Crockett Lake

I did a swing-by Crockett Lake for a quick watercolor sketch. It was an intensely bright day and as a result I think I treated the color too timidly. I have to keep reminding myself to beef it up since watercolor dries lighter. This day I was intrigued by the colors, patterns and forms scattered around the landscape. The wild roses in bloom sprinkled pinks on sage green and the purple/blue patterns in the gravel rocks all made for an active landscape. The fragrance of roses in the breeze was intoxicating!

Crockett Lake is a shallow brackish lake that's located within Ebey's Historic Preserve near Coupeville. It's protected habitat and serves as temporary and permanent home to 238 species of birds. It's definitely one of Whidbey Island's crown jewels. You can read more about it here.

Earth and Sky

With such a broad spectrum of weather events yesterday, I thought I'd go out and try to record it. Looking towards the Olympic Peninsula from the beach, the clouds were quite dramatic with little distinction between earth and sky.


I got a little carried away with that dark strip of land.

 
I gave it another try. The light and atmosphere changed very quickly as the sun was setting. A cool, northwest evening. It was beautiful, as usual!

Peony Sketch Video

It's Peony Time

A couple sketches of my tree peony. I filmed the process of creating the first image and hope to have it uploaded in the next couple days, when I figure out the editing software. Unfortunately I filmed it sideways!

Quick Sketch Horses

On a gorgeous spring day I glimpsed these horses standing near the road grazing so I pulled over for a quick sketch. Unfortunately I was unable to get in any more, within a few minutes they had grazed their way to a much farther location. I tried to capture the elegant movement of the Pinto's tail swatting flies. A strikingly beautiful horse. The other too.

Siri and Steve at Ott and Murphy

After Sketching at Callahan's Firehouse a few of us headed to Ott and Murphy for live music and a glass of wine. OM has expanded which means more room for sketch supplies! And elbows. For musicians too. This evening we were serenaded by Siri Bardarson on electric cello and Steve Trembley on guitar. What a delight! I'm not sure how to describe their music. Eclectic? With comedy mixed in. Feel good music without the musak. Lively and beautiful. Regardless, if you have a chance to catch them, you're in for a treat.

Here's a few of my sketches...

A patron enjoying the show

Sketching at Callahan's Firehouse Gallery

Whidbey Island Sketchers met at Callahan's in Langley last Friday. Callahan is a fire breather... almost. He blows glass and his shop occupies the old fire station in Langley. It's a neat place to sketch an artist at work. Also sketch the beautiful glass pieces he creates. When I first arrived it was pretty chilly out, but the sun was shinning at the Commons' across the street, so went there for a warm up. When I heard Callahan was working I tootled over for a look see. Here's a few of my sketches... I'm so rusty!

The brilliant Mr. Mike Burroughs was my first subject...

A quickie of glass flowers...

Super quick gestures of Callahan and the glory hole...

Sue sketching Callahan

And Sweet Robert, Phyllis' hubby.

Stay tuned for more from our sketch filled evening!

Fall at Possession Point

Here's a plein air painting done at Possession Point Park during warmer weather. This painting was very pleasing to do and is probably my most successful oil painting to date. Not that it's all that successful, but I feel I learned some things about brush strokes and subject matter. Keep it simple! And working in a smaller size is much more manageable.

Fall at Possession Point, 12x9, oil on hardboard

Rosario Beach

Rosario Beach is just north of Deception Pass. Its a stunningly beautiful area.
Eons ago I took a watercolor class in college where we painted outside daily. It was there I learned how much I love painting plein air. Another thing I learned was to dip my brush into a different color each time. A technique I used to some degree here.

Hammons Apples

An oil sketch of apples before the harvest...

Hammons Preserve

A few plein air studies of Hammons Preserve. Hammons overlooks Cultus Bay. A beautiful place to have a picnic or just sit on the bench and admire the landscape.
A couple words about painting oil en plein air... It's very difficult!! But there's nothing like being outside, painting in the open, watching the subtle changes in light.

Cultus Bay from Hammons, 16"x12", oil on hardboard

Apple Trees, Hammons Preserve, 11"x14". oil on Hardboard

Hammons Preserve, 9"x12", oil on hardboard

Cultus Bay from Hammons 2, 18"x20", oil on hardboard

Birthday Sunflowers

For Missy, a fellow sketcher and blossoming artist. You can see her lovely work here, at the Anacortes Sketchers.

A sketcher sketching

Possession

Here's a plein air painting done at Possession Park. Late afternoon light is my favorite, especially this time of year. It's golden. For me the most challenging aspect of painting with oils is keeping colors clean and creating strong value contrasts. I have to remind myself to pull back on using white.

Possession, 12x9, Oil on Birch

Plein Air-ing

Having some fun with oils on location. Fun to slather the paint on. It's gooey, mushy tactile loveliness. Though it's easy to end up with a pile of gray paint. I do really enjoy the surface aspect of this medium. Got more to post, so stay tuned!

Mike's Sunflowers, 12"x8", oil sketch on Maple

Getting Beat

I beat this sketch to a pulp but, frankly, I feel more beat by it. When all else fails just pound on them. But I learned some things. And have some new ideas for how I may want to handle complex backgrounds in the future.

Here's to Useful Herbs

They're great for sketches. Here's a couple quick ones of some of my favorites. From upper left to right, then lower center: hot and spicy oregano, lovage, rosemary, purple sage and caraway thyme. I know the lovage gets large, so will probably need transplanting. This celery like plant is great in soups and salads. Caraway thyme smells just like it's name and is wonderful in potato soup.

And another use, my recipe for:
Parchment Chicken with Herbs, Roasted Garlic and Onion
Ingredients:
2 Chicken Breasts
1 small coarsely chopped onion
4-8 cloves roasted garlic
Handful of chopped fresh herbs... oregano, sage, rosemary, thyme, Parsley, basil. Anything you have on hand.
1 tablespoon or so Olive oil
Salt and pepper

Sprinkle chicken lightly with salt and pepper, then brown on both sides quickly in oiled pan. Remove chicken.
Cut 2 large 12"x16" pieces of parchment.
For each:
Place 1/4 of the chopped onion in middle of the parchment paper, Add on top 1-2 cloves of roasted garlic, sprinkle 1/4 of the herbs and salt and pepper to taste. Place chicken on top. Add 1/4 herbs, 2 garlics, 1/4 onion and 1/2 tablespoon olive oil on chicken, salt and pepper to taste.
Wrap each chicken up by folding edges of the paper. They should look like they're in big, upright envelopes. Punch 2- 1/4 inch holes. Bake in 375 degree oven for 30 minutes or so depending on size of the chicken breast. Comes out juicy and delicious.
I plate it with baked or boiled potatoes and put the roasted garlic on top so no butter is needed. The potatoes soak up the juices. And, of course, include a green vegetable of your choice.

Lilacs

Some pretty flowers a friend brought...

Maxwelton Beach Sunset

A warm weather evening for painting at Maxwelton Beach...

OM Again

Another lovely evening at Ott and Murphy Wines sketching to Janie and Joe and sipping OM's delicious wines. Janie and Joe rocked the house!

WISk at Windjammer Park

Whidbey Island Sketchers had a windy sketch meet at Windjammer Park in Oak Harbor yesterday. Regardless, a fun time was had by all. The Windmill there is a great subject, but very difficult to draw. After one attempt we opted for more comfortable sketching conditions at Flyers, an Oak Harbor sports bar. More fun of course!
If you're in the neighborhood and looking for something to do this weekend, Oak Harbor's Holland Happening festival is in full swing. And check out the sketchers delightful versions of the windmill at our WISk blog. Here are mine...

At Flyers...

Catherine