Sketch of 7th Avenue

Today I studied a plein air painting I did in New York last summer and thought about ways to improve it. I did about a dozen Notan ink sketches (black and white values only, in a sketchbook), and finally settled on a backlit variation.

Then I spent about an hour quickly sketching my idea with oil paint. I used a limited palette of four colors plus white, following a suggestion of Terry Miura: (1) yellow ochre; (2) transparent red oxide; (3) a little black; (4) asphaltum; and (5) titanium white.

It's obviously just a sketch, but I'm liking the composition! I may try to develop this into a larger studio piece. I'd add more cars, people, details, and clarify the drawing -- but, I hope, maintain the lighting and feel.

Geoff Watson, study, “Sketch of 7th Avenue at 57th Street,” oil on linen panel, 8” x 10.”

Dude in a big hat

I’ve been painting every day, but I’ve been a bit remiss about updating this blog. I’ll try to catch up over the next week or so. I did this sketch in life class. I was going for a Rembrandt feel, which is great except (1) I didn’t use a dark background, and (2) I’m no Rembrandt, lol. Still, I love it when I get to paint with a lot of red!

Geoff Watson, “Study of a dude in a big hat,” oil on linen panel, 9” x 12.”

Quick study of Chris

I did this quick study in about 90 minutes in life class yesterday. The instructor asked us to experiment with a loose start, massing in shapes without any explicit drawing. I was surprised how well this method worked; I got a pretty good likeness pretty fast. It’s not as finished as I would like, but it was a good foundation.

Geoff Watson, ‘Quick study of Chris,” oil on linen panel, 11” x 14,” 2020.

Profile study

I had my final life class of the semester today, so I tried to make the most of it. This little profile study took about 3-4 hours.

Geoff Watson, “Profile study,” oil on linen panel, 11” x 14,” 2019.

Emily seated

It’s been a very busy September at work, and I hadn’t touched a paint brush for two weeks until today, so I felt a bit rusty. Still, this two-hour figure study, painted in life class, turned out better than I expected.

I should have a bit more time to paint in the coming weeks, so I hope to post a bit more frequently!

Geoff Watson, “Study of Emily seated,” oil on panel, 11” x 14,” 2019.

Gouache study

I’ve been busy learning to draw on the iPad and experimenting with gouache and watercolor, but while I have produced a lot of stuff, not much is worth sharing yet. This gouache study is sort of borderline, but I do like some things about it. The sky dried darker than I expected, as gouache is wont to do, and I had trouble making it lighter by painting over it, so I gave up and left it as it was. Other than that, there’s a lot to like here.

Geoff Watson, “Pool study,” gouache and ink on paper, about 5” x 8,” 2019.

Daily painting #98: Peach school

I love painting peaches, but I’ve always had trouble with them: they aren’t shiny, so they’re harder to model than, say, apples or grapes. True to form, I struggled with these peaches today. (I like the water glass in the background better!) I may paint more peaches tomorrow, just for the practice.

Geoff Watson, “Peaches and a glass of water (in progress),” oil on panel, 6” x 6,” 2019.

Daily painting #96: Glass of water

It was a beautiful day out, but I still felt like painting glass and water, so I stayed inside and set up yet another little still life. I spent only an hour on this, but I think it’s an interesting start. The drawing needs a bit of work, but I like the light.

Geoff Watson, “Glass of water (in progress),” oil on panel, 6” x 6,” 2019.

Daily painting #81: Compositional sketches

I set up an interesting still life scene, and then I spent two hours ineffectually trying to find a good composition. Here’s the scene itself:

“Still life setup,” July 2019.

I sketched various combinations of these objects, and I still haven’t found an arrangement I like. (I also need to wash the glasses!) I couldn’t include any live objects, like fruit, as we’re about to leave on vacation for a week. Anyway, here’s one example of a possible composition:

Geoff Watson, “Study-sketch for a still life (in progress),” oil on linen, 5” x 7,” 2019.

Here’s an earlier start, focused on the pitcher with the other objects receding into the woodwork. It’s okay, but I think I’ll go with the vertical composition above. I have a week to think about it, as I’m not bringing these objects with me on vacation.

I will, however, be bringing my paints. Tomorrow will be a busy day, so at most I’ll post a quick sketch, but starting on Sunday I’ll be painting Rehoboth, Delaware in all its glory. Weather permitting. :)

Geoff Watson, “Study-sketch 2 for a still life, in progress,” oil on linen, 5” x 7,” 2019.

Daily painting #74: Sculpture (day 3)

I finished this piece, at least for now. I will let it rest for a while and return to it with a fresh eye later. On to new things tomorrow!

Geoff Watson, “Sculpture study,” oil on panel, 6” x 6,” 2019.

Daily painting #72: Sculpture (day 1)

I found a little plaster cast in my basement and decided to paint it. I didn’t get all that far, as I haven’t been feeling great today, but it’s a start. One question with a white cast is whether to invent colors. I probably will!

Geoff Watson, “In progress: study of a sculpture,” oil on panel, 6” x 6,” 2019.

Daily painting #68, and my pochade box

Here’s the little pochade box I used for all my little paintings while visiting New York. It fits 6” x 8” panels, and it’s made by Guerilla Painter. As you can see, it’s pretty small and basic, but the design is clever. The palette slides away to reveal storage space for paint tubes and such.

Geoff Watson, photo of my Guerilla pochade box.

Using that box, I did this quick sketch of Red Caps at Penn Station while waiting for my train. Again, I had only the three primary colors to work with. The painting is not the greatest thing ever, but not bad for a quick thing from life. I did touch it up some on the train and at home, but most of the work was done on location, in about half an hour.

Geoff Watson, “Sketch of Red Caps at Penn Station,” July daily painting #7, oil on panel, 6” x 8,” 2019.

Daily painting #62: A crane, a cafe, and a collage.

I did this collage of the thirty paintings I did in June. The final painting actually took 3 days, but on several days I did more than one painting, so I probably did at least 30 paintings all told. Some are better than others, but I like most of these a lot. Some standouts include the Jefferson Memorial, the Great Falls picture, the roses, the yacht, and Voltaire.

The daily painting craze continues in July! Today I started painting a giant red crane, but it kept changing positions, perhaps because it was being blown around in today’s high winds. After an hour I gave up, wiped out the painting, and did a quick sketch of diners across the street at Olazzo, an Italian cafe and restaurant on Norfolk Avenue in Bethesda. I had only about half an hour, as the diners finished their meal and left. If I’d had more energy, I would have found substitute models, but by this point I was tired and called it a day.

Geoff Watson, “Sketch of diners at Olazzo’s,” study, July daily painting #1, oil on panel, 8” x 10,” 2019.

Daily painting #54: Amy

Today’s model, Amy, was wearing a slightly surprised expression, and I seized on it as the focus of my portrait study of her. This was a single-session pose; it took less than two hours.

Geoff Watson, “Amy,” June daily painting #23, oil on panel, 11” x 14,” 2019.

Daily painting #42: Corner cafe (unfinished)

Cityscapes are still, for me, the final frontier of plein air painting: challenging but exciting. Here I tried to get the feel of a corner cafe, on Norfolk Street in Bethesda, and its surroundings. At first I had a clean image of the sign and front window of the cafe, but I didn’t like it and wiped it out, and never got around to restating it before sunset. I still learned a fair bit from this tiny (6” x 8”) study.

Geoff Watson, “Corner cafe (unfinished study),” daily painting #42, oil on panel, 6” x 8,” 2019.

Daily painting #25: Improved self-portrait

I couldn’t stand looking at that bad start, so I resumed my little 6” x 6” self-portrait today. After a couple more hours work, it’s better. It’s getting closer to a likeness, and it’s no longer bad, lol. I will work on it again on the next rainy day.

Geoff Watson, “Improved self-portrait (in progress),” May daily painting #25, study, oil on panel, 6” x 6,” 2019.

Daily painting #23: unfinished cars

I wanted to practice painting cars today, so I parked myself at the local supermarket. I was counting on shoppers taking 45 minutes to get groceries. Instead, most cars stayed for 10 minutes, or so it seemed! The result is an unfinished painting, unfortunately. Plus I took a terrible photo!

Next time I’ll try sketching in the shape of the entire mass of cars, then moving to individual cars, rather than the other way around. I’m still not sure whether to work from back to front or vice-versa.

Geoff Watson, “Cars at the supermarket (unfinished),” May daily painting #23, study, oil on panel, 8” x 10,” 2019.

Daily painting #14: Waiting for repairs

I started this study in the early evening. My idea here was to focus attention on the cars, and I had some success depicting a couple of them. But they all were moved in the hour or so I was standing there, so I didn’t finish any of them. On top of that, I didn’t make clear that the building on the right is a repair shop, and the sun went down so fast that I didn’t have time to fix it. So the title of the painting is all too apt: it’s waiting for repairs!

Geoff Watson, “Waiting for repairs (in progress),” May daily painting #14, oil on panel, 8” x 10,” 2019.

Daily painting #5: Laura

Today I painted a new model, Laura, in life class. This was the first of a two-week pose, but I think it’s off to a decent start. She holds her head nicely, and her features are strong, so she’s fun to paint. Next week I’ll refine her features, balance the lights and shadows better, model her head in a more 3D way, and work on her hair. All in two hours, natch!

Geoff Watson, “Laura (in progress),” May daily painting #5, oil on panel, 11” x 14,” 2019.

A strange lay-in

Today after life class I stupidly left my easel and painting in the studio! Fortunately, my instructor noticed and stored them for me. But that means I don’t have a photo of the progress I made. I do have this photo I happened to snap of the lay-in after maybe 45 minutes of work. It’s sort of strange, as you can see, but interesting too. Obviously I hadn’t figured out where that left foot is!

Once I recover the painting and easel, I’ll try to bring order to the chaos in our next session, next week.

Geoff Watson, “A strange lay-in (in progress),” oil on panel, 12” x 16,” 2019.