TRAVEL: "California Coast" Pt. 2

Welcome back to "Part 2" of my recent travels to California. This post is going to focus on the sketches I did while in Monterey and the adjoining community of Pacific Grove.

The image above is actually my second attempt to sketch a wonderful cypress tree that was down the street from the Inn where I stayed. It is done with pencil and watercolor washes. You can see the unpainted pencil drawing below. 

The next two pics show my original painting of the same tree, done on my first morning there. Both days started out overcast and gray...a bit chilly, so I needed a jacket. Unfortunately, I later removed that jacket and forgot to have sunscreen on hand. I got a bad sunburn on my neck and arms from sketching all day. Lesson learned! 

I decided to try using gouache paints on this trip...I have only used them a few times.  But they would allow me to build up layers of lights and darks.  In the end, I was not all that happy with the way the paint responds, and also how it changes color as it dries.  I do, however, like using the brown sketch paper in this smaller book.

I drove down the coastal road a bit, and set up looking out at "Lovers Point", a rock formation in Monterey. Again, I tried the gouache paints...not so happy with the duller colors I ended up with. This process, however, has moved me a bit closer to wanting to get my oil paints out of storage. You can see the view of the actual location in the photo below.

The next sketch was done in virtually the same spot, only rotated around from where I was sitting. There were some seals sunning themselves on rocks in the middle of the scene. 

I decided to go back to my tried and true technique of using line-work from an artist pen, and watercolor washes. You can see the unpainted drawing below. I did have a bit of a struggle painting the larger areas of water...so many beautiful colors with variations of lights and darks. 

Here is a photo of the full scene that caught my eye. I was astonished at how white some of the rocks were...like pure snow.  Then I realized that it was just stained from sea birds pooping on the rocks for centuries.  Still pretty...a nice contrast!

The next two sketches are of Point Pinos Lighthouse in Pacific Grove. I had brought along a little 6" long metal ruler to try some cleaner straight lines for the borders. I liked how these came out.  The sketch on the right is a combination of sepia pen line, brown and white pencils, watercolor washes, and a little white Sharpie pen. Whatever works.

That's it for this post. Next time, I'll show you sketches from my drive down to Santa Barbara.

TRAVEL: "California Coast" Pt.1

Yesterday I finished up a week long trip out to the beautiful California Coast to sketch and paint. I was able to spend some quality time with friends along the way, too. All in all, a wonderful experience.  I flew to San Francisco, then drove a rental to Monterey, Santa Barbara, South Pasadena, then flew home from Los Angeles.

It will take me a while to scan all of my sketches, and sort through my photos. But for now, I thought I'd start the show with the drawings I did while waiting in the airport and on the flights. The guy above was in LAX, at the end of my trip.

Here is a sketch done around 6:00 a.m. before boarding in Kansas City.  I had to get up around 3:30 to drive to the airport, park, catch a shuttle, then catch my flight. I'd rather be early than late...I'm not good with procrastination.

The next two drawings were done during the flight to Phoenix, AZ.  All my "models" were sleeping.

While on a layover in Phoenix, I saw this guy with a huge mustache. He was obviously quite proud of it.

The next little series are of guys in LAX airport, as I wait for my flight home to Kansas City.

The last trio of images are done while flying Southwest Airlines to KC.  A very long day.

Stay tuned...more to come!!

SCULPTURE: "Giant Squid"

Yesterday, I finished my latest project...a paper mache GIANT SQUID. As usual, this took way more time than I anticipated, but I'm pleased with the results, so it was worth it. Paper mache is not my favorite medium to work with, due to long drying times. But it was right for this particular sculpture...it's fairly light and structurally strong.

I want to start off by giving credit where credit is due for the inspiration for my sculpture. Last year, I had come across the image below of an octopus tentacle sold at ArtAkimbo.com online.   

I decided that I wanted to make my own version for my studio wall.  Since it would hang by the door, I wanted to have the tentacle spiral down more, so that folks wouldn't bump into it. I also wanted to make a big eyeball staring in through the porthole, and have two tentacles, instead of just one.  It's also greatly influenced by childhood memories of the monster squid in Disney's "20,000 Leagues Under The Sea".

I won't go into lavish detail about every step, but will try to give you enough information to see how this piece came to be.  I had picked up some wooden "plates" at Michael's Hobby store. I also bought some wooden buttons for the "rivets" and a piece of plexiglass for the porthole window. I had a piece of pressed-wood particle board that I used as the backing, I traced around the largest "plate" and I cut a hole out to put the wire for hanging this sculpture. I cut out the center of both pieces of my porthole, and drilled holes to glue the rivets in place

After making a "hinge" with a couple of wooden dowels, I glued the porthole together.  I made an anchor for one of the tentacles out of a large dowel, and drilled holes in it to hold some heavy gauge wire. I formed the basic shape of the long, thinner "arm" that would be pushing the porthole open.  Then I used wood screws to connect three more pieces of wire that would be the starting point for the larger tentacle.  You can see some of the research on my desk of what a squid looks like.

I took the porthole upstairs to my studio and hung it securely on a screw in a stud in the wall. I took some white tissue paper and began wrapping it around the smaller "arm". I used masking tape to sculpt the form.  I then continued the same process for the larger tentacle's base. Once I had a good shape coming out of the porthole, I taped on three very long wires.  I then began to form the curves of the larger tentacle. 

I repeated the same technique as before, using tissue paper as my "core" for building up the shape of the tentacle.  I preferred using tissue paper instead of newspaper, because it was lighter.  Once I had the basic armature done with the masking tape, I returned to my basement with the piece, and began to add some layers of good old paper mache. I used strips of newspaper, and a "glue" of water and flour. Once I was done, I let the paper strips dry for several days.

I switched to a different kind of paper mache made from "mulched" paper with a powdered binder. When water is added, it becomes the consistency of oatmeal. I began to build up the forms of the squid with this material. It dries fairly rough, but can be sanded later. The white "eyeball" is made from a styrofoam ball cut in half.

When the mulch mache was good and dry, I began the smoother detailing using yet another type of "paper clay" found at the hobby store. This material feels very much like regular clay, and can be smoothed with a brush and water.  It took days and days of adding all the little "suckers" to the tentacles...the least enjoyable part of this project.

I continue using the "paper clay" to add details to the face of the squid, and to cover all of the surfaces of the tentacles to get a smoother finish. One thing I discovered was that the mache will shrink when drying. I had to repair a lot of cracks and gaps that formed with little bits of the paper clay.

Here is the final sculpture before I painted it!  I had to do a lot of sanding of the surface, to get a smoother skin on the tentacles. But the paper clay sands easily without a lot of pressure needed.

The last stage of this project is my favorite part...adding the paint!  I began with a base of red acrylic. Then I built up layers of lighter tones, and "dry-brushed" the colors to get more of a blend in the transitions. I would go back and forth with colors...lighter on the high surfaces, glazes of darker colors for the valleys...then repeat.  I also would glaze with various hues...purples for the shadows, oranges and pinks for the lighter areas. I gave the whole sculpture a thin wash of very watered-down orange, just to unify it.

Here are some shots of how I detailed the eyeball.  I ended up making the darkest part of the iris a bit smaller than originally painted...just thought it made the eye have more emotion.

After I finished painting the squid colors, I finished off the porthole. I gave it a base coat of metallic bronze, then "weathered" it with glazes and dry-brushed aqua and black.  Then I screwed on the plastic window on the back of the porthole.  The window doesn't show up very well, but I didn't want to leave it as just a wooden circle.  

The final touch was to give the squid a nice "slime coat" of high-gloss acrylic varnish. The results made me smile...just the effect I wanted!!

 And here is the final finished piece welcoming visitors to my studio!!