Carrasco Studio

What I did on my Summer Vacation

 

We spent an idyllic two days on the Kitsap Penninsula with our friend Paula.  The clouds are massing......summer is showing it's sunny behind over the Olympics.  I stand on my front porch and wave my hankerchief at the passing season.

Paula's feast. A Primary Poem.

 

Ah.

Can yellow be so round?

Webs of algae.

 

Paula's garden, Paula's hops

......that reflection and shadow thing....again.

 
Port Townsend Market...and all the beets and carrots, color co-ordinated.....


 

Sea salad

Glorious potatoes.

Farewell Blue Heron.

Black and White, Color, Here to There in Watercolor Values

For all interested parties, I am giving a hands-on demo at Daniel Smith (4150 First Avenue S., Seattle, Wa, 98124) on September 18 at 11 am to 12 noon, 1pm to 2 pm.  The theme is about working with value in watercolor, something I've noticed is a problem for a lot of students, and, frankly, a challenge for me as well.

The Daniel Smith Lunar Black watercolor pigment is a great vehicle for doing value studies, and I have found it to be effective even as a method of establishing values and then glazing over the black and white rendering with color glazes.  Sort of like the Venetian method of oil painting in the 1500's.  The trout is an example of this.

I know all of us have been cautioned about using black in paintings, especially watercolor because carbon black or ivory black is so opaque and tends to make a "black hole" in your painting.  However, this Lunar Black is a different kettle of fish.  It GRANULATES and sparkles on the paper, and is terrific even for mixing with a stain or glaze.  I did this with the leaf in the following example.  The middle image is a little lighter in value than the actual leaf, but that was a choice on my part.  I both glazed with some Lunar Black and sap green and use it straight in wet areas to create the spots.

 

And here are some black and white studies and the color watercolors coming out of the studies.

I have shown also how you can work with a photograph you have altered to black and white on your computer.  I usually flail away with paint in plein aire situations, but for teaching and careful rendering (especially when you live in rainy Seattle), it's often more practical to work with photos.  I think one needs to work directly in the landscape or with object/figures to get that energy transfer and to take chances, but from time to time, it is necessary to work inside with a photograph.

So, you will be able to experiment....and since there will be materials, the charge for the workshop is $10 for supplies.  You'll get three pieces of paper, some Lunar black and some other colors to play with, and Dan Smith and I will have some brushes you can borrow.  The class is limited to 15 or 20 (I forgot how many), so if it appeals to people, it may fill up soon.

Oh say can you see.....the Lunar Black blending with the greens?

 

Attack of the Teen Aged Ducks

Ducks at Highpoint pond        ©  Jennifer M. Carrasco 1/21/10

The mallards born and raised on this pond since last spring are used to being fed, and while they don't really attack, they are very enthusiastic when they see people park themselves at the edge of the water.  " O boy", they exclaim in quacks, "bread on the water", and they churn over, with chevrons of reflected light in their wake.  If you feed them, fights and exclamations ensue.  Splashes, sparkles and honks.

A very pleasant evening in the late summer sun was spent with friends in the meadow, and later, on my front lawn with roses, hummingbirds and a sunset Tiepolo sky.  Thanks for coming!

For the stalwart who attempted the West Seattle bridge construction project and turned away in despair, I apologize for not reminding you about the hideous traffic.  In the years to come, we will again have a convenient connection to the mainland.  Just remember, if you plan to visit at this point, pack food, water and a sleeping bag.

©Jennifer M. Carrasco 7/21/10  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.

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)

 

Green Oceans

I was raised in a small town in a valley between these hills.

And this is the ending triplet stanza for a sestina I wrote about going home for a visit.

Wind parts the grasses, revealing the lines of crumbling foundations.
A dust devil swirls and ripples the wheat, like the stir of inventions
  still turning and flashing, the green fields of my mind..

 

 When I went back this June, I  almost unnerved by the silence and the empty sweep of clouds and wind over the land. I belong in the Palouse, I was born and raised there, but at the same time...never at home in this vastness and quiet.

I want a simple life...to be able to walk in safety to the grocery and the library and to have enough land to root around in.  But not this simple. I like having real water ocean nearby, not an ocean of grain.

Water Reflections and Shadows Lesson 5, Watercolor

                                               Shojin Lake by Mount Fuji, 1934                                       Koitsu Tsuchiya  

No, alas, I did not do this lovely wood block print.  But I have stood on the shores of this lake. and one time when I took the bullet train from Iwakuni to Tokyo, an Australian business man sitting next to me swore that the CEO's of Sony and Panasonic lived in the clouds in the summit of Fuji.  " Economic Gods,"  he added in case I didn't catch the joke.

This print could drive you crazy if you give it much thought.  I mean, which came first, the mountain or the sailboat....in the reflection.   Not only is this a beautiful piece of art, but it also calls our attention to the surface, the horizontal plane of the water, and how objects are  reflected in long or short  narrow horizontal shapes on that plane.  And how did the sailboat end up sailing on top of the mountain, anyhow?

1.  Look at assignments.....compare light or dark with value strip.  Adding yellow?  (doesn’t brighten)...cobalts are lighter than pthalos,  some quinacridrones are lighter  than their bluish tones suggest.  Value= tone.

2. A reflection is not a shadow. A shadow appears as an absence of reflection...a whole shape in still water,
a broken shape in disturbed water (as with a reflction). A shadow will let you see below to an undefined or defined undersurface.               
4.  Hand out Patricia Seligman’s printout and discuss. Weak light, pale shadows, strong light, strong shadows.
“Shadows are cast away from the light. As long as there is light in the sky, the reflection of the tree will always come toward you.  The shadow, though is cast away from the light, only coming toward you if the tree is backlit.”  Patricial Seligman...How to Paint Water
5. Paint work on your waterscape and boat(s) or try painting the boat and shadow sample from P. Seligman’s book.. ...or a waterscape from one of my books.

6. Assignment: Read page 68 to 69.

And I spent a very pleasant hour, albeit a gray and rather damp one, doing some small gray and rather damp sketches of Elliot Bay and Seattle.  We were on Alki Point, and it was soooooo peaceful.  Our big thrills were the waves stirred up by ferry.  A couple of times I thought I was giving my precious Da Vinci brush to the fishes.

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.

CandP Watercolor class #4 Green thoughts in a Green Shade

 Jerry drawing                                                                 ©Jennifer M. Carrasco  5/15/10

  Lunar Black Primatek watercolor paint (Daniel Smith)..washed on 300 lb. Arches.....then LIGHTLY, LIGHTLY apply some color watercolor glazes over the top.   Sort of like after Dorothy got whisked off to Oz.  Although, I think the black and white type of rendering with granulating paint  is quite chic.      

The best way to show depth is to have variation in values. The best way to learn this is to paint without color... (Tom Lynch) 

Jerry drawing                                                                 ©Jennifer M. Carrasco  5/15/10

Value does all the work and color gets all the glory. Unknown quote.

Lesson 3...Water color and Water.  The "Green Thoughts" is a quote from the poem, The Garden, byAndrew Marvel.

1.  Would people be interested in a coaching type watercolor class?
Look at waterfalls....lay them out and make suggestions. Show pictures again of my steps...then show Marsden Hartley's waterfall.  He just got in there and let 'er rip! Bold, direct and almost abstract.

Ask about pigments reading...stain glaze? Use for first wash...can lift only for a short while.Sedimentary, granulating and opaque.? Name a few...good for rocks!...let move, don’t overwork  Hand out pigment chart.
2.  Discuss frisket and maskoid  (show leaf frisket)  ...would suggest using old brush for liquid frisket, (rubbed in soap first) and applying that way.  Look again at brushes.....fan brush is not appropriate for watercolor.  When you scrub with something like a fan brush, it forces pigment into the paper where it dies, and because of the bristle shape you have no control in making marks.  It’s for blending with oils.

3. Brush movement...Show Homer..rounds and riggers are good for squiggles. Flats are good for sideways marks and chunks of color or value. (Show on example). Demo.  The flat 2D surface...it is a flat plane....the surface of the water!

4. Values....in landscapes and sea scapes.  Show Albala’s diagram of planes.  When the sun is shining, the sky is usually the lightest value, the water the next value, and vertical and slanted areas will be the darkest.  Show examples in Trevor Chamberlain’s book. (flop a tissue over the example so students can see)....then tell them to Squint!!!!  When a plane changes, the value changes. (show “bendable” strip of a single grey value...how it changes the value of the grey when the strip is bent into planes.).

5.  Make a four value watercolor strip.  Leave a moat between each value!

6. Flop tissue on your seascape and  the shapes you see....Exterior shapes...simple straight and curved lines. No minor details!  Draw some interior contour lines that describe the planes and curves of some of the shapes....a topography of sorts. Bend paper to show example. “Color” in the 4 values (show Mitch’s design) with your pencil and then do the same thing with lunar black on watercolor paper.

Assignment.....Re-read 36 and 37 of Jan Hart’s book.

-on painting a watercolour...
Make the best of an emergency. (John Singer Sargent) 

©Jennifer M. Carrasco 5/17/10  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

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.

Spring Glitter

Today when we got our day of sun, I went for a walk (Yes!  I can! Now!) down by the HighPoint catchment pond.  Everything was shining....the water, the new grass and the punctuation marks of bright yellow dandelions.  The grass was so sleek and so green I wanted to get down on all fours and munch it like a Holstein.

The wind was sharp and it cut tiny glittering knives in the water as it swept across its surface.  All was bright and tossing and wrinkled with lights.  And miracle of all, there is a wood duck couple who seem to have set up residence in the weeds at the pond's far end.  Of all the male ducks, Mr. Wood Duck is the most natty.  His suit of black and red and white and  his blue beak are immaculate.  His feathers are tailored to perfection and his head looks like it has been plastered down with Brilliantine.  All he needs to complete his outfit is a pair of spats.

Whenever I see such glitter and sparkle, I think of this poem by Robert Herrick.

Upon Julia's Clothes

Whenas in silks my Julia goes,

Then, then, methinks, how sweetly flows

That liquefaction of her clothes.

Next, when I cast mine eyes and see

That brave vibration each way free,

O how that glittering taketh me!