In early summer, Colin organized group sketching sessions that were both supportive and social. These sessions have become, for me, a welcomed weekly sketching evening in the company of some incredibly talented Ottawa artists.
The Week 1 Alley sketchers
Below is a brief recap of some of the places we have sketched, some of the tweets we shared and some scans of sketches in my art journal.
Alley Project - Week 6 - Glebe
Beautiful laneway with majestic pine and interesting garage in the Glebe (My art journal - mixed media - 100% cotton paper )
Interior of burnt out building on Bank at 5th Ave (My art journal - mixed media - 100% cotton paper )
Roof detail of burnt building (My art journal - mixed media - 100% cotton paper )
Alley Project - Week 5 - Vanier
Horse cart and trailer in Vanier laneway (My art journal - graphite wash and watercolour - 100% cotton paper )
Bike Tune-up shop in Vanier (My art journal - mixed media - 100% cotton paper )
Alley Project - Week 4 - Chinatown
Alley Project - Week 3 - Hintonburg
Alley Project - Week 2 - James St
Alleyway west of Bank (My art journal - ink/watercolour - 100% cotton paper )
Alley detail - behind Buzz restaurant (My art journal - ink/watercolour - 100% cotton paper )
Alley Project - Week 1 - Jack Purcell
Alley west of Elgin (near Jack Purcell) (My art journal - ink/watercolour - 100% cotton paper )
Alley west of Elgin (near Jack Purcell) (My art journal - ink/watercolour - 100% cotton paper )
This summer I have been taking note of several artist calls. My fun sketches below were created in my art journal after I had tweeted (@cindiforeman) about the Atomic Rooster artist call for their annual Cock Show 2015. I read the artist call and wondered "Should I enter the show?" and "What rooster would I create?"
My art journal: Rooster sketches
I thought it would be great to collect artist calls on one page to share with other artists. If you know of any that are not included here, please add them in the comment section below.
Today I finally made some proof runs of an Ottawa alley (off Bank) that I had imagined as a styrofoam relief print.
Ottawa Alley
(The image had been flipped horizontally)
Proof #1
I used Scratch-Foam Board that is generally used for teaching children relief printmaking because no sharp tools are required. I liked the idea that styrofoam could be used to interpret an alley way. Its that piece of material that we generally discard when we unwrap whatever it had been protecting.
Scratch-Foam Board
I have also done prints using the styrofoam that butchers use in grocery stores to wrap meat. In the styrofoam relief below (a print of my daughter holding a camera) I used a piece of styrofoam that was discarded from the chicken we had purchased for dinner.
Styrofoam relief made from common butcher's styrofoam
I used a number of different tools on this first practice run: a scratch etch stylus and clay modelling tools but the best tool of all was an old discarded chopstick (top).
Tools
Carved styrofoam on the right (after inking)
In my original carving, I had used the chopstick to indicate bricks. When I ran a couple of prints, I found it much too busy and when I added watercolour later, it became a bit of a muddy mess.
I used Speedball water soluble printing ink: black (3400).
This is one of the original runs
showing the brick effect
The bricks were easy to eliminate just by smoothing out the styrofoam with the chopstick until the "bricks" were gone. Below is a proof without bricks.
This is one of the original runs
without the brick effect
Below is my first proof with watercolour added. I plan to experiment with more colours (the more intense the better) and with different papers.
It seemed to me that styrofoam was well suited for this type of project - it is a commonly discarded material; it is fast to carve on location (unlike linoleum) and it's lightweight and easy to pack.
Tuesday was the last day of our six session summer landscape painting with famous Canadian artist David W. Jones. I am going to miss David and this great group of landscape artists.
David chose Pinhey's Point for our last painting session and I realized that I had accidentally ended up in that general area last fall. I had blogged about a fall road trip in October 2014 where we had attended an estate sale that was located next to a graveyard and old abandoned church.
I was excited about this last session. I was curious about what the area would look like in the summer.
Pinhey's Point Historic Plaque
Pinhey's Point, located on the Ottawa river, is exceptionally beautiful from every angle.
Sketch from "Kite Arial Photograph" (KAP)
(see link at bottom of page)
The cumulus clouds were incredibly robust and plentiful. I could have easily passed the day just sketching the clouds as they rolled by.
Sailboats taking shelter in the bay at Pinhey's Point
Pinhey's Point provides a pretty little bay which serves as a very popular day anchorage, and a convenient overnight anchorage for sailboats. There were five sailboats anchored there when we visited on Tuesday.
Sketch of view from the bottom of the hill
View from the bottom of the hill
I made several small quick sketches as I explored Pinhey's Point.
The sailboats anchored in the bay
The pines on the Point
I sketched the five pines midway down the Point. I liked the reflection of the pines in the water of the little bay.
Pinheyès Point reflection
I learned from David that access to the Point was closed to the public sometime ago. This is because it was found that the large number of visitors was endangering the ecology of this small strip of land.
Because it was our last session, we arranged a potluck picnic which was enjoyed by all while we were regaled with David's stories of his interesting encounters with jazz musicians. What a lovely way to spend our last day together.
The picnic lunch
Celebration of summer painting
The artists: 'The Group of Ten' (one person was missing unfortunately)
and our wonderful teacher David W. Jones
Although I painted eight landscape paintings, not one of them was ever entirely finished when it came time to leave the location. This is partially explained by the fact that I get carried away with sketching while I am exploring the location and generally didn't start painting until after lunch. This left me only two hours!
But I did learn something about painting, something about the landscape and something about myself at every single session.
Below is the painting I started after lunch on our final day. I loved the colours!
My easel with my two hour acrylic painting
Many Thanks David W. Jones!
I am reposting the video I posted earlier about our wonderful summer landscape teacher David W. Jones. He has been teaching art courses for a LOT of years and plans to continue doing so. If you have enjoyed these posts and are thinking of trying one of David's courses, check with the Ottawa District School Board.
