Bayside Cafe

I have been thinking of painting all the landmarks in Morro Bay.  To see if I could do it I did a few quick paintings yesterday.  They turned out OK.  The problem for me is that same problem I've had all along.  DRAWING.  Having not had a drawing class since Mrs. Mudrack's class in high school.  Drawing is tough.  I have been working on it.

Yesterdays quick sketches gave me a little hope so today I decided to give a go on the Bayside Cafe.  It is located in the State Park, right on the water.

So, armed with a little confidence, resolve and dogged determination, I set out to draw, and paint.  Let me pat myself on the back for a second (pat, pat).  This was drawn in PEN.  Did you get that?  PEN, no pencil.  Once I started, I was all in, for good or bad.  It did take just a while to draw it, but the painting went great. OK, there are a few problems.  The perspective is off in a few places.  I know, I know.  But without an eraser, i was forced to forge ahead.  From a drawing perspective, this is like 5 times as difficult as most of my others.

In talking to my painting partner, Ed, (who is learning to watercolor at the same time) he suggested that it may not be quite enough to mix colors in the tray and then put a homogenous color on the paper.  These are watercolors after all, let the paint mix on the paper.  I am trying to take that advice to heart.  If you look in the painting, you can see that most of the colors change ever so slightly as they lay across the paper.  I do think it adds to the interest of the painting.  I am trying to do it even more.  Please click on the picture to enlarge it, it will look much better.

Back Door to the CM Office

So, I was painting outdoors again today.  Once again I painted building 186.  Some good and some bad.  This is the first floor.  The second and third are of course not represented here.  The very top of this painting is where the railing for the walkway would be attached.  Yes the windows are a bit goofy, the bottom pane is opaque.  There are a few plants in front of the railing that comes from the door.  The lamp post is perhaps a little too thin.  It is close to the bench that I sat at to paint.

Now the good, I've been working on not having solid colors,  I think I got some of that where not all the sections of the wall are the same color.  Not all the panes of the windows are the same, not even all the concrete is the same color.

One more thing.  All but one line and I've got the perspective lines right.  That means my drawing is actually getting better.   Hope you all enjoy.

Play Structure

So last Saturday I took the kids to the park.  If you've never been to Del Mar Park, they have this huge play structure.  The kids love to climb it and slide down the giant green slide.  Well, this Saturday there were a lot of kids there, and good ole dad didn't have to climb and play with them nearly as much, allowing me the opportunity to draw for a bit.  It really took about an hour to draw this, but I think it was worth it.

I didn't paint it until I got home.  Once at home, D got in the tub and Olivia helped me paint.  I would paint a tiny little section, and Olivia would ask, "Can I see it, dad?"  After I would show it to her she would say something like, "You're doing great, dad." or "I'ts really looking good, dad."  She really is amazing for only being 3.  Oh, and it took me a long time to paint it.

Hope you enjoy it.

John's Chicken

John is a faculty member her.  His son took a whole bunch of pictures of their chickens one day and John asked me if I wouldn't paint one.  I said sure.  This is the result of my effort.  No, its not an exact match.  I never really try to make the exact match, but I think I got a fairly good likeness.

College of Business

This is a painting of  the back side of the College of Business.  The closest building is Crandall Gym.  I've painted the front of it which you can see in a previous post.  Yes, the grey thing in the middle of the painting is a post that is really there. Could I have drawn it out of the picture, sure, but I thought it would be more interesting with it in.  I think i did a pretty good job with the HVAC system on top of the building.

Old Vines (Wisteria)

These are some old vines that are growing on a trellis on the College of Business lawn.  Looking at the painting now, I think I needed to add a little more shadow to the rear post, and though I didn't notice it while i was painting, I think I left out at least one post on the far side of the trellis.

There are two large sets of vines growing up, one on each side of the trellis, then going back across the top.  The closer vine is totally grown around an old timber.

A good effort for a 30 min draw/paintsession.  Hope you all enjoy.

Some More Sketches

Some of the sketching that I have been doing.  In order to paint better, I have to be able to draw better. I'm trying very hard to learn to draw what I see in the proper proportions.  Im kind of learning that you have to do a little drawing all over the paper and let them all come together rather than start in one area and move across the paper.    Some day i'll get it.  Until then you all have to suffer through my paintings and drawings.







This is gracie.

I like the couch in this picture.   I don't really care for the credenza.  The proportions on it don't quite seem right.  the blinds are down in the windows, which is why you can't see through them.

I sat on the front patio and did this.  You can see the step leading up to the patio.  A couple of little bushes and some sage.