Plein Aire Pastel

It's been quite a while since I've posted on UrbanSketchersMidwest. As many of you may have also experienced, I've been going through a bit of an artistic "identity conflict". I started working on my fine art in earnest about 3 1/2 years ago. Over that time I was focused primarily on technique...and getting my skills back up to an acceptable level. Much of that effort was spent painting on location.

About 4 months ago, I became somewhat disenchanted with the work I was doing. I felt it was a little too pedestrian. Focused on simply copying what was in front of me, and lacked the intensity and freedom I was looking to achieve. So...I started doing a bit of experimenting. I tried some abstracts, some tight, realistic approaches - and played with different mediums - acrylics, oils, lots of different watercolor techniques using plastic wrap, string, gauze, salt...you name it.

I also started spending more time composing paintings from photos and sketches I'd taken over the years. It's been a long, slow process - but I think I'm starting to come out of it with a few conclusions.

First, I've decided that I need to develop all areas, techniques and mediums that interest me. Second, that the real key in finding satisfaction in my work has been to spend considerable effort on simplifying my compositions and merging multiple shapes into simpler, larger, more interesting shapes. Within those shapes i have the freedom to work in a very loose manner. Third, I miss drawing, sketching, painting from nature.

This post is from an intentional trip out to paint plein aire. The above pastel was done on location just west of Kansas City in a county park not far from my house. I focused primarily on simplifying planes, and a very deliberate approach to the colors and contrasting warm and cool shapes. There are only four main shapes being 1) The sky 2) The background bank of trees along the horizon 3) The golden field of natural grasses and 4) The clump of trees in the center.

I included a photo of the actual scene so that you could compare the scene to the final work.

I was pretty pleased with the way this turned out. Unfortunately, my choice of fixatives was a poor one - and I pretty much ruined it. I used an archival varnish from Krylon that is made for use on multiple media including watercolor, acrylics, oils and "oil" pastels...I kind of assumed it would work for other types of pastels...oops. Oh well, the experience was well worth the effort - and I learned one more thing that I will put to use more often than not. So remember, if you are working in pastels or charcoal, only use a fixative that's made to work with those media.

Well, I hope you enjoy this post, and the work. Cheers and keep on sketching!

TK (a.k.a. David Tierney-Kanning)

Kirkwood Amtrak Station

Kirkwood Amtrak Station
©2015 Steve Penberthy
Watercolor in Strathmore Visual Journal (140-lb CP paper)
5" x 7" (13 x 18 cm)

I met up with the St. Louis Drawing & Painting Meetup Group at this month's Urban Sketching outing.  We sketched the historic and picturesque Amtrak train station in Kirkwood, Missouri.  There were so many people out on this beautiful early fall morning; people walking dogs, shopping, and attending a nearby farmer's market across the street.  Several trains (both freight and passenger) moved through the station area while we sketched; the freight trains operated at deafening levels and seemed to take forever to pass by.  But very cool nonetheless.

I had intended to substitute out a few paints in my kit (Quin Gold & Hematite Burnt Scarlet) before heading out to the event, but forgot in my haste to get out the door on time.  Both of these pigments work well on my larger palette, but I feel that I like the weak opacity of a true raw sienna when I'm sketching on location, as I use it a lot for rendering stone, masonry, etc.  I have been experimenting with Quin Gold as a substitute for Raw Sienna, but again, seem to be preferring the Raw Sienna.

St. Charles - Main & First Capitol

St. Charles - Main & First Capitol

(c)2015 Steve Penberthy

Watercolor on Strathmore Gemini 140-lb paper in handmade sketchbook, 

6.75" x 10.25" (17 x 26 cm)

I sketched this on location while sitting in direct sun on a hot, humid day.  I'm starting to realize how much Urban Sketching can be an endurance sport!  I liked the angle from which I sketched this scene, but next time I'll scope out a shadier spot...!

Arctic Ice Sno-Cone Stand

Arctic Ice Sno-Cone Stand

©2015 Steve Penberthy

Watercolor & Sharpie pen in Moleskine sketchbook

5" x 16.5" (13 x 42 cm)

Sketched on location in Creve Coeur Lake Park, Maryland Heights, MO USA.  Creve Coeur Lake is the largest natural lake in Missouri.  I sketched this scene of the Arctic Ice Sno-Cone Stand while sitting at a picnic table across the bike trail from the little snow-cone building.  The park was busy with people riding their bikes, running, walking (both for exercise and walking their dogs), people sailing on the lake, and people fishing.  The snow-cone stand had lots of customers while I sketched; the warm and humid afternoon lent itself to indulging in a cold, sweet treat.

Big Snow

Snow Covered Roof

Snow Covered Car

Winter has been beastly cold here in Iowa. Last night we had our first big snow. This is what I awoke to this morning, as seen from my upstairs window,  using water soluble graphite applied with a water brush.

Little Saint Simons Island, Georgia

Continuing on the trend of Midwesterners going South, (Don Gore, another of our Urban Sketcher Midwest Correspondents, was in Virginia in June, about the same time), I went to Georgia, staying 5 days at  Little Saint Simons Island. It's a private barrier island, undeveloped except for a small lodge for 35 guests. It's like a nature preserve; great pains are taken to keep it a pristine,  natural habitat. Here are a few of the drawings I did while there:

Dock on Mosquito Creek

One arrives on the island by boat from the neighboring Saint Simons Island, traveling the Hampton River then onto the serpentine Mosquito Creek. Both waterways fluctuate with the tides and are surrounded by salt marsh. Above is the boat that brought us and the dock at the lodge. It's high tide and the dark clouds erupted into a pelting rain just as I was finishing.

Live Oak along Marsh

Live oak draped with Spanish moss grow along the marsh. This one was on the deck outside our room.

Main Beach, early morning

It rained a lot while we were there. But on the morning of our last full day, it was relatively clear and, auspiciously, the tide was low just after dawn. I biked the 2 miles from the lodge to the 7-mile-long Main Beach, road my bike on the hard packed sand near the water's edge, and found just the right spot to set my stool and draw. 

To see more drawings from this trip to Little Saint Simons Island and a previous trip last October go here.

California: Captured 3 Ways

My recent trip to California was to the Central Coast, staying in San Luis Obispo. It's a place I return to; it has a bit of Brigadoon magic for me. I travel with probably way too many different medium. (I never have mastered the travel-light mode.) But sometimes circumstance and time calls for one medium and then sometimes another. So here are 3 different ways of representing my week long time there.

"South Hill View and Sweet Pea Bouquet". NEOCOLOR II WAX PASTELS on black paper.  From the house where we stayed, looking across the foothills to the Santa Lucia Mountains. The bouquet was purchased from a white haired woman at the farmers market, whose clothes matched the colors of her flowers. For  more Inside/Outside drawings go here.

"South Hill Neighborhood".  Another from the house in San Luis  Obispo, this time in WATERCOLOR.  Looking across the adjoining open space preserve into the neighborhood below and the foothills beyond, it's 45 degrees to the right of the Neocolor above.

"Morro Rock from Black Hill". 15 miles to the coast from San Luis Obispo is Morro Bay.   Hiking to the top of Black Hill on a glorious clear day, I was rewarded with the view of the last visible, of  a string,  extinct volcano that defines this region and the Pacific Ocean. My pocket-size moleskine and a stick of WATER SOLUBLE 9B GRAPHITE STICK was all I carried. Maybe on another trip, I'll lug my easel and Neocolor II or watercolors up there. For now, small, fast sketches are  a great part of my process.

If you'd like to see more from this trip they're on my flickr photostream. Comments or critique are always appreciated!