Landscape and Urban Sketching

http://www.tomsarmo.com/

Last Sunday's Plein Air group decided on an urban site. Instead of my paint set-up, 

I'd brought a sketchbook and drawing materials, planning on doing 

some research for a new project.

http://www.tomsarmo.com/

When doing on-location sketching of this type, I usually go for 

simplicity and quick studies, but...

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...this intricate scene caught my eye. The planned research sketching went right out the window.

http://www.tomsarmo.com/

The complexity was a bit daunting, but decided to interpret the scene while 

capturing much of the detail.

 

Materials: Kona Classic toned paper sketchbook, Verithin Colored Pencil (Scarlet), 

Pentel Brushpen, Pilot Hi-Tech-C Pen (03), Uniball Signo (for white).

 

Thanks for reading!

 

 

Starting to Paint like Myself

https://www.facebook.com/mikeyzart/

Here I am, looking cranky, working on a plein air painting last Sunday. I'm not irritated at all--just concentrating. The morning was perfect for watermedia, being cool and cloudy with high humidity. And it was a gorgeous setting. The photos and painting above are by Mike Kloepfer, who joined me for an early excursion.

Since doing more plein air work (with the DIS Plein Air Club) my skill--and confidence--has grown. Both are huge, as both were needed.

https://www.facebook.com/tom.sarmo

 The thing that excites me the most? I'm beginning to paint, finally, like me. Prior to hitting the plein air thing seriously, my style (kind of hate that term) was not visible in the studies. I'd get out there and work like a dog at painting what I saw, and the works were all over the board. This new emergence feels much better. This is the second time I've used gouache.

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 Here is the first--that paint is magical and a blast to use!

On Sunday, we chose to paint the same bridge, and Mike's piece was definitely more accurate. The atmosphere that morning was all misty and cool greys. I'd pre-grounded my watercolor paper with a warm golden brown, so my study looks like a sunny day. A mistake, but I still like the piece.

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Here's Mike's--he nailed it!

See more of Mike's amazing work here: Mike Kloepfer's Art 

and thanks for checking in!