Sketchbook Tips:Traveling

Painted on the tray table in the airplane.. awkward!

I was in Vashon Island, Washington this weekend so this subject is on my mind.
I'm a notoriously heavy packer and when it comes to art supplies I go way overboard
and practically bring another suitcase just filled with paint, pens etc,
I'm really working on streamlining this problem.
This time I brought my Koi Travel Watercolor set , a tube of black and white gouache,
A little old tin box with 3 paintbrushes,
a black pen, a pencil, an eraser, a gold gel pen and a white jelly roll pen. And
a Strathmore mixed media sketchbook. Thats it. Still sort of seems like a lot but
it was more manageable.

Sitting in the kitchen looking out at Puget Sound
I always think I will have tons of time to paint and draw while I'm away but it never
happens that way. We have plans, there are other people involved who have
their own agenda so there is still some planning time involved. I just insist and make
people wait sometimes. Its only 30 minutes after all.... Then there is subject matter.
It's always visually stimulating, different and a bit confusing. It sometimes takes me
a few days to absorb what I've seen.
On this trip I decided to paint interior scenes from the friends house where I was staying.
It was there, I could do it live without having to photograph and gather ideas.

The Living Room.
And I do take lots of pictures of course. To be used when I get home. But there was one this
weekend that had to get painted. At a party one night this cute dog named Bear was having the
most relaxing time.

Please visit my full Sketchbook Project here!

Sketchbook Tips: Supplies

Im going to talk about supplies today. The thing is, what I love might not be the best
for you. Everyone has a special feel for their favorite way of working so take what I say
as a suggestion but find your own love!
I wrote a post about this last year when I was finishing up year one. You can read that here.
I paint primarily with gouache. Winsor Newton is my absolute favorite, maybe because I
learned with that brand in my first job as a textile artist in NY.

I keep the colors separated in different boxes, warm and cool, to make it a bit easier to
find the one I'm looking for. I also have Holbein, Schmincke, Linel. I love them too, I usually get
those in colors that WN doesn't have. I mix color of course but Im an art supply
junkie so I need it all!

I don't use watercolors as much but I do mix them in to my work. I have a jumble of different brands
but lately I love the Sakura Koi brand. It says its a student grade in the description but it works really
really well for me. The colors are bright and on the travel set They act a bit more like a gouache.

I'm very hard on my brushes... I never really found a brand I loved till a trip I took to Spain
this spring. I stopped in a beautiful art supply store in Madrid and got these Escoda Barrocco synthetic brushes. I've been using them now for 3 months and they are as good as new, except for the one I left sitting in acrylic paint.... I have sizes 0,1,2,6,8,10,16 and 20. The
larger ones actually keep their point better than the small ones. I haven't tried other versions of
their brushes at this point.

Sketchbooks, This is the most difficult one... I've mentioned this before that in my first year
I used a cheap sketchbook from MUJI (it looks their site is under construction). It helped me
tremendously to have a notebook that was inexpensive. It took away the pressure of having
to be perfect and live up to the quality of the paper. (I've been known to do a final for a job on computer paper. If it works it works) Also because I'm not trying to
get fine washes it didn't matter that the paper wasn't a thick watercolor grade paper.
After 365 paintings though, this year I am mixing it up. I'm still not super picky but I've been
using books that have thicker paper. The current is from Cachet something like the one linked here.
I used a watercolor book, which I actually didn't enjoy as much because I prefer to
paint on smooth paper. I am preferring thicker paper than the one I used year one mainly because
the whole book lays flat and Its easier to paint in as it fills up.

And then all the other supplies. Markers, Gold and White Uniball Gel Pens, Gelly Roll Pens, 

Micron Pens, Crayola, Golden Acrylics. Prismacolor pencils. Anything and everything can make it into a drawing. Sometimes I go to a kids store and buy some fun cheap supplies to play with.

It's all about having fun!!

Sketchbook Tips, How to Choose What to Paint

This week I was asked how do I come up with subject matter everyday?
It is by far the most difficult part of the project bar none.
In 2013 I did a month of only food.

It was great and got me interested in a daily painting habit. This would be a good
way to structure yourself. Choose a theme every month and stick to it, you could even
map out the month before hand so when you are ready to go you aren't struggling with that.
Personally I enjoy the randomness of it. I like to do what feels important to me each day.

For instance, this was last summer. The nasturtiums are from the farmers market and since we
were on vacation I was inspired by people on the beach. This way the sketchbook becomes a visual
diary. I can look at these paintings and remember my days on Cape Cod.

Here it was Frida Kahlo's Birthday and it felt right to paint her that day.

This spread was a cold rainy spring weekend in April. Some of them turn out to be messes.
I don't always like what I create but it's a notation of a day in my life. It just doesn't matter
if they all aren't perfect, I learn something about painting, color, design every day, even if it
turns out to be something I don't ever want to do again. Failures are learning opportunities.

A good  solution if you are feeling tired or busy is to just not deal with color.
I often just paint the paper black and draw some flowers  or some words stating my frustration.
It's meditative and helps me move on.

It's great to have a staple list of things you know you love to paint or draw. Like
flowers, people, self portraits, animals, lettering, anything. You can always fall back
on that list. But there still will be days when you just sit  there completely flummoxed..
Just put some lines down. Pick 2 colors and just go, the next day might work out better.
And have fun!!

Daily Painting Tips: on Motivation

Last week I was asked how I stay motivated to paint everyday in my sketchbook.
Before I started daily painting in January 2014 I had never filled up a sketchbook.
I also had trouble finishing all the self generated projects I thought up and got
excited about.. I've been thinking about what the difference is between now and then.

1. I set a fairly strict rule for myself. It's 30 minutes painting time a day. That is doable, when I'm done I'm done. It takes away the need to fuss with it. I try to do it in the morning before other work starts taking over my day.
2. The first year I used a sketchbook that was very inexpensive and had paper that wasn't even meant
for paint. It took away the preciousness of it and it just became fun. I'm not doing it for any higher purpose than to paint. I'm willing to say a painting didn't work out, learn from it and just move on...
3. I use gouache primarily. For me this is my happy medium. I know it very well, I'm not intimidated by it. Not to say I always know what will happen or I'm happy with the outcome, it just makes me happy to paint with it. Someone else might love to draw with pencil or charcoal or marker. I would start any project from a place of happiness.
4. The first few months I "made" myself do it.. it's truly become a habit now, they say it takes 21 days to form a habit. I think it took me longer but it did work. I don't think motivation is there every day. It is something you do because its important to you.
5. Sharing on social media is a motivator because the feedback is so wonderful. Most of us sit alone in a studio all day. It brings us out into the world a bit.

I don't always do the same type of subject matter. I mix it up to keep me engaged.
Please ask me any questions in the comments, I'll be happy to answer!

Tips on Daily Painting

To organize my new blogging habit (!)

Monday's I will give a tip on how to keep up a daily painting practice.

I have many go to's for the days I'm completely stuck about what I should paint.

There are more of those than you would imagine and its frustrating.

A really helpful thing is to just pick 2 main colors plus black and white

so you aren't bogged down thinking about color choices. Its fun to sometimes

choose an unexpected pairing.