"busker's got a squeezebox" (15"X15")

"busker's got a squeezebox"

here's one i finished yesterday after about 2 weeks labor off and on. there are a few tweaks i might make now that i see it in a photo rather than at the end of my nose, but, all in all, i am pleased with this. i think it may go the watercolor west jury call and see.

i took the photo of this fellow on the public market at pike place in seattle as he played his accordion one sunny but rather cold, blustery day last fall. hope you enjoy it as much as i did painting it.

very little happening art-wise 'round these here parts

our daughter has been here the last week making any painting-like activities take second seat to hiking (for them, not me), eating, drinking, laughing, making fun of the passers by on the golf course.........the usual. the truth be told, we are starting to get ready for our trek back across the country to la crosse in about a week, as well. the easel and such will probably be the last stuff to get taken down, but usually the first to go in the trunk (boot, for those across the pond). but, this morning while the rest of the hearty were out exploring a new trail i worked a bit on potential project for the class. i had a bunch of city photos from our trip to rochester, ny, last fall and tried using one of these as a model in a quick, monochrome way. i concluded it was probably too difficult for a beginner class, but i had some fun. in the end, i couldn't stand not putting in a bit of color so the tail lights, bus side,  and flag went in. this was taken about dusk just after a storm as it receded off to the east. i really admire everything jeremy mann paints and i can see i was most likely influenced by some of his city scape work, only in watercolor (he paints in oils). if you are unfamiliar with him, look him up. i think you will be rewarded for your time.

just a sketch......14"X10"

class exercise #2: "#6, double taper"

here is another exercise that i worked on today that i think i will use in the class. its fairly small (10"X16") on cold press 140# paper. the lesson here will be composition, preserving the whites, mixing greens, tying a figure into a landscape, lifting paint.

pretty much all of these greens were mixed on the paper. colors were in addition to hooker's green which i mix with burnt sienna or raw sienna to get a de-saturated green, were ultramarine blue, quinacridone gold, mineral violet, cobalt turquoise, burnt umber. all painting except for the figure which was painted with a #10 round escoda verstil, were painted using isabey squirrel quill brushes. i have started using them for landscapes as they are softer and hold more water thus giving the illusion of less control and softness to the procedure. here are the three steps. the top background woods was initially washed in with a light colors of a variety of greens mixed on the palette. the next layer was put in wet-in-wet using the same colors only much thicker and mixed on the paper. then the various rocls along the shore and the figure all wet on dry. then the water which is mainly reflections of the woods and therefore the same colors streaked in vertically. as a rule reflections in water of light value objects reflect darker than the object and dark objects reflect lighter. the woods being dark, reflect lighter as you can see i did, mostly. at the very end i lifted out the ripples and lighter rock reflections (please note that these reflections, while lighter than the surrounding wood reflections, are still darker than the rocks themselves). darker ripples painted in with the tip of my smallest isabey brush and something dark.

the title, for you non-fly fishers, comes from the line which plays such a major role in this painting. fly lines come in a variety of weight, no. 6 being possibly the most common weight, and a variety of tapers at the end of the line. a double taper line has a taper at both ends and can be reversed when one end gets worn out from casting and rubbing against rocks, sticks, what-have-you in the stream.

"no. 6, double taper", (10"X16)