What I Have (Not) Been Painting

I have been starting and not finishing a lot of painting for the last few weeks.

 I think part of it is that I am trying a lot of new things and my ideas get ahead of what I am doing and I want to move on - not continue what I am working on. It started when I got so frustrated with my watercolor that I decided to try and paint in oil.  Of course, that means learning a lot of new things, both materials and the way oil works, not to mention doing some amazingly cruddy painting. 

Then, Awesome Myrna Wacknov 

came to town and I went back to watercolor in order to try out all kinds of new ideas and techniques I watched her demonstrate over the course of a 6 day workshop.

Notes from the workshop...

 Now, I have watercolors and oils which are all in some degree of an unfinished state. 

Below are some examples. I do plan to finish something from here, but for now - 

I  am posting only the fruits of my discontent!

a larger, unfinished watercolor version of this sketch

maybe 1/2 finished oil of my son, Seth

New (to me) technique
of drawing directly onto
tracing paper. (Thanks, Myrna!)

Almost finished watercolor of my dad from the drawing above.

Seth (10 years old)

Charlie

watercolor just barely started from the above drawing.

Studies in preparation for the oil painting started below

SiriOm

SiriOm

watercolor 8"x8"

Water color sketch from drawing last weekend.

click on photo if you want to see larger.

Tel Aviv Friends? Consider this.

I live in a lovely, but miniscule apartment in Tel Aviv. I am at my wits end finding a place to paint.  

Does anyone know someone in Tel Aviv that might know of someone that knows someone? 

Please forward this to them if you do?

I need a small (1/2 room size?) private space to use as a work space during the day time hours 5-6 days a week in Tel Aviv. I paint (watercolor - no fumes or mess).  I would need access to a bathroom/water but do not need the use of a kitchen or evening hour access.  Does anyone have a space available they would be willing to rent to me for a modest amount of money or in exchange for a private parking spot?

Thanks,

Carol Feldman

http://drawingtelaviv.blogspot.com/

CarolFeldman@gmail.com

052-534-9605

Painting at Susanne's

In the Kitchen

3.25" x 5.25

Watercolor

click on photo to enlarge

Susanne is off showing her friend around Israel, 

so I get to use her place to paint this week.  Nice friend, huh?

Tiny watercolor sketch to leave behind.

Cafe Shefer in Tel Aviv

Cafe Shefer

8" x 9"

Watercolor

click on photo to enlarge

If I stand on the top floor of my apartment and look across the street, 

this is the view I often see.

 This cozy cafe greets me every time I walk out the door, 

but this view is always fun because I can watch, unseen.

I especially enjoy this cafe in the evening 

because the tapping of spoons stirring coffee rise up 

and sound like delicate wind chimes.

Neve Tzedek Ladies

9"x9"

watercolor

Neve Tzedek is an old neighborhood just south of where I live in Tel Aviv.  This is the second attempt to paint these ladies.  I'll post the third if it seems any better/different.

Window Box

Window Box

6"x11"

watercolor

Miriam was off to Italy, so I had a place to paint for a couple of weeks.  I left this little watercolor sketch at her house as a thank you. It is of a small window box in which she put some lovely things she has collected.  The shape in the back is the outline of some leaves from outdoors you can see through the frosted glass.

It's Time to Meet!

Saturday the 16th  is the

29th World Wide SketchCrawl

We will be meeting in Tel Aviv. 

I would like to meet at LovEat on 3 Nachalat Binyamin.  I will be at the cafe a little before 9 a.m. next Saturday morning for coffee.  It would be fun if we could all meet, there, but really, come any time. As far as I am concerned, I could stay there drawing, up and down the street for as long as anyone wants to stay. 

If you will email me and let me know you are coming, I will send you my cell phone number, in case you want to double check where we are.  I think we will be pretty obvious. 

 There is plenty of parking on the west side on Allenby on the side streets on Saturday.

 Last time we organized this, we met on Rothchild Bld. in Tel Aviv.  While Rothchild is usually fun and sometimes lovely, it is always very crowded on Saturday. 

Nachalat Binjamin has a little something for everyone, I think. 

 People, bicycles, dogs, cats, restored buildings, decrepit buildings, coffee shops and restaurants

 and lots of benches and best of all: no traffic.

The people who come to this range in skill from 0-100.  Just bring what you want in terms of drawing - sketch book, journal, paper, pencils, markers, crayons, ?

I will photo what everyone draws and put it both on this blog site and also on the 

Worldwide SketchCrawl site, as well under Israel.

For those who cannot make the trip to Tel Aviv, scan or photo sketches you did on this day (and where you were in Israel) and email them to me.  I will also include your sketches.

See you Saturday!

From past sketch times on Nachalat Binyamin...

Sketch Crawl Oct. 16th

Tel Aviv, Israel

by carol feldman » Sun Aug 15, 2010 9:14 pm

I am coordinating the 

Tel Aviv Sketch Crawl 

Oct. 16th 2010. 

29th World Wide SketchCrawl

Please let me know if you can join us. 

Time and place to be announced soon.

Carol

CarolFeldman@gmail.com

http://drawingtelaviv.blogspot.com/2009/01/

21st-world-wide-sketchcrawl-results.html

Miriam's Table

and I stayed in Miriam's cozy spot hidden within Shuk Bezelel (or as I always knew it...the shmatah shuk) while she traveled.

Hermit Crab

I was (and am still) touched by all the words of encouragement sent via comments and also to my personal email when I quit painting (and therefore also blogging). I always thought I would take the time to answer each one personally, but I never did. But, allow me to tell you here, all the notes meant more to me than you could ever possibly know.

And now, more than a year later, I post one tiny watercolor sketch I did for a friend and again you come out of the woodwork to tell me you are glad to see me back. I don't even know how to show my appreciation. Thank you again.

A close friend of mine has dubbed me a Hermit Crab. I love to stay in other people's homes when they are away traveling. Not that I don't have a home of my own - I do. A very pleasant one. But there is something about just slipping into someone else's life for a short time that really appeals to me. And then there is the solitude...

Above is a watercolor sketch I did in Ronni's home while staying there recently.

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!

Charles Reid Workshop Spring 2009

Originally, I had all my workshop photos here in 6 different posts. I decided to put all of the postings together into a single post and put a link here so I wouldn't have to see them among all my regular postings. Below are some things I did in that workshop, but if you want to see what Reid and my fellow workshop participants did, please go here:

Charles Reid Workshop Spring 2009

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. :-)

My afternoon effort with a different model.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.