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Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Joliet Regional Airport

Pen&Ink and Watercolor on Stonehenge Aqua HP 11" x 7"
This is the Joliet Regional Airport. The symmetry of this building may not be very appealing to sketch but I was determined to make the very old side facade interesting. All these subtle differences in the same size monotonous windows were a treat to sketch.
Three planes took off while I was there (the runways are behind the building), the all appeared suddenly on top of the right side of the building. I wanted to take a photo of an airplane to add it later to the sketch but by the time I was ready to snap a shot it was gone. By the third plane I just decided to observe and memorize shapes, proportions and perspective, all of that in just few seconds! It looked like a Cessna. Also, a helicopter landed on the right side of the building....so close! I could see only the tail and a blade, so I skipped it. 
Snow is in the forecast. I don't remember when was the last time I sketched snow, like never?! I hope I can continue to sketch from the comfort of my car, warm and lost in time.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Donuts, anytime.

Pen&Ink and watercolor on Legion Stonehenge Aqua HP 140 10"x 7"
Homecuts Donuts is a bakery located in Joliet. It is quite popular in the area and they are the best in Will County.  It's true. We sat indoors to enjoy donuts and coffee this evening, the amount of people who come is constant, boxes of donuts fly out the store (and the shelves are constantly restocked). They are open 24/7, all year. At midnight, it's police men who come for coffee. Yes, we have been here at midnight. Haven't you ever had the urge to savor a flavor you know even in the middle of the night? 

They have been featured on tv, and they have been here for so many years. No doubt they will be open for many years more. Cheers to that!  I sketched a toasted coconut donut after I had one first! I wrote the flavors available that I could read from my seat in my sketchbook. It’s the second time I sketch here. I sketched the exterior back in 2016. Wonderful place.

I used the Stonehenge Aqua Hot Press paper  in my handmade sketchbook. The pen glides beautifully on the smooth paper, the ink dries fast and it doesn't bleed. I applied watercolor paint and this time, the drying time was average like any other watercolor paper 100% cotton, I didn't notice a significant difference. I didn't use heavy washes, for me it's not practical on location. The watercolor paint remains bright, even though this paper is natural white. I'm very happy with my choice of paper for this sketchbook. It's affordable and performs very well for my style, lines and details. I still have to try the Lanaquarelle HP  which I have never used, and remember how Arches HP performs, it's been a while. It's an idea for another post.




Tuesday, October 22, 2019

First impressions on Legion Stonehenge Aqua Hot Press Paper.

Pencil and watercolor on Legion Stonehenge Aqua Hot Press 140 lb 7" x 7"
I've been playing around with limited colors palette. For this sketch I used Yellow Ochre, Winsor Red and Cobalt Turquoise Light, all Winsor&Newton. Not an effort I made on putting this triad together really, I just liked it. This  sketch was the very first page of a third sketchbook I made entirely with Legion Stonehenge Hot Press Watercolor paper (if you want to see what other paper I used for the first two sketchbooks click here). I couldn't wait to use this sketchbook. I painted something cute to overcome the fear of the first blank page, a birdhouse and a family of three birds. It's like a nice presentation or a nice welcoming when you open the book.
I love the smoothness of the paper. The watercolor paint works nicely.  The granulation effect is to show off on hot press paper, it's just gorgeous. I found out this paper takes a long time to dry. While glazing, some sort of granulation forms, it's like you over rubbed the paper, not sure, it's not the paint. But once dry, the paper returns to its original smoothness, the granulation vanishes while you see the paint dries! I used very wet washes for the first glazes so it buckled lightly, it is easily manageable though, since the paint is not absorbed right away. After the paper dried I noticed the paper goes back to fairly flat! And didn't see distinctive divisions between the areas that were wet and the ones that never touched the water. This is a great feature, specially for a journal. 

I liked this paper to work in studio. I still have to try this on the go. l'll come back to you with another post about this. I'd like to see how the paper works with ink and lighter washes on location. 




Saturday, October 19, 2019

It's a sin.

Pen&Ink and watercolor on Pentalic Watercolor Journal 7" x 10"
When I came to live to the United States, I learned cultural differences are important to catch on and one does better do it rapidly. Did you know that it is almost a sin to put ketchup on a hot dog in Chicago? Rather fresh tomato is the way to go. You can put almost anything on a hot dog, I have to say here they are very creative gastronomically, just look at the menu sign, and that is just to begin with. The cultural heritage and influence of immigrants from so many countries makes this country so unique, it is what makes this country known for world wide. Did you know what is missing here? My mom's style hot dog, picture this: a bun lightly toasted with butter and mayo, a steamy hot dog topped with mustard, ketchup (yeah, we do that), bacon, fresh diced tomato and onion and pickled jalapeno pepper. Boom! Now the menu is complete! 

Thursday, October 17, 2019

Sketching the weather?

Direct watercolor on Pentalic Watercolor Journal 7" x 10"
Perhaps yesterday was a great day to practice direct watercolor. The weather didn't help the paint to dry fast but this work out well for this sketch. I did something I haven't done for a while, which is let the paint blend and mix on the paper. It reminds me that what we put on paper is not only what we see in front of us but the weather is a great influence on how the sketch turns out. Sketching the weather? It seems impossible, but it is a reality. Oh I love this medium.

Thursday, October 3, 2019

Indian Summer

Pen&Ink and watercolor on Moleskine Watercolor Album 5.5" x 3.5"
A view from the restaurant we had lunch in yesterday. I used a water brush but it is becoming my least favorite tool, it is indeed a very convenient portable art tool but most of time I'm not happy with the washes, they are patchy. I still think I would use the water brush but only for the convenience.

A hint of fall colors shows at the top on trees. It was a nice and warm, and probably the last warm day of the year, it is what we call here Indian Summer. It's time to collect summer outdoor stuff and store them. In a few days or weeks more, we'll have spectacular fall colors out there which I look forward to see, I never get tired.