Laurelines

San Francisco in June: sketching with Jana

I hate having to break up this long sketch into two parts, but there's no going around the space constraints of page and blog. Jana and I sat under the bright blue bowl of sky and sketched the Conservatory of Flowers at Golden Gate Park. All that white against the blue and the building's delicate gothic tracery were so compelling that we HAD to park ourselves on the lawn and go to.

My scanner is too small to fit the whole sketched spread, so I shot it with my digital camera and could NOT get the blue right. I used cobalt acrylic paint mixed with white for the sky---the color in the first two images is more accurate. 8 1/2"x 22":

Jana and I had gotten together on the spur of the moment. She had the day off and I had an open afternoon. What a perfect opportunity for us to finally meet, after years of cyberfriendship! And here are our two versions of a couple of the scenes we drew. I always love seeing someone else's take on a subject, don't you?

I just discovered Jana's post on our adventure... please do check it out! Her finished sketches are gorgeous!

Later in the afternoon, the weather turned cold and gray, so we tucked into the tea house at the park's Japanese tea garden, for hot tea and cookies. Can you find the little double portrait of the two artists in this sketch?

I had such fun sketching with my new/old friend! Thank you for taking the time and trouble to meet up with me, Jana! More sketches to come from this trip!

Garden calligraphy revisited

Working in acrylic paints, in a linear style, with the garden as inspiration, is a minefield. So easy to fall into icky cliché. I even found myself channeling Dufy* (not that he is icky, but he certainly is dead and gone!) without any premeditation. That was actually fun to see happen on the page. Some of the other things I've come up with... not so much.

 

But heck, I say, Inner critic begone! I'm keeping on and seeing what happens, day by day.

A couple of recent pieces that I don't consider finished, just steps along the way. Whatever it is. Acrylic on paper.

 

A little close-up:

Detail of above:

*Here's the Dufy lookalike that appeared, from MY hand, on My page, all unintentionally! Click to see bigger.

Off this week to San Francisco and a nearby olive ranch for a short visit. Urban sketches, olive tree studies, and who knows what else to come. See you soon!

In flux in the garden

The rainy mornings are gone. The garden is in a quiet mode, the transition from spring to summer is underway. Unseasonably high temperatures have taken some of the joy out of gardening. Today, though, cooler weather returned temporarily and I felt so happy to take up paint and brush.   I concentrate on shape, line, and energy in a different way now.  Playing, exploring--- just going with the flow.

acrylic on paper:

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