Citizen Sketcher

Day eight:

It’s going ok.

I’m happy, and the work is happening, but – I’m not excited enough yet.

Can’t quite put my finger on what I’m hoping for – except – I want to get back to the feeling of adventure and spontaneity that I’m used to with plein-air painting.

Which – given that I’m still at home, not ready to break quarantine – that’s a big ask.

So! Ok then! Maybe it’s not about traveling to exciting subjects – maybe it’s about making exciting paintings!

If you want to tune the sensitivity of the eye>hand>paint>brush loop – there’s nothing better than simplifying – and speeding up – at the same time.

You have to give yourself more chances to FEEL the paint. More opportunities to make a perfect brush stroke by accident, or instinct – and FEEL what it was like. REMEMBER the viscosity, the humidity, the exact angle and speed of the brush – everything you needed to pull together to make a bold confident piece happen under your fingertips.

These are painted about 10″ high. Sometimes I like to look at them reduced.

It’s a simulation of what they’d look like on the wall, performing as paintings – which are viewed at room-scale, as opposed to illustrations which we engage at arm’s length – or closer, now that we looking at most things on our phones.

I really like the look of this hey?

That’s a bang-up painting. It’s a little compact gem.

This is what I need to be doing – a few hundred more of these!

[ Blue Mansard House. 8×8″ Watercolor on Cotton Paper. Found Photo @Archi.ologie ]

Didn’t paint today! Just stuff going on. Here’s one that was lying around. ~m

I do like this one!

But – I also feel it’s too cute :) Almost like a children’s book illustration.

This was a small square outside our window in Lisbon. Every night there was a party at that cafe. Live music and people out on the street till all hours of the night. I suppose it was kind of fun, having that night-life. For the first few days anyway.

Sigh. I was born an old man, and I’m just now aging into it :)

Here’s the reference photo. Maybe you can see what I was trying to get at – with the sense of busy night life.

I didn’t quite make it down to these deep warm darks that are in the photo. It’s probably a matter of needing some different pigments. Cad Orange Deep maybe. And I need to stop being afraid of the black. Some people even mix India ink with watercolor. I don’t know what’s stopping me trying that.

Anyway – I know I can getting the hang on how much pigment vs. how much water. (Hint – the answer is always More Pigment Than You Think).

Unlike oils, with watercolor you can’t see what you’re mixing till it goes down on the paper. This is particularly hard with darks. Past a certain point, every dark looks the same till it begins to dry. I suppose, a person could try test swatches on spare sheets, but IDK man. That doesn’t seem very ‘Direct’.

For me, it’s a matter of drilling – practicing – repetition – until paint mixing becomes second nature again.

Anyway, I just went by instinct, because, it’s what I do, and I’m happy with what I got.

Besides the night-time mood – my other goal was powering through the crowd. Nicely grouping those people scattered in the square, not losing patience, making each one a character. It’s an endurance test. Trying to paint something like this and not lose your observational focus.

Another goal was coming up with a rendition of the mosaic cobblestones. I knew I was never going to draw the pattern exactly. That would have drawn far too much attention into the center. The tram is supposed to be the real focal point. I’m pretty pleased with how the pattern came out in a fan of simple strokes.

Blop, Blop, Blop – floor done.

I clearly remember thinking before the first stroke – this either works or it doesn’t! I sure hope I didn’t just waste a lot of time on those people!

Sometimes it just doesn’t work out.

This painting was soupy mush everywhere except for this little glint of light at the top.

Same problem as before – too much water, not enough pigment.

So I cropped it to the only part I like, and that’s all we’ll say about that ;)

~m

Day two takes us back to Havana. A popular holiday destination for Montrealers.

Here’s my first try at this motorcycle rider, and my re-do below. I lost all of the reserved highlights in my effort to make a dark shadowy form. Drawing motorcycles is difficult enough in the first place, never mind trying to build one out of lost and found edges.

Much better! What a difference hey? Suddenly this bike is all shiny chrome.

This was a fascinating real-life situation. We’re walking around the tourist district in Havana, when suddenly two police roar up on their bikes. They close off either end of the street and a shiny new sedan glides up, letting out a loud group of drunken VIPs.

In the midst of all the visible poverty in Havana, this was a striking turn. I guess it’s the same all over. The haves, and the have-nots.

I wanted to capture the tone of that event by making the motorcycle cop into an ominous figure.

I love the way his helmet gleams, but his face is lost in shadow. And there are some great compositional lines in the photo. The way his head is right in the cross hairs of the action. Overlapping the car and the VIPs, bracketed by all the on-lookers.

Here you can see the truth – that my final version is a photoshop effect. Curves correction and desaturation, vs. the actual painting on the right.

In some ways, I’d be fine if all watercolors required digital retouches. I used to do it constantly – trying to train my self to hit the values I wanted. It’s no less artistic than Ansel Adams’ darkroom technique. And, being a work on paper, you can make a print that uses the same paper – and the new archival inks are probably better than some artist’s pigments.

But of course, my goal is to get it on the page.

Today, I couldn’t achieve the darks I needed. I was experiencing a classic mistake – too much water, not enough pigment. I was being shy with the black, and stingy with the fresh paint – rewetting what was in my palette. This happens every time I’ve been away for a while. I should know better, but – there you go.

I could have tried to push the darks back with glazes – but I was afraid of smearing the drawing, or leaving a chalky buildup. I feel, you really shouldn’t touch a wash twice, and never more than three times.

In any case – digital fixes like this? I think of it like a coach watching a re-play, correcting bad form or poor strategy.

Next time – I’ll be more on target!

Finally we’re here! Day one of #30x30DirectWatercolor!

I had great plans for this year’s event. I was going to dive back into street-sketching. Immerse myself in the challenge of plein-air painting. Make more dark and dramatic paintings full of the night-life and vibrancy of Montreal!

But of course, the universe has its own plans.

So – – – plan B eh? Hmmmmmm.

Luckily, Laurel has a large archive of photos from all the years we’ve spent travelling and painting at Urban Sketchers workshops.

I’ve gone back in time, and selected views from past sketching trips. I’ve tried to focus on places I’ve already drawn, so I have at lease some touchstone to the place. Even if it’s been years since I sketched there.

So today, we’re back in Lisbon. This is just a typical street, somewhere near where we had the workshop, nothing important about this view – other than the light and zooming perspective.

This is just a funny bit here. I painted a huge dome in the distance – just for fun – but the shape I saw is just a traffic sign in real life.

Hah. You see what you want to see I guess :)

Speaking of which – I’ve been painting squares for the last couple years (and I’m still in love with that format) – so I think somehow I can’t “see” any other way. This is the crop I prefer (today).

I chose the set of photos I’ll be working with a few principles in mind.

I wanted as much contrast as possible. Some dramatic darks to sink my teeth into. And – people in the shot. As many as possible. I sort of thought I might even add in more people to make the scene more lively – but in fact I didn’t.

When push comes to shove, I can’t make up people that have convincing, true-to-life gestures. Even when it’s just people walking, they have a life-like posture you can’t invent.

I’ve always been a happy, colorful watercolorist – but I want to capture a darker, grittier mood. Which I managed last year in a series of abstract landscapes.

In my plein air work, it’s usually been about looking for sunny days and good times. – more about having a nice day out I suppose, than creating a work to hang on the wall.

Oddly – despite my stated goal of depth and drama – I didn’t feel right with my first version. It felt kind of shouty? Perhaps it’s the lone figure stepping tentatively out into the road. But something made me immediately feel – I should tone it down.

At the time I was much happier with this second version – but now, a couple days later I’m not sure what the big deal was. It was kind of ok before.

Sure – I like the subtle grey palette below – and a better sense of the perspective – but at the same time, it lacks the drama.

Which do you prefer? The Dark Street or the Grey City?