Varney's

Yellow Boat and Masa Restaurant

The restaurant was done on masa paper from a smaller painting I had done in plein air. I like the masa for the weathered look to the buildings.

Sketchcrawl - Sayville

I am happy to be back posting. For some reason I couldn't publish posts for the last week. Nothing worked! Luckily the stars are in alignment and things are working again. lol

Last Saturday was the World Wide Sketchcrawl and I stayed locally in the town of Sayville. I started with a sketch of the Four Star variety store on Main Street with it's Easter decorations and summer lawn furniture outside. Then I moved down the street to sketch the outside of La Tavola, a wonderful restaurant. Next I moved to the grounds of the Maritime Museum. I sketched the greenhouse and one of the boats at the dock.

Please check my fake blog to see what has happened with Angelina.

http://angelinaslifeinvenice.blogspot.com/

Times Square

Sketching and painting Times Square is overwhelming. We were in Manhattan yesterday for a show. We went in early for the AWS Watercolor Show and I brought along my supplies to do something while I was in the city. I lucked out and got a chair in the pedestrian mall in Times Square. I eliminated a lot from this scene. lol This is about 5 x 7.

Please check my fake blog to see what Angelina is doing.

http://angelinaslifeinvenice.blogspot.com

Don

I almost forgot to post this. It was done at the SBAA sketch meeting with a live model last week. This is 5 x 7. Please come visit Angelina in Venice at http://angelinaslifeinvenice.blogspot.com

Rock Hall

This is the back of Rock Hall Estate in Lawrence. I did this in plein air yesterday. It is 4 x 5. Please come visit my fake blog: angelinaslifeinvenice.blogspot.com

Celery Farm View

This was painted at the celery farm in Allendale, NJ yesterday when Mickey and I went out plein air painting. This is 5 x 8.

Please check out Angelina's adventures on my other fake blog.

http://www.angelinaslifeinvenice.blogspot.com

At the Dock

This was painted from across the canal where the Fire Island ferries dock in Sayville. This was done with watercolors and my Lamy pen. It is 3 x 5.

Please visit my fake blog to see what Angelina is doing.

http://angelinaslifeinvenice.blogspot.com

Fly Fishing

I looked around yesterday for something "springlike" to paint, but didn't find much in bloom. I did find a few fly fishermen at a nearby lake. I picked one of them for this painting. It is about 4 x 5.

Don't forget to check on my fake blog about Angelina in Venice.

http://www.angelinaslifeinvenice.blogspot.com/

Handmade Journals & Foster Avenue House

I recently took a bookmaking class on Japanese stab binding. Here is a photo of two of the books I made.

The painting of the blue house was done locally in Sayville. It is 3 x 5.

Please check my fake blog to see what Angelina is up to: http://angelinaslifeinvenice

Portrait of Gloria

This was done last week at the SBAA portrait group. This is 5 x 7.

Please check my fake blog to see what Angelina is up to: http://angelinaslifeinvenice.blogspot.com/

Cross Sound Ferry - Orient Point to New London

Yesterday I met my internet friend, Ai, and her family for the first time. They live in Thailand and are here visiting family. She was in Connecticut for a few days so I took the Cross Sound Ferry over to New London and met her. I sketched on the ferry of course. We had a great day together, and it was fun meeting her husband, Tone, and her adorable children, as well as her "American family." Here is a photo of Ai and myself at a horse farm.

I have moved my fake journal posts for the IFJM to

http://angelinaslifeinvenice.blogspot.com/

Please come and read about Angelina's adventures there.

International Fake Journal - April 1

Fri., April 1 - My name is Angelina and I live in Venice, Italy. I came here on vacation and never went back. Each day I will show you something from my day.

Today I am at the Realto Market buying fruits and vegetables. Wave to Mario. He has the best San Marzano tomatoes you will ever taste! The market closes by one so you have to go early, especially if you want the best selection. Ciao!

(If you are wondering about the International Fake Journals, here is a link: http://officialinternationalfakejournalblog.blogspot.com/)

Gillette Park View

My sketching group met on Wed at Gillette Park in Sayville in the late afternoon. Spring is slowly arriving on Long Island, but the temps were still too cold at $:30 to want to sit outside. Several of us sketched from my car.

Jean's Dad

This was also done for the WDE on WetCanvas from one of Jean's photos. This is 5 x 7.

Central Park Entrance ATC

This is another ATC sized painting I did for the WDE from one of Jean's photos. You would think that living in the NYC area I would get to paint Central Park on occasion, but I rarely get to do that.

Flowering Succulent ATC

This is ATC sized and was done for the WDE on WetCanvas. "Justjean" was hosting and provided the image.

Mary in Blue

The SBAA has a model pose on Tuesday mornings, so I ran over this week to paint. This is 5 x 7.

Pouring Workshop - Painting 4 - Tuscan Street & Photos

My final painting that I worked on was a small section of a photo I had taken in Tuscany. I think it was just simple enough for a pour. I'm posting the value study and the painting itself. I'm also including a few photos of gallery night after the workshops ended. You can see a bit of the wonderful work by the other students hanging on the walls. The first photo is of Jean Grastorf and my sister, Michelle (red blazer), the second is Michelle by her abstract wash out painting and her tee plant pour (both are in the top row), and a photo of me by my tropical painting and the Tuscan street. I can't wait to get my hands wet again and try this technique again.

Pouring Workshop Painting 3- Tropical Colors

For those of you who have never seen someone pour, I'm including a photo of myself in action. Each of the paintings take a long time to complete because there is so much waiting time between each pour. Jean taught us another fun painting technique to try while we were waiting. We used something called wash out tape which we stretched across the watercolor paper overlapping the strips. Then we used a quilter's rotary cutter to cut a design through just the tape. The cut pieces were removed leaving some exposed wc paper. Using a brush we painted across the tape and across these sections. Jean also did a lesson on texturing, so I used some of those methods in the painted areas of my tropical painting.

Pouring Workshop - Painting 2 - Provence Building

A lot of planning went into the poured representational paintings we did. First we did a sketch, and then a value study. This was the map to our pour so we would know which areas needed to be masked out first, second, etc. It makes it possible to see the lights, mid-tones, and darks. Of course transferring the image to the watercolor sheet took a while. I do hate graphite paper! lol Once the image was visible (I always had to go over my lines from the graphite paper) and the first masking dried we could pour. At times it seems that you have more paint on your hands instead of the paper. I used a reference photo I took in Provence for this painting. This one is a half sheet size.

Please check the post below for the abstract I did in Jean's class.

Pouring Workshop - Abstract

This past week my sister and I took a pouring workshop with Jean Grastorf in SC at the Springmaid Watermedia Workshops. To do our pours we used a very limited palette of 3 staining colors-a yellow, a red, and a blue. This abstract was the first piece I started pouring on. We traced our hands, and assorted objects and stencils that were in the room. Using masking fluid we masked out whatever areas we wanted to leave white, and then poured the solutions of the 3 colors over our wet paper, allowing it to mingle before pouring it off. Once that layer was dry we did the same with the next area, masking out the next lightest areas and pouring a stronger value of the same colors. This particular painting has about 5 layers of pours on it. When all the pours are dry the masking is removed from the painting.

New Work Soon

I have been away at a pouring workshop with Jean Grastorf in Myrtle Beach, so I haven't been able to post or even get on the computer while away. Hopefully when I get back home tomorrow I will be able to catch up and post photos of what I've been doing and get to check everyone else's blogs. See you soon.

Journal Fun - Provence

I've been having fun taking the Strathmore Visual Journal Workshops. This is what I did for the second workshop. I extended the pages from a two page spread to four by attaching two extra pages. I sketched the apartment where we stayed in in Provence. I used watercolor and collage to paint the front pages, and outlined most of it with ink. These pages open to a 4 page inside. For the inside pages I used copies of some of my artwork related to Provence, which I then painted over with inktense pencils, and some painted pieces (the grapes, winebottle, and sunflowers) done directly over the journal writing on the page. Now I'm dreaming about how to do Monet's Garden and Venice.

Nancy Ruth

Our plein air group is still not meeting yet, so I went to the SBAA Sketch group yesterday. They have been meeting each week and have a model to work from. It was fun to do this, and I should have been joining them all winter. This is Nancy Ruth and the painting is 5 x 7.

Ducks at the Lake

My wanderings took me back to Artist Lake on Saturday. This is 3 x 5.

Clowning Around

This was also done for the WDE from one of Catherine's references. It is ATC sized (2.5 x 3.5). I think he's a bit scarey!

Tropical Color

This is ATC sized (2.5 x 3.5) done for the WDE on WetCanvas from a reference by "crispur." My thanks to Catherine for her photo.

Along the River

This was painted along the Carmen River in Brookhaven. There is a nature trail there which I have never taken. The building reminded me of a Maine cottage. This is 3 x 5.

Justin

I decided I needed to do at least one portrait for the week. This is my nephew's little boy from a photo I took at a family reunion a few years ago. Justin is more impish that I was able to make him look. This is about 5 x 5.

Along the Bay

I snuck out for a little plein air painting from the car yesterday. It was too windy down by the water to sit outside, so I sat in my "studio." This was done down by Corey Beach in Blue Point, from the parking lot across from the marina. It is 3 x 5.

Birds of a Feather

This was done for the WDE on WetCanvas from a reference provided by the host, Catherine. This is 4 x 9.

Warwick Barn

Yesterday I drove up to Middletown, NY for the North East Watercolor Society's Member's Show reception. I had 2 paintings in the show. I went up early so I would have time to search for some barns in the area. I found this one in Warwick, NY. It looked like it was vacant and needed a bit of TLC, which made it perfect to paint.

Bowling Sketches

Last night I met fellow artists, Susan and Roseanne from the Patchogue Sketch Club, at Bowl Long Island at Patchogue for a evening of sketching. It isn't so easy to catch the movements of the bowlers...those waiting for their turn were much easier. It was fun!

Care for a Sip?

I've been working some of my scavenger hunt sketches into ATCs (2.5 x 3.5) for an upcoming swap at a local gallery. This is one of them.

Snowy Lawn

Just cruzin' the neighborhood with the fresh snow on the ground, and this called to me. 3 x 5 in my February journal.

Palmed Beach

This was also done for the WDE from one of Valri's references. Yes, I did three for this weekend. This is ATC sized (2.5 x 3.5).

Little Olivia

This is another painting I did for the WDE that Valri is hosting on WetCanvas. This is 3 x 5.

Blazing Flowers

This is ATC sized (2.5 x 3.5) and was done from a reference by Valri who is hosting the WDE on WetCanvas this weekend. I love the colors.