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Tag Archives: Learning
A Perplexing Result
In theory, collaboration sounds like a sweet and collegial process, but in practice, it can be quite heated. I have been listening to these two work out ideas together for more than 30 years and am still amazed at their … Continue reading
Posted in Body Language, Facial Expression, Groups Interacting, Learning
Tagged Emoting, Gouache, Learning
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The Critique
It was wonderful to meet again with my plein air class. Returning students were encouraged to bring a sketch for a critique since we would not be painting on this first day of the fall semester. It can be hard … Continue reading
Posted in Body Language, Groups Interacting, Learning, People Learning
Tagged Body Language, Emoting, Gouache, Learning, Line, Pastel, San Diego
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Discussion at the Fire Pit
This is the unfinished sketch from yesterday with gouache added today. By the time I finished today I had unintentionally changed the mood of the sketch from upbeat to tense. The figure on the right now has his lips pursed and … Continue reading
Posted in Body Language, Facial Expression, Groups Interacting, Telling a Story
Tagged Family, Gouache, Home, Learning, People
4 Comments
A Vase for June Flowers
Today’s sketch is a variant of yesterday’s. It is a sketch of the same bouquet but with some of the leaves removed. This time I wanted to make the vase more transparent and used highly diluted paint for most of … Continue reading
June Flowers
I have wanted to learn to paint without first making guidelines on the paper. The flowers are everywhere this June and I picked a bouquet to practice with, thinking that if the parts did not fit together properly that it … Continue reading
So, Let’s Talk About How to…
Our son, a programmer, came home for a few days to help his dad set up some experiments. It is wonderful to have him home and to listen to the collegial talk between them as they work together. I cannot … Continue reading
Posted in Body Language, Facial Expression, Groups Interacting, Story Creation, Telling a Story
Tagged Body Language, Emoting, Family, Gouache, Learning
7 Comments
Day 3 at the Conference
Today is the third day of the conference and basic pen drawings are all the sketching I can fit in. While I miss using color, I do enjoy just quickly jotting down what I see. These three sketches today … Continue reading
Posted in Body Language, Facial Expression, Groups Interacting, Learning, Story Creation, Telling a Story
Tagged Body Language, Learning
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My Fresh Palette
We set off tomorrow for a five-week trip with the above gouache palette, a small set of transparent watercolors and drawing supplies. After much indecision and an incredible number of paint swatches, I finally committed to 12 gouache colors for my … Continue reading
Chart for a Fresh Palette
I am much more likely to do an activity that I am set up for and sketching away from home is no exception. If it takes too long to get ready I sometimes end up not sketching away at all. … Continue reading
A Sideways Look
My high school art teacher made a big impression on me. I still remember many of her sayings from 50 years ago or so. One I think of nearly every day is that there is no such thing as a … Continue reading
The White Dress
Our purpose today in our figure painting class was to show the dimensionality of white by using pastel shades of complementary colors. Although we were to do this with just one pair of complementary colors, I somehow used both red and green as … Continue reading
Mounds of Daisies
I sketched today at Cabrillo National Monument where the mounds of daisies are breathtaking. It was perfect for working on one of my ongoing deliberate sketch questions, “How can I show the rhythm of nature with big shapes and repeating … Continue reading
Back to Back
Our goal today in the figure painting class was to achieve harmony by painting with a dominant color and, if necessary, small amounts of the colors adjacent to it on the color wheel. This was an awesome assignment because it made me think … Continue reading
Posted in Body Language, Deliberate Practice, Facial Expression, Learning
Tagged Color, Learning, People
1 Comment
More Flowers in a Vase
I picked up today where I left off yesterday, painting flowers in a vase. The vase is in the same place on my desk but this time I painted with gouache on black paper, not with transparent watercolor on white paper … Continue reading
Flowers in a Vase
I kept working on flowers today, which was really about working on color, line, harmony and contrast. It was a lot to think about and I took several photos of the sketch as I worked on it. As you can see, it … Continue reading
Posted in Deliberate Practice, Learning
Tagged Learning, Procreate, Still Life, Watercolor
8 Comments
Same Intersection, Different Sketches
Here are two more sketches of the same intersection as yesterday’s sketch in Old Town at Twiggs and San Diego Avenue that I dew in this past week. In each sketch I stood where a line (the double yellow line in the … Continue reading
Working on Perspective in San Diego’s Old Town
The landscape painting class met in San Diego’s Old Town today and it was a perfect opportunity to think again about perspective. I stood in the park at Twiggs Street, looking down San Diego Avenue, where the double yellow line pointed … Continue reading
Posted in Deliberate Practice, Landscape, Telling a Story
Tagged California, Gouache, Landscape, Learning, San Diego
2 Comments
Simplifying the Shape
It is so worthwhile to go to art class and work on projects alongside my fellow students. Not only do I have the chance to learn from the wisdom of an amazing teacher, I also see how other artists interpret the … Continue reading
OneWeek 100 People 2017!
Today begins the#ONE WEEK 100 PEOPLE 2017. I am participating for the first time. The goal is to draw 100 people between Monday and Friday and I am off to a good start with 21. I got two people at my … Continue reading
Chart of my Gouache Paints
I bought my gouache paints haphazardly, first a small mixing set, then a few individual tubes and finally a set of 18 small tubes. In all I ended up with 37 different tubes, some so similar to each other that … Continue reading
Posted in Deliberate Practice, Learning, Uncategorized
Tagged Gouache, Learning, Technique
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This Is What Democracy Looks Like!
This is a second sketch from the San Diego March in Solidarity with Immigrants. I made many line sketches Saturday of the march and am finishing them with gouache and comparing them for impact. Both of the two sketches, yesterday’s … Continue reading
Posted in Body Language, Deliberate Practice, Facial Expression, Groups Interacting, Telling a Story
Tagged California, Emoting, Gouache, Immigration, Learning, People, San Diego
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Live Sketching at the San Diego Opera
The San Diego Opera season opens this Saturday with Falstaff. Local artists were invited to live sketch the Wednesday working rehearsal and I was so glad to be part of the group yesterday evening. We sat in the orchestra section … Continue reading
The Watercolor Teacher
It was the first day of the spring semester, the only day we do not paint in class. Our teacher explained what we will learn and what materials we will need. I sketched her as she spoke. At one point she described … Continue reading
Posted in Body Language, Facial Expression, Telling a Story
Tagged Emoting, Gouache, Learning, San Diego
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Bird Show
Relatively few people were at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park today. Between the low attendance and gorgeous weather, conditions were awesome for a day of sketching. This is a sketch of a small audience enjoying the bird show. I … Continue reading
Posted in Groups Interacting, Telling a Story
Tagged Gouache, Learning, People, San Diego
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The Happiness Of It All
There are some really special moments in life and a baby shower for a much-loved teacher is surely one of those moments. Fifteen years ago a freshly credentialed young woman arrives at a middle school and takes over a position … Continue reading
Posted in Body Language, Facial Expression, Groups Interacting, Story Creation, Telling a Story
Tagged Emoting, Learning, San Diego
1 Comment
Hillside Path
Yesterday I was looking for a subject so I could practice applying flat color with a single brushstroke. There is a corner of our hillside yard that is shaded in the afternoon but also gets some rays of sunlight through a wooden … Continue reading
Three Giraffes and Three People
Continuing today to work with gouache, I went to the zoo in hopes of sketching people interacting with each other and the animals. This time I used the studier Bristol paper, but fumbled a bit with managing the materials in … Continue reading
Posted in Groups Interacting, Story Creation, Telling a Story
Tagged Color, Gouche, Learning, People, Urban Sketching
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Hot Chocolate and Christmas Stories
I went to a delightful ‘Hot Chocolate and Christmas Stories’ party today. It was mostly for the small children of teachers from the school I used to work at and it was wonderful to see the enjoyment they all got from … Continue reading
Posted in Body Language, Groups Interacting, Learning, Telling a Story
Tagged Learning, People, San Diego
1 Comment
More Christmas Cactus
I follow many artists on social media and study their work for inspiration. Someone I especially admire is Menina Ricci; particularly for the way she uses color and brushwork. She often paints with gouache on black paper and you can see her work … Continue reading
