Colored Glass

I love colored glass. You can find all range of tones on one single vase. This is why this kind of glass is a favorite subject for many artists.

Here is a display of several vases. I chose only three of them to draw. You can use this photograph as reference to make your own drawing and let me know how it went. Click on it to enlarge. 

The most difficult part was my contour drawing. I used top part of the tallest vase as my measuring unit. I measured it with my pencil and a thumb and then set down the right proportions between height and width of all my vases. Lines of symmetry were helpful too. From these lines I drew the vertical lines. On those lines I checked if my outer lines are equally away from the center.

To control the curved lines I kept turning my sketchbook upside down quite often. At the end I glanced at the drawing in the mirror to make a few additional corrections and then proceeded to the pleasant part – shading.

For shading I used regular 2B mechanical pencil. Highlights were done with an eraser.

I completed the drawing within about an hour.

To sum up:

A good drawing comes from a good subject. 

So hunt for it!

Watercolor Pocket Set Review

Watercolor pocket sets are great for quick outdoor sketches. There is a big variety of sets like this in the stores. Usually I have a big dilemma, should I buy something expensive from the brand name company or should I buy something cheap made in China.  This time I had a really good coupons to AC Moore and I was able to buy 2 sets to do the comparison: Winsor&Newton and Reeves.

	Windsor&Newton	Reeves
Price	$23	$10
Box quality	excellent	good
Brush quality	excellent	poor
Pigment intensity	good	good

Windsor&Newon is a really cute set, the box is super small and handy. The brush has excellent bristles with point. The Reeves’ box is larger but still fits in my purse. I don’t like Reeves’ brush at all, it is too soft and it is not pointy enough.
The biggest surprise are pigments. Both companies have comparable color strength and tone. You can see it on my sample color test.
To conclude Windsor&Newton’s watercolor set is a great choice when it comes to overall quality. On the other hand Reeves is great when you want to save some money. You can create great watercolor paintings no meter which set you choose. Although you definitely need a better brush for the Reeves set.

Beef up the Composition

In late December I visited Canaan Valley in West Virginia. It’s a very beautiful and peaceful place and if you are an outdoor person you’ll love it too. Walking through the woods and meadows was a real treat for me. Because it was too cold to stay in one spot and draw I took a lot of pictures while hiking.

Here is a scene that made me freeze for a moment. This sight had a lot of attractive features but also had a few distracting elements. In my rough sketch below you can see how I handled the components to create a more exciting composition. The drawing was done with a graphite aquarelle and washed over with water. This helped me see the tones and the lighting better.

The creek was my focal point so I decided to cheat a little and make it a bit wider and brighter. The trees along the stream had trunks covered with lichens light in color. To emphasize that brightness I positioned them in front of the darker conifers. The unbalanced tree trunk and the footbridge were grabbing attention away from the stream so I didn’t put them in my drawing at all. Also, I decided not to paint the tall trees in the background to simplify the setting.

At first I covered the tree trunks with masking fluid. I wet the entire paper and applied the diluted mixture of ultramarine blue and burnt umber for the background. I added yellow ochre to the mixture to achieve a nice green color for trees in the distance. To create the soft look I started painting while the paper was still wet. For the foreground I used burnt sienna and a touch of purple. After these first two washes I waited for my paper to completely dry. Then I painted the closer fir trees and pines with the same mixture yet more condensed. Next I removed the masking fluid that covered the trunks. I painted their edges gray and green to create a feeling of roundness. The grass was done by a lot of negative painting. I completed the painting by adding shadows behind the trees.

I really enjoy painting details and I have to remind myself constantly not to over do it. 

Go to my YouTube Chanel to see the video of painting process

https://youtu.be/-1O7356g0ME

Art for Fun

I will lead a drawing classes in White Marsh Rec Council, MD starting in January 8th 2016. If you're interested please contact me ASAP and I'll give you more info. There are only a few seats left. Also you can attend my art classes at AC Moore at White Marsh Avenue