Halloween Still Life

A little still life I did of some Halloween decorations. Painted in gouache in my watercolor sketchbook. I tried a random pre-painted background of acrylic red, Then black, white, yellow ochre and I think burnt sienna. I tried to only use warm colors and let the black and white fill in for the cooler colors. I remember looking at the purple fabric underneath everything and having no idea how I would paint it. Its a little red (burnt sienna) mixed with the black and white. I think it looks purple. I was very happy about that, it felt like magic.

Reading Lamp

This is where I usually read my art books at night. I was reading through my Dean Cornwell book before I did this little black and white watercolor sketch. Then I went to sleep.

Where I usually read at night.

Bruster's

Bruster's

I had about 25 minutes before I had to be back at work, so I tried sketching some people at Brusters. According to the car it was 107 degrees, it made me really want Ice Cream. I didn't get any though, kind of regret that now.

It's Been a Year

Last year in August I decided I wanted to post at least 52 times by next August (this August) and I have. I think this is number 58 since then. So, that's cool. I'm sure its been educational to me somehow over the past year. I try to post about once a week. I think I'll try to keep it up for another year; If anything, just to look back.

Here are some recent Famous Artist Course drawings I did this week.

a boot

a backpack

Dumpster Monster

Another watercolor from a short break at work... 

I ended up parking behind the mall and sketching a dumpster. An old lady looked into the dumpster  and then kept walking. There was a guy on a bike with a striped shirt who kept staring at me, and a few middle aged women who were really angry at someone, but I couldn't figure out why. It started thundering and lightning and pouring down rain so I went back to work.

a Dumpster Monster behind the mall

A Bored Guy and a Squirrel and a Bus Stop

I painted this at the bus stop on a 15 minute break from work a few months ago. The only person there was a bored guy on his phone who had no clue about the squirrel that was slowly inching closer and closer to him. 

He got up and took the bus, the squirrel ran away, and I went back to work... I don't think the three of us will ever meet again.

Gas Station Watercolor

I had a short break from work so I parked at a gas station and did a little watercolor about the size of a normal iphone. Cars kept parking in the way and I kept running out of time. I gave up when a Uhaul parked right in front of me and the driver started reading a book. 

Gas Station Pump

Still Life

Here's a little Still Life my wife set up last night. I painted it in watercolor and gouache while she drew it in charcoal. We do this every so often, I wish we would do it more. We always enjoy it. 

It's amazing what you think you know until you actually sit down and start drawing. 

There are always whole worlds in the tiny objects you hardly pay any attention to, and when you finally start to see them, you realize you could never capture them completely.

Sketching in Downtown Titusville

Here's another short video of a sketch I did on a little break from work. 

Sketching at Fort Christmas

Today I tried to record myself painting at Fort Christmas. It was interesting, lots of things to think about. But it was fun, and if people like it I will try and do it again next time too.

Indian River

I took a small break from work yesterday and sat on the side of the river and sketched some apartments. I was there for about 20 minutes before I had to head back.

Watercoloring the Workshop

This is a little Time-lapse video of me watercoloring the Workshop from Unicycle Boy. It was done as a gift for one of my Instagram followers. The music in the background is from the game.

THS Concession Stand

I'm not really sure that this building is a concession stand, I think it is. Or it was for the old baseball fields at Titusville High School and doubled as storage. When I was in high school, I remember walking to this building with another student to get a box or something to help out a teacher. I don't really remember what for. I think it was cold that day, and maybe sunny. That's all I really remember. Other than that one time, I never went near it.

October and Pumpkins.

I guess I like to paint a lot of pumpkins around October, because you can't see them for the rest of the year.

Watercolor at the Crossroads

Here are the latest sketches from my new little watercolor kit (which I'm really liking).

I had to run to Staples the other night, so I figured I'd bring my sketch kit and watercolor something before the sun went down. I parked my car in the parking lot and just kinda sketched the first thing I saw. I've always found it weird, seeing all those artificial lights when the sun starts going down. It just feels awkward and unnatural.

The Bus Stop

The other day I had a 15 minute break at work, I left as quickly as I could and parked next to the bus stop. I took out my watercolor kit and and started sketching. 

My Travel Watercolor Kit

I've been putting together a little watercolor travel kit. Narrowing my old set up down to just the essentials and trying to keep it all fitting in my pocket. I'd prefer to use brushes and a cup of water instead of a water-brush (and sometime still do if I have more time) but if you add those, it gets pretty tough to just fit in your pocket... So here's my set up:

All of it fits in your pocket.

An old cough drop tin (basically an Altoids tin), watercolor sketchbook, water-brush, and a water-soluble colored pencil. There's also a small magnet stuck to the side of the tin (you can just barely see it) and a paper towel inside the sketchbook.

Here it is opened up.

8 bowls for color, and two mixing areas. (I havn't filled my 8th bowl yet)

 I sculpted the white part out of Sculpey, cooked it, and then sprayed it with a few coats of white enamel to keep it waterproof and then super-glued it to the tin.

The tin is held on by a magnet on the opposite side of the page.

I got tired of trying to balance the tin on my leg while I worked, so I put a magnet on the other side of the previous page and it holds nice and snug, even if you tilt it like this.

Overall I'm pretty happy about it.

Here are some times where I've used it:

Dumpster Monster
 A Bored Guy and a Squirrel and a Bus Stop
The Bus Stop
Watercolor at the Crossroads
Sketching at Fort Christmas
Sketching in Downtown Titusville
Still Life
THS Concession Stand
October and Pumpkins.
Christmas Still Life


All of this was super inspired by James Gurney's Watercolor in the Wild DVD and all of his blog posts.