Carrasco Studio

Mushroom Chemistry (it's not what you think) Painting with Mushroom Pigments.

Alissa and Paeolus schweinitzi in the wild

During one of my CandP Coffee House watercolor classes, my student and friend Alissa showed me her samples of dyes made from different mushrooms.  I was impressed, not only by the range of colors, but also by her presentation. 

Alissa's swatches of mushroom dye samples

 I knew she did scientific work for her day job, but I had no idea of the breadth of her knowledge about mycology, Not only did she learn where and when to find the mushrooms, but she had conducted workshops on the subject and could rattle off the species and families in Latin. She had also made articles of clothing and weaving dyed with mushroom dyes.

Alissa's mushroom dye treasures

"How about paint?" I asked her.  When she mentioned that she hadn't tried that yet, I suggested we do some experiments making mushroom watercolor pigment.  So, over a period of three meetings, we got together, boiled up some batches of mushrooms, added the ingredients needed for fixing the color (mordants like alum, iron and vinegar), and brewed up watercolors from some recipes I found online.  (Alissa's comments are in italics.)

Here is Alissa preparing for our experiments in her Romanian mushroom hat.  It is made of pounded mushrooms. (truly)

I donned my Mad Scientist hat  (a rain hat I had picked up from my Peace Corps days) and some round nerd glasses.

Adding water to last autumn's dried Phaeolus schweinitzi.

And we begin to simmer. Toil and Trouble.  Until the smelly mixture is reduced to a rich color.

Decanting the pigment-rich color.

Adding color enhancing mordants and pHadjusters: iron, alum, vinegar and washing soda.

First test

Testing the concentrated solution.  The results were amazing.  All this range from 2 species!  The watercolor pencill added a nice level of detail, illustrating a feature in mycology called "marginate gill edges" where the caps's pigment carries over to the gill's edge.  It is a detail to look for when determining the identity of a specific mushroom.  

At this point,  Alissa took the pigments home to allow them to dry in their labeled containers. 

On Meeting 2, we ground the pigments (I believe in paint lingo it's called "milling") and added the ingredients for watercolor paint.

1. Water  and the dried pigment, 2. oxgall (as a dispersant), 3. glycerine (as a plasterizer or to help the gum arabic redissolve), 4. liquid gum arabic (not pictured but works as a binder), 5. Honey!!! (as a humectant...Note it is REAL honey I buy from my beekeeper friends in Indianola). And finally, 6. corn starch as a filler.

 

Straining the cornstarch. Yeah, my gravy is lumpy too.

Add aproximately 3 parts gum arabic to one part glycerin to 3/4 part honey to 1/2 part ox gall to 2 parts corn starch to "enough" water. 

We dabbed samples on white plates and labeled them.  Alissa again took the paints home to hydrate in the fridge.  We didn't have oil of cloves, but it would be a good thing to add a drop to each container...prevents mold and bad smells.

Hydrated pigments plus watercolor additives

On our third and last meeting, we got together and painted.
 

 Alissa painting the negative spaces

 Alissa's mushroom                          Jennifer's morel

 

Pigment samples and watercolor products

Alissa and Jennifer at the grand finale of the Mushroom Paint experiment.

And toasted ourselves and the Fungi Family with wine to celebrate!

Next, Alissa has promised to take me to see a wonderful Bog. 

BOG ART is next.

 

On the Trail of Watercolor Easter Bunnies and other Fuzzballs.

Our famed watercolor group at the even more famous CandP Coffee shop has erupted with all sorts of rabbit images for Easter....and other furry beasts.

Mary

  As usual, the class is composed of old hands and dudes (a Far West metaphor for Far West Seattle), and their individual progress was amazing. Mary, a gifted illustrator in her own right, jumped from working almost solely in line art to handling subtle glazes in shaping the form of a polar bear and a couple of very fine rabbits. Sara, a first time student, painted a brilliant hula rabbit while her mother Rebecca surpassed herself with a bunny in an Arts and Crafts mode. And Kim produced a jumpin' prairie hare.  Wendy painted a hatted cat with attitude, Elizabeth painted a " Whoops! Stuffed bunny", Carol did a lovely liquid rabbit sketch, and Ingrid stole the show with her "Dressy chickens."

  Sara                                                         Rebecca

Kim

    
Elizabeth                                                        Carol

     Ingrid                                                                           

I wanted to focus on the qualities of pigments....staining, granulating and glazing, and the idea of furry animals seemed to provide a good vehicle. As you can see in my example below, the addition of raw umber (R), Lunar black (middle), or burnt umber (L) to a re-dampened (or if you feel gutsy, a wash) of raw sienna can give a nice "furry" quality. And, if you want to get down and "Durer", you can painstakingly render the dry under washes with strokes of pale gouache or darker strokes of watercolor

 

In fact, I started the first  class with a print of an Albrecht Durer rabbit (circa 1502) and the whole unit has been devoted to the class experimenting with the qualities of pigments...underglazing, the subtle blending and textures of sedimentary pigments, and the advantages of using glazes over all to tie in different forms and values in a composition.....and,  the use of negative space as an element in composition.

Albretch Durer

The last two classes were concerned with watercolors  and colored etching of animals in illustration for children's books.  We looked at the work of Tasha Tudor, Beatrix Potter, Tenniel , Rackham and Grandville, and contemporary work by artists such as Jane Dyer and Maurice Sendak.   We noted how animals in costume, both as parodies of famous persons and as important additions to children's literature, has been a tradition of  illustrators from the time of Italian grottescas through Victorian lampoons  to today's Jane Dyer's charming illustrations. 

Beatrix Potter

Grandville

                                                                    Arthur Rackham 

                        Jane Dyer

Consequently,as a result of our discussions, I noticed some very fine animal fashions evolving in the latest class creations.  

Perhaps next Tuesday, the class will surprise me with bunny bonnets.

Over the years, I've had a few animal fashion epiphanies myself.  A waspish chantuse....a soulful (soleful?) fish flautist, a very hip daddy-0 goat......

Jazz Band                                            © Jennifer McCabe Carrasco 3/28/ 2008

 

West Seattle Blog Ruins Tour and CandP Watercolor classes

Hey people...take a look at the West Seattle Blog article about my work and my classes in the March 21 !  Ellen Cedargreen wrote the article and took the photos during my tour of the Ruins and also put in a plug for my classes.  Thanks Ellen!  Thanks West Seattle Blog!  My infamy increases.

Photo by Robert Pisano            The Ruins Ballroom.  40’ by 30’ by 17’ high.

 

Here I was, ready to install after two years of work.

The Pacific Northwest Primeval cartouche ..15’ by 17’ Part of the Ruins Ballroom.

The Nez Perce Cartouche 17’ by 8’  Part of the Ruins Ball Room

J. Edgar Hoofer.  4’ by 2.5’  (in the entry) Part of a series I painted of 30’s political characters. Mr. Hoofer, here, is a cross-dressing zebra.  John Swartley designed the format for all 6 characters.

BTW, the food at the Ruins is fabulous.

And here’s a shot of my wonderful students in a class  a couple of winters ago.

(Each class unit has a different focus....this next unit (starting tonight at CandP Coffee 5612 California Ave SW Seattle, WA 98136-1515(206) 933-3125) will feature spring, animals, color theory and creation of space with values and aerial perspective.  All levels of skills welcome.

©Jennifer M. Carrasco 9/17/09  All blog entries on this site, visual or intellectual, are the property of Jennifer M. Carrasco (unless stated otherwise) and cannot be reproduced or used without her written permission.

Spring Inches Across the Land

 My tulips are up and meditating about blooming, and a male robin is patroling our spaded beds.  He looks martial and very smartly turned out.  New feathers and a bit of a black crest on his head.  Aha! A worm! He dives in triumph. (the robin) The early bird...etc., etc.

Which brings to mind.  My watercolor class at CandP starts up again on the 22nd of  March.  I wanted to let you know before it fills up.  Register soon.  The early bird...etc.etc.

Here's the facts.

Brown wrens, martial robins, timorous rabbits, fresh and radiant art loving creatures! Let's express our inchoate yearnings and renewals with splashes of paint and blooming fields of flowers.

Besides having fun, you learn skills and a way to start on your individual path in art. As a teacher, the coffee shop has been my favorite venue. Cameron and Pete, the owners of CandP Coffee have been the souls of generosity to allow us to paint in their space.  We all have bloomed.  You too, come to the meadow.

See ya. Chirp! Ribbit! Cheep!

 

 

Accent on the Negative (as in composition)

Everyone brought toys for this class still life, and the assignment limited the student to two toys drawn so part of them went off the sides of the paper.  I showed the class Harriet Shorr's book of paintings and we discussed how she would paint the negative space, the background, first.  This would establish interesting intervals between objects and the main hue interaction for her painted objects. 

Also, we discussed how this viewpoint had a high horizon line, which created a feeling of flat space and transformed the objects and background into an abstraction.  The class drew their objects with colored watercolor pencils, trying to use a complimentary color....ie., blue pencil to line out Raggedy Ann's orange hair.  Added a little zip to the work when the watercolor pencil would bleed into the painted areas.

Lay that paint down, Mary!

Drawing and Watercolor classes (No Bull)

Time to grab the bull by the horns and start my classes again!  Watercolor classes, as usual, at CandP Coffee house, 6-8 , 6 classes, on Tuesday evenings.  Need 10 people pre-registered to start.  Drawing classes on Thursday evenings....6-9, ten classes,  in the condo hospitality room behind my house...again, I need  10 students.  Class will start in mid November.  Watercolor on November 16 and Drawing on the 18th of November.

Contact me via my e-mail (upper lefthand corner on my blog) for more information if you are interested.

Thanks! Jennifer (BTW, this watercolor is part of a calendar series  done by various artists for Tom Douglas and his restaurants and his favorite recipes....mine was was a garlicky, olivey, tomato-y totally delicious steak and greens salad)  Gitalong, big Dawgie.

Hola! What lurks in yon grass?

I'm inviting you to join me on next Tuesday evening, July 20, 6-9 pm and spend some time painting and/or drawing in the meadow, next to the HighPoint pond and all the ducks, barn swallows, cedar waxwings, goldfinches, dragon flies and clovers and grasses, and reflections in the water and fresh air. And it's FREE.  It's accessible to everyone...nice level walks, sloping meadows and viewpoints everywhere.  Tame, safe, and very pretty.

One of my students, Engrid, mentioned to me that she was noticing all the different lovely shapes of the meadow grasses.....the bobbing plumes, the delicate patterns of the crisscrossing blades and stems.  Think about it.  Right in front of our eyes!  We must draw and paint them!  And bring your camera too....

 

Bring what you need for creating, composing or just getting composed, and come sit in the grass with me.  I won't be teaching or even talking, for that matter....just sitting in a peaceful little meadow in the middle of the city  with my watercolors and pen. 

The meadows of the PNW are miraculous to this very Eastern Washingtonian, (Pomeroy Washington in Garfield County, to be exact).  Not only are they lush and full of clovers and wildflowers, but THERE ARE NO RATTLESNAKES!

Let's say hello to summer....it's on the wane already and we'll need to fix it in our hearts to help us brave the rains of coming winter.  And, of course, if it does rain on the 2oth, all bets are off.

 And, by the way, whoever sent me that case of beer via FedEx (with no message).....A big thankyou!  Manna from heaven.  Who needs roses. (I have my own)

 

Watercolor Lesson 6, CandP Coffee House..Water, Reflections and Inspirations

Lesson 6  Water, Reflections and Inspirations CandP class.
 
Winslow Homer   Bermuda sloop

1.  Take a look at the Homer painting.....can you see the reflection AND the shadow.  Using color swatches from the paint store, see if you can match values and hues.

  John Singer Sargeant                                       Capri waters

John Singer Sargeant

John Singer Sargeant          Valdosta Stream

Show Sargent and Thulow water paintings....how do they do it. (I'm pretty sure that the Valdosta painting by Sargeant is an oil, but it could be a lovely watercolor as well....the man had staggering abilities).

START WITH A WASH first....drop in some warmer colors. 1. Many times, you need WAIT until dry before applying the next layer. 2. Do not scrub. 3. Start with a big brush.(I think these are the three main problems)..and show that a lot of white isn’t really white..can be too “jumpy”. Try toning all of paper down down with a pale wash first....LET DRY BEFORE APPLYING ANY MASKOID.

Thulow           Water Mill

2.  Demo wave examples.........show paintings....different types of marks...squiggly, subtle, choppy.....all of them have the attribute of being  more or less horizantal to the viewer. (HORIZON) (Varies, depending on the choppiness or  how the water is traveling...i.e, waterfalls, rapids, rollers and waves,  stormy weather at sea, etc.) Show smooth waves and more choppy.  Take a look at the Winslow Homer examples below.

3. Practice brush strokes.....rollers, smooth waves, choppy. patterns for warm up....then work on your own painting.

4. My heartfelt thanks to Brian Neher at http://www.portraitartist.com/neher (on Facebook) for his wonderful compendium of artists from the past.  Not only has his site been a wonderful source for teaching, but he has given artists a  huge compilation of inspiration and pleasure....I have spent hours looking at the examples he has selected for his albums.  Check out his site....and enjoy...and admire Brian's own work as a very accomplished painter and portraitist in his own right.

So Long for Awhile!  Paint in the Rain, Paint in the Sun....each mistake, each improvement moves you along. You have achieve Long Strides in the world of Watercolor.  Remember, make big shadows!   Your Admiring Teach.  JC

Summer's Lease , Lesson 4, CandP Coffee watercolor

To enhance the quality of the day... that is the highest of the arts...Henry Thoreau

Ollala Path                                                                               © Jennifer McCabe Carrasco 5/18/10

I really like the black and white version better...Lunar Black Watercolor Primatek, Daniel Smith.

Lesson 4   Watercolor values.

1. Reading ..37 to 38...French Style values...start light...add more and more glazes to painting.or drawing.  How many values do you see?  color?   Look at Tiepolo drawings.

 How can you glaze over a painting to  unify it and keep it from being too “jumpy”.  Best glazes...aureolin yellow, cobalt blue, and Rose madder genuine. (Look on page 37.  Look at glazes on pg. 37....where were they applied?

2.  Look at lunar black value studies,,,,can glaze over and over to get a deep black.  Now, match a color in the strip  to the value....squint!   poke hole in value strip. Show with black plexiglass.   Look at Mitch’s color chart.

Give out color chips. How would you make this color from primaries?  I am giving you 3 colors... and match them to your value strip and.reproduce the color using only your primaries.  Make sure the value is correct. Paper punch on their value strips so you can see without distractions.  Show me your colors before you go on to the next project.

3,  When you finish, look at your value study of your waterscape.  Is there anything you need to correct in the values?  Remember....usually, the sky is the lightest...then the water or the horizontal plane.  Then the slope, and elements in the vertical are often the darkest. But remember, even within the very darkest shapes, there are variations .

Ollala Path 1                                                                   © Jennifer McCabe Carrasco 5/18/10

4. Paint your waterscape.....working in 4 values of color in the broad shapes.  For example, if one shape is mostly the darkest value...then paint in that shape any color in that darkest value.  (Some colors have a wider value range than others...i.e.....blue or green or purple goes from the lightest value to a very dark  value.  Yellow goes from very light to medium dark before it chickens out and becomes something else.  In a very dark shape, yellow would not work.

Look at the yellow in this painting by John White Alexander.

With your own painting, don’t worry about “Real” or local color.....think about value and temperature....cool (recedes) hot (advances)Work large brush first....top to bottom, light to dark.

Assignment: Re-read 66 to 67 carefully.

Babbles and Torrents. Watercolor Lesson 3

Thanks again to Mitch Albala and his wonderful presentation.  His book is a jewel, and he is one of the best teachers I have ever had.  For the next 4 classes, we'll do a water reflection/landscape with exercises based on some of Mitch's exercises in his book, Landscape Painting. This book is one of Watson Guptil's top sellers, and is available from that company or through Amazon.com.  I can recommend it highly, no matter what media you are using.

In case you are wondering about the "old hands" and "dudes" business,  I am just substituting the terms for beginners and experienced painters.  It gives sort of a down home bunk house flavor to my discourse.  You know....southeastern Washington wheat farmer.

Lesson 3....Waterfall

Old hands Work fast and loose this time.   Don’t be afraid of being crude and direct. ! Use only your large brush!

Mix several dark value neutrals in your wells.  No paint straight from the tube!
Alizarin and viridian or blue green.  Pthalo or manganese blue and burnt umber, auroelin yellow and purple. Manganese blue and burnt sienna.

Plan the directions of your waterfall and apply a light value of one of your neutral mixes for each side of the waterfall with only your large brush. (1)

DON’T PAINT THE WATER ITSELF....the rush of white water is your paper left untouched. (1)

Add darker values of neutrals to your rocks with only your large brush while the lighter washes are still wet. Let them float and disperse out. (2 and 3)

 

 

With PALE cobalt blue washes, use the sides of your flats to mark out the lines in the water and go behind some of the waves and foam. (4)  Slip some  of that blue glaze over the farthest area of land and rocks as well....the glaze will unify the shapes and push it back.

(4) (continued)

Go back and forth, making your rocks darker where the light doesn’t hit and where it shows  the geologic directions.  Vary your rock sizes! When your cobalt marks on the water are dry enough, go over the farthest  part of the water fall with your big brush with another Pale glaze of cobalt or a mix of cobalt and a little violet to “push” it back in space. Big brush only.


Dudes......Show how to get secondary colors from primary, then tertiary.  1+1=2   2+1=3  (breakdown)  All three make a neutral.   Complements...opposite on the color wheel

Mix colors and  finish the “daisy”  Then, out of your primaries, mix a green fish, a purple fish and an orange fish.  (Don’t get opaque...paint with water, then drop in your secondary.  Now, mix a very dark color by mixing all the primaries together.  Paint lines on your fish...give it gills and eyes and fins.  What happens if the paint is still wet?

 

Assignment:  Old hands go online and find some photos and paintings of  water and reflections....it could be with boats, land, docks, etc.  Bring one you like to class.  I will have you design a water/ marine painting for a 1/4 sheet from this
 using some of the principles from Mitch’s book.  This will be a 4 class project.

Both Dudes and Old Hands read 18-37 of Jan Hart’s book.

Still waters run deep. Taking time to calm down...reflect.

©Jennifer M. Carrasco 9/17/09  All blog entries on this site, visual or intellectual, are the property of Jennifer M. Carrasco (unless stated otherwise) and cannot be reproduced or used without her written permission.