Junipero Serra

If you have ever been to my state of California, and been lucky enough to travel to Santa Barbara, and have taken a trip to the Santa Barbara Mission, then you have probably seen Junipero Serra.   For the rest of you, just look to the left.  Junipero was instrumental in founding the Mission and also in creating the El Camino Real, the road up and down California that connected all the missions.

So, I'm trying very hard to paint with larger strokes, at least in the initial stages of the painting, and keeping thing much wetter when I paint.  I've also been keeping my paper up on my easel, instead of nearly level, which is how I normally paint.

Beginning with basic colors and washes and working my way to progressively smaller brushes and finer strokes, I'm hoping to create an image o f the picture I'm painting, not necessarily a reproduction of it.  I try to think of it as if I am looking through a filter with many layers of gauze or hose on it.  Each time I paint a layer on my painting I can take a layer off the filter.  Therefore when I start things are quite fuzzy and I can't make out any detail.  After several layers, the details come more into focus.  As long as I stop painting before all the layer have been taken off the filter, I can't paint the fine details.  Thats what I tried to do with this.

You can easily see the outline and if you allow your mind, you can see details like his fingers and his nose, but if you look closely, you'll see that I didn't actually paint any of those.

Well, I had fun with this, but think I got a little carried away with it.  Enjoy.

A Continuing Assault on Campus Buildings

I thought i would try something a little different today.  Bothe pictures today were done in watercolor crayon. It is sometimes hard to find a bench to sit on and paint, let alone a bench and table in an area where you want to paint.  So I thought it would be easier to take my watercolor crayons out and draw the pictures, then return to my office, wet them and outline them.  I have to admit there are some things I like about this approach.  I lose the opportunity for any detail at all, but gain speed and the ability to do this just about anywhere.  This picture is of the entrance to Cradall Gym.  The gym itself isn't used anymore and the University is trying to find a good way to utilize the space.  It is a huge building built in the old mission style.  This is the first crayon drawing I've done.

This picture is the corder of building 38.  I believe it is one of the Mathematics buildings.  The black in the center is a bank of doors that are just set back and very dark, even in real life.  I am working with a limited selection of colors which is why the bark mulch might look a little orange, and the bricks in the road a little too pink.

Hope you enjoy them both.

San Luis Mission

A little lunchtime painting.  This one took me about 15 minutes, and if it weren't for the roofline being just off, I would say this one was fantastic.  Just as with the last one, no drawing of the figure ahead of time, just sitting down and painting.

I really do feel like my paintings are starting to get a bit better.

San Luis Obispo Mission2

If you liked yesterdays painting, you will probably like this one a bit more.  The wall in the foreground is a bit darker for a bit of contrast and the building is just  a bit lighter.  There is some definition between the tree on the right and the rosemary growing over the wall.  The shadows are pretty good, and the sky is pretty good.  Enjoy.