Scavenger Hunt from Life #129: Sep 08 - Sep 16

[brianvds]

Brian, nice shading on these. Hulk's muscles look great with the darks and lighter highlights. Interesting story about the house. I didn't think the airlines were that generous any more.

Probably just first class passengers, I would think, and these do date from a few years ago.

Makes me think now I should get a toy aircraft or two to sketch...

 

[AiArts]

Thanks Brian, and Joan.

Brian: Great job with the Hulk and building model.

 

[AiArts]

Another still-life from a vase at the Artist House ...
#5 Freespace#1... directwatercolor

Late evening, I took my art supplies and rode my trike to my other neighbour's in our village , their fence has purple vine blooming...

#6 Outdoor ...a purple vine on my neighbours fence....pencil and wc

 

[brianvds]

And more rectangular things, even though I have already done some. I grabbed some simple, approximately cubical wooden blocks, and a matchbox, and tried to draw them from various viewpoints, not so much attempting to make highly realistic drawings as just reproducing the shapes and angles as I saw them. It's easy enough to draw a box from theory; it's another matter to draw a specific one that you see in front of you: I found it fiendishly difficult. In short, by and large I couldn't do it, and thus, it is no wonder to me that I'm battling with things like toy cars or figurines!

The above sheet is the second batch; it looks a bit better than the first, which is good news.

I have concluded that drawing from reference photos is poison to the art student, and should only be done occasionally, or you will unlearn how to draw for real. On my laptop I have drawings I made from life almost twenty years ago, when I was just starting out, and they are in many ways BETTER than the ones I do now! If I hadn't wasted two decades trying to copy photos I'd have been a decent artist by now.

Well, never too late to learn something new, so back to the drawing board...

 

[Jo Castillo]

Brian, we sort of cross posted last time, I didn't see the first boxes with the matchbox and toothpaste. Excellent. Your shading and hatching are fantastic. The house liquor container is fun. Jim Beam bourbon had that type bottle, we had a couple of cars and a house, Fun Hulk!!

Joan, your outdoor scene of the brick building and greenery is so good. The manor house is great with the woodwork and tree. Yowza....

Ai, love the bridge and river boat. The stupa is a fun find. You do so well with direct watercolor.

I sketched at Gene's PT yesterday and forgot to post.
Number 1, free space 1 in the small travel Canson book with the Acurit 3 pen - little pumpkins and desk stuff.

 

[jmfletch]

#2 front door challenge. - our front door. Sketched in pencil than came inside to paint in A6 WC sketchbook. There is so much wrong. Really need to learn to draw with a brush. Keeping this one to look back at judging progress.

Keep sketching
Fletch

 

[jmfletch]

Jo - Good use of waiting time. Am still in awe for sketching without an eraser.

Brian - Love the drawing of Hulk. The shading is spot on. The mini house and story are interesting. Drawing from life is different as is the feeling you get when done. Drawing from life leaves a sense of creation. Using a photo you copied something. Copying has advantages at times like copying Degas or DaVinci. There are probably some other good reasons but again the feeing is different.

Ai - Still life and vines are pretty Question is on photo of you painting. You carry that stool on your bike? Now question on boat speedin in the canal. Where was it rushing too? Seems like a lot of wake in a small canal. Like the bridge painting and the spire. Pretty.

Joan - Both scenes are so pretty. Love how you captured the light play in the manor house one.

Moscatel - Muffin looks pretty content. My friend’s cat Bunny is strictly indoors. They tried taking her out on a leash and all Bunny does is claw at it or chew on it. Walking is not an option.

Keep sketching
Fletch

 

[Joan T]

Brian, your matchbox sketches are really good. I like those a lot. It is definitely better to sketch things from life I've found. It is rare that I use photos for sketching or painting. When I do it just feels funny.

Ai, look at you sketching those vines! Are they lilacs? I love any kind of purple flower since they brighten everything up. Nice!!

Jo, thanks. The arches on the porch of the manor house took a bit of concentration. I think I made them look fairly realistic. lol Nice that they had a little setup for you to sketch. It looks nice. I was at the doctor this morning, but the waiting area was really boring. I should have sketched in the exam room since I was there for a little while waiting. Usually he is quick to come in.

Fletch, bravo on attempting your own front door! I can never get the panels to look right. Will have to give it a go for this hunt. Thanks for your comments about my latest sketches.

I have another one to post, but that requires getting it out to take a photo...maybe in a little while.

 

[jmfletch]

Well Joan, I screwed up the panels so maybe that will give you the chance to get yours right.

 

[Joan T]

Fletch, we will see...

This was done inside/outside a restaurant called Funcho's in Riverhead. It is a quirky Mexican place. There isn't a real enclosed building, except for the kitchen area. The seating is in a sort of enclosed area that is covered by a few walls, a ceiling of some sort, plastic siding, etc. Heaters are used when it gets cold. They have music some times, although I've never been there for the music. The food is good!

8 - indoor/outdoor scene - watercolors and ink

 

[Jo Castillo]

Ai, the vase and flowers is so delicate with lovely colors and shading. The purple vine is scrumptious. Just lovely. I love the photo of you and your "art stand". Made me smile for sure!

Brian, the collection of boxes and angles is very good. Nice shading. Yes, drawing from life and painting from life is the best for me. I have taken thousands of photos of things to paint and only paint from photos when there is a challenge. Life gives me colors and shapes and beautiful shadows you can't see in photos. We are so happy to see any progress and your sketches.... Some of us have been doing the Hunts since 2006. My style hasn't really changed but I sketch so much faster and can get pretty good shapes and perspective when I try. I'm pretty lazy and procrastinate a lot so have to be careful when I want a painting or sketch to keep. Of course I have lots of sketchbooks for "keeping".

Fletch, your door looks so good to me. That type of door is devilish to paint or draw. Applause.

Joan, looks like Arriba/Abajo is a place I could like! Nice work on the flowers, too. Love the sketch!!

Thanks, all.

 

[NedL]

Comments first, then I'll come back later with a photo.... I tried a water scene yesterday... lots of complicated reflections on a pond in a forest... it was a kind of a disaster, even though I enjoyed sitting there trying. Today's water scene wasn't much better... but I was at a pretty awesome spot.

Fletch -- good on that carving, I like the texture of the wood and the shading gives it nice depth. Looking forward to seeing your WC! The doorway has good colors... you already seem to get some good dark colors, which somehow I have trouble with.

Joan -- the posca markers ( whatever those are! ) one is bold and graphic, really like the green background with it. Like your continuous line look in the fridge. Like Jo, I'd be wasting electricity if I tried that.... Agree w/ everyone else the outdoor scene is wonderful. I like the mexican place one... the green and blue in the middle give it a good mood!

Ai -- I like you you do a complicated busy scene like those barrels and bottles. It looks intimidating and you captured the feel of it all nicely. The water view is great, and the photo made me laugh because that boat seems to be blasting along through the canal.... I don't know how you managed to paint it when it went by in 2 seconds The stupa is good! I had to look up the word. The purple vine is nice... there's something like it here on the beach, maybe tomorrow I'll walk down and see if I can find a place to sketch it from. The spray of flowers direct WC is good, nice job on the vase part!

Biran -- Well, I think the toy car and curvy glass looks good... especially the nice contrast. And the drawing is interesting to look at. The boxes and blocks and burger box all look good to me, they do like like good practice for perspective and hopefully you are getting closer to what you envision. The house and figure have nice shading and depth.

moscatel -- it's really fun to see an oil painting here in the hunt. Nice sense of light!

Robin -- hi!

Jo -- nice quick sketch while waiting!

 

[brianvds]

Brian - Love the drawing of Hulk. The shading is spot on. The mini house and story are interesting. Drawing from life is different as is the feeling you get when done. Drawing from life leaves a sense of creation. Using a photo you copied something. Copying has advantages at times like copying Degas or DaVinci. There are probably some other good reasons but again the feeing is different.

Copying photos is perhaps, in a sense, today's equivalent of doing Bargue plates - not without use, but I know what you mean. It doesn't feel creative. It's different, perhaps, when you use various photos to do a single scene, compositing in the various elements, combined with imagination etc. I don't have access to life drawing classes for figure drawing, so to learn figures I use reference photos, but it feels different because I never try to make perfect copies of the photos. One uses them to gather information, including 3D information.

Not that I want to knock photorealism. I admire it greatly (I find its fiercest critics are almost invariably people who cannot do it themselves, and then call it "mere copying" - but there is nothing "mere" about copying at that level!). But perhaps it requires a particular kind of eye and patience, that I lack. Nowadays when I look at reference photos, I feel a kind of exhaustion.

One thing about working from life in traditional, physical media: it's completely AI-proof.

 

[NedL]

I hiked at a place called Foulweather Bluff Preserve today.
Maybe not the best subject for my "draw the contours then shade" approach....

#1 water scene

photo

 

[Jo Castillo]

Ned, thanks. I like your water, you got the highlights. Mmmmm...

Brian, good thoughts.

I sketched at the PT place again in the small sketchbook with the Acurit 3 pen.
Number 2 from the wall- Poster bolted to wall under plexiglass about 4 x 6 feet. Pretty scene of older man and kid fishing.

 

[AiArts]

Thanks all for your support of my sketches...

Joan: Thanks. Fabulous on the Funchos fun and inviting scene. Feeling happy just to look at it.... BTW, the purple vine here is a local specie... not Lilac.

Ned: Thanks.... Lovely serene waterway... great capture. I want to simplify my sketch of the busy Bangkok canal scene too... I just find it hard....lol... those long tail boats are for tourist zipping around the web of canals in Bangkok west side to see original stilt homes, orchards, or anything in between. There are so many of these boats per day... those people along canal have to make somekind of rock dam by their home area to protect of wave effects.

Fletch: Thanks. Yes, I carry that light-weight plastic stool in the back of my trike. That road is super quite in our gated community. So sometimes we trike around or walk around for exercise... one road loop is about 0.8 miles. Tone was on his jogging loop and notice the flowers blooming and sent me message, so I gather my art stuffs and head out about 200 yards from my garage. The trike has 3 wheels and pretty sturdy to haul stuffs..... Yes, those tiny canals were part of old Bangkok, we were named Venice of the east. But the modern life causes the East side of Bangkok (the main city) paved those tiny canals up to roads. I live on the west-side of Bangkok... so there are still lots of canal networks around for tourists to see our traditional orchard life. It might not be the most comfort and pretty but the scenes must bring interests from tourists around the world.

Jo: Thanks. I include my trike picture, knowing that it might bring you and Gene some smiles. Welldone on the poster.

 

[joe1It]

wonderful art

 

[Grapes]

Ai, you keep giving us these treats, true pearls your views! I stop breathing when I see your painting of the stupa. Thank you for the word I wouldn't know the structure is called stupa. Unbelievable beautiful scene. I wish I could be there painting these stupas and other very special structures and buildings.
The Bangluang Canal painting could be directly from Venice! Gorgeous
Nice flower paintings, too. Beautiful photo of you painting outside!

Brian, good continuation for the drawings.

Jo, good idea for free space drawing. The older man and kid is s very nice drawing! Love it!

Fletch, beautiful painting of your front door!
My Muffin is a Bengal cat and they usually walk on harness and leash. I taught her very early age - 4 months old - how to walk on leash, in our kitchen . She's quite an adventurer now. She loves forest. Too bad that Bunny doesn't like to take walks in harness and leash.

Joan, your Arriba/Abajo painting is really nice.

Ned, thank you! I like the drama you have in your Foulweather Bluff Preserve painting! Enjoyable to look at!

 

[Joan T]

Jo, thanks. The Mexican place makes you feel like you're someplace other than Long Island. lol I like stopping there.

Ned, thank you so much. The benefit of the Posca acrylic markers from what I can see is that you can layer them one over the other and they cover, so you can do a big area in a solid color and go back in to add smaller areas that will cover completely...or so they say. Sharpie also has a similar marker that is a little less expensive, but comes only in one point size while the Posca markers come in several widths. What an expansive view from that bluff!! Nicely done.

Brian, photo references can be a blessing at times, especially if you don't have access to something from life. I just get more energy for something live. lol

Jo, for a minute I thought that was a book cover. Nice detail to the poster from the wall.

Ai, like any other place the tourism can be good, but creates some problems. The people living along the canals end up spending money to protect their structures along the water when those boats zip by. Luckily they are able to keep those traditional ways of life from disappearing. It is a shame when things like that are lost. Thanks for the photo of you and your trike...made me smile.

Moscatel, thanks. I like having a place to sketch and eat too. Usually I'm not inside, so it was fun to do this one from an inside table.

 

[jmfletch]

Joan - Arriba Abajo sounds like a fun place. If memory serves Arriba Abajo is part of a drinking toast. Forget the rest (if I ever knew it.) It means something like “up, down, center, drink”. Am sure jo knows.
P.S. Love little added details like stones on the ground.

Ned - Water is the biggest problem I have with watercolors. Have learned darker is less water or more layers. Mixing colors and learning to draw with a brush are now also on that problem list. But as Ai told me the key to watercolor is practice, practice, practice. Like your Foulweather Bluff painting. Was trying to find good word to describe the feel and Moscatel had it ‘drama’.

Jo - Nice pen work on the wall hanging. All the different textures you capture with hatching.

Ai - Love the picture with your trike. Now that is truly a mobile studio you have setup! Not sure why it is considered progress when they are destroying history as well as a way of life/culture.

Moscatel - Not sure how old Bunny is exactly. Remember them getting her. Think it was 5 or 6 years ago. Pre-pandemic for sure so she is a little old to retrain.

Keep sketching
Fletch