My Secret Journal: Eight, Monterey Furniture

Posted on December 18, 2015 by D. Katie Powell

Note: I am writing a story/journal that I don’t want to show before it’s published in full. These are some of the illustrated pages in the sketchbook for the story.

Oh gads, not quite right.
I look a bit like an oriental version of me.
And maybe looking sad?
Nose should turn up more,
and eyes a bit rounder.
This is why it is called a sketchbook!
From a photo Mitchell took of me working
on the restoration of a stripped
A-frame Mason Monterey Chair.

And of course, I took liberties with the colors.
I wish my favorite plaid painting jacket was red!

Much more like him!
We do have such fun working together!
Again, took liberties as he didn’t
toss his mallet,
but it made for a better sketch.
Placed Mitchell in the finish room
with the corner column painted
bright orange (which it is)
and then made his shirt purple
(which he wears.)

I also changed the Mason Monterey chair
to one that became this lovely green shade,
and so I also took liberties with it.

Moleskin 8×11 watercolor journal with Pentalic HB woodless pencil,
Sheaffer calligraphy pen, and Platinum Carbon pen, many inks,
the most obvious being De Atramentis Document, Super5 or Noodler’s inks,
Greenleaf & Blueberry, Holbein and Daniel Smith watercolors.

Posted in art journal, color, drawing, furniture, journal, memory, painting, pen & ink, pencil, sketchbook, watercolor | Tagged Daniel Smith watercolors, De Atramentis Document ink, Greenleaf & Blueberry Watercolors, Holbein, Mason Monterey, Moleskin Watercolor journal, MPF Conservation, Noodlers ink, Pentalic HB woodless pencil, Platinum Carbon pen, Sheaffer calligraphy pen, Super5 ink | 6 Comments

Another Holiday Video: Rudolph by a Goat

Posted on December 18, 2015 by D. Katie Powell

Posted in art journal | Leave a comment

New Moon Cleaning

Posted on December 11, 2015 by D. Katie Powell

Haven’t cleaned my paints in a long time.

I’m a stickler for clean colors and tools — I really don’t double dip much.
No offense to those that muddy their paints, but how can you use a
brilliant yellow when it is covered in green or red or general muddiness?
I also like my pans and brushes to be clean, and mine was not.

Ick.

Soaking, scrubbing, wiping, and all cleaned up.
(I took the time to clean pens too.)
I took this opportunity to do two things.

ONE

I’ve learned a lot about what makes a color a color this year, mostly by reading handprint.
I’ve bought many colors that have the same pigment chemistry. This is not like having three Quin Golds — I knew that I was duplicating Quin Gold, and love the different Quins for their different properties. But lots of companies call their color something different when they are the same formula.

I want to stop buying multiples. I can’t afford it!
A while back I organized them by their formulas on a huge sheet, above.
SO many duplicates. Daniel Smith names three colors that are the exact
same in both painted swab and formula. Boo.

I decided to pull them out and get to know which I really like and then get rid of those
I do not like so much. One thing that spurred all this on is I found out my acupuncturist wanted to learn to paint. I let go of all my small tubes of QoR and set him up a travel kit.
I have a few colors of QoR I love (Bohemian, Green Gold, Terre), but over all I find it is not a great product for the cost — and I’ve been a Golden fan for 20 years.
I would not use another acrylic, but their watercolors don’t move me.
Expensive by almost 1/3 of Daniel Smith, say, and they don’t re-wet as well, but tend to get granular during re-wetting — and not because they are granular intentionally.

So, I pulled out duplicate colors in companies whose product I DO like and
laid them into my normal paint tin, which made way too many paints for one tin.
That leads us to the second thing I did.

TWO

Painted Ladies mixes, Opaques, Iridescents (4), and beloved Primateks, from left to right.

I’ve thought for awhile that I can’t find my Primateks easily when I want them.
I love the granular, sandy, textural qualities of Primateks, Mayan colors, and Greenleaf & Blueberry‘s paints. I decided to separate them, along with the few iridescent colors, and a stream of odd colors I mixed for the Painted Ladies (Victorians) around town. That wasn’t good enough, so I also pulled the opaque paints. (I am not a fan of opaque paint.)
This means I can’t hit an opaque by accident and regret it. These went into the QoR tin.

NOTE: Danger danger on the QoR tin. It is poorly designed. They made these great mixing holes but designed the tin so that if you lay your brush into them it flies up. Lovely to be covered with a wash you mixed or worse, your painting is covered. ARGH.

Anyhow, that is how I ended up with these two clean tins of organized paints.
This one holds all my transparent paints and a couple of Primateks and others I “borrowed” from the second tin as I use them all the time. They “float” in the center: Shungite, Caput Mortem or Cote d’ Azur, Burt Tiger’s Eye, Yavapei, Diopside, Lapis.
I can move the center extra’s around, and begin to choose which of the
crayola greens, phthalo blues, and quin reddish-pinks I actually want.

Why the blanks? I am about to buy a couple of new colors.

Yum. I am incorrigible!

Greenleaf & Blueberry, Holbein, QoR, Sennelier,
M. Graham, and Daniel Smith watercolors.

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Posted in tools, watercolor | Tagged Daniel Smith watercolors, Holbein, M., QoR watercolors, Sennelier, watercolor | 2 Comments

Arlo Guthrie’s Santa Song

Posted on December 10, 2015 by D. Katie Powell

Back to the holiday season,
Arlo sings about Santa:

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Redbubble is Crazy

Posted on December 9, 2015 by D. Katie Powell

If anyone is ordering from my site this holiday season, I apologize for the message that Redbubble is sending about being a thoughtless jerk while showing they are illiterate.

Also, the sticker they send with the crying woman (or god forbid, bleeding-from-her-eyes woman) is pretty disgusting. Or maybe the message is on track, and the woman holding the Redbubble is sad over the product? It is not good in any case.

Know that none of this is from me, and I have already written to them. I don’t know who is in charge of messages, but they need to know that not everyone wants to be called names or see that garbage at the holidays.

Posted in art journal | 7 Comments

Silliness at Target

Posted on December 9, 2015 by D. Katie Powell

Departing from Restore Oregon to play in the season
(and get some paying work done), I did a couple sketches
of Mitchell and I from a time where we were having a
hard time (many losses) but somehow,
we always find time to seek joy.
We had to go to Target in a small town for one thing,
and then went a bit crazy in the store!

Inked sketches on a handmade Arches Journal with a
Pentalic HB woodless pencil, Platinum Carbon pen, and Greenleaf & Blueberry,
Holbein and and Daniel Smith watercolors.

Posted in art journal, journal, memory, pen & ink, pencil, virtual sketching, watercolor | Tagged art journal, Christmas, Daniel Smith watercolors, Holbien, Mitchell Powell, Pentalic HB woodless pencil, Platinum Carbon pen, watercolor | 4 Comments

Ho-Ho-Ho!

Posted on December 5, 2015 by D. Katie Powell

My mom is housebound.
She hates it.
I decided to make a card for her
of her giant Santa
(given to her by friends in Laguna Beach)
which she often used to hold
presents on her rattan chair.

Turned out nice enough that
I put it up for sale on Redbubble
with a few others.

Inked sketch on a handmade Arches Journal
with a Pentalic HB woodless pencil,
Platinum Carbon pen,
and Daniel Smith watercolors.

Posted in art journal, memory, pen & ink, watercolor | Tagged art journal, Christmas cards, Daniel Smith watercolors, Laguna Beach, Pentalic HB woodless pencil, Pentel Brush Pen, Platinum Carbon pen, redbubble, Santa Claus, watercolor | 13 Comments

Restore Oregon Endangered Places 2016, Painting the First Set

Posted on December 4, 2015 by D. Katie Powell

This is part of a series for Restore Oregon.

Thanks to Drew Nasto, Craig Powell, and for the various locations for allowing me to use historic images to place into sketch format to commemorate the projects!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

This post shows the changes adding color to the folding journal.
I’ve always been a fan of line sketching, but the color adds a lot to this series.

Working small is hard for me — you know, I love my A4 Moleskins!
This handmade folded journal is only about 5×7-inches folded up; this feels so teeny!
Yet I love the idea of a folded journal and watching things go by.
A design challenge, as I no longer have walls to paint!

The following locations are shown in this set:
the Rivoli Theater; the Jantzen Beach Carousel; the Wong Laundry Building;
the Chateau at the Oregon Caves NM; and the Fort Rock Homestead Museum.

The Rivoli Theater images were mostly in black+white or sepia tones; I had to play with color and use the teeny color images as reference! The photograph used was taken possibly over a roof line, and the edges of signs were my stopping point, and they played well into the edge of
the horses tail and feet.

The Jantzen Beach Carousel was invented from many images, both historical
and recent coverage in newspapers and blog posts.
So many photographs have been taken of the exterior horses.
Still, I had no images showing the colors on the outside of the carousel.
I chose to draw the horse I would want to ride!
I hope to do so someday — I love merry-go-rounds!

The Wong Laundry Building was
also a guess in colors.

I looked to the current buildings
in Chinatown for clues, finding many
deep greens, golden yellows and reds
on buildings — the colors of prosperity!

I focused on the old neon sign,
which is much more compelling
than the run-down facade which is
the reality of the building today.

MPF Conservation has a long history with
the Chateau at the Oregon Caves NM.
Having treated thirty pieces of Mason Monterey furniture and having lived nearby for many years, we know and love the Chateau.
The image of the decks (destroyed by
snow loads) was a black and white historical
photo, and Kate laid color in as we know it.

The A-frame chair shown is the one
historic A-frame with original paint which survived
the flood of 1964, probably because a guest had
taken it from the dining room to their bedroom.
MPF Conservation used the lovely A-frame as the model
for the design of the stripped broken A-frames,
and did diligence to determine the colors used on the others.
We repaired the original, and it is now part of the museum collection. Kate used the chair to balance the horse in the layout.

The Fort Rock Homestead Museum. derives from
Craig Powell’s image. It shows the historic
General Store, moved to be part of the Fort Rock village.

In all, I think if I am to do more of these, the paper needs to change. This is good watercolor paper, and the format is small, only 5-inches high. It is so absorbent it doesn’t always take what I am throwing at it, especially my mix of inks and watercolors. This causes bleed even when perfectly dry between layers, so when a stroke should be tiny and clear it wobbles (bleeds) into the next image.

Inked sketches on a handmade Arches Journal with (mostly)
Platinum Carbon pen, Pentel Brush Pen, or Pilot Parallel pen 1.5;
Super5 or De Artramentis Document inks;
Daniel Smith, QoR, Holbien and Greenleaf & Blueberry Watercolors.

Posted in architecture, art journal, journal, painting, pen & ink, pencil, process, sketchbook, virtual sketching, watercolor | Tagged A-Frame chairs, art journal, buildings, Chateau, Daniel Smith watercolors, De Atramentis Document ink, Fort Rock, Jantzen Beach Carousel, Mason Monterey, MPF Conservation, Oregon Caves NM, Pentalic HB woodless pencil, Pentel Brush Pen, Pilot Parallel pen, Platinum Carbon pen, Portland Oregon, preservation, QoR watercolors, Restore Oregon, Rivoli Theater, Super5 ink, watercolor, Wong Laundry Building | 2 Comments

Restore Oregon Endangered Places 2016, Drawing the First Set

Posted on December 3, 2015 by D. Katie Powell

This is part of a series for Restore Oregon.

Thanks to photographers Drew Nasto and Craig Powell,
and for the various locations for allowing me to use historic images to place
into sketch format to commemorate the projects!

I hope to have time to do two of these to cover many of
Oregon’s Most Endangered Places for 2016.

W15 12 2 Balconies - Gilmore Oil Photo, 1943, Kramer Collection-1

W15 12 2 Old-Man-Final-Border-by-Craig-Powell

I started with the following locations:
the Rivoli Theater; the Jantzen Beach Carousel; the Wong Laundry Building;
the Chateau at the Oregon Caves NM; and the Fort Rock Homestead Museum.
I used the images above, some of my own, and took great liberties with imagination.

The design issue is how to layout the images so that they flow
but hold prominence on their own. That challenge is fun for me!

The Rivoli Theater was built as a brick commercial storefront in 1900.
It opened as a theater in 1922, and became an important gathering and entertainment center in downtown Pendleton. Vaudeville and silent movies and talking Hollywood films played into the 1940s. Television’s popularity in the 1950’s took a toll on the Rivoli, but there are now plans to turn it into a cultural center once again.The Jantzen Beach Carousel was built by the Charles Wallace Parker Company in Leavenworth, Kansas, in 1921. C.W. Parker, the “American Amusement King,” built only three or four carousels the size of the Jantzen Beach Carousel. It lived for a short time in California before moving to the amusement park built by the swimsuit family in 1927.
The horses are spectacular, and many were hand-carved by inmates of the Leavenworth Penitentiary. The amusement park’s popularity peaked during the 1940s, and it was largely dismantled, but the merry-go-round was in use until recently. Portlanders have fond memories of the carousels, and when posting updates to friends, many remember riding the horses or have memories of their parents talking about trips to visit the horses on the merry-go-round. The Merry-Go-Round is no longer present on site.
Restore Oregon working with local partners to find strategy to restore and relocate.The Wong Laundry Building, located at 239 N.W. Third Ave, Portland,
was built in 1908 by Alexander Ewart. It is symbolic of immigrant struggles and work ethic in Portland’s Chinatown and Nihonmachi, or Japan-town. Vacant and water-damaged since a fire in 1970, members of the community hope to restore it as a combined commercial space, event space, and interactive museum.The six-story Chateau at the Oregon Caves NM was built in 1934.
It has been featured in the Great Lodges of the National Parks, and is part of a larger development that includes a chalet, several employee and rental cottages, and a visitor’s center, all under consideration for National Register status as part of a district.
The buildings were all constructed between 1923 and 1941. The Chateau is the most outstanding of these structures. The building also holds one of the largest collections of Mason Monterey furniture, also in need of expert conservation. The Fort Rock Homestead Museum is located in Fort Rock, Oregon.
The Fort Rock Valley Historical Society conceived and promoted the development of a homestead museum to preserve the Fort Rock Valley’s pioneer heritage. As a result of the society’s efforts, the Fort Rock Valley Historical Homestead Museum was opened in 1988. It is a collection of original homestead era buildings assembled in a village setting, including the Fort Rock General Store. Most of the buildings contain historic items used by local homesteaders including furniture, dishes, household products, and tools.

Inked sketches on a handmade Arches Journal with a Platinum Carbon pen.

Photographic images (if known and not historic)
by photographers Drew Nasto and Craig Powell.

Posted in architecture, art journal, furniture, history, memory, pen & ink, process, sketchbook, virtual sketching | Tagged art journal, buildings, Chateau, Daniel Smith watercolors, De Atramentis Document ink, Fort Rock, Jantzen Beach Carousel, MPF Conservation, Oregon Caves NM, Pentalic HB woodless pencil, Pentel Brush Pen, Pilot Parallel pen, Platinum Carbon pen, Portland Oregon, preservation, QoR watercolors, Restore Oregon, Rivoli Theater, Super5 ink, watercolor, Wong Laundry Building | 2 Comments

Restore Oregon Celebration Dinner, The Event

Posted on December 3, 2015 by D. Katie Powell

Mitchell and I attended the Restoration Celebration to raise money for the
the 2016 Most Endangered Places, and to hear the winners of the 2015 Demuro Awards,
as the guest of one of our clients, Karla Pearlstein of Restoring History.

This is part of a series for Restore Oregon.

Thanks to Drew Nasto for letting me use his images
to place into sketch format to commemorate the night!

When we draw, we remember.
When we draw details,
we get to know our subjects intimately.

The simple act of pen to paper allows me to cement
an event forever in my mind and heart.
I remember standing with Mitchell listening to the guitarist,
Matthew’s and Karla’s and Peggy’s faces,
the lovely conversations at the table and after,
a new friendship made, a loyal superintendent,
many patrons of our business dressed up for
a night on the town, and the gift given! Thank You!

I understand the decorative details of the ballroom design
(my architectural background helps here).
I studied the stunning mandala on the hand-painted jacket
from the Pacific Northwest College of Art,
and listened to the stories,
so many great speakers and stories
of buildings lost and buildings saved,
especially Max Williams’ story of watching
a building come down in his home town as a boy.

With the promise of more buildings to be saved,
I watched many people pledge their faith and dollars
in Restore Oregon and our built history.

Artist commentary below, on process!

I thought to take the evening through from start to finish.

I tied the various sketches together with background waterproof inks
which allowed me to add to them, deepen the colors, splatter watercolors.
Super5 inks: Delhi, Dublin, Australia.
This was true tying in the Quin Gold and Quin Brunt Orange of
Istvan Roman’s guitar to Delhi’s saffron yellow ink.
Matthew and Arthur’s suites were almost black;
I made them deep purple blue instead.

I used artistic license to make the scene work.
I didn’t want to draw every last person in Drew’s amazing wide-angle photograph,
but wanted to give a feel for the activity in the room
and the spirited feel of the evening!
The woman I drew may have given much more, I don’t know:
I used our bidding cards to show a monetary amount
because I think a lot of folks gave $250.

The jacket Thomas Mann wore
from a student at the
Pacific Northwest College of Art
(still trying to get the artist name!) was stunning!
How could I not show another artist’s work?
Mitchell would totally wear a jacket like that!

I drew some of the mandala in the
Platinum Carbon pen, and used
Noodler’s Lexington Grey ink and Super5 Delhi
so it would not mix with the watercolors on top.
Then I free-handed the lovely scroll work.

I started with Peggy Moretti’s image because I had her photo first,
along with the Demuro Award plates.
I left space on the folded journal for other items as they came, watching the story play out.
I wanted an image of Arthur Demuro because the award
was named for him and so many told stories of him.
His was the last image to come to me.

Stay tuned for the Buildings, coming soon!

Photographic images by Drew Nasto.

Posted in architecture, art journal, drawing, journal, memory, painting, pen & ink, pencil, series, sketchbook, virtual sketching, watercolor | Tagged art journal, buildings, Daniel Smith watercolors, De Atramentis Document ink, Demuro Award, MPF Conservation, Pentalic HB woodless pencil, Pentel Brush Pen, Pilot Parallel pen, Platinum Carbon pen, Portland Oregon, preservation, QoR watercolors, Restore Oregon, Super5 ink, watercolor | 12 Comments

Restoration Oregon Celebration Dinner, Photographs to Layout

Posted on November 29, 2015 by D. Katie Powell

This is the beginning of a series for Restore Oregon.

I teamed up with Drew Nasto (photographer) and Denise Bartlett (Restore Oregon)
to collect great images to place into sketch format to commemorate the night!
Drew’s images were edited for my purposes.

There is a process to choosing and organizing a layout.
I want to tell the story of our memory,
how we saw and felt about the event.
The choices of image, the way they were cropped for my use,
my liberal interpretation using Drew’s photos for inspiration,
and the progression and juxtaposition
all determine how the story is told.
I jotted down the words (below, above)
that came to mind as I drew.
They help unify the story, offering an emotional impression.

The images flow one to the next, ready for words and color!
Is it successful? The viewer decides in the end!

Inked sketches on a handmade Arches Journal with (mostly) Platinum Carbon pen.
Last image used Pentel Brush Pen, or Pilot Parallel pen 1.5;
Super5 or De Atramentis Document inks;
Daniel Smith, QoR, Holbien and Greenleaf & Blueberry Watercolors.

Posted in architecture, art journal, creativity, drawing, journal, memory, pen & ink, pencil, process, sketchbook, virtual sketching | Tagged art journal, Arthur Demuro, buildings, Demuro Award, MPF Conservation, musician, Pentalic HB woodless pencil, Platinum Carbon pen, Portland Oregon, preservation, Restore Oregon, watercolor | 2 Comments

Restore Oregon Celebration Dinner, Process

Posted on November 28, 2015 by D. Katie Powell

This is the beginning of a series for Restore Oregon.

I teamed up with Drew Nasto (photographer) and Denise Bartlett (Restore Oregon)
to collect great images to place into sketch format to commemorate the night!
This post is a teaser, to show the process of moving from great pictures to sketch.

In this instance, I started with Drew’s excellent images of the Demuro Award plates
and lovely image of Peggy Moretti, Executive Director, Restore Oregon.

Pencil first, both watercolor and graphite.
(If you use pencil first, and erase some or all of it, use a clean eraser!
If it is a knead-able eraser then pull it into a clean place!)
Moving to a fine point fountain pen, then a Japanese brush pen.

I laid in ink to unify the background, Super5 Dublin and Australia.
It is so different working on really nice watercolor paper;
I am usually in a Moleskin or Stillman & Birn journal:
great journals but obviously not like good watercolor paper!

I began layering washes,
Quinacridone Gold and Yavapei and Piemonite and Sepia,
Sap Green, and Imperial Purple. I tested colors on a piece of the good paper, to see how the inks reacted to the good watercolor paper and to watch the colors build to the deep colored piece I ended with. (The glittery shimmer in the images is wet paint. No sparkles were added).

I am no portraitist, so it is nerve-wracking to do someone’s portrait.
But I’m learning! Finished piece: 1/4 of the folded journal, sans writing, below.

Process slide show below!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Inked sketches on a handmade Arches Journal with (mostly)
Platinum Carbon pen, Pentel Brush Pen, or Pilot Parallel pen 1.5;
Super5 or De Atramentis Document inks;
Daniel Smith, QoR, Holbien and Greenleaf & Blueberry Watercolors.

Posted in architecture, art journal, drawing, painting, pen & ink, process, series, virtual sketching, watercolor | Tagged art journal, buildings, Daniel Smith watercolors, De Atramentis Document ink, Demuro Award, MPF Conservation, Pentalic HB woodless pencil, Pentel Brush Pen, Pilot Parallel pen, Platinum Carbon pen, Portland Oregon, preservation, QoR watercolors, Restore Oregon, Super5 ink, watercolor | 7 Comments

Sketching Memories of Our Staycation, 10 Jai is Sick

Posted on November 26, 2015 by D. Katie Powell

My beloved Jai has been ill. Terrible diarrhea and finally diagnosed with IBS — irritable bowel syndrome. This is a TERRIBLE ordeal for the little guy — Montezuma’s revenge 8-12 times a day, always hungry (it masks as hunger), losing weight, and miserable. We have a GREAT vet, Dr. Prull, who helped us move slowly to find how to stabilize him.

It was one reason we didn’t go anywhere on our vacation; we wanted
to be close. He, also, snuggled in more than normal and frankly,
he stunk to high heaven so it was a test of our love, and his patience
(he seems to know when we are helping him but the tushi washing was not something he tolerated, which meant both of us waiting outside the kitty littler to ambush him.)
He tolerated (and
still does) needles and water, and the steroid.
Hates the bitter antibiotic.

Why him and not the others? He has had teeth problems and so eats mostly a soft diet, canned food, and we used Newman’s own Organics. Unfortunately, according to the vet from Newman’s Own, they added carrageenan in 2006 and decided to use up all their old labels, and so, while we carefully screened our foods and looked for carrageenan, we were duped by false labeling. We called to find our when they added it and found out the lie. (BTW, I will no longer buy any Newman’s product. Fool me once, ONLY, when it comes to our health.)

He is now stabilized, but he has not gotten the memo on how
we are no longer trying to keep his weight up and so he comes to
find us several times a day and turns up his nose if the food is not gourmet! He wants fresh chicken, shrimp, swordfish, bacon —
gads we don’t even eat the last three often! Loves his yogurt!

Drawing my loved ones is not easy for me —
I’m not a realist, and so, trying to capture any of my loved ones is so hard!
I tried colored pencils this time, which I’ve not used since I practiced architecture!

The waxed paper tip-in is to keep the pencil from smearing on Kamala, opposite.

Inked sketches in a Stillman & Birn Delta Journal with (mostly) Platinum Carbon pen or Pilot Parallel pen 1.5, Caran D’Ache Supracolor, Pentalic HB, Prismacolor pencil.
Super5 or De Artramentis Document inks, Daniel Smith Watercolors.

Posted in animals, art journal, drawing, journal, memory, painting, pen & ink, pencil, series, watercolor | Tagged art journal, Caran D'Ache Supracolor pencil, carrageenan, Cat, Daniel Smith watercolors, De Atramentis Document ink, Delta journal, IBS, MPF Conservation, Newman's Own Cat Food, Pentalic HB woodless pencil, Pilot Parallel pen, Platinum Carbon pen, Prismacolor pencil, sick cat, staycation, Stillman & Birn, Super5 ink, watercolor, watercolor pencils | 7 Comments

Sketching Memories of Our Staycation, 9 Kamala

Posted on November 24, 2015 by D. Katie Powell

Kamala is her daddy’s girl. She’d like to see me gone, and makes that known.
She also has a huge fascination with my sketch bag,
and sticks her head in it whenever she can.

I’m not happy with the overall image, but here it is. I wish I’d made her body darker.
I’m happy with her face, as I captured her in both stance and appearance.

On the other hand, Kamala is so difficult a subject, black (not really brown) on black with white, a fat pampered tuxedo cat. And suspicious, of cameras and paint brushes.
Or maybe it is anything having to do with me.

See, the thing is, that we moved into a rental many years ago.
after a year of traveling, and one of our cats had not had all their shots yet.
Summer, he was sitting at the screen door calling to her.
(BTW, they hate each other now and we frequently remind him he called her to us.)
I LOVE animals, and simply stepped out onto the deck to tell her she had to go home, using my had to say,

“Shoo. Go home now.” NO yelling, no trauma.

I had no idea, especially as she was a fatty then,
that she had been dumped by the previous renters.
(People who dump animals in the country are second
only to those that actually physically abuse.)
When we found out (talking to new neighbors) she had made her decision.

I was simply too scary.

For several years we made sure she had fresh water and in the winter we put food up way high in the carport (hoping the raccoons would not get it) near a cozy bed.
In summer we watched her be the best mouser ever.
We were getting ready to move, coming up and down looking for places in Portland,
and I often told her we were moving
(of course I had no idea of she heard me because she would not show her face to me.)
One day Mitchell walked out on the deck and she jumped into his arms.

Smart girl.

And now she is ours. Well, his. It took another year before she would warm to me. Gads never cross a smart feline female. I love her as I can, when I can!

Inked sketches in a Stillman & Birn Delta Journal with (mostly) Platinum Carbon pen
or Pilot Parallel pen 1.5 and white Uniball Signo. Goulet’s sample inks, and Super5 or
De Artramentis Document inks, Daniel Smith, QoR, Holbien and
Greenleaf & Blueberry Watercolors.

Posted in animals, drawing, journal, memory, pen & ink, sketchbook, virtual sketching, watercolor | Tagged art journal, Cat, Daniel Smith watercolors, De Atramentis Document ink, Delta journal, Fiesta Ware, Holbein, Kamala, MPF Conservation, Pentalic HB woodless pencil, Pilot Parallel pen, Platinum Carbon pen, Platinum Japanese Art Pocket Brush Pen, QoR watercolors, staycation, Stillman & Birn, Super5 ink, tuxedo cat, watercolor, White Uniball Signo | 4 Comments

Sketching Memories of Our Staycation, 7 Autumn

Posted on November 23, 2015 by D. Katie Powell

Mitchell brought me a leaf that caught his eye. It was wet and bright, and I took a picture to paint it later. Then I liked the look as it aged a bit and had a grey dappled cast.
I painted that instead.

Inked sketches in a Stillman & Birn Delta Journal with (mostly)
Platinum Carbon pen, Goulet’s sample inks, and Super5 Australian and De Artramentis Document Red inks, with Daniel Smith and Greenleaf & Blueberry watercolors.

Posted in drawing, journal, memory, pen & ink, virtual sketching, watercolor | Tagged art journal, autumn, Daniel Smith watercolors, De Atramentis Document ink, Delta journal, fall, Greenleaf & Blueberry Watercolors, Holbein, leaf, Pentalic HB woodless pencil, Platinum Carbon pen, QoR watercolors, staycation, Stillman & Birn, Super5 ink, watercolor | 11 Comments

What I’m Painting to Today

Posted on November 21, 2015 by D. Katie Powell

I love painting to this kind of energy!

What’s your favorite music?

Posted in art journal | Tagged music to paint to! | 2 Comments

Sketching Memories of Our Staycation, 8 Terrorism

Posted on November 20, 2015 by D. Katie Powell

What happened in Beirut and Paris is horrifying, and then,
how the USA politicians ran with it even before
bodies had been counted was disgusting.

These words by Warsan Shire moved me, and
I hope she is fine with me putting them into my sketchbook then sharing them.
It hurts everywhere.
I am happy that France has a brain and realizes that the terrorists were not refugees.
I don’t consider this politics. I consider this humanities.

I spent a Christmas Eve and Day with my then best girlfriend
on the Île-de-France snuggled into a B&B during a snowy two days,
with our foods for our feasts on a windowsill (our fridge)
and non-stop reading for two days, walks, and eating.
It was delightful.
I came close to staying there permanently, I loved the French so much.

Inked sketches in a Stillman & Birn Delta Journal with (mostly) Platinum Carbon pen or Pilot Parallel pen 1.5. Goulet’s sample inks, and Super5 or De Artramentis Document inks, Daniel Smith, QoR, Holbien and Greenleaf & Blueberry Watercolors.

Posted in architecture, art journal, journal, pen & ink, virtual sketching, watercolor | Tagged art journal, Île-de-France, Beirut, Daniel Smith watercolors, De Atramentis Document ink, Delta journal, Holbein, Paris, Pentalic HB woodless pencil, Pilot Parallel pen, Platinum Carbon pen, Platinum Japanese Art Pocket Brush Pen, QoR watercolors, staycation, Stillman & Birn, Super5 ink, terrorism, watercolor | 5 Comments

Sketching Memories of Our Staycation, 6 Crows

Posted on November 18, 2015 by D. Katie Powell

A lot of my journal about our time off are simple pages that form a
background for my journaling; many are private, but some are like this,
simple sweet memories of us watching the crows fly home at night.