Harry maintained a very stern expression, which is pretty unusual for someone posing for a couple hours. I couldn't resist playing up the defiance in his face. The result is an angry man in a top hat! The sketch is rough, as time was short, but the likeness is reasonable. What a great pose!
Geoff Watson, "Sketch of Harry," oil on panel, 11" x 14," 2017.
I was interested in the late-afternoon light at the end of this street. I wanted a feeling of a little light cutting into a lot of shadow. The time constraints forced me to sketch in the background quickly, with soft edges. It turned out kind of cool!
Geoff Watson, "Down the Street," oil on panel, 9" x 12," 2017.
This utility pole stands guard near my house. I liked the afternoon sun on the "bark" of the pole. This is just a 10-minute sketch in watercolor. Eventually I'll do a more detailed painting of it, as a way of thanking it for its ongoing support!
Geoff Watson, "Utility pole," watercolor on paper, 4" x 6," 2017.
This venerable apartment building in Chevy Chase is now called 4701 Willard, but many people still know it by its old name, The Irene. I was attracted to the golden light on the rooftop; it looked like an Italian village, sort of. Yes, the vertical shadow on the left is distracting; I was so eager to add darks that I overdid this one. I'll tone it down later.
As I painted I noticed figures on top of the roof, and a couple seemed to be sprinting! Passersby explained to me that there are tennis courts or swimming pools or something athletic up there.
Geoff Watson, "Sunset over The Irene," oil on canvas panel, 8" x 10," 2017.
During the 19th century, the Swains family ran Lock 21 of the C&O Canal from this house, in Potomac, Maryland. Now the house is being restored so that travelers can spend the night there, as they can at Pennyfield Lockhouse, the subject of one of my earlier blog posts.
I was interested in the morning light on the rightmost wall, so I rushed to "lock" it in (ha!) before the sun turned its focus on the other wall. As usual, I didn't have enough time to detail everything, but I hope I captured the essentials.
Geoff Watson, "Swains Lockhouse," oil on panel, 8" x 10," 2017.
Do cold watercolors freeze? To test this important question, I brought my watercolors to the Rockville Ice Arena, where my daughter was playing hockey. I did a few sketches of the players, and my paints remained liquid. Plus my kid's team won. All in all, it was a successful outing!
Geoff Watson, "Hockey sketches," watercolor on paper, 4" x 12," 2017.
I arrived late at life class today, but I had a good excuse -- my daughter scored the winning goal in the homecoming field hockey game! I was worried I wouldn't get my "spot" in front of the model, but I managed to squeeze my way into more or less the right position. The lighting was different, especially on her hair, but I actually liked the new lighting scheme better.
I made some progress on the painting, but it's not really finished. The eyes and eyebrows need more work; I didn't finish glazing skin tones over her left cheek; I inadvertently created a bit of an outline near her chin; the ear is too big; and the drawing is better but still not a perfect likeness. Other than that, it's perfect!
These issues are all fixable, and Sheba models for us regularly, so I'm hoping I'll get another chance to improve this one. But I signed it anyway, just in case. This portrait was really fun to paint! I'm eager to do more portraits in watercolor.
These are tiny 2" x 3" thumbnail sketches, done from memory and a photo reference. These are compositional tools: I'm making sketches like these to figure out how I want to paint this scene when I return to this spot next week. Normally I make thumbnails with pencil, but artist Christine Lashley (with whom I'm studying this autumn) suggests doing thumbnails with watercolor. What a nice idea! I think I like #1 the best.
Geoff Watson, "Monument thumnail 1," watercolor on paper, 2" x 3," 2017.
Geoff Watson, "Monument thumbnail 2," watercolor on paper, 2" x 3," 2017.
Geoff Watson, "Monument thumbnail 3," watercolor on paper, 2" x 3," 2017.
I paid another visit to the Potomac River today. It was a partly cloudy, sultry sort of day, but it was still beautiful. A boater rowed right in front of me, and he asked if he could be in my painting. I am happy I was able to accommodate him!
Geoff Watson, "On the Potomac," oil on panel, 8" x 10," 2017.
This watercolor portrait of Sheba is still in progress, as this was the first of two sittings. The likeness is already pretty good, but her features all need adjustment, and I inadvertently chopped off a bit of her chin. (I drew it correctly with my pencil but then blithely ignored my pencil marks when doing my first washes of watercolor.) This first image is after about an hour:
Geoff Watson, "Sheba," work in progress, watercolor on paper, 12" x 16," 2017.
And here is the painting after two hours. I added some skin tone, which looks okay so far, and also added some cool greens for transitional colors -- but I overdid it with the green, heh. I'll dial it back next week. I still need to adjust her eyes, nose, lips and ear. But I'm already very pleased with the likeness and the overall feel of the picture.
Geoff Watson, "Sheba," work in progress, watercolor on paper, 12" x 16," 2017.
Today I spent a couple hours on my back porch looking up. In particular, I was looking up at the dormer or eaves above the porch, and at the windows and roof and gutter. The result is still a work in progress, but I'm happy with what I have so far.
Obviously I need to add a sky. Right now the gray background is the unpainted surface of my gray-tinted panel. I'm inclined to add a sky with no trees, to keep the composition clean and simple. I also have to refine the shapes and colors of the architecture. Alas, it's going to rain this weekend, so I may not get back to this for a few days. It's a good start, though!
Geoff Watson, "Looking up" (work in progress), oil on panel, 8" x 10," 2017.
The Washington area features all sorts of streets with distinctive names: Democracy Boulevard, Constitution Avenue, Independence Avenue, and the avenues named after states -- Wisconsin Avenue, Hawaii Avenue, Michigan Avenue, and so forth. But until today I didn't realize there is also a Friendship Boulevard, located (appropriately enough) in Friendship Heights. There are a number of Slavic places named Druzhba ("friendship"), but I don't know if I've ever encountered a Friendship street in the United States.
Anyway, Friendship Boulevard lived up to its name today! All sorts of friendly people stopped by my easel to chat. Kids always like to talk about painting, but plenty of adults came by too. Back when I started painting plein air, I was nervous about onlookers, but now I welcome them. Partly this is because I've grown more comfortable painting outdoors, and I'm proud of much of my plein air work. But even if the painting isn't going well, I'm happy to explain my plan to improve things. Za druzhbu -- to friendship!
Geoff Watson, "Friendship Boulevard," oil on panel, 8" x 10," 2017.
Giselle returned to model for the life-painting group I attend. She started with a couple of short poses, including this 10-minute pose. Normally that's enough time for me to get the basic shapes and do some shading, but in this case I focused on refining the proportions, particularly the foreshortened right leg.
Geoff Watson, "Sketch of Giselle," graphite on paper, 18" x 24," 2017.
Then she returned to the pose I started painting last week (see my blog post "Giselle," Sept. 24, 2017). I had hoped to finish this today, but I got preoccupied with her hair and ran out of time. The hair was fun: she had it up in a bun for the sketch but let it down for the portrait. Also, I was having so much fun with the hair that I forgot to do the really fun stuff -- highlights! I didn't even remember to highlight her nose. On top of all that, the lighting had changed a bit, and I was a little indecisive about whether to change my shadows; I'll need to fix those too. So there's lots of work left. Giselle will return sooner or later, so I should get another chance at this one.
Geoff Watson, "Giselle" (work in progress), oil on panel, 11" x 14," 2017.
I was wandering around the Cleveland Park section of Washington, D.C., looking for a good spot to paint, when I came across this colorful tree guarding a block of Newark Street. I immediately set up shop and put down two brushstrokes (transparent red oxide, for you painting gurus out there). Just then one of my relatives happened to pull up to the intersection in her car, and we had a nice chat. After she left I had another dozen passersby visit me while the painting was in its ugly stage. When the picture finally started to look like something, I was all alone! But no matter: it was a glorious, breezy day, and the trees were wonderful company.
Geoff Watson, "Newark Street," oil on panel, 8" x 10," 2017.
it was too hot to paint outside today, but I tried anyway. (What's up with the 90-degree heat and high humidity in late September?) I got a bit overheated, and I had some trouble concentrating, but the painting turned out well enough. Several of these paddle-boarders meandered by, but I never got a good look at the boats/boards they pilot. I did my best. As I was packing up, I was treated to a glorious red sunset!
Geoff Watson, "Standup Paddle-boarding," oil on panel, 8" x 10," 2017.
This is the towpath, the dirt road along the C&O Canal in Maryland. In its heyday, the canal operated boats pulled by mules, which towed the boats. (I've depicted one of the boats in an earlier blog post, "Waiting for the Mules.") But here I was most interested in the curious question-mark-shaped foliage at the end of the path, so I tried to focus attention there. I also liked the canopy of branches above the path, not to mention the hints of fall colors.
Geoff Watson, Towpath," oil on panel, 8" x 10," 2017.
I started this painting Saturday; it was the first of two sittings. I've got the model's features in more or less the right place, but they need refinement, and right now her expression is a bit odd. Obviously I need to pay attention to her hair, too, and add more color to everything. But it's not a bad start.
Geoff Watson, "Giselle" (work in progress), oil on panel, 11" x 14," 2017.
The police officer in this scene is actually a bronze statue by J. Seward Johnson. The officer stands guard, day and night, over an intersection in Friendship Heights, near the DC/Maryland border. Reportedly local residents give him a scarf in cold weather. He also apparently deters some aggressive driving, or at least that's what the local police say.
I had hoped to depict more traffic and passersby, but the sun set, and I was still finishing the officer's hat in virtual darkness. I'd like to go back and do a more complete picture. It was still lots of fun.
Geoff Watson, "Stop," oil on panel, 8" x 10," 2017.
I found a shady spot by the Potomac River, near Swains lock in Maryland, and painted reflections from the far woods. I had on plenty of bug spray, but even so I was assaulted by a combined-arms force of stink bugs. Airborn bugs dive-bombed me while infantry bugs marched across my painting. Nonetheless, I managed to escape with a credible picture of the scene.
Geoff Watson, "Potomac Reflections," oil on panel, 8" x 10," 2017.
This is a photo of the early stage of a portrait that I started using only two colors, Burnt Sienna and white. Here I'd just started adding hints of color, but I was already running out of time, so the image looks rather ghostly. It's still interesting, and the likeness isn't bad. It helped that the model, Lily, held her pose so well. I went on to add some color, but I didn't finish; I like this "brunaille" version better. I'm hoping I'll get another chance to paint Lily so that I can finish the picture.
Geoff Watson, "Lily," oil on panel, 11" x 14," 2017.