White Oak Leaf Wrap

It's really cool to use a medium that allows for light over dark. Dropping in highlights, softening harsh edges... I'm liking it! :-)



This is my third gesso panel. The first two were smooth with lots of pinholes. This one had a rougher surface with fewer pinholes and a bit of sanding helped smooth it down.

Tempera is pure pleasure. Collecting, studying, and mixing pigments. Practicing brush technique. Reading books on practice and history. :-)

White Oak 2

After over-shadowing with a raw umber, ultramarine mix, opaque mixes with white helped pull back the unevenness. Perhaps now some transparent yellows and reds? Shadow lines dropped in for possibly some cast shadows. All painting so far with only a W&N Series 7 #1.

I get so taken away with this medium. A couple of hours slipped by as a blissful blur.

White Oak Leaf

Here's a new start with an old drawing. I'm working this one slowly and deliberately. I'm pleased with the lack of blotches--meaning that I am working with a proper brush, nice and dry. I will build up color, shadow, and highlight over time, poco a poco.

White Oak - A New Angle

The is the same White Oak leaf from yesterday's post. I set it up on a third hand over my paper, kept my head steady with one eye closed, and traced as best I could.

I'm reading that a viewing window with guides may be just the ticket as I move away from tracing. Going along with that is setting up a dedicated work location and some lighting arrangements.

I want to apply more time to shading technique. Smoother shading with subtle gradations while using the full tonal range. Tone chart practices will no doubt be useful.

White Oak, White Ice

I am both having fun and getting frustrated. I guess it's time to try harder. This White Oak leaf has some interesting twists. I like that; there's more of a sense of depth. Also, now that I find it easier to reach into darker tones, I must remember to use the full tonal range. See, this is fun for me, fun that is driven by the need to do better.

I want to practice foreshortening, perhaps even with the same old leaves I've already used here. Disregarding what is supposed to be there and seeing what is really there. I struggled with that even while tracing leaf margins...fascinating how the mind works...

I just picked up a DVD player that I drop on my elliptical trainer. So now I can review David N. Kitler's Draw with Confidence video while getting in my aerobics. I'm also working from a few books that I'll talk about in later posts.

It felt good to get in a little camera time on Sunday afternoon. The lake has frozen over with a glasslike sheen that supports the Herring Gulls effortlessly. I gingerly slid out a few steps off the shoreline and the ice immediately warned me back with a few playful cracks. I'll bring out more of these photos throughout the week.