Spring in the Park

Spring is struggling to make itself known this year. There’s a chill in the air. Cold breezes vied with bright sunshine in Central Park this weekend.  Color and light caught your eye after taking in some artworks inside the Metropolitan Museum of Art.   From the top of the museum, the Manhattan skyline edged the tops of the furthest trees.  One can imagine spring settling in here soon.

Illustration: “Spring in the Park”, watercolor, pastel, gouache and burnt sienna drawing ink on 10″ X 7″ Arches rough paper by Black Elephant Blog author (2018)

Spring Cleaning & Unfinished Projects

As the weather improves, the spring cleaning bug hits many of us.  Eventually the “art room” must be tackled, always a hazardous undertaking because of the many unexpected finds tucked here and there.  So many unfinished pieces of work, and so many memories about what was going on in my life when the work was undertaken. It is difficult to complete cleaning tasks because so many projects (pastels, watercolors, and even an oil painting) still beckon to be completed  now or, at least, that a decision be made about them.  Doodles and sketches abound, mostly made during embarrassingly many hours ‘wasted’ watching the evening news over the past nail-biting sort of year.  Frames and matts need to be sorted through…and books continue to pile up despite mostly having no connection to the art efforts at least not so far.  (How to connect democracy, climate change and other readings to art…that is another unfinished project?)

Illustration: “News-time Doodles,” gel pens on black paper, by Black Elephant Blog author (2018)

The vision of more space in the room–still just a vision–and the notion that greater work can be done with less clutter spurs me on.  It helps that the weather outside is glorious and beckons…  and it will be possible to go enjoy it once this is done.

Rooftops of Tübingen

Practicing with a limited palette of Raw Umber, Ultramarine Blue, and Titanium White, my subject for this oil painting exercise are the rooftops–which actually are various shades of orange and red–of Tübingen, as seen from the window of a fourth floor walkup attic apartment in a house dating from the 1500s.  Far below in the thicket of roofs and small balconies are narrow streets that wind their way through this ancient university town on the Neckar River in Germany.  I will attempt to do a wider landscape scene of the rooftops in a more realistic palette quite soon.  There is a great view of the city from the castle just up the street from this house–a castle which houses the humanities department of the University of  Tübingen, which itself was founded in 1477.

Illustration: “Rooftops of Tübingen”, oil on canvas by Black Elephant Blog author (2018)

Cherry Blossom Season

‘Tis the time for bountiful cherry blossom trees decorating the Tidal Basin in the heart of Washington, D.C.

Illustration: “Admiring the Cherry Blossoms,” watercolor, gouache, and pen-and-ink on Arches paper by Black Elephant Blog author (2018)

When the trees–which were a gift from Japan in 1912–are at their peak, people visit from all over the world, pushing baby strollers and carrying long camera tripods. Whole families with grandparents and toddlers make their way to this glorious spot.  Amidst the calm chaos of thousands of people walking underneath the beautiful blossoms are picnickers, and couples positioning themselves for that perfect photo with the Jefferson Memorial in the background. Every language in the world can be heard at this time.  Women in traditional  Japanese costumes pose for photos between the trees. Buddhist monks in flowing orange robes bike past some of the crowds.  Even on a cloudy day it’s a beautiful scene.

 

Oil Painting Class #1

I’ve had my first oil painting class this week, along with 15 other students.  It’s exciting to finally learn the processes involved in using this medium, including the proper positioning of one’s easel. There’s simply no alternative to learning the basics.  I have dabbled before but knew I was missing some key information not to mention also a lifetime of experience.  It’s wonderful to learn about underpainting canvases, using a palette knife to mix colors, creating different values, and so forth.  So very different from watercolor, but it’s going to be fun to keep up with both types of painting.  One of my older experiments on wood panel accompanies this post. More to come…

Illustration: “Mainau Insel” (oil on board) by Black Elephant Blog author (2017)