Busy Rooftop Scene, Manayunk

oil on board 7"x7"

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This is the same composition that I used for a pen and ink drawing a few days ago, this time in color. It was a bit of a headache to get all the rooftops lined up correctly, and as I like to work with the big picture in mind...well, it was a constant zooming in and zooming out kind of painting experience.

Lone Tree on East Street, Manayunk

pen and ink wash 7"x7"

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This is an improved version of my last pen and ink. It's more of what I really wanted to say. I'm pleased with this composition, and glad I didn't mess up the cars. 

I love the way pen and ink wash can suggest rich texture without having to get into too much prosaic detail, which is so great for sweeping scenes like this. 

Tree on East Street, Manayunk

 pen and ink wash on heavyweight archival paper 5.75"x7"

I was real excited about this one, until I messed up the car in the lower center of the picture- you can't see it, because I ended up cropping the composition to get rid of it (and I really loved the composition). 

I plan on persevering with this beautiful but maddening medium- I feel as though this shellace sepia ink by Sennelier is in my blood now!

Busy Rooftop Scene, Manayunk

pen and ink wash 7"x7"

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I spent this weekend working in Manayunk again, hiking up and down the hills to find interesting views until I got a blister. Here is a dense scene looking east towards an unnamed church. 

Sometimes I find the subject of pure landscape a little monotonous to paint, especially here in the Northeast with the relentless greens of spring and summer. If I can find a neighborhood with lots of hills and architecture, I'm happy.

I do have one question about pen and ink wash, and if you have any experience with it I'd love your feedback. Why is it that everytime my pen accidentally leaves a big old BLOT, it's always in a spot that I needed to keep pure white, NEVER in a shadow area?

My last spring class came to an end last night, and while I'll miss my hard-working and enthusiastic students, I'm glad that I'll be able to put more focus on my work for a while. 

Street Scene from the South Side, Bethehem, PA

oil on board 6"x6"

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I often make the 40 minute drive north to paint in beautiful Bethlehem, PA. I love the hilly aspect of Bethehem, which makes for wonderful compositions. I also love the gritty character of the city with its aura of a complex history, with most of its original buildings still in use.  

One Last Look

oil on board 8"x6"

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This young woman wants to spend a little longer gazing at a lovely still life by Henri Fantin-Latour, but her boyfriend is pulling her along to the next painting. 

When I visit museums to take photos of the public looking at art, I'm amazed by how many people step up to a painting and give it scarcely two seconds of attention before taking their smart phone out to take a picture. This woman's rapt attention seemed a wonderful thing.

A Lofty View (another version)

pen and ink wash 7"x7"

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Well, last month I'd got off to a bang with my first three pen and ink wash drawings, but have completed 5 or 6 disasters since then. I'm determined not to give up on this difficult medium!

This drawing is completed on 300 lb. (heavyweight) Arches watercolor paper.

A Lofty View

oil on board 6"x6"

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I love the clear air of early and mid spring, before the humidity moves in. It's a pure pleasure just to be outside on a sunny day and look at the world, even the small world of my hometown. 

Alleyway in April

oil on board 6"x7"

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I've drawn and painted this same house and alley several times, and feel a little guilty returning to the same subject. I do find it so charming, though. Here are some of my other versions of the same scene from the past:

October Morning oil on paper 2012

A Small World Lay Spread Before Me pen and ink wash 2013

Alley in Perkasie oil on board 2008

The last one is from a few year's back. It's so small- 3.4"x3.75"! I'm glad to be painting a little larger these days...

Astonished by Apples

oil on board 7"x7"

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You probably figured this out, but my title "Astonished by Apples" refers to Cezanne's now famous words- "With an apple I will astonish Paris". Yes, Cezanne, you sure did, and the rest of us too. If I had to count my favorite painters on one hand, and if I only had two fingers, I'd choose Cezanne and Corot. Specifically early Corot landscapes (before he got all wispy and sentimental) and all of Cezanne's still lifes.

If you could narrow it down to your two favorite painters, who would they be?

Window at the Met

oil on board 6"x7"

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This young girl is looking out at a view of some Central Park trees on an early spring day, while on a Saturday visit to the Met with her parents. Lucky girl!

I love backlighting. I found it fun to paint her head and purplish shirt, but difficult to paint her pants! Isn't that strange? The window is really not bowed like a canoe- that's what happens when I photograph straight lines on my small paintings. 

Easter Monday (Woman with a de Kooning)

oil on board 7"x7"

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This woman in her snappy red jacket is admiring Willem de Kooning's masterpiece "Easter Monday", named after the day he painted it. It was interesting to copy an abstract painting, but not at all easy. 

I spent Saturday at the Met, sneakily taking pictures of the public in thrall to the artwork, and I'm so happy to have a new batch of photos to work from. It takes tremendous patience to try and get good candid shots of people in museums, and patience is not something that comes naturally to me.  You can't count on anything, but just be ready, so I do lots of bench sitting and wall leaning, waiting for the right person to stand near the right painting.

Checking Angles

Pencil is a great medium for those times when the weather is changeable but I still want to work outside. I can concentrate on line rather than light and shadow, and still plan out compositions for later paintings.

When I teach drawing, I like to devote one entire class to drawing boxes in perspective. I get a real kick out of seeing everyone improve their observational skills simply by holding a pencil up vertically or horizontally to check angles, and trusting what they see. Drawing houses is not any harder than drawing boxes. You get the first one right, and the others will follow.

Preparatory Drawing for a Pen and Ink

This morning I spent a couple hours drawing the composition for another pen and ink wash drawing, which I hope to get complete soon. This is a view of my hometown, with a cemetery in the foreground.

I'm working on a couple other pen and ink wash drawings too, and find the medium is a great, even a stupendous tonic to my daily painting routine. I've been getting increasingly frustrated with painting so small, and so quickly. These little pen and inks give me the satisfaction of getting my teeth into a good amount of detail, and now I realize that I want my paintings to be a little more ambitious.

Cold Spring Morning with Hesitating Trees

pen and ink wash 5.75"x7.5"

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So far spring in Pennsylvania has been quite cold, which seems to be the reason most of the trees are still bare. They are hesitating for a while before they decide to bud. 

It's so satisfying to spend a morning on a pen and ink wash drawing. The technique allows me to get into a fair amount of detail in just a few hours, but encourages spontaneity. It also forces me to make peace with accidents (meaning big fat ink drips). 

Above the Roof-peaks of the Town

Pen and Ink Wash 6"x 7.25"
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My title comes from a Howard Nemerov poem that I've always loved, "The View from an Attic Window". Here is the first stanza:

Among the high-branching, leafless boughs
Above the roof-peaks of the town,
Snowflakes unnumberably come down.

There is a line that comes further along in the poem that used to really get to me, and still does- even though my cynical older self finds it a trifle overwrought:

I cried because life is hopeless and beautiful. 

I'm still in my re-learning phase of working with pen and ink wash. I've been using 300 lb hot-press (smooth) watercolor paper, and it seems like my pen nibs keep picking up bits of the thickish soft paper, and then get clogged. These pen and ink drawings are therefore mainly wash drawings, without much line. I may switch to regular drawing paper for a while and see what happens- probably lots of buckling from the wash, but at least my lines will flow.

A Small World Lay Spread Before Me

Pen and Ink Wash 6.5" x 7.25"

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This is a view of my hometown, Perkasie, on the sweetest spring morning seen around here in ages. I've stolen the title from Dicken's Great Expectations, "And the mists had all solemnly risen now, and the world lay spread before me", although my small hometown sure isn't London!

I used to use pen and ink wash all the time, but gave up the practice ages ago. I'm glad that my drawing class has forced me to bone up on the medium, and thankful to an old friend and long-time supporter of my work for encouraging me to get back to it. Another thanks to my friend Douglas Ferrin for recommending sepia ink made by Senellier. Doug says "I use Sepia shellac ink made by Senellier. I believe it's still made from real sepia. You can thin it with water or alcohol. Great stuff." Yes it is!

Here's a pen and ink wash drawing from almost thirty years ago:

Considering The Kiss

oil on board 8"x8"

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This is a partner painting to one I completed last month, which features the same sculpture from Philadephia's Rodin museum. I doubt I even need to give the title of this sculpture, which is as fully well known as Rodin's "The Thinker". I love the way Rodin's nudes are embodiments of strong emotion. This sculpture is quite the opposite of pornography; to me it is simply about love. 

Drawing Class

This month I'm really up to my neck in teaching. A two hour class inevitably means three or four hours of planning, not including travel time and setting up. A full day, really. I'm struggling with finding time for my own work, but do find teaching satisfying.

Usually I begin the class by having the students copy a master drawing, then move on to observing and drawing from life.

Here are a few drawings from a talented student, Carol Lee. Just had to share them!

Yellow Coat, or Looking at a Bodhisattva

oil on board 6"x6"

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These museum visitors are contemplating a small bodhisattva, on a pedestal. There is something about the hushed mood of this woman in yellow that really appeals to me. I'm happy to just take pictures of people at the museum as they pause in front of windows, even with the subject of their gaze hidden from view.  

I like the bold yellow in the woman's coat, but am having the hardest time getting an accurate image. It's probably because it's been snowing, so the white sky and ground are washing out the colors a little (I always take my pictures outside).