Studio Spaces

Here are some of my set ups from the last few months: my inside studio, my outside studio, teaching at the Creative Arts Group in Sierra Madre, and teaching a watercolor workshop at Swain's Art Store in Glendale.

Los Angeles Union Station

This is a sketch and a painting of Los Angeles Union Station done last night as a demo for the San Fernando Valley Art Club. My study sketch was done in an 6" x 9" Aquabee sketchbook with a water soluble pen, watercolor and white gouache. I used the same tools for the finished painting, but it was done on 140# Fabriano cold press paper.

Sketchbook Work

Here are some recent pages from my sketchbook. As I have stated previously, it goes pretty much everywhere with me, as evidenced by this random collection of everyday images. The top one is a pen sketch of my studio from the outside patio looking in.

The next one is a view of some hillside houses in Pasadena. While waiting for a friend on the campus of Azusa Pacific University, I sketched a very ordinary streescape. Below that, the view while waiting in line at the car wash. And finally, another hillside scene.

Sketching and painting everyday, and everywhere keeps me in shape, and helps me see things more clearly. 

Pasadena Landmarks

Here are two recent paintings of the Green Hotel, and the Pasadena City Hall. They both started out as full size sheet paintings and were done a few years ago. I wasn't happy with them so last weekend I cropped them down, added some pen work, and enhanced the colors. 

Sketchbook Update

Here are some recent sketchbook entries. The top two were sketched on the way to San Diego, from the car. They were done quickly with a Sanford Uniball Micro pan, and painted later in the studio with gouache.

The next two were done on Saturday afternoon, as the sun set, and the valley below my house slowly grew dark. 

My work table is shown at the bottom. I was using my laptop to watch a BBC train video  while I painted.

Watercolor Workshop Day One

This is the first day's demonstrations: the Athenaeum at Cal Tech, a night scene of the Vista del Arroyo, and the Pasadena Train Station at night. 

Vermont Art Event

Every few years I fly to Vermont to teach at an annual art workshop sponsored by Holbein.  Getting there is an all-day affair so I have a lot of time to sketch and paint. Here are some quick sketches from this year's trip. I arrived at LAX a few hours early, so I found a table at Ruby's Dinette and worked for a while.

I also like to get a seat in the waiting area with a good view of the action. And, there is always plenty of time to sketch the scene from inside the plane.

Garage Sale Sketch

We held a garage sale yesterday and during a break in the action, I did this quick sketch of the houses across the street. I used my Uniball Micro pen, a Pentel Sign Pen and Holbein transparent watercolor, adding a few splashes to give it some energy. This was done in my Aquabee Super Deluxe sketchbook.

Quick Sketch of a Church in Whittier

This is a quick sketch of a church in Whittier, California. I am experimenting with drawing less and painting more. I took about three minutes to make the sketch, paying no attention to detail - I just outlined the big shapes and remembered the values. I ignored the cars, just letting the paint go right over them. The windows are mere strokes of dark grey, and the people just blobs. This is a very small sketch: 6" x 9", done in my Aquabee sketchbook. I am pleased with the effort because it has an energetic looseness, a sense of light and dark, and an interesting composition.

Waiting Sketches

Here are some sketches I made while waiting. That is the advantage of always having a sketchbook ready to go: you get a lot of practice, and the waiting time passes quickly.  I did these sketches with my Sanford Uniball Micro pen, accented with a Pentel Sign Pen, and painted them later in my studio, imagining the colors.

The drawing of each of these took about five minutes. The top one was done while sitting on the curb in a parking lot waiting for Suzanne. I had to work fast. I only had enough time to capture the essence of the scene. 

Weekend in Wisconsin

Here is a collection of sketches from a trip I took last weekend to Wisconsin to attend a friend's wedding. There are views from inside the plane, looking out of the plane, the view from the balcony looking at the lake, the barn where the wedding took place and other miscellaneous sketches from the trip. I travelled light, and came back with my sketchbook full.