Call Me a Tree Hugger

I have always loved trees. As a child I was a tree climber. As a young woman, I sensed a communication with an old Douglas Fir outside a friend's house. Really. I reached out to the tree in my mind, and I felt--sensed--the tree respond. Not in words of course.

Later, as a teacher of young children, I was gathering fir branches to decorate the classroom, for a unit on NW Native Americans. I had clippers in hand, but could not bring myself to cut branches from living trees. It felt like I was cutting off their fingers. In my mind, I said to the tree, "I need some greens for my classroom." I looked around, and there was a large branch full and green laying on the ground!

I used that, of course, hung it from the ceiling.  It gave us the feeling of being in the forest.

Every point of land here in the Puget Sound seems to have a Cedar or Douglas Fir leaning out over the water, like a sentinel.

I've heard that pioneers used fir or pine needles to make a tea rich in vitamin C. Native Americans used Cedar bark for clothing, ropes, to weave into blankets. The roots they made into baskets, and the trunk made their canoes. I can imagine each tree being asked it's permission before it's bark or trunk was used.

Just being among trees or standing at the foot of one gives me a sense of comfort. I feel protected when I lean against the trunk of an evergreen. Trees are like friends.

OK, call me a tree hugger. I am  not offended.

Fall watercolor painting; next step

To review: we started with a light pencil sketch and a couple of ink lines,  then painted in the lightest colors:

We used some "negative painting" to define the shape of the orange tree by painting around it with a medium value green.

Now come the dark colors. Add the darks last. You can always make things darker, but in watercolor, you can't make things lighter. Well, unless you use gouche paints, but that's another story. Notice how the dark green makes the orange and the yellow green trees more vibrant.

The very darkest colors give the whole painting a vibrancy and guide your eye around the painting, while a few ink lines define a bit of detail. I used a white jelly pen to add highlights and to give your eye a nice paved pathway, so to say .

Mondays I plan to introduce some common watercolor techniques, so stay tuned!

I'm back! and working hard on character development, life drawing, and watercolor technique.

How do I illustrate the magic of the woods?

Good heavens, it's been nearly a month since I last posted!

If you've been following my watercolor techniques series and I have left you hanging, I'm sorry. It's

January, my time of going inward—and perhaps yours as well. And...well, there's something about getting immersed in Christmas activities and turn of the year introspection that erases last year's concerns. Some of them.

I'm all on fire for new projects and new learnings.

And for delving into projects I've put on hold for years.

Oh, I haven't forgotten you, those of you looking for watercolor techniques.  I'm honing my skills in this medium, which means re-visiting some basic techniques.  Please do come along for the ride!

This year—well, at this moment anyway—I've put aside my painting on silk to focus on storytelling in words and images.  I've stories to tell! Some are mine, some are the stories of people dear to me.

I have much to learn about how to illustrate my stories. How to draw characters so that you can see who they are and a bit about how they think. How to paint the magical/real world my characters live in. How to show you the magic I experience on the beach and in the woods.

my first ever children's book was Atom's Monster

First on the agenda is my upcoming show at the Vashon Tea Shop. I've decided to show some of my progression illustrating fantasy, starting with my book Atom's Monster and ending with my current project, which I am calling “the Troll Story”. This show opens February 5^th at the Vashon Tea Shop, 17610 Vashon Hwy SW, Vashon, WA 98070, reception 6:00pm to 8:30 pm. I hope to see you there. 

I will be showing unpublished paintings as well as published illustrations.

Concurrently, I am developing my skills in figure drawing, character development, and watercolor painting. I have found teachers online, in books, and in the studio.

For figure drawing, I am drawing with Will Forester and Mike McGrath in the studio. Also, I am using Mike Mattesi's book Force as well as his online videos.

For character development, books by TomBancroft are my principle teachers.

I'm honing my watercolor painting skills with Imaginary Landscapes by Toni Smiber, and drawing inspiration from Stephanie Pui-Mun Law.

I am approaching this as my “art school”, expecting that I will have the discipline to “go to class” with my teachers consistently. Do you mind if I occasionally share here lessons from my studies? You will be exposed to some of my failures as well as successes.

After the Pencil or Pen Sketch, Adding Color

The hardest thing for me is to remember to paint the lightest brightest colors first. I am so used to

defining what I see by the shadows and lines! However, in watercolor you can't paint light over dark because the pigments are various degrees of transparent.

If you try, you get mud.

Usually the lightest area is the sky, but I don't always paint it first.  Here in the Pacific Northwest, it is often gray, or white. When young children are asked what color is the sky, they often answer, "white".

If your sky is blue and you have oranges and yellows in your sketch, your oranges will turn brown and your yellows will turn green if you paint them over the blue sky.

At this point you are painting loosely, not trying to stay carefully within your pencil lines, or you will get a paint by number look.

You will get nice color blends if you work "wet on wet". For example, the red and orange were added while the yellow was still wet.  Now let it dry.

Once it is dry you can add your middle values. The darker green now gives definition to the bright orange foliage of the tree at left. Anything you want white or nearly white, leave alone until later.

Preparing the Sketch for Color-Pencil or Pen?

Pencil sketch; ink lines determine the composition

Sometimes I use pencil, sometimes I use a black drawing pen. They give a different effect, but honestly, I don't make this decision consciously. Currently I like to start with a pencil drawing.

Do think about composition. You are in charge; you can move things around, leave them out, put in something that pleases you. Think about how your eye will travel over the page. What draws your eye first? Where will the lines in the composition lead your eye?

 Sometimes if I start with a drawing pen and try to add color before the ink has properly dried--and the ink runs! Not what I wanted, but, well, I rather like this effect! (Remember, it's all an experiment!)

Here are some different effects:

Oops! The ink ran! Oh well....

Second try, done first in pencil, then watercolor, then pen.

Lightly sketched in ink, then watercolor pencil