Here in Quebec City...

View of Basse-Ville, Quebec City pencil 7"x7"

click here to bid

This has been my fourth day in this busy and fascinating place, and I'm still adjusting. I live in a small town in Pennsylvania (it's been 15 years since I lived in Philadelphia), and so it's taking me a while to get used to the traffic, lack of parking, and noise of this city of 700,000.

As far as Old Québec goes (Vieux-Québec), unlike the images in advertisements, the cobblestone streets are clotted with tourists. So, I have been focusing on drawing and taking reference photos, although I did a quick oil sketch yesterday in what I thought was a relatively tranquil spot. My easel attracted a ton of visitors anyhow, so I guess I just have to get used to it.

Another adjustment for me is using my new iPad for blogging, using an App called Blogsy.

Posted with Blogsy

Artist's Studios Online Tour- a Blog Carnival!

Today a group of painters are writing about our studios. There is so much variety in our working spaces- some have spacious studios and others work on their kitchen tables. Now you can tour these studios online.

Visit the links below to tour the participating artist's studios:

Marla Laubisch	Carol Schiff	Kaethe Bealer	Jo MacKenzie
Michael Chamberlain	Charleen Martin	Sally Binard	Jacklyn Karabaich
Sharon Graves	Sea Dean	Johnna Schelling	Taryn Day
Julie Ford Oliver	Sarah Sedwick	Kim Rempel	Cindy Michaud
Joanne Grant	Carmen Beecher	Cindy Williams	Cathy Engberg

My Studio

My studio is the third floor of my home in Perkasie, PA.

I used to rent studio space ages ago, but like most artists, I'm perpetually on a budget. It's so much cheaper and more comfortable to work at home, although this was a challenge when my two kids were small and underfoot. It's a good sized space, about 350 square feet. I had two skylights put in, so it is filled with light.

This is a view of my favored painting corner, 

with a large skylight and a north-facing window.

This is the smaller skylight at the other side of the room, 

where I prepare painting surfaces and pack and ship my work.

I like to keep my main space uncluttered, so I shove most of my art supplies and still life paraphenalia into the long thin hallway-like space that juts out from the main room.

Yes, that's a cow pelvis hanging on the wall.

I sometimes paint from my own images, as viewed on my

raised computer monitor. I often work upside down, and always standing up, 

even standing clear across the room so I don't get hung up on details.

Here is my small but essential single wall shelf,

where I keep an eye on my most recent work.

I won't go into much detail about my supplies, because I have an online art tutorial that covers most of that, but these are my two most important tools:

Essential tool #1: My sturdy Soltek easel, which I use both indoors and out. 

It holds up in the wind, is less wobbly than a wooden French easel, 

and can fit into all kinds of tight places in my studio.

Essential tool #2: My journals. These pages have helped me sort out my
worries, and have guided me through many creative logjams. 

And that's the end of my studio tour. Thank you Marla Laubisch for the invitation to participate in the Artists' Studios Online Tour, and thank you for visiting my studio! 

Busy Rooftop Scene, Manayunk

pen and ink wash 7"x7"

click here to bid

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"

click here to bid

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.  

Alleyway in April

oil on board 6"x7"

click here to bid

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...

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.

Cold Spring Morning with Hesitating Trees

pen and ink wash 5.75"x7.5"

click here to bid

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"
click here to bid

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"

click here to bid

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:

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!

Sunlight and Shadow on 7th Street, Perkasie

oil on board 6"x 6.5"

click here to bid

I love painting landscapes, cityscapes, suburbanscapes, townscapes, seascapes, and so on. Anytime the sun is shining, and there is no roof over my head, I'm happy, but especially when I have my paints.

There is a bit of glare on the upper right section, but I'll try for a glareless picture tomorrow.

Tulip, Pear and Bunched Cloth

oil on board 6"x6"

click here to bid

For a very long time now I've felt uninspired to paint anything but landscapes and figures, but for some mysterious reason lately I've been happy to get back to the little artificial world of the still life. 

Flower with Blue Bottles Lined Up Just So

oil on board 6"x6"

click here to bid

The colors blue and yellow are meant for each other. Sorry for the bit of glare on the left.

I've had the pleasure of being interviewed by Deborah Blakeley about my series of painting based on visitors to the Philadelphia Museum of Art. You can read it here. 

Daffodils and Blue Construction Paper

oil on board 7"x5"

click here to bid

It's only Valentine's Day, but Trader Joe's has a great deal on Daffodils. Turns out they are imported from England, and my eco-warrior son chastised me for buying them, saying that imported flowers are bad for the environment. I looked into the issue, and he is right. Sigh.

Negative Space Study

pencil 8"x10"

I'm teaching six separate classes this winter/spring. Six! Each one is at least 8 sessions (this doesn't include the all day workshop that I held in January). 

I enjoy teaching, and over time I've learned some methods for making it less stressful and more successful. There is nothing worse than feeling underprepared- I'm sure everyone has had that terrible dream where you find yourself in school or at an important interview and realize you forgot to wear clothes :)

So, to feel truly prepared, I always complete any exercise that I ask a student to do. In my Intermediate Drawing Class tonight, I'm asking everyone (well, telling them) to draw a still life using only the negative spaces, and above is my example. It was both relaxing and inspiring to draw this way, with no plan to try and sell it, and certainly no plan to take it very seriously.

The Kiss

6.9"x6" oil on board

click here to bid

I lingered near Rodin's The Kiss for a long time, trying to surreptitiously take picture after picture, with more than a few curious looks in my direction. I like the contrast here between the woman bundled for winter, and the spendidly naked couple she's observing. I'm happy with this painting.

Painting the Figure from Digital Images

In the Impressionist Wing

I'm happy to announce that my new online art tutorial, or ArtByte, has just been published! You can find out more about it here. It covers just about everything I've learned (through much trial and error) about painting figures, portraits and animals right from my computer monitor.

This month has sure had me busy with the business side of things. Lots of lesson planning, working on a new blogging project, and getting my second (and final) ArtByte finished has taken almost all my focus. When I'm away from my painting for a while, it seems difficult to pick up a paintbrush when I DO have a little time, as I'm not in the flow.

Also, and maybe only important to me (but I'm dying to share), here is my son's latest song, composed and performed by himself. I wish Will much success in his songwriting career. 

Young Man Tired of his Hometown

oil on board

7"x7"

sold

"Young Man Tired of his Hometown" says it all, but I could have alternatively titled this "Dreaming of Distant Lands"- but how corny would that be? Corny, but absolutely and positively true.

Over the past month or two I've tried to get back to still life, and have either not felt inspired enough to begin, or happy enough with my attempts to keep from wiping it out. I'm mystifed by this, as I spent almost half a year in 2011 just painting vegetables! My gut feeling about this is that paintings of figures can have more of an emotional impact, and that is what I am after.

Kashmiri Baby

oil on board

6"x6"

sold

I wanted to keep this painting loose and have a more spontaneous approach than I'd had with the last one. I had to restrain myself from adding the kinds of delicate details that I love, but that can kill the spirit in a painting. I'm pretty happy with the way this one turned out, because I think I kept the plaintive expression of this baby- a baby beyond cuteness, from far away in Kashmir.

Thanks to Steve Evans again- this is the seventh in a series of portraits based on his world portrait photography. 

Some Pig

oil on board

5"x7"

sold

In Charlotte's Web, "SOME PIG" are the words that Charlotte weaves into her web, trying to persuade the farmer to not slaughter Wilbur.

This painting took a bit more time than I'd planned. I made everything too dark and then had to lighten it all up. Plus I kept getting sidetracked by the pig's wonderful whiskers- if I painted them too obviously, this sweet pig started to look not unlike a rat. Sort of like moles on a person's face- if you paint them, they will dominate!

Thanks again to Steve Evans for the use of his photo, "Iowa Pig". Yes, he takes photos of animals too!

Almost forgot- Nerdwallet featured my Obama portrait in their Best of Indie Spotlight: Election 2012 Obama and Romney