Vintage Forks at Chapman Lake Cottage

A couple of days ago I posted a photo of the fork and sketch on my other blog.

Vintage Fork painted with Peerless Watercolor Papers

This is the drawing after I painted it using a waterbrush and Peerless Watercolor Papers.  The sketchbook has thin, lined paper, not the BFK Rives paper I use to make my handmade sketchbooks.

sketchbook drawing:  drawn first with Vintage Sheaffer fountain pen filled with Noodler’s Black Ink, followed by Peerless Watercolor applied using a waterbrush.

Color Scheme: Double Complements, limited palette –  yellow and purple, blue and orange

 

A touch of Color

As I sat outside Artfully Elegant (next to the historic Bethlehem Hotel), I sketched the street and the people enjoying the monthly Art Walk.

Art Walk, Bethlehem, PA, August 2012

A fountain pen, a waterbrush and a cd case with pieces of Peerless Watercolor Papers taped to the inside works incredibly well to add touches of color to a drawing.  Everything is conveniently on my lap and I’m able to stop at any moment to talk with people about the paintings I have displayed on the table beside me.

En Plein Air Sketchbook drawings: drawn first with fountain pen filled with Noodler’s Rome Burning Ink, followed by washes of Peerless Watercolor.

 

A wide spot in the road

I am on the lookout for wide spots in the road where I can park my car and paint during the upcoming months of winter.

From a wide spot in the road

I am desperate for good spots to park from the front seat of my K-car.  What I really want is a good panoramic view of hedgerows slicing through hilly expanses of fields.  I want that crazy quilt aspect of the landscape.  I have a week to go before I am let loose again to capture the abstract beauty of the landscape I travel through, whether in New Jersey or in Spain or France or Peru.  I sense that roads will continue to play a major role in my paintings.  It is from the line of a road that the kaleidoscope of landscape comes into focus and thrills me to the core.

My little CD case Peerless Watercolor Paper palettes of paint force me to paint by value rather than color.  I am testing out a few more of the water brushes made by Kuretake.  I discovered that my first water brush was a mini brush.  The regular brushes that come in a variety of sizes have longer handles, holding more water, but too long to fit a snack size zip lock bag.

The colors of the Peerless Watercolor Papers are always a bit shocking to me.  They are a bit psychedelic.  It was only while cross country skiing down a mountain in Colorado with my brother in 1983 I remember seeing the landscape in such vivid colors.  I adore these little bits of saturated paper; they force me out of my mold and into another world of limitless possibilities.

Sketch:  Drawn first with my burgundy fountain pen marked Riona (I think it was the name of the original owner) filled with Noodler’s Nikita red ink, followed by washes of Peerless Watercolor Papers using a Kuretake size 9mm water brush.

 

Mini Watercolor Travel Kit

I don’t think I can get more portable than this.

Brush, Paints and Sketchbook

The Kuretake Water Brush measures 6″ in length, moleskin sketchbook is 3.5″ x 5″ x .12″ thick, makeup compact is 2.25″ x 2.75″ x .25″ thick.  All three pieces fit into a small cocktail party size purse or the inside pocket of a gentleman’s suit jacket.  Perhaps a thin cigarette case would be better for men to use than a makeup compact. But then again, if you are at a cocktail party painting I don’t think you would really care if anyone looked at you oddly for pulling a makeup compact out of your jacket pocket.

I gave the kit its first trial run yesterday afternoon at the ribbon cutting ceremony for the opening of the St. Luke’s Hospital Anderson Campus.  Fourteen of my paintings hang in the Bone & Joint Unit of the hospital.

Metal Makeup Compact

The idea of using a metal Makeup compact is not my own.  I read about it online after discovering the Peerless Watercolor Papers.  I’ve posted my version of cd gel case palettes as well as my cigarette case palettes in previous posts.  What I love about the makeup palette is that it is somewhat elegant to bring to events where art supplies might be frowned upon.

Tiny bit of paper towel for brush cleaning

A small piece of paper towel, folded, fits nicely in place of the powder puff.

A sample of each color

A sample of the true hue and value of each color is necessary since the papers are so impregnated with pigment that it is difficult to identify the color by looking at the paper, especially in dark environments where I often find myself painting.  This sample chart is taped into the powder puff well using double sided tape.  A piece of wax paper is cut and taped to the underside of the powder puff well with a flap to fit over the top of the color swatch chart, protecting it from the papers taped to the underside of the compact cover in case they are still wet when the compact is closed.  The paper towel will also absorb any remaining moisture, but there is no guarantee that it hasn’t blown away.

Eight different pigment papers

The powder puff well is hinged on the side of the compact to keep the face powder from falling out.  As a watercolor palette it lifts to reveal four more pieces of Peerless Watercolor Paper.  Four are taped to the inside of the lid and four are taped to the powder well.

The ultimate travel watercolor kit

This little travel watercolor kit is so portable that I can even paint while standing.  If I tape papers on a separate piece of cardstock rather than directly into the compact, I can easily switch out the colors of my palette.

Sketch: drawn first with fountain pen filled with mixture of Sherwood Green Ink and Heart of Darkness Ink, followed by washes of Peerless WaterColor.  I left room for the piano player and stand up bass player who had been playing on a stage behind the people I sketched.  The musicians, unfortunately, took a break just as I started the sketch.  I had to leave before they returned.

 

A few more color schemes in a cigarette case

Tom donated his grandfather’s silver cigarette case to the cause….. Peerless Water Color Paper Color Scheme Sheets.

Sheets of various color schemes

All of these fit neatly into the small cigarette case that fits nicely into the pocket of my jeans.

Inside of cigarette case

Each sheet is a different Triad Color Scheme.  Far better use for the case than storing cigarettes, don’t you think?

I ordered these wonderful Peerless Watercolor Papers from Creative Mode.

 

Tropical Leaf, Analogous Color Scheme

A trip to the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens provided a perfect opportunity to test my Peerless Watercolor Papers.

Typhonodorum Lindleyanum

It is difficult to say anything negative about these easily transportable watercolor papers. I am spoiled by the ease of flow and coverage I can achieve using tube watercolor pigments and find the lack of flow a bit frustrating.  The Peerless Papers require a different technique which I will explore over the next few months.  The Peerless colors are beautifully vibrant and well worth spending the time to learn how to manipulate them successfully.

The only place to sit was a low cement wall, four feet long, across from a giant Typhonodorum Lindleyanum.  The edges of the leaf were yellow, tinged with orange.  The color turned to green and ultimately to a dark blue-green as the leaf met the stem, a perfect analogous color scheme.

Sketch: drawn first with fountain pen followed by washes of Peerless Watercolor Papers using a Kuretake Water Brush.

 

Knowing Your Materials

One last check in the mailbox before heading to JFK to pick up Nicole and Alexis. Just as I had hoped, my Peerless Water Color Papers had arrived in time to snip a few samples and tape them into a CD Case.

Left: Back of Paper ... Right: Front of Paper

In my rush, I never looked at the back of the paper.  I had assumed that I had snipped a few dark valued strips and two mid-value strips.  I didn’t see any yellows at all.  Had I looked on the back (a real plus for taping them into clear, clamshell CD cases) I would have seen the way the pigments really look when applied with a water brush to paper.

Grayscale version of top image

These are incredibly convenient for quick, spontaneous, while you wait for someone paintings!

Starbucks and Subway at JFK Terminal 7

I was wishing I had darker values to work with.  In spite of that, I am hooked on these pigment saturated papers and I’m setting up several variations of palettes for easy Grab-and-Go painting.  The colors are luminous and vivid.  This is my first attempt and reminds me of the Sunday Funnies.  I’m not used to such candy-like colors.  With a bit of practice I’m sure I’ll begin to achieve results with a bit more control.

Link to Peerless Watercolor Papers

Drawn first with fountain pen filled with Whalerman Sepia Ink, followed by washes of watercolor using a waterbrush with Peerless Watercolor Papers Taped into a clear, clamshell CD Case using double-sided tape.