Depot Bay, Oregon

Depot Bay is the smallest Harbor in the world yet offers more painting opportunities than almost any other harbor in Oregon.  The Vistas & Vineyards group spent the morning there yesterday.  A number of us chose to sit in front of the Coast Guard station.  This was exciting because we ended up in front of some firearm practice, and then we lost the boat because they decided to move it under cover because of the rain.  It turns out that Coast Guard boats are not waterproof, at least according to this boat’s crew.  Finally we watched them try to get the boat into the boathouse without first lowering the mast (oops).  They told us we were not supposed to see this.

This is the drawing/painting  I managed to complete.

(7X10 on Arches 140CP paper)

Harbor, Oregon

A week ago a group of us spent 3 days on the south coast of Oregon.  We stayed in the small coastal town of Harbor.  In the evenings we spent time among the fishing boats.  I took a few photos and later painted the following.

I am now using  traditional oils because they have abetter feel than the water soluble oils.

Disciples House (Corvallis)

I have been wanting to draw a caricature of the Disciples House in Corvallis for some time. This is the result. Initially I did a pencil sketch and followed this with ink and felt pen for values.

I appreciate all the comments I received about this drawing. The best one is from Rock Kryndl...

"It speaks to what discipleship in the 21st century is actually like: contrasting values with lots of grey areas, challenged foundations, obscured windows, circuitous paths for venting fire, and wonky but lovable structure integrity."

That's exactly what I had in mind (I wish).

Alsea Falls

Wednesday our painting group went to Alsea Falls which is SW of Corvallis.  It was foggy and wet in the morning so painting was difficult, however we did encounter  another plein air painting group from Eugene and they joined us for the critique.  It is amazing that we had not heard about them before since they are large (about 150 members) and have been doing this for a long time. I made this watercolor later at home from my sketches and photos.

Philomath Community Church

Our Vistas & Vineyard outing last wednesday in Philomath was cancelled due to rain (as amazing as it may seem for Oregon) so I painted the Philomath Community Church from a photo that I took previously. I am still using water soluble oil however I do plan to also use regular oil again in the near future for work in my studio.

I also plan to paint this same image in watercolor.

Blog Award

Thank you Deb for my nomination for the Blog Award!

I now have to select 7 blogs which I feel should be nominated. This is easy because I have been keeping careful tabs of those blogs which demonstrate the sketching/paintings style and skill which I want to attain. Most of the following blogs are already on my "mentor" list:

Not in any particular order

1. Jennifer Lawson - Sketch-A-Rama

2. Mia's Sketchbook

3. Adventures of Borromini Bear

4. Nina Johansson

5. From The Labyrinth

6. Inky Visions

7. Rock Kyndl - Creative Pursuits

To accept:

Right click on the award to save it to your computer. Then you can insert it into your blog.

The rules of acceptance are:

1. Put the logo on your blog.

2. Add a link to the person who awarded you.

3. Nominate 7 other blogs.

4. Add links to those blogs on yours.

5. Leave a message for you nominees on their blogs.

Tyee Workshop

The following are two paintings from a workshop last week at Tyee Vineyards in Philomath.  The first is a view through a grape arbor at the tasting room.  The second is an oil of a dead Tractorsaurus Hex.  I still can't decide whether I prefer oil or watercolor. 

Greengable Gardens

Today we visited the Greengable Gardens in Philomath.  I did an ink drawing of the Greengable Garden House to which I later added watercolor.  The house was built in the 1920's in the 20th century Norman Farmhouse architecture, based on a danish style.  I think the first owner must have been a smurf.

Previously most of my sketches were done with an extra fine point ink pen.  I was never very successful with adding hatch marks and as a result they lacked contrast.  So I am now trying to add values with a set of Tombow pens.

This sketch is from a trip we took yesterday to Newport on the Oregon coast.  After letting Sophie, our golden retriever, chase balls on the beach, we stopped at fisherman's wharf where I spotted this majestic looking fishing boat.  In the background is the Yaquina Bay Bridge.  I like this style better.