Reworking More Paintings

Lately I have been going through my stack of previously done paintings and reworking them in the studio. I have been adding gouache, pastel and colored pencil as needed to enhance and add energy to paintings that I feel were still lacking. Here are a few examples.

The top sketch is of the Athenaeum at Caltech; the middle one is a view from under the Colorado Street Bridge; and the bottom one is a of a collection of cottages at Crystal Cove.

Sketchbook Pages

Here are some recent pages from my sketchbook. A few of them are from the driver's seat while waiting in traffic, at the car wash, or in line at In N Out Burger.

Practicing Architectural Subjects

Here are some more quick sketches done while waiting. You can practice your skills anywhere at any time.

Back Seat Sketching

I have been taking a few road trips lately where I have been sitting in the back seat. This gives me plenty of time to practice quick sketching. Most of these sketches were done in five seconds or less. That five seconds is for the basic line drawing. I paint them later in my studio, remembering the colors and values, or just making something up.

Please note that the second sketch took a little longer, about 10 minutes or so. 

This is a good way to keep your eye/hand coordination in excellent shape.

Crystal Cathedral

Here are two sketches of the Crystal Cathedral, a beautiful church designed by Philip Johnson. Inside it is nothing less than magnificent.

A Church in Whittier

Here are a few studies of a Church in Whittier. I added some gesso to the bottom of the painted version to give it a vignette feeling. I'm not sure if the composition is working yet. The bottom sketch was painted with gouache.

Burrito Express

Here is the next painting in my Rainy Night Los Angeles series: Burrito Express, the ultimate burrito place, located in Pasadena. After taking a reference photo and making a tiny thumbnail sketch, I roughed out the scene in pen and blocked in the major areas of color. I haven't yet added in the white accents or any detail. I will do that next.

Painting the Historic Rialto Theatre

The Rialto Theatre is a beloved landmark in South Pasadena. I began my painting of it with a loose pen and ink sketch done on Fabriano cold press paper. I wanted there to be an attitude of casual inexactness to this work, so I drew with pen from the start, not doing a pencil block-out of the big shapes like I occasionally do. I used a light touch as the ink bleeds when used heavily.

I painted the sky first, using Cobalt Blue, Ultramarine Deep, Mineral Violet and Raw Sienna, mixed and blended on the paper. I then established the shadow shapes on the building with Cobalt Blue and Mineral Violet; blocked in the sign with Burnt Sienna and Cadmium Red Light; and painted the sunlit wall with Raw Sienna. I used Gamboge Nova and Greenish Yellow for the trees, letting some white of the paper show through to help create a glow.

Using Marine Blue and Burnt Sienna, I deepened the shadows in the trees, and used bold, primary colors for the patrons as I wanted them to stand out from the purple shadow at the entry. I made the far awning a bright red to create a complementary vibration with the green trees.

The next step was to deepen and enhance the shadows and clarify the architecture with fine brush work and a mixture of Ultramarine Deep, Mineral Violet and Burnt Umber. I painted the marquis movie title with a rigger brush and smeared it with water, and added more color to the sky.

The final touches included painting the window mullions and frames with Titanium White, finishing up the people, and adding a few more architectural accents with dark paint, and of course signing it.