Sketches from Switzerland and Italy

I re-loaded these sketches as I thought the other ones were underexposed.  All are water colors and were done a week ago in Switzerland and Italy.

Paramount Ranch 2-28-09

Craig and I went to Paramount ranch this morning for a couple of hours.  I had never tried pastels before and we had been talking about changing media and experimenting with something new.  I felt I learned a few things about the medium and am excited to try again.  The tree scene is pretty much how it looked, but I think next time, I'd like to push the design around to get a more interesting composition.

The sketch with the bush on the left was done more quickly and I think the design is more interesting even though there is less detail.

Both sketches around 12x18 on Canson paper.

Spice Market, Istanbul

This is a view of the Spice Market and a nearby Mosque in Istanbul, Turkey.  The weather was cold and rainy, so I painted indoors from my laptop.  My wife Kathey is in the black coat walking towards us.  Pen and watercolor in my small notebok.

Near Somis, California in the lemon groves 1-17-09

Where else but in Southern California can you go painting outdoors in January and have the weather be 85 degrees and sunny? Craig and I and Dorota (a friend of Craig's from Disney) went out a couple of miles beyond Moorpark and painted these great lemon sheds. It was such a great day with bicyclists, horse riders and a few others going down the road enjoying being outside. We were really left to ourselves other than an occasional greeting.

I did these on a 9x12 block of 140 lb. Fabriano cold pressed paper with traditional water colors. We just took the morning to paint and were back home around 1:30pm.

Cabin in the snow, Twin Peaks, California 12-30-08

I thought this old cabin had great character with it's metal roof, red color and funky windows. Done in watercolor in my ring bound 6x9 sketchbook. I did some minimal line work in ink before going to paint which I think added something to the sketch.

Everything looked so wonderful covered in snow. These cabin roofs were the view from where we were sliding on the cookie sheet.

Next to our cabin there was a nice field with some slope. We were so eager, we went out with cookie sheets and the lid to a popcorn tin and went sliding. The snow had been rained on and had refrozen the night before so we had a really slippery time.

I decided to show the edges of my sketchbooks on these water color sketches to give a better sense of scale.

Siena Duomo

The weather got too rainy to sketch outside, so I did this one in my room from a picture I took in Siena, Italy. I brought it up on my lap top and sketched it from there. Very ornate cathedral, but I tried to keep it simple and give the impression of the scene.
5x7 water color on 140 lb. Arches paper block.

Church tower Sanspolcro, Tuscany, Italy

I sketched this church tower from across a small plaza while seated on steps in a doorway. 5x7 done with ink and water color in a sketch notebook I have.

Sansepolcro, Tuscany, Italy

I go to Sansepolcro alot and this is the 9th time or so this year. I never really get tired of the place, it is small and not many tourists, you really get a sense of the place walking around. The people are very proud of their heritage and still compete in yearly cross bow competitions and like to dress up in medieval clothes. I sat in the window sill of a bank which was closed to make this watercolor sketch on 8x10 Fabriano cold pressed block.

The rough below is about 2 inches tall and was of another street scene I didn't have time to paint. Trying to get looser and let the paper do more.

York, England

I had a chance to spend an extra day in York, a wonderful walled town in northern England. The York Minster is the largest gothic cathedral in Northern Europe and certainly one of the most beautiful. It was cold and windy, but still a great time sitting and sketching. Sketches in ink and water color on a small 5x7 sketchpad.

The rough of the tower was painted direct with no drawing as an experiment

Mesilla ,NM

I painted the church without doing a rough while sitting on a bench in the park. I ran out of time when Kathey, Christy and the kids came back to pick me up, so I didn't correct all the value issues. Later after studying the painting, I decided to try some alternate value schemes. These schemes are not what I actually saw, but they make a stronger picture. I guess that's the main lesson here. If I were to paint a studio version of this painting, I would follow one of the more dramatic value schemes in the thumbnails.

Slick Rock Park near Sedona, AZ

I did these thumbnails of a fruit packing barn in Slide Rock State Park near Sedona. I didn't have time to do the larger painting, but the experiments on color and value were interesting. These are really small. just a few inches square.

Sketches from most recent trip to Italy

These are three of the sketches I did on my latest trip to Tuscany. I've been inspired to try a few line sketches combined with water color. I will also try importing some of the sketches into photoshop and adding some color there. That's a medium I don't know as well, but the whole idea is to keep learning, right?

The airport sketch is in Zurich while waiting for the connecting flight to Florence.

I will travel to this area 3 more times this year on business. Tough duty, right?

Malibu beach and pier

I spent Saturday morning with my son Craig and my brother Dean on a plein aire painting outing. We were originally going to go to Vasquez rocks to paint, but considering it was predicted to be about 110 degrees F, we opted for the beach.

It was still warm at Malibu, but MUCH cooler than inland. It was a beautiful day and the beach was full of people escaping the heat and there was a nice breeze which kept readjusting my umbrella and palette.

This water color was done on an Arches 10" x 14" 300lb block. I probably spent 2 hours painting. Because these are learning exercises for me there are parts I like and parts that I feel didn't come off so well. I decided to post it for the sake of the good parts and to keep the continuity of all the sketch paintings. If I were to do a version of this as a studio painting, I would work out a stronger value pattern and vary it a bit from what I actually observed for the sake of a stronger painting.

The Top water color sketch was done from the terrace at Casa Buitoni and shows the view of Sansepolcro through the Italian Cypress trees. Our car came to take us to Florence before I was quite done, but I left the sketch unfinished as I sometimes overwork things anyway.

The pen sketch below was done in the city park with a statue of Peiro Della Francesca, the famous renaissance artist born in the town who was also the inventor of formal mathematical 2 point perspective.

These are two sketches I did on my most recent business trip to Italy. The market scene was done in Florence in my sketch notebook and the pot of pansies on a water color block in Sansepolcro, Italy. I think the marketplace sketch came out pretty fresh and the experience with line and water color encourages me to try more of that style and to experiment in some new directions.

The pansies was actually the second water color I did in the garden at Casa Buitoni. My first did not turn out so well and looks overworked, so I am not posting it. Both sketches are rather smallish, around 5x7".

Chexbres, Switzerland

These sketches were done last Sunday while I was in Chexbres, Switzerland. This is a small town on the hill above the north shore of Lake Geneva, near Vevey.

The small sketch was done out of my hotel room window as it was cold outside. It is pretty small ( actual image 5.5"x8") and took about 45 minutes counting time to let the paint dry. The larger sketch 9"X12" took around 1.5 hours. I found a great place at the end of a road in the vineyards, with a view towards the East end of the lake and the great mountains there. While I was painting, a few families were out walking and some stopped to see what I was doing. It was really a nice day and got warm in the afternoon.

I was fortunate to have been able to paint Sunday afternoon as the next day was rainy and windy all day long.

I'm going back to Switzerland and Italy next week and should be able to do a couple more water color sketches.

More pen sketches from Italy

I also sketched these views while sitting in the gardens below Casa Buitoni in Sansepolcro. I was there for business, but it was really relaxing to be able to sit there and sketch in such a beautiful location. I have to go there several more times this year, so I will undoubtedly have more opportunity to select new subjects and do more sketching.

The one image is the backside of Casa Buitoni which faces the garden and the other is the view though the trees of the village of Sansepolcro at the foot of the hill. Casa Buitoni is a beautiful villa purchased by Nestle corporation after they bought the Buitoni group. They gutted the place and completely rebuilt it with a pilot production line and stadium kitchen in the basement. There are 9 rooms for guests, dining rooms, a living room and sitting room. It's a very comfortable place to stay and inspirational as well.

Apricot tree in bloom and Casa Buitoni Neighbors

These paintings were done in about 1.5 hour each while sitting in the garden below Casa Buitoni in Sansepolcro, Italy. It was about 65 degrees F and sunny, a nice day indeed. They had been waiting for spring weather and I think it arrived the day after we flew in from LA. Painted on 140 Arches cold pressed.

Casa Buitoni Fireplace

Sketched this using sepia water soluble pens. Used a brush and water to get the ink to flow and create the wash tone. It was cold outside and the fire in the fireplace made for a cosy place to sit. The fine pen was dried out the the thick pen was too thick, but it was still fun. The Casa Buitoni is an old villa bought by Nestle when they purchased several food brands and was once owned by the Buitoni family, who were the first to make durham semolina pasta. The Casa overlooks the medieval town of Sansepolcro, Tuscany, Italy.

St. Paulus Kirche, Munich, Germany

This watercolor was done on 9 x 12 Arches 140 lb. cold pressed block. I took my painting stuff on my latest business trip to Europe and
managed to get just one water color sketch done. I got plenty of good photos for inspiration for further painting.

My son Craig prevailed upon me to post these. I had done them earlier in the year and had not put them up. The Hidden Valley sketch was done sitting on the side of the road with Craig sitting on the other side as I painted him in the post from last May.

The Duck Creek meadow was done on our Smith Family reunion trip this last July. I sat on the dam with the lake behind me.

Both are water colors done on 140 pound Arches cold pressed block. There are parts of the sketches I like and some I was less happy with but here they are.

Singapore Roadside

I had a few hours before I had to leave for the airport, so I walked a few blocks south of the Hilton and found these cool trees near a private school. Everything is tropical and the trees have ferns and vines growing on them.

I did this in 15 minutes with water soluble pens on a 6x9 sketchpad

Singapore construction site

I sketch-painted this construction site while I was in Singapore. There aren't many wood frame buildings there and much of the old stuff has been replaced by new high rise construction.

7x10 on 140 Arches cold pressed WC block

Broken Wagon, Paramount Ranch

Craig qnd I went to Paramount Ranch and did sketchpainting in Gouache. I tried two, but the first wqs too ambitious in size and detail and I ran out of time and didn't want to post it as it was not really finished enough. I did a quick painting of an old broken wagon in front of a barn. It was about 30 minutes and painted pretty directly. Not too large, about 5 x 7 inches. Painted on cold press illustration board.

Great day to sit outside! Paramount Ranch was an inspiration an we plan on going back soon.

Christmastime in Utah

These water color sketches were done looking out of the back door at my inlaw's house in Taylorsville Utah. The paper in my sketchbook did not hold water well and the wet-in-wet techniquesdid not come off well. I think next time I will go back to a Arches block with 140lb paper.

Deer in a field at Villa Panna, Tuscany

This was a quick sketch done in water soluble ink in about 15 minutes. Cold afternoon, sun was going down.

Another water soluble pen and water wash drawing. Tuscan hills from garden below Casa Buitoni in Sansepulcro, Italy. Done in my ring bound notebook in about 15 minutes. I was looking for a break from my normal water colors and these mateials were really easy to bring on this trip, no clean up to speak of, easy to break out and put away.

Hotel Privilege, Florence Italy

water soluble pen with water wash, 15 minutes in my ring bound sketchbook.

Huerta Pioneros Barn, Colonia Pacheco, Mexico 6-23-07

This water color was done in about 1.5 hours on 12x16 cold pressed 140 lb. Arches block. The clouds were building and we eventually had thunder and lightening and a few showers. A wonderful Saturday afternoon. The barn is an old log structure that was reconditioned recently to hold bags of fertilizer and orchard irrigation tubing. We slept for two nights in an old ranch house about 200 yards to the right of this scene. No electricity, only a solar panel with batteries. Water from a spring, hot showers by propane water heater. Not extreme roughing it, but pretty remote. 1.5 hours from the nearest small town (Colonia Juarez, Chihuahua) up a dirt road into the mountains.

Craig Painting

This is a quick 20 minute watercolor sketch of my son Craig who was sitting across the road from me painting. My first painting was muddy and not well composed, so I decided a vignette of Craig would be a better subject than what I had been painting.

He moved while I was painting, so I didn't try to fix the anatomy problems, I just finished it up. The whole painting is around 5"x7". Water color on Arches cold pressed 140 lb. block.

Malibu Hills with a knife 12-28-06

I had a few minutes while my son Craig was finishing his painting, so I decided to try a quick sketch with water colors, but only using a palette knife to apply the paint. In the end I did use a little brush work, but the knife made some interesting effects that I would like to explore on future painting outings. Took about 15 minutes, 9x12 140 lb. cold press Arches paper.

Storage shed at Soka University grounds, Malibu, CA

This is a quick 9x12 water color on 140 lb. Arches cold pressed. Nice windy day but bright, low winter sun. Just a little storage shed. The bird actually did land there for a few moments, so I included him in the sketch. About 90 minutes painted all on site.