Layers

On Sunday mornings I love to do yoga online with one of my teachers MC Yogi and his lovely wife Amanda, of Point Reyes Yoga. His voice is so soothing, the playlist is always a delight, and I love the metaphors he uses for the yoga practice. He always has a fun flow and talks about body and the mind in a way that is visual and meditative. Sitting quietly, slowing down the breath, observing, accepting… the breath is calm. Letting that oceanic wave flow over all the porous body and mind, a big invisible river flowing through, long smooth exhales, feeling the entire ocean in the body, breathing the entire sky into the mind, the brain like a flower softening and blooming underwater, waves of relaxation through the nervous system, that iridescent web, softness in around the brain. Breath through all those layers, allowing the body to be more clear, more transparent.

In this state of calmness and bliss, I think about the layers of mind, the layers of the self, layers upon layers that comprise life. Breaking it down to be more simple, I can express these thoughts of layers with watercolor. The perfect medium, to layer transparent color upon color, being able to see through to what lies beneath. I love the idea how I can relate these ideas from a yoga practice into my painting. To understand what is concealed and what is revealed by the layers of the process.

Humans have a yearning or clarity and direction. Yoga is one of those paths that help us have a better understanding. It is a spiritual practice that helps us to change and grow into better people. Yoga is the study of balance and balance is the aim for our life. Each time we come to the mat, we have an opportunity to understand deeply our body, mind and breath. IT becomes a symphony established on the mat, which also becomes established in our lives.

Id like to take this metaphor of a yoga practice, the yoga mat we begin to study the self and make ourselves even better, and apply it to the practice of painting. We come to a blank page and all the colors laid out in front of us. One choice at a time, one movement after the other, flowing with grace and joy, the painting has begun, one breath at a time. We strive to make a beautiful painting filled of layer upon layer of experience and wisdom. Allowing the flow of the oceanic wave flow over the entire surface of the pours paper with color and line.

A Hopi Native American once said, “There is a river flowing now, very fast. It is so great and swift that there are those who will be afraid. They will try to hold onto the shore. They will feel they are being torn apart and suffer greatly. Know that the river has no destination. The elders say we must push it off into the middle of the river, keep our eyes open and heads above water. See who is there with you and celebrate. At this time in history we are to take nothing personally, least of all ourselves, for the moment what do that, our spiritual growth comes to a halt. The time of the Lonewolf is over. Gather yourselves; banish the word “struggle” from your vocabulary. All that we do now must be done in a sacred way and in celebration. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for.”

Now go to your mat or go to your paper and push off from there.

Reference: Meditations from the Mat, Daily Reflections on the path of yoga by Rolf Gates and Katrina Kenison

Point Reyes Yoga with MC Yogi, www.pointreyesyoga.com

Setting an intention

Every day I hope there is something to look forward to, to be positive about, and to get me excited. We can often be faced with obstacles that make it difficult to see the light of the day. But I think we have a chance if we put some effort into it and manifest a positive vibe for the day at least. I do this by setting an intention for the day. Something to remind myself, or to stay on track with a positive outlook. Today i heard the words “trust yourself” and I thought that was quite powerful. Just to know that you will do the right thing, or get through that hard work-out, or finish what you set out to do… those are the times when you really need to trust yourself.

I sometimes set intentions for paintings. I make rules or guidelines to keep me focused during the process. This may be limiting my palette, or working along a horizon line, or making a gesture drawing as guideline. It can be anything, be creative on your intentions.

Today in class at Catlin Gabel, we worked on painting the same image in multiple ways. How can you paint the same thing several times with different approaches? Woking small, about 5x7” allows some freedom and less inhibition to try new things, do something different, take risks. This is a wonderful exercise to learn to “trust yourself” and learn something new.

Pink Backed Pelican… “this is a painting”

Every Tuesday evening from 4:00-5:30pm Portland, OR time.. I teach an online zoom class how to paint birds in watercolor. Ive been teaching this class since February 2021! I can’t believe its been going on for about 9 months! Im so grateful to all my students who show up every week, or once in awhile or even just one time. Showing up to a class with an open mind to learn is the first step towards feeling a sense of confidence and achievement. So thank you to all my students over the past 9 months, that means all 56 of you!!!

This week we worked on a painting of a Pink Backed Pelican, which is a dumpy looking bird. But with the idea of color in mind, we can create a painting that is quite beautiful and compelling. I always keep in mind that “this is a painting” and we have the freedom to explore color, brushwork, composition, et. We have the right to eliminate things and change things from the original reference photograph. We can make choices that reflect ourselves through the medium of watercolor.

I loved the idea that this pelican has a warm dusty rose hue to it. So I took this idea of duty rose and started with a light wash in the background, as well as in the bird with a mixture of permanent rose, raw Sienna, and touch of purple. The darker hues also has an addition of cobalt blue. But the idea is to start with a dominant color, like dusty rose, as the initial wash that will find its way to the surface, peaking out between edges, adding an pink glow to the color that lay on top of it, or standing on its own as the lightest light in the painting.

I love to think about the soul of my painting as having this pink light shining from within. It creates depth and light, not only in the layering of transparent color, but also an aura that radiates the artists thought process. A deeper vision from within coming forward through creative expression and making what is personal, visible as art. There is so much beauty to what lies beneath the layers of watercolor paint. Keeping this in mind as an artist, allows oneself to be more accepting during the process of painting a picture and at the same time, observing the self.

Be kind to yourself and let your flow. Sometimes you have to let go of expectations and allow the intuited process of painting with watercolor evolve naturally and organically, observing along the way. Enjoy!! Love!!

Like mother like daughter

I spent the last weekend near Sisters, Oregon with my 11 year old daughter Sara. It was a great time to be outdoors during this exquisite fall weather. We hiked along the Metolius River with our two labradoodles, Juno and Ruby. The first morning it was quite smokey due to prescribed burns in the nearby forest. This made for a very mystical and misty landscape. Soon enough the smoke dissipated and the air was clear, bright blue skies, golden yellows and oranges mingled among the sheltering pine trees. It was a magical place.

After our hike we had a little picnic lunch by the river and set up to paint. Sara has never painted the landscape with me plain air. I set her up with an easel and a palette, right next to mine. I loved how she was so agreeable to try and do a painting. But she got frustrated after awhile. But even so, I am proud she gave it a shot and did her best to finish.

Painting the landscape plein air can be overwhelming. Especially when the scene is so incredibly beautiful, its can be hard to do it justice. But just the act of painting in nature is gratifying and it doesn’t matter how it turns out. It is the process and the experience that is the most memorable.

Traveling painter

Ive been on a couple a trips over the last two weekends where I had no wifi most of the time. In a way it was nice to disconnect from my daily routine of social media, navigation, phone calls, texting, and email. I became more present and aware of my surroundings.

My first trip was to Winthrop, Washington to join a plain air watercolor workshop with my long time teacher and mentor, Tom Hoffman of Seattle. He is such an awesome teacher and I worship him for his loose and fluid style of landscape painting. Ive been on a few of his workshops over the last 7 years, but this one was one of the best. The Methow Valley in Winthrop and in Twisp was extraordinary. Huge rolling hills covered in fall foliage. I saw possibilities for paintings everywhere I looked.

Over the four days I was there , I really focused on painting the hills in the distance with the beautiful yellow and rich green gold cottonwood and aspens shining in the sunlight. Painting the same scene multiple times is such a great learning experience and where I learn the most about the subject that I am painting. Doing multiples is so great to work out the challenges in a painting. So sitting in the same spot all day long for six hours painting the same hills and the same trees over and over again may seem monotonous, yet over time the work becomes more comprehensive, and well executed.

I love these exercises when Im painting outside. I think of these paintings as studies and sketches where I learn about true color from nature, how to paint in the moment as the light quickly changes and the wind speeds up. There is a lot to be said about painting outdoors. It takes a lot of effort and planning, but in the long run it is so rewarding.

How to start a painting

Notes from Catlin Gabel Community class 2: 9/29/2021

Its good to make a plan and do some problem solving before starting a painting. A good way to start is to do some thumbnail sketches in your sketchbook with pencil. Looking at your landscape reference photo or outside, decide if you want to do a horizontal or vertical painting. Make some value studies determining where is the darkest value and the lighter value. Sketch little compositions. This is a time to think and make some initial decisions.

Think about the colors you will use and make some color swatches of a few pure colors, mix some colors together and see what they look like on paper. Make some neutral colors mixing complementary colors together on your palette, then paint some swatches. Some of my favorite neutral colors are a combination of blue and orange, red and green, yellow and purple. You can come up with some specular neutral and gray colors that are quite vibrant!

When you have made some decisions, then its time to start your painting…

to be continued…its midnight and Im sleepy!!

Transparent Watercolor: from landscape to abstraction

Notes from Catlin Gabel Community class 1: 9/22/2021

CREATING A WASH

The word transparent is the perfect word to describe the medium of watercolor, which is unlike any other painting medium. It is the transparent quality that creates a veil of color, layering color onto color, which gives an illusion of light and space. To understand these many layers of washes as a beginner takes some experimentation and practice.

By working small, about 3x5” in multiples is a good way to start. Sticking to a limited palette will help you stick to about 3 colors(complementary colors or a warm and cool), which in turn, will mix together into a multitude of colors. Practice mixing color on your palette, a large, flat mixing area on a palette or a butcher tray (sold at art supply stores). See what variation of colors you can come up with. Make a pool of well saturate color>

There are two different approaches to creating washes: one is to wet the paper with clean water where you want the wash to be. I do this with a wash brush, about 3/4” quill, square or oval wash brush, wetting the entire surface with enough water to saturate the paper. (Not puddles of water) Then you can start dropping color onto the wet paper. Keep in mind that the water on the paper will dilute your color, so good to have a well saturated pool of color mixed up on your palette ready to go. The more water you use, the lesser the saturation of color and will be a lighter value. Another note: Wet paint on paper will dry much lighter. Dont be afraid to use your paint!

The second approach to a wash is to add diluted color onto dry paper by starting with a loaded brush in one area of the paper. Move your brush, encouraging the color across the area of the paper, adding fresh color as you move, staying connected to the starting point. Drop in a second color while the initial pigment on the paper is still wet, allowing it to fuse and merge with the first pigment… leave it alone. Don’t overwork it, or it will lose the fresh quality of a translucent wash!! You may turn your paper around to move the wet pigment around. If it pools up on the taped edge, you may wipe the excess water off the tape, but do not dab your paper!

You may flick drops of a contrasting color while the surface is still wet to create some interesting texture or break up the color.

TIP: Move quickly when creating washes to avoid hard lines that are difficult to work on in future stages.

Painting a Red Tailed Hawk

Bird Watercolor Class on ZOOM: Tuesdays 4:00-5:30pm

9/21/2021 Red Tailed Hawk

I see Red Tailed Hawks quite often up in the NW hills of Portland, Oregon. They soar high in the sky, usually in pairs, screeching their high pitch voice above the treetops in search of a mole or a rabbit. They are easily distinguishable with their bright burnt orange tail glowing in the reflection of the sun.

The idea of painting this magnificent creature was a little intimidating. Unlike the smaller songbirds and omnivores we see in our daily life, this raptor has quite the strong presence when spotted on high branches of pine trees. This in itself can bring on a feeling of awe as we enter an unfamiliar territory. With great bravery we are faced with the intricate patterns of feathers and strong contrast of neutral colors, with a glow of burnt sienna and transparent pyrrole orange.

I started this painting by tracing a photo of the bird blown up big so it would almost fill the space on my 12x16” Arches watercolor paper. There is no need to trace every single marking on the bird, just the larger shapes.

To paint the background, I wet the entire area around the bird with water and started dropping in a rich blend of green gold, shadow green, transparent pyrrole orange, and bunt Sienna. The shadow green is a tube from Holbein that is a very dark rich green. You can make something similar just by mixing pthalo green and transparent orange. Working quickly is important for making a smooth, gradient wash. Because the paper is wet, it will dilute the color. So make sure you have your brush loaded with saturated color to get a rich, strong color on the paper.

To get the lighter shades of orange and burnt Sienna on the feathers, I did a quick wash of light color around the bird. And also added the orange to the tail. I know that I can apply darker color over the light, so I started with the lightest lights. Make sure your back ground is dry to start painting the bird.

The color I used on the dark feathers is a mixture of Van Dyke Brown, French Ultramarine Blue, raw umber. To get a dark dark brown, you can mix a dark blue like ultramarine blue with raw umber, instead of van dyke brown. Notice where the darkest darks are on the back of this bird… the lower part of the wing and the hour glass shape at the back of the neck.

I painting the feathers in about three different rounds. My final painting got a little bit too dark and I lost a lot of the lighter shades of warm colors underweight, but this happens sometimes.

I need to paint this bird a few more times to understand the intricacies of feather patterns, with out getting so caught up in the details. I alway try and think of implying a pattern, or to suggest the markings without painting all of them. This is always a challenge!!

Life is hard and we have to work for good results. This applies to many aspects of life, exercise, study and also painting. There will be failures, but with failure there is wisdom. This is how we learn!