Painting a still life picture of a Vase and flowers with the Painter's Club

The Painter's club got together for a little paint out party at Wiley's house on his patio last week. We had such a great time painting different scenes that were available. All the artist are pretty good and some are good enough to sell their work. At this event, Wiley set out some things to paint. Some artist chose to paint the scenery some choose to do portraits of other artists, and a few of us did still life subjects that were on the tables.

I spent a lot of time deciding and that is a problem I always have but I made up for it in working quickly to get a painting done before the light went completely away.  There was an oil lamp, some books and a vase on a round table that looked both challenging and inviting. I sketched it quickly and then did layers in acrylic working as quickly as I can. It was a little muggy so the water based paint didn't dry so quickly which it wants to do under normal conditions.

I have begun to use more black in my work and I think it has given me a new depth in my paintings. I over paint the picture several times, it is a way to not get too caught up with mistakes and situations that are not satisfactory in my work, but as I painted over I would add color and black and color again to build up the depth of the value and color.

I am very happy with the results, but later when I have some time and all my art stuff is all out then I will do a little touch-up when I do I will post the final finish.

Painting of vase and lamp.  

It was as much fun to talk to the other artist and learn from them as it was to paint.

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Watercolor Of A Still Life With Three Wine Bottles

This is a watercolor still life of three wine bottles that were an illustration for a simple art lesson.

It began as a drawing lesson for some art students I have and I continued to work the project until it became a watercolor of a still life.

I did not have a model to work from but used images and photos and created my own composition but since it was for an art lesson I kept it simple. I feel if I was working from life and had the items sitting on a cloth in front of me the outcome would have been immeasurably superior.

I had a lot of worry over the background I wanted it to be colorful but not too brilliant. I dabbed in some blues and browns with a touch of red and it looked too busy, so after it dried I dabbed clear water with a soft brush to let it all blend and soften the edges between the colors. It looked better but it was still too bright so I used a little Paynes Grey to dull it down some, normally do not use grey but it worked out ok on this one.

The bottles were fun to paint, I experimented with the colors and the values before it got to where I was happy with them.

The cloth was very minimally painted to give contrast with the busy wood surface table top.  I am not really happy with the wine glass and will touch it up more before I post this to my online art store.

Still life in Watercolor

If you want to see a how to draw worksheet for this project that I made for my students CLICK HERE.

To purchase a copy of this as a framed print visit my Society6 store. CLICK HERE.

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I hope you enjoy my art. 

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Adron 

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(c) Adron

Painting A Quick Simple Still Life With Three Elements

This is the result of an at lesson with a student.  I sat in her kitchen and looked around and wanted to make the point that you can always find something to paint or draw no matter where you are.  So I randomly took things from her kitchen counter and she arranged them on her table.  There was a bottle of olive oil, one of vinegar and a tomato.  At first she had them all in a row but I said it is boring that way and she should have something in front of the other, so she moved the tomato in front of the vinegar.  We sketched it in and painted for about a half hour.

I love working with students they give me so much inspiration.

Oil, Vinegar, and Tomato painting. 

This was painted on a 6x9 piece of 140 lb practice paper. I used a scanner to capture the image and for some reason, it looks a little brighter than the original piece.

I do not normally use black but I wished I had a little touch of it in the shadows. I wish the tomato was better looking and a little more to the right. But I am happy with the piece.


(c) Adron

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What You Can Draw While Waiting For the Waitress At A Cafe

We were waiting for our food to arrive at the cafe on Saturday night and since I could not hear the conversation I took out the little sketchbook I carry with me all the time and did a little sketch of some of the things on the table.  It turned into a nice little still life.

Still Life Sketch in Notebook While Waiting For Waitress

I started by doing a little sketch with a pencil and then went over it with a .01 fine tipped marker. I did not arrange the items in any way, these were drawn just as the table was when we sat down.  The sketch book is about 4x5 inches.  It is quite nice and fits in my coat pocket easily and there is room for a few drawing instruments like markers and pencils as well.

I try to carry a little sketchbook everywhere so that I can fulfill my goal of sketching every day.  If you learn to draw quickly you can get a lot accomplished. 

To be fair the waitress was not slow the food just took a little long to cook but it was good food an worth the wait.

(c) Adron 2015

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Adron

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Pen Drawing Of Old Chair, Camera, Hat, And Shoulder Bag Still Life

The title of this still life is, Back With The Camera.

This shows what you can do with a fine tipped marker and some felt tipped markers.  I sketched it in first with a 2b pencil and then went over it with the sharpie to make a nice line drawing.  It could have been finished right there as a simple line drawing but I was in the mood to push to something deeper.

Still Life of Camera And Bag in Pen

 I did a lot of contour work but then got carried away and used cross thatching over some of it.  I like to use areas that are flat black for contrast and interest so the back leg and bottom parts of the chair were brushed in with a black marker as well as a few incidental parts.

I tried to put in shadow but it didn't work out because the back leg was lost so then I had to clean it up; to clean it up I used white Liquitex Gesso to paint out the shadowed areas. I scanned it into the computer but cleaned it up a little more with the free gimp software; I was not happy about needing to do that since it was supposed to be an ink drawing and not a computer drawing but on the other hand, it was only a little tweak so I guess it is OK.

(c) Adron 2015

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A Fine Tipped Marker Drawing, Before the Concert. by Adron

While waiting for the performance of some cool jazz I used my little sketch book and some fine tipped markers and drew this little sketch. The musical instruments, chair, and stands made a beautiful composition as they were arranged on the stage. I couldn't have asked for a better scene.

I always try to carry a small sketch book and some supplies since there is art everywhere so I always find something to draw. This sketchbook is about 4x6. The markers were some cheap things from a big box chain store. It all fits in a pocket and I can keep it hidden until I am ready to use them

I was struggling to hold my sketchbook above the seat in front of me with one hand while sketching with the other. I am happy with the results.

Pen Sketch of Stage with Musical instruments 

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(C)Adron Dozat

Candlestick and Candle, A Quick Sketch in Pencil

Sorry it is so pale but pencil is not something I have been able to photograph very well.

A pencil Drawing of Two Candle Holders. 

It was a project in a class where I was trying to show a few kids how to draw. It was drawn in a few minutes and then I did a lot of blending and rubbing with the stub.

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Charcoal Sketch of Gourds

This is a sketch I did one evening while watching TV, and finished it during another show a few days later.

These gourds are in the super markets during the autumn season. Their shapes and crazy textures make them fun to draw and a challenging project to develop an artist skill in rendering.

I started with a hb pencil and went to a softer 6b pencil; then after getting the shapes and basic shadows under control I began to work out the finer values with a hard charcoal pencil. I did a lot of going back and forth between the charcoal and the pencils.

I did a lot of blending with the stub and used the stub to carry material around the picture as if it was a soft pencil itself. The last major process was to use medium charcoal to give the deepest shadows. I finished with a go over of the finder details (few though they are) with the hb pencil to give some sharpness.

I am happy with the results.  Charcoal is fun!

September Gourds, Drawn In Charcoal. 

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Watercolor Sketch Of Tiny Strawberries

Our garden gave a mini harvest and I picked a handful of strawberries. They were small but nice. I put them in a bowl and did a sketch of them. I call it a sketch and not a painting because it was kind of quick.

Watercolor sketch of tiny strawberries in a bowl

They were small but bright red. I tried to get the color deep and still have the texture of the seeds and the shiny bumps.  Maybe if I took more time I could have gotten the reds to look more rich.

I had fun painting the wood table top. The white bowl was very minimally done, I just tried to get the effect by using a light wash for the shadows.

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Adron



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Watercolor sketch of three apples.

I had a little free time and felt I wanted to do some painting. I had bought some apples and thought they made a nice composition.

I call it a sketch because it was a quick painting with little effort.

Watercolor of three green apples. 

I began with a careful pencil sketch, and then did several washes layering color down. First I laid down the background blues and reds. Next I did the lightest values of yellow in the green apples, which I dropped green in and spread it around a little. I went back and gave the background a deeper value of blue, that made the green look tool pale so I had to deepen the greens. The shadows were a combination of grey and violet.

I think I needed a little muddy color here and there in the shadows to take down some of the brightness.

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Adron


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Simple Watercolor Still Life With Four Objects

This is a little still life in watercolor I painted on 9x11 paper. I was looking for a break from landscapes and portraiture.

Still Life. Four Objects. Watercolor.

I spent a modest amount of time on this. I could have spent more but there is always the danger with watercolor of overworking something and then needing to lift it out.

I did a sketch of the book, box, and candlestick holder carefully and took time to get things the way I wanted them to be. If you have a bad composition no amount of skill or technique will repair it.

I started with the background and did some wet into wet application of the color. I like to drop the watery color into a wet surface and add a second and let them blend. I did the under painting of each idem starting with the box just working my lightest values at this time. After the under wash dried I added the next layer and changed the hue a little leaving the lightest areas as they were. I did a little wet into wet and blending. I repeated this for the darkest hues using a smaller brush.

I took a break and when I came back I decided to darken the background and a few points in the objects.

In hindsight I probably should have made the background a different color or darker altogether. Another step I could have taken to make it more interesting would be to introduce a random color somewhere, like a splash or smudge.

I am mostly pleased with the outcome, it will look pretty matted and framed.

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Adron

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Charcoal Sketch of Creamer and Dogwood Blossoms

I did this sketch for practice but ran out of time. It was of a creamer and a branch with some dogwood blossoms.

I am enjoying the beauty of simple projects these days, one can really get into a composition made of two or three items.

Charcoal Study of Creamer and Dogwood. 

I did a quick pencil sketch and then worked it over with a medium charcoal pencil. I use the blending stub to do the foreground, I liked the different contrast in technique. I tried to keep the creamer underdeveloped and the background solid.

I kept the dogwood white and used negative space to give the blossoms whiteness. The paper was a 50 lb soft surface. I don't really like working with it as much as the 400 series by Strathmore.

The Last Grapes, a Watercolor Sketch

No one was eating the last grapes so I did a watercolor sketch of them.

The Last Grapes. A Watercolor Sketch 

I did it quickly. The pencil sketching of the grapes took longer than the painting. The background didn't turn out as I wanted it to. I was looking for something a little bit like the old Dutch with a dark almost black but I didn't want to switch mediums and with watercolor you can only get so dark and not use a lot of paint. The grapes were done one by one with an under painting of red and I dropped in blues and purples to give the coloring. It turned out OK.

Looking at it now I wonder if I should have done more, but I put my paint all away so I guess I am done. I feel that I must do more painting everyday.

Candlestick and Box Sketch in Marker

I

Marker drawing of Candlestick and Box

I was trying to get the roundness of the candlestick and the grey tones of the box while using a simple ink drawing  technique. The top of the box is suppose to be whiter by contrast. 

It is a very simple composition, in fact too simple, I wish I had a few more elements added like a book or fruit or something. 

It is good to practice and I will bring this to the class I am teaching the home school kids as an example of what can be done in marker.

I was using a cheep marker from the grocery store and printer paper. I found the marker made blots when you first touched the page. This can be good or bad depending on what you are trying to do. If you held the marker at a sharp angle the line was very thin and skippy and if you held the marker more vertical the ink came out very thick.

I prefer the professionals markers, but knowing the effects of the cheep ones is useful for some projects, so I am always experimenting.   

Charcoal Sketch of Apples in Bowl

This is a sketch I did to demonstrate technique to a class of young artist.

Charcoal Drawing of Apples in Wooden Bowl

I was focusing on the light against the dark. The dark background brings the bowl forward. The dark area of the bowl sets off the light areas in the apples. I liked how the thick wooden bowl had a thick edge, it gives a deep line of contrast separating the bowl from the dark background on the right.  The placement of the apple outside the bowl is set off by the shadow of the bowl.

I used pencil, various charcoal pencils and blending stubs. It was drawn in my sketchbook and it took about 25 minutes.

Apples are not really that round they have a unique shape but my purpose was to show technique.

(c) Adron 13

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Adron




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Pen and Ink Drawing Gourds

These three gourds grew in our garden a year ago. I was looking for something fun to sketch so gave them a try. I used .01,.03, & .05 pens.

I used a lot of dots to capture the rough texture of the gourds, since they were fuzzy and flaky. I wanted to use various techniques but somehow the dots were so effective that I felt other approaches would take away from the finished project. It takes a long time to learn when to quit when drawing.

Pen And Ink Drawing of Gourds 

This project took about one and a half hour to do. I think I got bored with it. Maybe the only thing I would change would be to use a #3 grey Coptic marker to tone down the background.

(c) Adron

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(c) Adron

Practice Model Wood Man.

Wood Man Practice Drawing

Today I was teaching a class on drawing and we took our wood man model, set him on an upturned glass jar and drew him in a sitting pose.

This drawing took about twenty minutes. I used only an hb pencil.

I do a quick rough sketch by marking the location of the joints and drawing connecting structures between the joints. This makes an outline and then I go over it again and again making corrections and adding shading for volume. It was only part of the class if we had more time I would make a lot of little changes with the shadows and clean up the lines.

These are great ways to learn the basic human figure and cheaper than paying for a class. I recommend it.

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Hand Made Print of Daisies Black

This is a handmade print of daisies I did with block print methods.

Hand-made Print, Daisies. limited edition of 18

The design started out as part of an art lesson I was teaching to kids where we were discussing negative space. The white areas create the composition. My study I did for the lesson looked like it would work well as a print. The idea fermented in my mind for a while and so I gave it a try. I think it turned out very well.

I used a foam material instead of the traditional wood or lino block. I am poor and have to make do with what I can find. I drew the image with charcoal on the foam block and then went over it in felt tip marker. I cut out the large white areas with a razor knife and added texture by putting pressure onto the foam with a pencil.

I use water based ink and was not happy with the way it beaded up on the foam. Most of the prints had to be gone over twice to get a satisfactory result; even still some have hazy areas. In retrospect, I think it would have looked nice with a blue or green background, but I didn't want to get into all the mess of registration and matching little marks up.

You can purchase one at my society6 site.

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(c) Adron Dozat

Pencil Sketch of a Pumpkin in Pencil

Pencil Sketch of a Pumpkin. By Adron

Pumpkins make great subjects to draw and are a wonderful thing to have students draw. Everybody can do it, the beginner thinks there is nothing to it and the experienced artist finds many shadows and highlights in the Pumpkins folding shape. The sides are smooth and the stem is wonderfully rough to give terrific contrast.

This is a sketch I did as an illustration for a class I was teaching on drawing. It was a quick 20 minute drawing and I was only working on it absently because I was telling kids what I was doing and trying to encourage them to do their own drawings.

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(c) Adron Dozat

Autumn Leaves Drawing in Pencil and Charcoal

Autumn Leaves drawn in Pencil and Charcoal

This is one of those happy projects that does not go the way you expect it to, but turns out to be more fun than you hoped. It was a sketch I started when demonstrating how to draw unusual shapes so I chose leaves from the yard. As I drew the leaves for the kids I really felt enthralled with the shapes and for the next few days carried the page around to doodle on during my free moments. 

Pencil and Charcoal drawing of Leaves 

I began with a quick outline sketch in hb pencil, after which I went over it again in a 4b pencil to develop some of the values of the leaves. I returned to the hb to add detail. I used a blending stub to soften the edges of the shadows inside the leaves and spread out the shadows around the outside of the leaves. I redid the shadows some with the 4b pencil. The area around the leaves were redone with charcoal but I felt it was too dark and amateurish so used a kneaded erasure to lift out the dark charcoal but leaving enough to add value and texture. I used the dirtied tip of the blending stub to smudge dots in the leaves.

(c) Adron 12