I’ve just posted my wrap-up of my 2014 experience with International Fake Journal Month on my other blog… SkylarkKarma.wordpress.com. Real blog… Fake Journal.
In a year of “No Explanations”, explanations are forthcoming.
IFJM wrap-up
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Think You Can’t Paint? Just Try the Waterlogue App!
Have you ever taken a photo and said… “I’m going to paint this scene after I’m home!” … and then never did?
Well, that’s TOTALLY my M.O.! So many photographs, so little time! I took this photo of shorebirds on my recent trip to San Diego. (I tried looking them up… are they Marbled Godwits?) I was definitely going to take my watercolors out and paint them.
BWA-HA-HA!!!!! … that was a month ago.
Enter the Waterlogue app. First off… you’ll need and Apple iPhone, iPad or iPod touch running iOS 7. The two creators, John Balestrieri and Robert Clair are working on a version that will run on a desktop/laptop Mac running OSX but it isn’t available yet. And sorry, you Android folks are out of luck.
Waterlogue will allow you to choose from 12 algorithms and paints an image as you might, sketching first, then painting light to dark.
Click each image to enlarge.
Waterlogue – Natural
Waterlogue – Bold
Waterlogue – Luminous
Waterlogue – It’s Technical
Waterlogue – Travelogue
Waterlogue – Rainy
Waterlogue – Illustration
Waterlogue – Soaked
Waterlogue – Shallow
Waterlogue – Color Bloom
Waterlogue – Fashionable
Waterlogue – Blotted
I’m rather fond of Natural and Color Bloom but each choice is amazing!
Is it original art? No, after all, it’s still a copy. Will I give up my watercolors? Heck no! But this is so much fun just for the immediacy of it, I envision using it as a model to emulate with my brush and paints.
It’s the best $2.99 I’ve ever spent! Find it in the App Store and prepare to lose yourself as you play. Isn’t that what art’s all about anyway?
Stephanie Reininger – Watercolor Demo at Long River Studios
Saturday, April 19th was the date of World Wide SketchCrawl #43! Coincidentally, I went to an artist demonstration at Long River Studios, a gallery in Lyme, NH that specializes in works by local artists. Hmmmm… two birds, one stone?
Stephanie Reininger, a watercolorist, demonstrated her loose and expressive style for a group of avid admirers. I did a quick gesture sketch to document my day and then settled in to absorb her fluid watercolor technique and try to grasp as much technical information as possible.
Thank you David and Lisa Chelone for bringing this unique experience to your gallery! We all were blown away by your open and welcoming friendship, and of course, the awesome blueberry buckle!
And special thanks to Stephanie Reininger! You’ve inspired me to work larger and outside my beloved sketchbook!
One last thank you… to Michelle Goldsmith, who spied the advertisement and gave me a quick email! You’re the best!
Halfway Point for International Fake Journal Month
There’s a lot to celebrate today. The snow is totally gone from my garden, I’ve paid my taxes and I’m halfway into my April project, Roz Stendahl’s creation, International Fake Journal Month.
This year’s motto, No Explanations, means there’ll be no details ’till May but I do have 15 images for you to checkout on my dedicated IFJM blog: skylark karma.wordpress.com. If you’re a stickler for reading consecutive posts feel free to start with the April 1st post and go from there!
Posting daily seems to keep me on my toes so be sure to return as the month progresses and remember…
Sketchbook Skool… art for me!
I’ve matrikulated into Sketchbook Skool!
This endeavor is a wonderful kollaboration of Danny Gregory and Koosje Koene, two artists I’ve followed for quite a while. They’ve put together a six week kourse, (adding the k is killing me… I’ll stop now.) each week featuring the art, inspiration and guidance of a different artist. Danny took the first week and inspired us to draw the ordinary, the everyday… no special equipment, just a sketchbook and a pen. Paint the page first if a blank white page makes you freeze… just start.
Just yesterday, Koosje’s lessons, week 2, were posted.
I particularly appreciated Koosje’s intonation to “get over yourself!”… to just get out and draw… out in the open, in the community, even if… gasp!… people may be watching! This has long been one of my goals so I packed my sketchbook Friday evening when we went to a friend’s home for a Celtic music house concert.
My apologies, portraiture is not a specialty, but I’m going to keep working on it!
Next up… Prashant Miranda.
Greek Salad Skewers
My friend Jann is au courant in the food scene. Her daughter, Jennifer Block and son-in-law, Steve Perlstein run the Simmer Truck... a food truck in Milwaukee, Wisconsin… coincidentally, my hometown. They specialize in fresh soups and panini and have expanded to full service catering.
I’ve spent the morning perusing their website and menus and now I’m starving. Believe you me… if I were there, I’d be first in line!
Anyway, I gave Jann my favorite appetizer “recipe” to share if they’re interested.
This visual version is for you Jann!
Journal52 – Weeks 4 through 7
I’m still working on catching up with the Journal52 challenges although I suspect I never will. This week’s challenge is #14 … so, you do the math.
Anyway… here’s what I’ve done in the last few weeks.
Stillman & Birn
For the last year or so I’ve been following the Stillman & Birn blog and entering each giveaway as they are posted but no luck until earlier this month! I’m so excited… I was one of the winners of the February giveaway! I was given a set of 12 Caran d’Ache Museum Aquarelle watercolor pencils and a choice of either a Beta or Zeta 8.5″ x 11″ sketchbook.
I’ve been using a Stillman & Birn Alpha sketchbook for the the majority of the pages seen on the blog lately and I love the white vellum pages. After searching the blog for other artists’ images, I decided to opt for the Beta. Same white pages but thicker and slightly more texture… it’s billed as cold pressed.
I hate to have more than one sketchbook going at a time… it’s one of my many quirks… so the Beta will just have to wait it’s turn, but it’ll definitely be next.
I’m also going to have fun playing with the watercolor pencils. This set of 12 has both a warm and cool of the three primaries, two greens, two earth colors, a gray and a black… it seems to be a perfect basic combination!
Thanks Stillman & Birn!
Spring Makes Me Smile! Journal52 – week 3
Spring arrives today!
16:57 UTC… that’s 12:57 EDT for me!
The science geek in me loves knowing all about the Vernal Equinox but Spring to me is much more than angles, celestial equators and orbits. Since it’s too early here for sprouting things in the garden, it’s the changes in the light and the sound of arriving songbirds.
Journal52 – Week 3 Prompt: You make me smile!
Earlier this month I picked up the Saturday’s Features section of the New Hampshire Union Leader intrigued by the bird coverage. In the March 8th issue there was the New Hampshire Audubon’s Rare Bird Alert, an article on Turkey vultures and a wonderful photo of three American robins in flight by David Lane of the Union Leader.
I have tried time and time again to sketch birds in flight with various degrees of success so I used Mr. Lane’s photo as a reference as I practiced bird flight anatomy. Is it great? No, but as I look at this spread I can almost hear them chirping as they devour my remaining crabapples!
I know there have been pockets of robins living here all winter but they’ll always be my harbingers of Spring!
EDM 15-12
Just a quick check-in on my progress… still working my way down to #1 on the EveryDay Matters list.
Thanks for visiting!
Dana Burrell... Art 