"Next week there can't be any crisis. My schedule is already full." (--Henry Kissinger)

Like so many artsy types, I carry a teeny little travel palette like this with me almost everywhere, and a Niji brush pen that you can fill with water and take anywhere. Let's face it, all the paraphernalia that's associated with watercolors is just fun. Somehow, having such a tiny little portable palette makes me smile. It's instant entertainment you can rely on.


I must have five palettes in different sizes and styles. That's not counting the pretty white plates I often use as palettes, when I'm home, or the butcher's tray that suits me quite well on occasion. I don't care for plastic palettes--I'm addicted to nice metal ones and ceramic plates--I just like the feel of them, or something.


Right now, none of them are getting much of a workout, though...

Yes...It's been trip-planning time again. Can you believe it? It doesn't seem possible to me that it's almost time to head out all over creation again. I've watched our hydrangeas get much smaller as they send out new growth, and I always know that that's about when all of this insanity starts up once more. Much as I love the hydrangeas, they're kind of my bell-wether for what's ahead.

I've been busy putting together an itinerary:

This year, I'm heading not primarily to the west coast, but to the northeast corridor--my old stomping grounds. I'm really looking forward to it: it's been ages since I've been up that way, although I am dreading lugging things all around cities and navigating with all my "stuff" in tow, in New York and Boston. Looks like I'll be in Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Vermont, Maine, Connecticut, DC, Michigan, Chicago, Minnesota and Texas! (So far...)

Interesting mix this year. Don't we need some students from Hawaii? or Southern France and Venice? I'm just saying...

So, this Road Warrior is getting primed. Wish me luck, and I'll get to some new sketching as soon as I can.

"I am definitely going to take a course on time management...just as soon as I can work it into my schedule." (--Louis Boone)

(Anyone else having awful problems with Blogger lately? Yikes!)

Dog Days

More Sketchbook Project sketches...

This is one of the hottest summers I can remember! We arrived home in North Carolina from staying with my dad in Georgia, and at 4:30pm, it was 101 degrees when we looked at the temp. It's really like an oven out there.

In Georgia, my sister and her husband's poor dog Bubba was feeling the heat, too. He sprawled flat out like a frog on the rug and on the cool floor whenever he could. And daddy is home from the hospital and recuperating as well as he can. He's been through a lot, and happy to be back home!

"Louder than a clap of thunder,
louder than an eagle screams,
louder than a dragon blunders,
or a dozen football teams,
louder than a four-alarmer,
or a rushing waterfall,
louder than a knight in armour
jumping from a ten foot wall.
Louder than an earthquake rumbles,
louder than a tidal wave,
louder than an ogre grumbles
as he stumbles through his cave,
louder than stampeding cattle,
louder than a cannon roars,
louder than a giant's rattle,
that's how loud my father SNORES!"

(--Jack Prelutsky)

The other night, my dad, Joe, AND Bubba were all snoring like that. (I wondered if I was, too!)

Poor Bubba is deathly afraid of thunder and lightning, and while there was no rain in Georgia, the rumbling had him frightened and curled up close by the whole time.

"They say marriages are made in heaven...but so is thunder and lightning."
(--Clint Eastwood)

"I became interested in photography when I found my own sketching was inadequate." (--Ben Shahn)

I'm slowly starting to fill in the sketchbook. Since I'm with my dad and pretty much indoors in this brutal heat, I'm focused on inside images for now. My sister's place has a nice back screened-in porch, and so I'll sketch some out there before the sun hits that part of the yard. (These 2 blue birds above were perched on a side table out on the back porch. I think they're from the National Geographic Society.)

This is actually great fun: since this paper is so flimsy, and it's definitely NOT meant for watercolors, it's making me very loose. I guess I definitely can't make things perfect to begin with, so I'm just plopping the paints down! Journals are very good exercise for that reason alone, aren't they? (This wall, in real life, is far more attractive than this sketch!)

I'm sure you can see where this paper has buckled all over the place from these photos. But in person, it's not that bad, and it's still just kind of fun. I've decided that I'll put some nice lettering through it, saying that "This is not a sketchbook," but that it "IS a visual diary," and things of that nature...

In the meantime, it's keeping me from worrying too much about my dad if I can focus on other things like sketching, and doing some work on trip-planning for Duke, and finding some good things to cook! (My sister made all sorts of curtains and valances for her house and this is one room with a window I love. Her home is very bright and sunlit. That blue is not accurate at all...)

"You can't do sketches enough. Sketch everything and keep your curiosity fresh." (--John Singer Sargent)

"A truly rich man is one whose children run into his arms when his hands are empty" (--Unknown)

This is my first entry for the Sketchbook Project. My moleskine arrived safely, and I am starting to fill it when I can.

Each person's sketchbook is supposed to have a theme. My theme is "This is not a sketchbook." So, while it's "not a sketchbook," it IS a journey through lovely places, a book for dreams, a travel catalogue, etc...

I'm sure it will take me a while to fill it up, especially with a million interruptions, but it's a start. The nice thing about this is that it's an exercise more than anything. The paper in the book itself is not watercolor paper, so it's nothing I'm worried about wasting. I'll "just do it." So you'll see some of it--the good, the bad, and the ugly!

I'm in Georgia right now visiting my dad again, who came home with me at 11pm last night from another visit to the hospital, this time for a pleurodesis procedure, which I'm sure was not much fun. So far, he's had bypass surgery, and not one--but five thoracentesis procedures, followed by the latest--this pleurodesis.

I spent a night worrying, up and down with every peep out of him, so today I've been pretty exhausted. It was a long drive down and a long day yesterday at the hospital. I had to get testy with him today when he was wandering around the house without his walker--"I'm testing fate," he said.

Trust me, I was ready to "test some fate" for him, if you catch my drift. He said this to me just a little while after relaying to me that "since his bypass surgery several months ago, his legs have given way beneath him unexpectedly three times."

I tell myself--somehow, God alone knows how, he's managed to make it to 86, so I just have to let it go. I'm going to sleep like the dead myself tonight.

"Children learn to smile from their parents." (--Shinichi Suzuki)

(Anyone else having problems with blogger today?! This is awful!)

"In summer, the song sings itself" (--William Carlos Williams)

Several months ago, I had a nice surprise. I was contacted by a woman at Homestead Garden Center in Davidsonville, Maryland.

She had seen some sketches I'd done in the past of some of the pretty crapemyrtle trees we have here in North Carolina. She asked me if she could use one of my sketches this year as the symbol for their big Crapemyrtle Festival that they hold annually at the Garden Center! She told me that they'd use this symbol on mailings that they send out to some 50-60,000 folks each year. They'd print it on T-shirts, banners, fliers, and "Myrtle Money," which you see above--they are coupons one can use towards purchases at their Garden Center.

I've never been to Homestead Gardens, but I hear it's a pretty nice place. If you're anywhere in the area, from July 16-19th, drop by and tell them Sue sent you! (Incidentally, I don't get anything for saying that! haaa) I was flattered that they used my sketch this year, and they also sent me some of the things they'd printed the image on, such as the "Myrtle Money," so that I could see how it turned out as their image for this year's festivities!

How fun is that?

I'll get back to sketching in a day or so...it's a busy stretch here...

Stay cool, all. It's pretty hot here in NC!

"Art is pattern informed by sensibility" (--Herbert Read)

Well,-- this one's pretty funny: this portrait maybe looks a little bit like Red Skelton,... or maybe William Macey,... or even Bill Geist, from CBS Sunday Morning,... but it is SUPPOSED to represent another painter whose work I enjoy: Maurice Prendergast, the American Post-Impressionist painter, born in 1858. Haaaa!

Way off the mark, unfortunately--no likeness whatsoever,..but it's still good portrait practice, anyway! (I seem to discover my drawing deficiencies only after I've finished painting, and then I see things such as: "Ahhh--the forehead is way too high, and the wrong shape, etc....")

Alack...let's get to the heart of the matter:

Prendergast painted in different media, but as usual, I am focusing my discussion here primarily on his watercolors, and his style there was very unique.

He would take bright colors and place them carefully on the page with a rhythmic quality that was almost like a mosaic. Frequently, he painted gentle ladies and children, with repetitive parasols and umbrellas, and he's known for his landscapes with crowds of people. Here, he depicts a beautiful bridge with umbrellas dancing along it:

He also lived in New York City for some years, and painted lots of images of New York settings, such as Central Park. This one is a favorite of mine. Look at how he places people on the beautiful Bethesda Terrace stairway in the park, and how the eye travels through the painting as the negative shapes help to form the figures in this painting. For example, notice how some of the steps shape some of the figures themselves--particularly those in white. (Remember that in watercolors, there is no white, but the white of the paper itself, which you must plan ahead to leave, unless an artist uses opaque whites.) His sense of perspective here is wonderful if you examine the stairs and columns surrounding the figures, and creates a marvelous sense of depth back into the far trees:


Now that you've seen those two paintings, look at this third painting, and you'll recognize another trend in his compositions. Here, in this painting, he uses a railing along a wharf, as it curves and twists, leading your eye throughout the image, and he builds his composition around it, much the same way that the bridge functioned for him in the first painting, and the elegant stairway did in the Central Park painting. It's a ploy he uses continually: benches in parks, horses and horse and buggy wheels, etc...Watch for these patterns in his work.

The repetitive umbrellas, and in this painting, the white dresses on the figures in the foreground, guide us through the image. (Now, here, Prendergast used opaque white, and not the white of the page, as I described before:)

I have a book of his art that describes him as having been a very shy individual. He never married, but remained a bachelor his whole life. He must have had phenomenal patience, if you look at all the minute patterns he used in his art.

Here's another example, in his painting of the Piazza San Marco in Venice, of all the detail he describes in his images, and the wonderful patterns he creates with puddles and reflections in those puddles as well. Also note the way he constantly uses repetition: of flags, colors, domes, curving arches, figures with umbrellas, and rectangular and curved shapes in the grounds and puddles of the piazza itself. And once again, the architectural shape of the beautiful cathedral is the backdrop that moves us through the painting. Observe, too, the way the sky is a fairly saturated cerulean blue, and the cathedral is warmly colored, but as the image moves towards the watery puddles, the paint is more diluted and light, and you immediately read them as water:

I've never known another artist to do quite what Prendergast does with watercolor. Isn't his work interesting? I hope you have enjoyed this smattering of his art as well.


"One gets to the heart of the matter by a series of experiences in the same pattern, but in different colors." (--Robert Graves)

"Look at nature, work independently, and solve your own problems" (--Winslow Homer)

Omitting Winslow Homer from a list of favorite artists would be a disgrace...especially for someone who's trying to learn to paint with watercolor.

Homer was, for the most part, a self-taught watercolorist, which gives me great hope. He was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and had a long career as an illustrator, but he went on to study on his own.

I love his classic style of painting, and he's a master of controlling light, and tone in a painting. Often, he depicted seascapes, island life, and boats:

He knew how to mass the large shapes and simplify his subjects, and his washes were incredible and luminous:

I also love the simplicity of his studies--look at the muted tones of this painting, and how elegant it is in its sheer subtlety:

Here, in this landscape, the colors are so vivid and alive. I always love the skies and clouds Homer painted. As someone who's very intimidated by landscapes and vast images that necessitate simplifying, I am in awe:

Just look at the luminous quality in this figure. He gave his women such a quiet sense of beauty:

I have traveled to Bermuda before, and the first time I visited, I felt like I was walking into a Winslow Homer painting, because prior to traveling there, I'd seen his images of it. He captures it completely:

He's truly one of the best, and I'm a big fan of Winslow Homer's art. I happen to love a lot of artists, so bear with me!

"Never put more than two waves in a picture; it's fussy." (--Winslow Homer)

(Good to know! Words to the wise.)

"To live with Sargent's watercolors is to live with sunshine captured and held" (--Evan Charteris)

Well, of course, if I'm showing you my favorite artists, I simply have to include John Singer Sargent. He is the maestro.

To me, he represents supreme confidence: he knows just what he wants to do and he seems to do it effortlessly. Notice that he's not shy about his use of intense colors in his watercolors, but his touch is so sure and swift. He's almost dashing out these paintings, each one a gem. The folds in the fabrics of these figures are luminous. I don't know anyone else who communicates "fabric" the way he does:

Sargent was born in 1856 in Florence, Italy. His American parents were expatriates, and the family traveled continually, so he grew up around the world, and was comfortable everywhere.

Of course, as is often the case, Sargent was mostly successful for his oil paintings, but I personally think his watercolors are his masterpieces. Look closely at this one--the background seems to have some sort of resist technique--(perhaps wax?)--or the use of gouache?-- that creates a wonderful effect surrounding the figure here:

For someone like me, (whose email address happens to be "loveitaly@...") Sargent's watercolors of Venice are just sublime...they're some of my favorites. He merely suggests buildings and water, but even though everyone eventually paints Venice, no one does it quite the way he does.

Broad swathes of color in the exact right values cover his works:

He was equally adept at portraits, landscapes, and figure painting.

Growing up, we had this Sargent print (below) hanging above the fireplace in my parents' home. My parents always said the children in this oil painting reminded them of us as kids. My mom had made us dresses that resembled the ones the little girls in this portrait wore. I admit that I smile every time I see it now...its quite dark, but the light in it is amazing, and the composition itself is unusual and always appealed to me.

Ah, to have the confidence and the skill of a Sargent!

Here is a watercolor study that was later developed into an oil painting by Sargent:

...and the oil:

Is it any wonder I'm enamored of this artist?

"The good watercolors take a lifetime--plus a half an hour." (--Toni Onley)

Watercolor is a lifetime pursuit...mostly uphill" (--Robert Wade)

Charles Hassam is an American Impressionist artist, most often considered for his paintings of coastal settings and urban street scenes.

I happen to like him for his watercolors. He painted "pretty" things, and unlike many struggling artists, he was fairly successful during his lifetime, so that often makes critics leery--liking such work makes you "bourgeois" in their eyes. But his watercolors were outstanding. Note the quick, directional strokes in this image, and all that green! Greens are always very difficult in watercolors, and his entire painting here is made up of greens, but it remains fresh and lovely:

When I first saw a few of his watercolors, I thought they were oils. Look at all the detail here, in this interior painting, and notice again, how completely fresh this remains. This one almost reminds me of a painting on YUPO! I'd be curious what his paint surface was here:

Here is a painting of a street vendor and shop windows that I examined for hours the first time I saw it--remember, these are all watercolors I am showing you so far. I would hazard a guess that he used some gouache in this particular image:


A print of this watercolor painting hangs in my office upstairs at home--it reminds me of Italy. Notice the fabulous sense of depth, from the birds in the front and center of this image, all the way through those distant arches:

Here's another watercolor, this one a very typical painting in terms of subject matter for Hassam--an urban setting with elegant, affluent subjects, horses and carriages--here he depicts them in the rain. The sketchiness of this one makes me think it was probably a study for a later oil:

This oil painting is more indicative of what Hassam is best known for--beautiful urban parks and street scenes, although those are often featuring skyscrapers and lots of flags waving:

And this oil painting resides at the Chrysler Museum in Norfolk, VA--I've seen it--it's actually quite huge--and impressive. It's also very typical subject matter for Hassam, with a lovely flower shop vendor and again, a street scene. Notice how his figures in the foreground are in darker values than the flowers and vendor in the background, for emphasis:


Hassam was considered one of the top American impressionist painters, and was an important artist in the early 20th century. This painting, below, reminds me of other artists such as Frederick Frieseke, who often painted women in attractive windows and garden settings, backlit and beautiful:

I'm a big Childe Hassam fan, and hope you enjoy seeing some of his work as well.

"With watercolor, if you are not in trouble, then you're in trouble." (--Selma Blackburn)

"You translate paint to fabric, someone gets into it, and the ballet begins" (--Alain Vais)

Another of my favorite artists is Edouard Vuillard. One of his works hangs in our living room, above my desk in that room--I love this painting:


In his art, Vuillard depicted primarily interiors, still life settings, street scenes and gardens. His mother was a dressmaker, and since he lived with her, much of his interior work includes elaborate fabrics and wall coverings, etc.

As a seamstress myself, I've always admired his paintings of women engrossed in fabrics and the art of dressmaking. I think they're beautiful.


His paintings of women at work are colorful, and full of vibrant patterns and yet there's a definite serenity about them to me. There's a certain reverence for their craft and a dignity about them in these works, I think:

Vuillard is the second from the left in this photo:

"Every artist dips his brush in his own soul, and paints his own nature into his pictures." (--Henry Ward Beecher)