Schoolhouse Beach, Again

Here is a sketch of Schoolhouse Beach done over the weekend.  Maybe an idea for a future painting.

Pencil on paper, 3.5" x 10.75"

Historic Call House at Fort Ross

Last weekend we drove up to Fort Ross for the afternoon. While there, I had the opportunity to do this small sketch of the historic Call House, built in 1878, which is located near the reconstructed Fort Ross complex.

Pencil; 3.5 x 5.5 inches

Storefront - Loleta Lumber

A clear, warm day at the end of June when I drew this small pencil sketch of closed-up storefronts along Main Street in Loleta, CA. The nearly overhead sun cast strong shadows from the contours and ledges of these buildings. 

Pencil on Paper; 3.5 x 5.5 inches

View of Bird Walk Marshes, Bodega Bay

A sketch I did this afternoon of Bird Walk Marshes on the edge of Bodega Bay .

Pencil; 3.5 x 11 inches

A warm, cloudy afternoon, with sounds of sea lions barking from Doran Beach.

Sketching - Heat of the Day

This afternoon I was out sketching along the trails at Crane Creek Regional Park.  A warm day (92 F); I only saw two visitors and a ranger in the park.  Also saw a noisy hawk on patrol, and an enormous vulture, that flapped up from the tall grass, like an old raincoat, each time I passed by; interrupting its feast, no doubt!  

Pencil; 3.5x5.5 inches

I stopped on the trail to do this quick pencil sketch of a hillside in full sunlight, with a gnarled tree trunk on one side with the cool shadows of foliage on the other side, where the trail is heading. Normally, I wouldn't stand out in the blazing sun long enough to do a sketch like this, but from experience I knew that somehow the camera wouldn't capture the very thing that caught my attention in the first place.

San Francisco Rooftops

Here's a sketch I did over the weekend of a view overlooking part of San Francisco, with the Pacific Ocean shown in the upper right corner.  All the time I was working on this drawing, a steady grey overcast with minimal shadows prevailed.  Almost as soon as I was finished with the drawing, the level rays of the sun came below the cloud layer and lit up the scene with a golden light with deep shadows; something that reminded me of Corot's paintings of Rome, or something by Canaletto.

Pencil & Ink; 3.5 x 11 inches

Sketch of Main Street in Loleta, CA

From my pocket sketchbook. View looking north of the intersection of Main Street and Loleta Drive. Railroad crossing signal lights and tracks are shown at the lower right corner of the drawing.

Pencil on Paper; 3.5 x 5.5 inches 

Preparatory Studies

 

 

 

Schoolhouse Beach Sketch

Here's another page from a small sketchbook that I carry around. This is a view of cliffs and rocks at Schoolhouse Beach. I drew this while sitting in the truck because it was a windy day.

Oak Tree Sketches

Here's a set of on-site sketches I did for a painting that I have in mind for the future. An old oak tree would be the central element of the painting.  I did these sketches between late April and early May at about the same time of day to get the same light and shadow effects on the tree trunk and branches.

SMART Train

Last Friday I attended the ground breaking ceremony for the Sonoma Marin Area Rail Transit (SMART) Train at the Petaluma station site.  During the proceedings I did a small sketch of the crowd listening to a speech by Sonoma County Supervisor Valerie Brown.  Note the two men wearing hard hats and safety vests in the drawing.

Hogbacks

Late yesterday afternoon I did these two quick drawings in my 3.5 by 5.5 inch pocket sketchbook of the "Hogback Rocks" at Wright's Beach, .  The weather was perfect for plein air painting, considering the time of the year.

Winter Shadows

Duncan's Landing Shadows, 3.5 x 5" sketchbook, December 2011

Duncans's Landing Cove, 11x14", Oil on Panel, January 2009

Duncans's Landing is on of our favorite spots along the Sonoma Coast of northern California.  We have stopped here many times over the years to watch the ocean waves crash on the rocks, or just read and relax here.  By now I have done more than a few sketches and paintings from this spot.  One feature that I have returned to draw and paint is the cliff and beach of the small cove at Duncan's Landing.  Above are two of my attempts to capture the deep winter shadows that are so characteristic of the northern California coast at this time of the year.

Radio

India ink, reed pen and chalk on wove paper

Often, while painting in my studio, I enjoy listening to the radio, especially whenever I can tune in a good classical music program.  The radio in this drawing is one that I currently have packed away in our earthquake kit.  I also have a vintage Westinghouse transistor radio that I use.  There is a picture of it at La Vie Graphite, from a blogger who shares my interest in radios, as well as manual, portable typewriters, fountain pens (and other writing instruments) and journals.  I really enjoy looking at the photos on his site.

Coffee

Pen and ink drawing in sketchbook, 5.5 x 7 inches

I like to grind coffee beans in this old hand crank coffee mill.  I found it on eBay a few years ago.  Made in Germany during the 1950's; it continues to serve me well each day.  I did a pen and ink drawing of it one of my sketch books.  I didn't leave enough room on the right side to show the knob on the end of the hand crank.

Keep Drawing

All last week, since taking part in the latest sketch crawl event up in Healdsburg, the importance of keeping a regular sketching habit has been on my mind.  To that end, I have started doing some sketches of whatever I happen to see around me.  I'm not especially looking for interesting subjects; rather, the important thing is to keep drawing.

A few days ago I did a small pen and ink study of some plant containers outside on our deck.

A minimal studio

A drawing with minimal hatching

Healdsburg Sketch Crawl

Today I sketched at the Plaza in Healdsburg, CA. for the "World Wide Sketch Crawl 34". 
Because of rain and wind, my drawings were confined to views obtained from the shelter and comforts of "Flying Goat Coffee".

Here are two sketches I did over cups of light roast coffee.

View from Flying Goat Coffe

Pencil on paper

5.75 x 8.5"

Two Readers, Flying Goat

BBB charcoal pencil on paper

3.5 x 5.5"

Luther Burbank House

Luther Burbank House
3.5 x 5.5 inches
Pencil on Sketchbook Page

This afternoon I did a quick sketch of the Luther Burbank House in Santa Rosa.

My Pocket Drawing Kit

I have always been fascinated to learn about what other artists consider their essential tools to carry with them at all times. Currently, I have been making it a habit to always have a sketchbook and drawing supplies with me wherever I go.  In this post I want to share a little bit about the drawing kit that I have put together and carry with me, and how I use it.

The drawing tools I've selected allow me to make basic monochromatic sketches and drawings which can be developed into more finished pieces later on.  I use pencil, charcoal,watercolor and gauche, which allow me a range of media to capture different transient effects of light and form. At the very minimum, a few quick pencil lines jotted in a sketchbook are of more value to me than a photograph for recording the fleeting impressions that I may later develop into a painting.

My drawing kit consists of a "Moleskine"-type notebook and a small metal tin to hold my drawing tools.  Together these two items easily slip into a jacket pocket or side compartment of a courier bag, etc.

Everything must fit inside this tin, or it stays home.  Since there is no room for pen and ink, I learned that if needed, I can add ink-work to drawings later on at home.

 

Inside:

• 1 small "Altoids" tin with four colors of watercolor pigment 
• 1 tube of opaque white gouache
• 3 "Utrecht" brand travel-type watercolor brushes, sizes 1, 5 and 8
• 4B Conte crayon
• an eraser
• BBB charcoal pencil with pencil holder
• Hardtmuth flat sketching pencil
• No.2 pencil stub

(the ruler is for scale)

The watercolors that I use are sepia, Naples yellow, Venetian red and Payne's gray.  I use colors for laying in cool and warm neutral washes to establish masses, rather than to record particular colors.  Since finding containers and water for brush washing is usually easy, I normally don't carry these, unless I know that I am going to be out in the field somewhere. Drawing and painting away from home still require some planning.

Sketch of Surf at Bodega Head

Ink and sepia wash on paper, 5 1/2 x 8 inches

It was a cold, windy day when I made this sketch of the winter surf at Bodega Head.