Yukon

So how was I supposed to know? I thought north meant cool, even cold. I had never been north of the arctic circle and I had no idea what to bring to wear. I checked the weather averages, 15-16 degrees Celsius for the high. Well, that is cool. So I packed my summer wardrobe and a few extras for more layers if I needed them. Well, I never wore the layers, it was glorious. So much for preconceived ideas. The weather man marveled at the records hit each day, 22, 23 and 19. September in Whitehorse is breathtaking too. The colours are spectacular, the water in the Yukon river is actually turquoise. It looks drinkable! One of the fabulous forays into the surrounding area included Miles Canyon. We strolled, sketched and compared notes. As usual I picked something with sharp contrasts and negative space, so predictable. Pencil does not quite capture the colours though and ink would have done more justice to the deep shadows. Still, all in all, it is somewhere I would like to visit again. Perhaps we will drive next time…. Life is good.

Airports

Lately I have been spending a lot of time at airports. There have been great opportunities to observe human nature, connect to strangers and paint. I like choosing subjects who are more or less settled, unaware of my presence and engaged in an activity that will allow them to remain in stationary position for a length of time, enough time for me to do a sketch. Often I will begin several subjects so that I may return to the previous one once they have resumed their original position. Memory plays a part as well. Then there are occasions when I rely more heavily upon memory or artistic license. Such is the case with this study as I waited in Vancouver for the flight to Whitehorse. The young lady would eventually turn out to be my roommate for the event we were both attending. She was blissfully immersed in her book as I took out my watercolour pencil and began to draw her and the surroundings in the five by seven sketch pad I always take with me. The portable studio fits well into a purse that can hold water, brushes, spray gun, pens, pencils, tissues, paint, pad of 140lb paper, warming blanket and a rain poncho which serves as a tarp on occasion. It measures approximately ten inches by eight inches by four inches. It has been through many scanners and will continue to do so. I could not finish the sketch as some other participants arrived and she chose to join them in animated conversation. The next time I took out my paints was in Los Angeles. Instead of beginning something new I decided to finish this one knowing that I had total freedom to choose the colours I wished without regard for the original scene. It was good to get back to brush to paper….

In the Garden

Well, I missed last week and I am late this week! I am staggering from the information I took in during the training program of Braveheart Women Resonate. In the meantime I am still waiting for heat in my new studio so the boxes are still configured in Everest style and I have little idea where anything is… Sigh. I am suffering from withdrawal. Today I will do some drawing and tomorrow I will do some painting in preparation for a class. Now let’s turn to yesterday. The two flower studies are from the garden at Hollyhock on Cortes Island. A magnificent retreat, so peaceful, so beautiful. The garden was full of flowers even at the end of August and it produces much of their salad ingredients and herbs for their kitchen. It is a wonderland of textures, colours and contrasts. Sunshine makes such a difference as you can see. The hydrangeas enjoyed a subdued light under a cloudy sky, graying the colours and forcing a look at a more abstract composition. The lily basked in full sun. The exercise here was more about few strokes, clean colours, and contrast. Yes, it is time to get back to painting…..

Beach House

This is an exercise in grays, light and gradations. Beginning with a panel covered in black gesso I sketched in the major tonal areas before adding the cool gray for the house in the background and the warm gray of the tree in the foreground. The tonal value of each set up the rest of the image as each colour was added allowing the dark of the panel to show through. This opens so many possibilities. We could begin with a red panel or a green panel or a blue, purple, orange, fuchsia…the choices are endless. Each base colour would cause a different reaction with the subsequent colours. Adding the fun of juxtaposing warm and cool grays formed from complementary colours and magic happens. Magic or chaos… The fun is in the experimentation. In the background, over to the right, a little gradation is happening in the sky as the blue gray gradually becomes an orangey pink. Grays make it possible. This is another whole world to explore. I can hardly wait to get started!