Just Practicing

I just got two new watercolor books.  One by Alvaro Castagnet, "Watercolor Masterclass" and another one by Michael Reardon  "Watercolor Techniques".  They both do a lot with light and atmosphere.  It usually starts off with their first layer of washes setting up the light...the underpainting.
Then letting that under layer dry completely before putting additional washes that start to define the views.

Here is a practice doing flat wash and gradated washes.  I was using Fluid hot press and had difficulty in getting a flat wash with out the bead creating a heavier value line.  I will have to try it with other paper to see if I can get a real flat wash.

My Basic Palette

I have been tweaking this basic palette for a while.  Trying to  get the essential colors I would have my students get that would give them a wide range of colors with out busting their wallet.
So I have come up with a six colors that will give you all that you would need and a final 7th color that gives you some more bright mixing.
The Basic 6 colors are the following. I buy Daniel Smith colors for their intensity and richness (and they are a local company)

Ultramarine Blue
Cobalt Teal
Quinacridone Gold
Hansa Yellow Medium
Transparent Pyroll Orange
Quinacridone Rose

7th optional Manganese Blue

Here are how the triads work  and you can see what you get when you mix the paints.

Sketching the Light Rail Stations on Opening Day

As many of you know the Light Rail station on Capitol Hill and University of Washington were opened on March 19th. There were free rides on the Light Rail that day so I decided to check it out and sketch the events.  Here are my sketches of the day.  I did eight ink line sketches in 4 hours. Painting them took the next 5 days to finish.

Demonstration for U-Pass at the University of Washington Station

Opening Day University of Washington Station

Interior Entrance to the University of Washington Station

Waiting for the Train at the University of Washington Station

Outside the Capitol Hill Station

Entrance to the Capitol Hill North Station

Inside the Capitol Hill Station

Waiting for the University of Washington Train

Easter Bouquet

Some fresh spring flowers to celebrate Easter

  

Sketching the Grand Staircase at Suzzallo Library

Sunday Seattle Urban Sketchers gathered at Suzzallo Library to sketch. The weather was rainy and windy, so the library was a great place for indoor sketching. This is a sketch of the Suzzallo Grand Staircase that winds its way to the second floor Graduate Reading Room. It is a beautiful staircase and a challenge to draw in perspective. I did it in pencil so I could compensate for mistakes with an eraser.

Architecture 210 students we taught years ago didn't get that benefit and had to draw directly in  ink.  Some did it beautifully and in a timed sketch did some amazing work.

Interior Panoramas

Seattle Central Library

The landscape  5.5 x 8.5 " watercolor sketchbook lends itself rather well to a panoramic view when opened fully and drawn over two pages.  This is the case with the view of the interiors of the Seattle Central Library.  I was there for a lecture and purposefully went down earlier so I could sit in the main living room area of the library and sketch.  It is an immense broad space with sweeping views through the exterior glass walls.  Though it is a bit complex it is fun to draw.

Storyville  Coffee Pike Place Market

Storyville Line drawing

Here are two panoramic views of the interior of the Storyville Coffee shop at Pike Place Market.  The line drawing took 30 -40 minutes which was all I had time for before running down to meet a friend to see the Impressionist's exhibit at the SAM. 

I took a picture before I left so I could add color later.  The color was added yesterday during a wild windstorm that took out our electricity.  What a great excuse to paint!

Getting Back into Watercolor

I have taken a bit of a hiatus from my watercolor study.  Just pure watercolor.  I become torn with sketching the pen and ink and watercolor way vs pure watercolor on good paper.  With Urban Sketchers, the pen and ink approach seems to be my usual way to go.  But I love the the looseness of a pure watercolor painting... and am not always a success at it.  But I share this as a way of seeing process.  The above watercolor was my first attempt at this particular set up.   I just started painting on dry paper....and forgot about wetting the paper first to get the looser wet on wet look. 

This is the second attempt.  From a photo on the set up done the next evening. Simpler shapes and more direct with color the mandarin orange has more pop.

Third attempt, I wanted to pull the oranges up on the page and start to use more complementary colors to really make that orange pop.

Fourth attempt,  I usually am so literal with color... I just thought I would force myself to change up the color palette but stay true to the values.  This was really wet and lacks in some hard edges but you can still see what is going on.

Sketching on the Road

Today my husband and I drove from Seattle to Buckley, WA to check on his pick up truck that we are having fixed.  I thought it would be a nice excursion and opportunity to sketch some car parts at a auto wreckage lot.  Although there were other views that caught my eye.  One view was the store front of Leon's Market and the Shell gas station next door.  The light was hitting the store facade so brightly  you couldn't take your eyes off the bright yellow orange storefront!

The second location was an espresso stand we saw as we drove up to Buckley. It was in the shape of a Coffee Pot.   I just had to stop by to sketch this on the way back.  Cowgirl's Espresso was the name and of course it had a bikini clad barista!   

Sketching Sketchers

Dinner in Siem Reap Cambodia with Urban Sketchers at The Soup Dragon Restuarant

One of the fun things about the Urban Sketchers Symposiums are the drink and draws after the workshops.  Here you get to know sketchers from all over the world, have dinner and drinks and share sketches or sketch each other.  Being an architect I have never felt confident in drawing people.  That has always been my nemesis.  The drink and draws have given me a great opportunity to practice what I am weak at…drawing people.  It is a perfect situation  people sitting in one place for a very long time!  Here are some sketches from sketcher dinners and drink and draws.  It brings back fond memories of times I have spent with sketcher friends in wonderful locations.

Dinner at Landing Gold Villa Hotel in Siem Reap Cambodia

Drink and Draw at Six Gills after a Line to Color Workshop Seattle, WA

Drink and Draw at CCC Cafe in Barcelona, Spain

Drink and Draw at CCC Cafe in Barcelona, Spain

Line To Color Workshop Seattle, WA April 22-25, 2016

Frank Ching and I will be giving our Line to Color Workshop in Seattle this April on the 22-25.
With a extended format we hope to provide more sketch, demo and education time with participants.
We will be sketching at Gas Works Park, Fremont and some iconic Seattle location to be determined.  

We have a special kick off for the weekend with a tour of Daniel Smith's watercolor manufacturing operations to see how they create and make their watercolors. Learn about their Primatek colors made from real gemstones. You will have time to play around with their colors at the Mixing Table followed by a meet and greet keynote presentation pizza dinner.

For more information see Line To Color Workshop .

Hope you can join us! 

Moravian Star Free Demo and Workshop at Daniel Smith

FREE Demo: Moravian Stars
Learn the steps to making a unique hand painted Moravian Star.

I will be giving a free demo at Daniel Smith this Saturday on December 5th, 11am-12:30pm

Please click HERE for Details

Moravian Star Workshop
Saturday December 19th I will be giving a day long workshop at Daniel Smith where we will be making Moravian Stars.  I will be take you through the process step by step.  By the end of the day you should have your own Moravian Star to hang in your window.  Hope you can join me in this event.  It is a great gift to give.

Daniel Smith
4150 1st Avenue South, Seattle, WA 98134

Fall Open House and Sale At Impwear and Moravian Star Workshop at Daniel Smith

I haven't been sketching much this fall but have been focusing on creating art in a different way.  Last year my son helped me figure out the template and process of putting together a Moravian Star.   Since then I have been making my hand painted Moravian Stars which I will be selling at the upcoming Annual Sale at Impwear.  You are invited to come and see my work and more from various artists.

Saturday November 21 and Sunday November 22
10 am to 4 pm 
2403 East Aloha St. 
Seattle, WA 98112

I am pleased to say that I will also be teaching a workshop on creating Moravian Stars at Daniel Smith in Seattle on December 19th.  It is an all day workshop.  We will start from painting the sheets of paper to cutting and gluing the stars together.  By the end of the day you should have a beautiful star or tree topper of your own just in time for the holidays.

Moravian Star Workshop At Daniel Smith
December 19, 2015
9:00 am-4:00 pm
Limited space 16 participants 
4150 1st Avenue South, Seattle, WA 98134

If you are interested in coming to this you can contact
Daniel Smith for registration information.  http://seattledanielsmithevents.blogspot.com/2015/11/free-demo-moravian-stars-with-gail-wong.html

Early Morning Sketches in Singapore

There are a few of reasons for sketching in early morning in Singapore.  One to avoid the heat, two to get to places before it gets too crowded and three it seemed to be the only time to sketch if you are teaching a workshop. You will find a handful of sketchers out doing their first sketch before breakfast.
On one of the first days I went down to the Arab District with Shari Blaukoph and sketched Masjid Sultan  and a nearby alley.

Masjid Sultan in the Arab District, Singapore

The next morning,  I found Liz Steel, Suhita, Frank Ching and Virginia Hein in the hotel lobby so we all walked to Little India to find a place to sketch.  We were intending on sketching one  of the Mosques,  but all of us felt that the one we found it was just a bit too ornate. Walking back to the shops area in Little India, we found an old alley that caught our eye.

Back Alley in Little India, Singapore

The last early morning sketch crawl outing was at Waterloo St. behind our hotel.  I had seen this bright yellow church with green doors which really caught my eye.  So while others ended  up sketching the temples down the block I sketched this church which happened to be the first Methodist church founded in Singapore and now is the home for Objectifs  a Visual Arts Centre in Singapore.

Historic Methodist Church building on the Corner of Waterloo and Middle Road in Singapore

Day at the Alexander Beach at Fidalgo Island

Yesterday I took the day off and spent time with my friend Meg on Fidalgo Island.  We took a walk along the water overlooking Guemes Island and had lunch at her cabin on Alexander Beach.  I was able to get in this sketch at the end of the day.

Back from South East Asia Trip with a lot of Sketches

We have been back just over two weeks from our South East Asia trip to Singapore, Cambodia and Bangkok. What a wonderful experience and each place so different.  We battled stifling humidity and heat to sketch outdoors, met people from all over the world and made new friends.  The experience was one I wouldn't miss (even having to deal with the weather) and moments that will be treasured for the rest of my life.

Because there was so much to see and sketch, in many cases I learned something about traveling sketching...how much time it takes,  how the mediums work in different weather conditions and how you have to adapt to those conditions. 

When you sketch and travel you have to choose between touring and seeing all the sights...or seeing fewer sights and taking time to sketch.  Or you adjust the way you work to get in as many sketches as you can.  I prefer to sketch and watercolor on site from start to finish however that takes a lot of time and you are seated in one location for a period of time.  I had to compromise to get all the sketches in that I wanted.  I found in many cases I only had time to sketch the line portion of my drawing and take a picture to finish the painting off site.

I will be posting groups of sketches at a time and sharing some thoughts and experiences.  So here goes.... The one place I wanted to sketch on this whole trip was the Marina Bay, and the Marina Bay Sands Hotel, in Singapore.  I had seen sketches done by the local Singapore Urban Sketchers and it had always caught my eye. That was on my bucket list of places to sketch.  We were in Singapore for 8 days so I thought I would have time to sketch there no problem. I only had a couple of days before the symposium and had to spend most of the time prepping at my sketch site.  I did get in an afternoon where we went to the Gardens by the Bay and were able to get a views of Marina Bay from inside the Cloud Dome.
The two sketches from inside the Cloud Dome took a great deal of time.  This is where you decide whether to paint on site or paint off site.  After sketching on site from the bridge I decided the bridge was not the best place to paint for fear of dropping brushes and being in the way. The first sketch was drawn directly in ink on site.  The second sketch being so complex was drawn in pencil on site which took probably an hour. Inking over the pencil sketch and painting was done off site.

View of the Marina Bay Sands and Super Trees from inside the Cloud Dome

 I didn't spend much time in the Flower Dome but did a quick capture of the Baobab trees on location in pencil.  Inking and watercolor was done off site.  I decided to try out the pentel brush pen for the trees for its calligraphic quality.

Baobab Trees in the Flower Dome

At night we sat amongst the Super Tree Grove and watched the light show.  I had planned on painting there so I drew the preliminary bases of the trees in pencil in the sketchbook.  I found the light show to change so quickly that I couldn't get the colors and changes in.  So I took pictures and decided to paint later over my pencil sketch.

Super Tree Grove Light Show at Night

 This is the view I had intended on sketching all along.  But this didn't happen until Saturday morning the last full date in Singapore.  I am glad I got this in.  The Panorama was sketched on site and painted off site.  The close up painting was done on site.

Marina Bay Sands by Architect Moshe Safdie

 Close up of the Lotus Flower which is actually a Art Science Museum adjacent to the Marina Bay Sands