Thank you

Thank you for checking in here. There is nothing new for a while because I am too sad to paint.

I hope I will come back soon. Love, Carol

Watercolor crayons

20 x 30 cm  Watercolor Crayons and Watercolor on Arches 140 WCP

I am back in the saddle again and decided to jump in at the last minute to try the latest challenge from Karin Jurick - drawing from a photo of a statue.

I used 3 Caran dAche watercolor crayons to make the drawing:  Royal Blue, Bordeaux Red and Golden Ochre. Then I used a brush full of water and blended these colors to define my shadow areas. While it was still wet I dropped in some regular watercolor (yellow ochre, ultramarine blue and permanent rose) to finish it off. My friend Hillary Miller sent the crayons to me as a surprise after I admired some drawings she had done with them.

These crayons are such a joy to work with!  I can't wait to take them with me to my life study group next week!

This evening begins Yom HaZikaron

Yom Hazikaron (Memorial Day, Hebrew: יום הזכרון לחללי מערכות ישראל ולנפגעי פעולות האיבה‎, lit.Israeli Fallen Soldiers and Victims of Terrorism Remembrance Day) is an Israeli national holiday.

This is where my daughter and I were when the sirens began at 8:00 this evening, just a few steps from our flat in Tel Aviv.  This is her first Yom HaZikaron as a soldier. 

Day 5 Reid Workshop

Our last morning of the workshop was spent watching Reid finish his drawing, then the rest of the painting.  People started leaving right after Reid finished, rather than stay for the last afternoon of painting, which I found very frustrating and kind of a let down. Those of us who were left worked on our paintings and then we had a quick critique of what we had done.

Here is the rest of Reid finishing his painting.

Above: Finished Reid painting.

Above is my study in preparation for the larger painting from my photo.

Above, on the left here, is all I got done the last day of the workshop.  I have since worked on it some more. When my husband returns from the states I will post it, as it ended up in his suitcase along with all of the painting I did 2 weeks later in Pat Weaver's workshop.

*****

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The following are some of the paintings from other people in the Reid workshop from days 4 and 5.

Day 4 Reid Workshop

A long interlude between posting Day 3 and Day 4.  Lots of heartbreaking family issues that kept me from being at all interesting in posting or painting. I have been back in Tel Aviv for several days and am going to try and jump back into my real life.

Meanwhile, here is a bit about the last 2 days of the Reid workshop.  These two days were not as inspiring to me, and I was disappointed to move away from live people and real things to these squares of old time photos.

On Day 4 Reid had us draw from old photos in black and white. He wanted us to focus on values rather than color. 

Here are a few shots of Reid drawing from his old photo.

He began to paint before he had finished drawing, so we could move along a little faster into our own work that afternoon.

This is where Reid stopped painting for the day. We went on to do our drawings from black and white photos in the afternoon and to begin the color studies in preparation for our own paintings.

My initial drawing from b&w photo. (my parents in Chicago in 1947)

Day 3 Charles Reid Workshop

Yesterday, on the first of the portraits of Nicholai,  Reid began with the darkest values and then used that paint to bring down into the mid and light values. In the second one he started with a light skin tone wash and then when that was dry, added the darks and mid-values. Today he again started with the darks and used the paint already on the paper to move into the mid values. He did mention that that is usually how he works, now, with no beginning wash.

These photos are so bad. I promise I will replace all when I get home to my regular camera and computer!!  Here you can see that he has started with the dark next to the nose bridge and brought the paint out into the lighter shadow areas. (note the break in the eyebrow to indicate the brow coming toward you.)

Contrary to what my automatic painting response would be, his values are always lighter in the shadow side.  This is because darker values come forward and he wants the shadows to recede. (I hope I said that correctly.)  

He also uses less contrast and lost edges in the shadow areas for the same reason.

We always had 2 models - 9 people on each model- and here are the other artist's work during the morning critique.

More of our work.

I got to paint Nicholai this day. Reid was very complimentary of my work, and he pointed out the shadow side of the face, the hands and the left side of the shirt and arms as good examples of using what he had taught. (In case you are wondering.) It feels funny to say this, but it made me feel good at the time and I was really enjoying using the different focus and way of seeing that he taught.

Some random sketches from the workshop

I am sort of frustrated by my lack of a good scanner and the silly lighting in the gallery when I shot photos of things. The gallery where we were painting was beautiful, but the lighting was very yellow and glaring and things are not very good colors when I post them.  Since I am using a laptop, my Photoshop is somewhat useless in editing. But, on we go. Maybe I can fix some of the photos when I return to my computer. Below are just some pages from my notebook that I used while listening to and watching Reid draw. 

Also to answer a couple of questions,  Reid used Fabriano Artistico cold press in a block every day except day 3 when he used  a piece of Fabriano "soft press" which he said was somewhere between cold and hot press.  I used Fabriano Artistico cold press sheets every day.  And, the blue here in the nose, he pulled down into other areas which diluted it. He did that a lot. He almost used the paper as a pallet.

Opening comments.

I was sitting right behind Reid while he was drawing this day.

This day I moved to where I could watch his face while he painted.

This is another painter intently watching. He is an archaeologist who had worked in a dig near Haifa (Carmel) in the early 70's and lived on a Kibbutz while he was there.  He was also very generous, printing some old black and white photos for me for our "historical photo day".

Another painter, mesmerized.

Charles Reid Workshop Day 2

I am settled in Oklahoma now, for a couple of weeks, so I can post some more photos from the workshop.  This was probably my favorite day of watching Reid paint. 

Here we all are anxious for the day to begin.

 He had a beautiful young boy as a model and he painted a double portrait of him.

Finished Charles Reid portrait

My afternoon effort with a different model.

Charles Reid Workshop Day 1

The workshop is finished. It was exhausting. (I know, you non-painters are scratching your heads...exhausting???) At the end I was so overwhelmed with information that I couldn't yet apply, I hid from painting for several days in Charleston, SC.  Only by posting day by day can I approach showing you things. At some point I will post more photos on Flicker so you can see more of the steps in what Reid did.

For now, here are a few photos from Day 1 of the Charles Reid workshop.

We watched him draw and paint from 9-12.  This was the case every day, except on the rest of the days we had a 30-45 minute "critique" on what we had painted the day before.

After drawing, very carefully for about an hour, in his controlled, contour way he began painting with an extremely limited palette of 

cad red light, cerulean blue, ultramarine blue and yellow ochre. 

Keeping his hand connected to the paper as he goes along.

Adding some burnt umber and burnt sienna along the way.

Reid Finished Day 1 Painting.

This is the gorgeous studio area in which we painted from 1-4 

trying to use what we had seen that morning..

Sad to say, this is my first attempt, post Reid exposure.  I wouldn't have posted it, but was afraid if I didn't you would imagine it to be even worse!  (He really liked the shoes, though. :-)

Jetlag or Culture Shock?

watercolor pencil and water in sketchbook 14.5 x22

Gorgeous day today. Looks like spring in Columbia, South Carolina.  

I walked around the area near my hotel but it was pretty dead because it is the weekend and this is a downtown (no residents) area. Lots of bars and restaurants, which I assume will liven up as the evening wears on, but I will be long asleep by then. , but where are the cafes? 

There was a little Starbucks across the street, but it was full of old ladies with nametags. (Well, Imay be an old lady, but I am not wearing a name tag in public!) 

There is no one on the streets walking. There are hardly any crosswalks...like only every 3 or 4 blocks, and then you have to push a button to get permission to walk and the light immediately starts counting down from 20 seconds and that's all the time you have. I missed it the first time because I thought it was counting down to when I could walk.  Then I had to wait another 5 minutes for another 20 second light!

 The buildings are beautiful and I spent a long time on the grounds of the capital.  I should have painted the scene above, the colors were incredible. That little tree in the front is bright pink. So many different kinds of trees and they are all so tall! And lots of squirrels. I had forgotten about squirrels. Very busy little animals.

The workshop begins tomorrow.  I'm ready.

To the Land of the Round Doorknobs

HB Pencil in  sketchbook 14.5x21 cm

HB Pencil in  sketchbook 14.5x21 cm

HB Pencil in  sketchbook 14.5x21 cm

Long day of flying and waiting, but no real problems. There is no way around being tired of  24 hours of airplanes and airports.  No tripod, scanner or proper lighting, but you get the idea.

Sushi with Vuillard postcards

Transparent watercolor on Fabriano 17 x 23 cm

I think this is the first time I have ever set up a still life to paint. It wasn't so bad. I needed to get that sushi in there somewhere for Karin Jurick.

I have been very preoccupied, excited, having fun getting ready for my trip to the U.S.  As I have probably mentioned like 500 times, I am going to participate in a workshop in South Carolina with Charles Reid the end of this month.  

The following can be filled under"probably more  than you wanted to know".

I have gone through all my watercolors and chosen the 20 colors I am going to take with me (closest to the colors he recommends).  

I made  new value charts, mixing charts and even glazing charts with all 20. (This is just one of the mixing charts. I think there are 6 altogether.)

(I say "even glazing" because C Reid doesn't use that technique, but I thought, why not, as long as I am being obsessive.)

I have reread all 5 books I have by him. I cleaned and sorted all my brushes.

I have a new easel, a new, smaller folding palette and I have been trying to work exclusively on it so I will be used to it, and the angle I will need to use to paint. (I usually paint either flat on my little desk - to the right on the photo- or on my lap outside.)

and here is a close up of my palette after I finished the little painting above.  See? No muddy puddle colors.

And not only am I excited about going to this workshop, but it has also been one and a half years since I have been to the U.S. or seen my parents, brother or my favorite cousin, Dorothy. I will be gone for an entire month and am going to join another workshop near Tulsa with my old painting buddies from around there with Pat Weaver. I am feeling like one lucky woman!

Watercolor Women

Transparent watercolor  33 x 42 cm

This is in response to Karin Jurick's DSDF challenge. 

Friends, I promise, I will not tell people who these women are supposed to be.  I kind of got in over my head (no pun intended) with this one.

Women in my life

#2 & #4 B pencils in sketchbook  21.5x 28 cm

This little project started because I was trying to do a Karin Jurick project and wanted to put some different sorts of faces on the manikin heads. 

As I was looking through my photos I started thinking about the women that make up my life these days.  What started out as a few quick sketches became a drawing project that took up all the time I had allotted to finishing the initial project, so I most likely won't get that done this time.  

This was really good practice with a lot of different sorts of faces and it made me feel good to think about each woman as I was sketching her.

More Figure Studies

#4B pencil on drawing paper 36x48 cm

This drawing represents four 15 minute poses of the same model.

The last time I posted some figures drawings, I had just found a figure drawing group and was very excited. Now, I am even happier because my post of the drawings led someone from Tel Aviv to let me know there is a figure drawing group only a short bus ride or quick bike ride from my home in Tel Aviv!  The other class was a 40 minute drive in heavy rush hour traffic.  

And, this Tel Aviv group meets 3 times a week, so I have my choice of morning, afternoon or evening sessions.  

lake

Transparent Watercolor on Yupo 12 x 20 cm

from Virtual Sketch

funny drawing, huh?

black ink in sketchbook

I know it looks like a doodle, but really it is a drawing from a pond. I also tried a watercolor that was so bad I wouldn't dream of putting it here! The part of this that you cannot see is the wonderful sounds and smells and lushness of this little pond, so seemingly  out of place in my world.  

On the other side of the globe is a marvelously talented and tireless artist who sent me to this pond on my side of the globe.  The pond belongs to her sister, who is also an artist, who also lives in Israel and also loves watercolor. This sister invited me into her wonderful garden to paint and draw with her today.  Beautiful and fun. Can't beat that combination!  Thank you Myrna!

Today

Transparent Watercolor on Yupo paper  13 x 18 cm

It's not as though I haven't been painting. It is just that everything has been ending up in the trash.  I have become increasingly frustrated with my lack of understanding of the characteristics of watercolor and seem to be incapable of discerning values. Over the last 2 weeks I have reread all my watercolor books, color theory and drawing books.  I made color charts, value scales and tested all my watercolors for transparency and staining characteristics.  I took on as a student a very nice person who wants to learn watercolor. 

(Teaching is the best teacher?)

I signed up for 2 watercolor workshops in the U.S. and made plane reservations. (Any one else going to the Charles Reid workshop in South Carolina or the Pat Weaver in Oklahoma?)

Today I really wanted to paint something besides little pie-shaped swatches of watercolor, so I pulled out the Yupo again :-) and did this quick painting (?) of the same girl I did a drawing of a few weeks ago.  Yupo is so fun. And, magically, in the mail, I received a wonderful package from a wonderful artist full of info about how to use Yupo!

Thank you Hillary!!

I know what I will be doing tonight!

Also, something else I have been preoccupied with... my baby daughter began her mandatory service as a soldier in the IDF a little over a week ago.  

This is an extraordinary challenge for her,beyond the usual reasons,  as she only began learning Hebrew about 5  years ago.  But, she has gone in with a good attitude and is really moved by feeling a part of something larger than herself.  

Look at how wonderful she is.

Figure on Yupo

Transparent watercolor on Yupo 28x35cm

This is the watercolor on Yupo Paper (?) I mentioned in the last post. I think it is interesting.  I don't know as I would do it again with a 20 minute pose because the paint just cant dry that quickly on this paper in order to allow much more than floaty kind of colors, but it was a nice change and no one in the group had ever seen Yupo before, so that made it fun, too.

Another Figure Study Night

I drew this tonight in my figure drawing group. I also did one on Yupo I want to post, but I will have to wait until daylight so I can photograph it because it is too big to scan.

Playing on Yupo

Transparent watercolor on Yupo paper 13x18 cm

Another attempt at watercolor on Yupo feels more like play than painting.  It is very fun, but hard for me to take very seriously. Very similar to fingerpainting from kindergarden, but you don't have to get your fingers dirty. You just keep sliding the colors around with your brush until you are satisfied - or give up. 

One more creative way to attempt to make challenges feel relevant.

Old Water Tower on Rehov Mazeh

Just to let you know I am keeping busy. Also my contribution to day 2 of Thing-a-Day 2009.

Old water tower on Rehov Mazeh in Tel Aviv built pre-state by Arpad Gut. (Also built the synagogue on Allenby Street.)

Figure Studies

I am so happy!  

 Not only did I finally find a regular figure study group, 

I found a new friend to come along with me!

Drawing of a girl

Pencil Drawing 12.5 x 18 cm

Happy Birthday Z 

Oranges

Transparent Watercolor 18x18 cm

A grey day seemed a good day to paint oranges.  

I worked too hard on this one and decided to try a new paper (Yupo) and see if I could get a little more expressive.  (see below). Now if I could just get somewhere in the middle!

Transparent watercolor on Yupo 20x24 cm

Painting on yupo is kind of like painting on glass. The paint just slides around and doesn't sink in.  Any of my painter friends know of a good source explaining how to paint on this stuff??

I painted these oranges along with other painters on the Virtual Sketch Site.

Visit there to see more.

I feel so rejected!

Probably because I was. :-(

What do you think? (Anyone who happens to find this by accident!)

Reference Photo

My Painting 

I have been participating in Karin Jurick's fun challenge site since the 1st of September, 2008.  

It has been the single most influential source of my beginning to paint on a regular basis again. 

It got me started and I have looked forward to every week, 

each new challenge, all 15 of them so far. 

But, this time my painting was rejected and so I was despondent all day. 

It did not look enough like the photo. 

(Actually, it was more like..."it didn't resemble the reference photo in any way.") That's Karin...straight to the point. And, that's what I have really appreciated about her all along. 

And today, I went back and read her words she posted on the blog this week...especially "#3. work every day at it regardless of the applause because that's what ultimately improves your work."

Anyway, I have to agree with Karin, that she has to make this decision every time and  there are people out there that would interpret that exception such a deviation from the photo as an invitation to go much further afield...

Look for me out in front on the next challenge, though!!

Boring stuff- for painters, only:

Granted, the building itself in the photo didn't do much for me.  However, the way it was lighted from the interior with the light spilling a little did, very much. I also liked the dark trees against the purplish sky wrapping around to frame the sky and memorial. That was what I was going for.

I was trying to think of a building around here with columns that I could relate to more easily, and the only thing I came up with was the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem (mosque) - which I cannot go to. Then I remembered that silly kiosk from the sketching the week before and tried to use that from the same angle and placement as the Memorial. I thought I had gotten the lighting and the composition down (and added people because that is what I do. Paint random people.)

EspressoBarKiosk

(click to big)

Transparent Watercolor 20x25 cm (approx 8"x10")

Inspiration from Karin Jurik 

and the sketching we did from the Sketchcrawl a couple of weeks ago on Rothschild.

Karin posted a photo of the Jefferson Memorial in Washington DC lit from the interior at night.  Never having seen it, I still thought it was a beautiful idea for a painting, so turned to our coffee kiosk with the pillars and put it into the same composition as Karin's night scene.

21st World Wide SketchCrawl Results

looking down Rothchild Boulevard in Tel Aviv

Israel's full day cross-country SketchCrawl  plans were scaled back because of the worry in the country, but I managed to find a couple of friends willing to go out with me for a couple of hours and participate in the 21st World Wide Sketchcrawl.  We were all 1st time participants, and considering they had no idea what they were getting into, my friends were very good-natured and downright enthusiastic about settling down and drawing. My friend, fellow artist, and veteran SketchCrawler, Marcello, stayed close to home and family in the Galilee, but managed to complete some lovely drawing and paintings all on his own. We were with you in spirit, Marcello! Click to see Marcello's sketch results here.

To see sketch results from all over the world, go here. Maybe you will find a group to join!

We perched on the beautiful boulevard Rothchild and here are 3 different drawings of a building directly across from us: 

Savta Dotty's drawing

Miriam's drawing

My drawing

Here are more sketches:

umbrellas in front of a cafe by Lola

a coffee kiosk by Lola

a sketch of me sketching by Miriam

a sketch of Lola, Miriam & Savta Dotty sketching,  by me

random people by me

And photographic proof we were there!

Lola, Miriam & Savta Dotty

me

21st World Wide SketchCrawl

It is tempting to let this one go by because it is a very sad, difficult time here in Israel. However, we are going to go ahead with an abreviated, short sketch and hope that by next time it will be a better time for all of us here is this part of the world. We are meeting to participate in the 21st Sketch Crawl in Tel Aviv at 2:00, Saturday, January 10 on Rothchild. You are welcome to come and join us.

So far there are about 4 or 5 of us planning to be there. All of us are first timers with the sketchcrawl. I will scan and post any and all drawings.

Here is the web address for more information: http://www.sketchcrawl.com/

Info from the website: 

World Wide SketchCrawl 21

Portrait of artist John E. Vander Stelt

(click to big)

Transparent watercolor 20x25.5 cm (8"x10")

This is a painting of  John (website, blog), who is an artist living and working in Iowa.  We have never met, but traded photos of each other via Karin Jurick's blog.  Everyone who asked to participate received an anonymous photo to paint in any way and interpretation we wanted. You can go there and see how everyone painted everyone else.

(boring...the following is for other painters to read, only!!)

The first watercolor portrait I ever attempted was of my daughter at about 10 years old.  (Actually, it was about the 3rd watercolor I had ever attempted.)  Anyway, it was enough to scare me away from portraits for a long time.  However, I didn't want to get left out of the fun over at Karin's, so I sent my photo in and received a photo of John to paint. 

 

Then I chickened out.  After about a week I forced myself to sit down and at least draw him. (Sorry to disappoint anyone who guessed the drawing was of a stoic Israeli!) 

Then I sat around for another week or so and painted 2 little paintings of him and finally a larger one, each time getting a little more confident.  Having just a couple of more days left until the deadline, I finally locked myself in my room and painted this one last night using one of my last sheets of my favorite wc paper, Arches 140 cp. (If anyone wants to volunteer to shlep over a roll of this paper for me in Israel when you come on a visit, I would be very grateful and indebted!)  Anyway, it turned out to be fun and I am glad I did it.

Drawing of a guy

(click to big)

6B Pencil  20x25.5 cm (8"x10")