the ceiling.
The elaborate fastener do-hickey (gads I should know the name of the dang thang)
and the chain design, which is a mixture of perfect circles and oblongs.
They THOUGHT about that. Where is this attention to detail in our world?
All drawn onsite (except the corner do-hickey detail) in a
Stillman & Birn Delta journal (rich ivory paper) with a Lamy Safari pen,
a Noodler’s giveaway pen, and Polar Brown Noodlers ink.
I sketched a layout in pencil (including the do-hickey which I wanted to draw later),
but can FINALLY say I am freeing myself to go quickly to pencil.
In the studio I added color: Daniel Smith (Minnesota pipestone,
quinacridone coral, grey), Holbien (quinacridone gold = super creamy), QoR (bohemian green) and Sennelier (raw umber, quinacridone red, white) watercolors.
I roughly put the colors used next to the areas for which they were mixed.
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Images of the Tiffany Chandelier courtesy Mitchell Powell and myself;
Images of the Mason Monterey courtesy MPF Conservation;
Images of vases from Wikipedia, thanks to Marcus Cyron, Luis García, Robert Valette
Aya Sushi sustained us during our days in Olympia. I am a sushi aficionado;
I was hooked during university. Aya Sushi is the best sushi I’ve had since Lalaland!
I reserved a page in our business sketchbook because we ate there every night
they were open while working on the Senate offices.
Taino humbly made dish after dish for us
(gads I apologize if I am spelling his name wrong).
On our birthdays made a salmon sumthin’ in a martini glass on the house.
Dishes came with beautiful orchids.
We put them on the dashboard of our Mountaineer and they lasted a week before dying.
Did you know they are to EAT?
Taino said they are not decoration — but told us too late!
On top of all that, the surroundings are colorful and beautiful.
Hand-made paper lanterns overhead at the bar (where we sat) and
Japanese brush paintings of waves, very traditional.
Located in a mall, you wouldn’t suspect a great restaurant is behind that neon sign.
Super Washington was our favorite; Taino seared salmon till it was crunchy,
on top of a crab-cucumber-sumthin else roll! Second was an amazing seaweed salad. YUM YUM YUM spicy yellowtail hamachi fried soft shell crab roll unagi . . .
I didn’t draw on site — too busy munching happily.
I took pictures and left a page to play around with images. I kinda like it, though Taino is
better looking than my sketch!
Lamy Safari pen with Noodlers Lexington Grey (also with brush); Daniel Smith + Qor + Sennelier watercolors in my Stillman & Birn Delta book.
Oops lest I forget, my favorite part, the company of my husband. Talking with pen in hand.
I guess I did sketch on site. . .
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Stepped outside at the end of the day while waiting for Mitchell to fetch me,
and decided to do a couple of quick sketches of the two main buildings on campus,
the Legislative Building (where we are working) and the Justice Building.
I started at the NW corner of the Legislative building to sketch the Justice building.
I also drew a map, just because I love maps and symmetry. Reading the two main buildings and their placement on the axis, I know how the architects intended a visitor’s experience (the original design, not the current traffic pattern).
You were to enter formally from the main drag through one of two diagonal entrances. The entry forces you to turn around a statue (and possibly drive all around the statue) and glimpse differing angles of the two most important buildings. Then you take a turn around another grassy oblong where I can imagine a podium set for speeches, to see both buildings again as you parked in front of whichever building you were visiting.
The Governor’s Mansion sits on a hill overlooking the campus. He is quite important,
but his home is not public. The original driveway is inconspicuous, saying,
“No visitors, please.” We haven’t been; next time!
If you wander too far South, you are caught by the catcher’s mitt the three buildings at the south end create, and forced back onto the axis. That experience is out a building flanked by two others on an angle (the only buildings placed at an angle in a very formal plan) that open up and gesture to the Legislative Building (wow, look at that!) You walk back through the South Port Cochere, through the Legislative Building (more on that formal layout later) and into the heart of the Justice Building. If you were cleared to walk through that building, you would exit formally to sit at Capitol Lake, enjoy the statuary, a lovely place to relax.
I wonder if the energy between the constituents and the elected officials has changed significantly now that they no longer allow visitors to experience and enter the campus the way the architects intended? This is all about Feng Shui, yes, which by the way is not new and is good design. Now it is very hard to enter the way the layout suggests, both outside and inside, which I may write about later. We came in the back door (South) or side door (East) all but the very first time, when we met our guides on the Capitol steps.
Also, I wonder if the chaos and sloppiness of our architecture has affected our people, making them sloppy and ineffectual and confused. I know so many people who vote to shoot themselves in the foot. Formality does imply structure, and seems to make us think. There is a place for it especially in these hallowed halls.
But then I love symmetry!
I drew the Legislative building the next day, when it was pouring and we spent time
inside the Justice Building after we finished our project. I loved the building framed by the massive columns. Of course I had no idea that the Heart of Darkness ink would run;
I just loved the deep inky blackness on the paper. FYI, I’ve sketches the dome
before, a popular view and looking back across Capitol Lake.
Color was added in the studio, some fast washes, trying NOT to have it run!
Lamy Safari pen with Noodlers Lexington Grey (which is waterproof) and Heart-of-Darkness ink; Daniel Smith + Sennelier watercolors then Pitt pen to bold it.
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Like my earlier post on drawing the
Senate gallery details, I came around to draw the Senate from a different angle. I sat on the floor of the first entry arch looking up into one of the corners, in order to catch the overall arch and the large bronze Tiffany chandelier. The corner of the room intrigued me; the architects cut the edges of the square room
in an odd detail, making more angles to
draw on top of the arches and gallery.
The chandelier reminds me of a candelabra, and that may be what Tiffany intended to inspire. The state keeps the Senate incredibly dark. I hear stories of ghost wandering the Senate and can believe it! Perhaps when the Senate is in session the lights are not set low?
I blocked the basic design out in a Pentalic HB Woodless pencil (Grumbacher).
I was inking details and the design of the chandelier was making me a bit crazy.
Finally I went beyond the roped area, laid on my back and studied the design
from the bottom so I understood the light structure; this had helped me draw the
bronze chandelier in the entry off the South Porte Cochere. The cacophony of loopy
lines leading to tiny bulbs made a bit more sense; the bottom (twelve lamps) and
top eight lamps) tiers aligned; the middle (ten lamps) were off-center.
Back to my seat on the entry floor to add detail to the graphite ghost blob I sketched in the corner. I was sorry I left my camera behind; I wanted to take an interim picture of the pencil sketch before I started inking.
I’m not in love with this chandelier, andI discovered that I have to be in love with the object in order to give it your all. Wonky lines no longer bothered me; I wanted to finish as Mitchell was wrapping up for the night. I wanted to head out to Aya Sushi for dinner. The best sushi in the Pacific NW!
Mitchell came by and took the picture above standing up; not quite the angle I saw from the floor but you can
see the darkness and the ornament. He also took pictures of me, and those mysteriously disappeared. Oops!
Having drawn the details from the luxury of the
Senate Gallery, I knew intimately what the egg-and-dart motifs looked like close up, but was getting sloppy. Frankly, I was getting tired of inking details,
but loved the Heart of Darkness ink! At one point spirals appeared to indicate the shape of the egg-and-darts!
Back in our studio two days later I
added color. Unfortunately, at the first swipe of watery glaze, the ink began to move! AAACK! I cried. I went online and commiserated with friends.
Then I figured I had nothing to lose,
the drawing was loosey-goosey and wonky, so went back to adding color. The ink still bled in places and I had license to make messes. I did!
My takeaway from this created the new rule:
ALWAYS TEST AN INK OUT ON EACH TYPE OF PAPER!
I’m not happy with the mauve color. It’s so easy to make mauve —
early in my painting career I made jars of it trying to mix a soft brown acrylic color.
I am happy with the wash of creamy Holbein quinacridone gold I threw on
for candlelight ambiance. Finally, I think my days of using silver are over!
Almost the same colors as the Senate gallery details. Drawn in an Stillman & Birn
Delta journal with a Noodlers giveaway pen, Heart-of-Darkness ink (NOT waterproof), and Daniel Smith (silver, tiger-eye, quinacridone violet, Indian yellow),
Holbien (quinacridone gold) and Sennelier (quinacridone red, white) watercolors.
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visit my web page for a more user-friendly summary on my terms.
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More drawing challenges in the 
Washington State Legislative Building.
Before I went running around, I asked where I could go with the pass we used to get into the Senate office area. It was nice to sit in the Senate Gallery (the balcony for visitors that overlooks the Senate Floor) and draw without being rushed by a guide. It is also one of the places where you can get close to inspect the details of the various dogwood, egg-and-dart, and oak leaf motifs (and the chandeliers,
which I also drew for another day).
The building was finished during the Depression; money to paint the decorative elements was not available.The building was used unpainted until the late 1980’s.
I can’t have watercolors in the building (carpets, marble floors).
I took pictures for color. I am not fond of the colors used in the Legislative Building (salmon, pink, mauve, and wine colors), and yet they work, and when you see them next to the lovely marble the architects chose, it is inspiring, elegant, and beautiful.
Drawing the details up-close I struggled to have the motifs match. I began to realize that the motifs are NOT symmetrical in proportion. They are hand-made. Sitting in the gallery looking at all that detail work, knowing it was all carved/crafted by hand, is awesome. No two dogwood/oak flower motifs are exactly the same, and the egg-and-dart motifs vary!
I sketched background guidelines in pencil before inking the details; I had a layout and basic proportions to ink within. Silver was used on so many motifs, yet it had a gold-tone overlay to some of the paint (above), and also in the crevices. That is why I used Polar Brown Noodlers ink. The word is not out for me on using silver paint; note the detail images above. Yes, the motifs were silver, but the silver is not the same as the watercolor paint, and it lays oddly. I may stick to grey in future.
I thought I knew everything (okay, maybe not everything, but a lot) about the egg-and-dart pattern, but in a what-the-hell inspiration I looked it up on Wikipedia. Totally learned something! The oak leaf pattern is a variation of the egg-and-dart!
Watercolors were added in the studio.
Drawn in an Stillman & Birn Delta journal with a Noodlers giveaway pen, Polar Brown ink, and Daniel Smith (silver, quin gold, tigereye), and Sennelier (quin red, white) watercolors.
I agree to Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial 4.0 International License, which you can learn more about by visiting the site, or,
visit my web page for a more user-friendly summary on my terms.
My images/blog posts may be reposted; please link back to dkatiepowellart.
D.Katie Powell Art 