The Brown Book !

The Brown Book from cover to cover.....Please share and enjoy !!! (click on it to enlarge)

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Feeling good !!!

I just completed another sketchbook yesterday, so I'm feeling pretty good. I started using it in August, but I didn't carry it around as much as I would have liked to. It took my a while to finish it because I was also working on a watercolor sketchbook simultaneously.

Anyway, I'm proud of this book. All the sketches/drawings aren't incredible, but as usual I'm more worried about documentation of small travels and ideas. I do have some very detailed and concentrated drawings, but I like them just as much as my quick gesture sketches. Here are a couple of pages from the book, I have some more pages on my Flickr page if you guys are interested in seeing more. Eventually I would love to scan the whole thing and make an e-book for anyone who is curious to see what my sketchbooks actually contain from front to back. Hopefully during these days that I have off from school I'll have the diligence to sit and scan it ! Enjoy.

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Merry Christmas !!!

Quick sketch of Saint Nick, Merry Christmas !

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Some stuff from the Met

Two drawings from the Met. These were quick ink drawings I did in the Etruscan garden. I usually sit and draw these sculptures for longer, but I was with two friends one of whom doesn't draw so I felt a little obligated to work quickly. I think it worked out good, because I wasn't as worried about the detail as I was about the general shape and form (specially with the Aphrodite).

I usually draw the Aphrodite when I go to the Met, maybe I'll look through old sketchbooks and post the many versions of the same sculpture I've done over the years. Both of these were done with india ink ( the Aphrodite also with a white pen) in a brown toned paper sketchbook.

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A little sketching at Starbucks

I finally found a little time to do some sketching. These were done at a Starbucks in Nutley NJ. I went with my friend Justin and we had coffee and did some light drawing. Nothing too detailed, but it definitely felt good to put the pen to paper again. These are two people ordering coffee.

I went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art today, I'll try to upload pictures of that stuff a little later on. I didn't get to draw as much as I intended to, but I had a good day of looking at art.

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Christmas Cards !!!

I have been ridiculously busy with school work. I wrote several papers and had an exam or two and now the end of the semester. Finals are here and I'm a little stressed out. I haven't been sketching much at all lately, but I did manage to sneak some christmas cards into my work load. I did about 20 watercolor cards with my sweetheart and about 8 more on brown paper after. These are the watercolor cards, which we're filling out and getting ready to send. Happy Holidays to everyone and good luck on finals to anyone who needs it !!

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Papers !!!!!!

Just finished a paper on this building. This is the beautiful Medici-Riccardi Palazzo in Florence, Italy. This building was designed by Michelozzo, even though the more famous and well known architect Filippo Brunelleschi also submitted designs for it. Brunelleschi designed the Florence Cathedral dome, but Michelozzo designed this breakthrough building in 1445.

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Back from Bolivia

My trip to Bolivia was pretty short, but it was awesome. I flew from NY to Miami and from Miami to the city of Santa Cruz. The flight was about seven hours long (from Miami to Santa Cruz), it was tiring but I stayed busy by writing in my journal. I didn't do as much artwork as I originally anticipated, but I consider my trip to have been very productive. I did about 10-15 watercolor paintings and I wrote about 55-60 pages in my journal as well as take over 600 photos !

It was so hot when I was down there so sketching and painting outside was kind of rough. I have a lot of reference photos and I intend on producing longer more detailed paintings from them. There's so much to do and see that sitting and sketching for an hour and change was sometimes difficult.

The city of Santa Cruz is growing and the people there are very friendly. The contemporary architecture is sleek and modern, but I prefer the older more worn down buildings the city has to offer. My favorite place was the Plaza 24 de Septiembre, it's in the middle of the city and where the most people congregate. The centerpiece of the plaza is the cathedral. The building is regal and stands out against the palm trees that surround it. It's a brick building with two clock towers flanking the main facade. I'll post some photos from my trip as soon as I get a chance, if you want to see some more watercolor paintings please check out my Flickr account (I also updated it somewhat with stuff I haven't posted here.)

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On a South American adventure in Bolivia

Sketches and photos will be uploaded when I'm back in the states....stay tuned.

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Chef

Candice was cooking and I was painting and drinking sangria. Daniel Smith colors in Moleskine watercolor book.

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Panera for breakfast in New Jersey

Sunday morning I went to breakfast with my friend Justin (who is also an avid sketcher.)We weren't sure what we wanted to eat, but finally we ended up at Panera Bread. I had a pumpkin muffin and a coffee, this is a watercolor drawing of the coffee cup. The muffin didn't last long enough to be drawn!

After breakfast we headed over to Jerrry's art-a-rama and I picked up some watercolor blocks, one Arches and one Daler and Rowney. The store was very nice, it was well stocked and had a lot of cool stuff that I don't see other art supply stores carry. It's in West Orange and is worth the trip if you're jonesin' for art supplies and rare finds.

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Ella !!

Ella is a 6 month old English Bulldog. She sleeps a lot and this is a watercolor sketch of her doing what she does best.

Daniel Smith watercolors on Moleskine watercolor sketchbook.

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Apple and Pumpkin picking

I was out in Freehold NJ apple and pumpkin picking with my lady, her family and one of my best friends and fellow sketchers. We met a very nice woman name Marianne, who was a photographer and she took a couple of photos of us while we were in the middle of doing some sketching on site. She was nice enough to email us the photos the next day and they were awesome. Thank you Marianne !

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Iced Tea in a box.

Daniel Smith watercolors in a Moleskine watercolor sketchbook.

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Valley Stream train station

20 minute drawing of the Valley Stream train station. Sharpie pen in my Cachet earthbound sketchbook.

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Portrait by Vic

This is a drawing of me done by my friend Victor. We met up in the studios at school to draw and catch up. I was having a shitty day and my drawings reflected that so I decided to sit and let Victor do a portrait of me. I think it's a really well executed charcoal drawing and I'm happy to say that I am the proud owner of it. I am definitely going to frame it and hang it up. Thanks Vic !

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Hell's Gate from Astoria park

I can't believe it's been so long since my last post, I feel like I'm slacking a little. I'll try to keep up with daily posts. School is getting hectic but I don't want to use that as an excuse.

I did this watercolor at Astoria park in Queens, NY and it took me about twenty minutes. I feel like I'm slowly figuring out my new watercolor set and I have been using it a lot. I've filled a small sketchbook with color charts, mixing charts and opacity tests.

I've done several drawings of the Hell's Gate, but never a fully planned out piece, next time I'm over in Astoria I'll take an hour or two to make a nice watercolor painting. This was done with Daniel Smith watercolors in an Arches 140 lb sketchbook.

ps: I apologize for the crappy picture, I usually just take photos with my iPhone because I'm too lazy to scan my drawings.

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Oil painting at QC studios

I met up with my good friend Victor today at the studios at school to do some oil painting. I know I should be painting way more, but it's easier said than done.

Victor is a much more experienced painter so he helped me out a lot. This was done in about two and a half hours from a reference photo. I'm going to attempt to do one a week, so I'll definitely make a post about them that way I can see some sort of progression.

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Moly X: Portrait 5

I guess I never mentioned it, but I am involved in an international Moleskine Exchange. It's a portrait group and I've been involved in this nice project since December 2009. The other people on the exchange are all great artists and they're from all over and have all different types of backgrounds. So the whole point is to do portraits of the owner of the book you receive and also a self portrait in every book. It's a round robin kinda thing and it's nice to see other people's work in person and see the books get more and more portraits in them.

I haven't received or worked on a book for this project in a while, but I recently got one in the mail. This book belongs to Son and he lives in germany, I just started his book but I usually post the first stages of a book on the Moly X: Portrait 5 blog, so I'll do a cross post also posting it here. This is done in india ink and alcohol markers. More to come as I make progress, don't forget to check out the Moly X: Portrait 5 blog, it chronicles our whole history.

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Quick post

Self portrait, marker on paper. More to come soon.

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Oldie but goody

I've been drawing and doing some watercolor sketches, but nothing that I want to share right now. This is an older watercolor painting I did in one of my Moleskine sketchbooks (over a year old). This is a church in Montclair, Essex county NJ. I think this was the turning point for me as far as watercolors go. I was very apprehensive about putting watercolors over my nice ink drawing, but as I came to find out it's an awesome combo. I still use ink and watercolor, but I feel like a lot of times ink lines control me too much when I use paint. Now I'm trying to just do a soft pencil sketch and concentrate more on the colors than on the lines. Some of you might have seen this sketch, it's on my Flickr page. I have other stuff on there, but I most definitely update this blog way more often. I do have way older stuff on my Flickr page though.

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New watercolor set !

So I just recently received my much anticipated and very researched new watercolor set. I ordered 24 colors of Daniel Smith's extra fine watercolor tubes with a 24 color half-pan metal box. This was a pretty serious investment, but I already love my set. The colors are extremely vibrant and I can tell the pigments are richer and stronger than my Sennelier set and most definitely my old Koi and Grumbacher set. I squeezed the tube paint into the half-pans and organized the colors in a comfortable arrangement. The paint took about 2 and a half days to dry up solid and to my surprise the paint hadn't diminished much.

I really like the Quinacridone colors specially the Quinacridone Burnt Orange and the Quinacridone Gold. The Quin colors are nice and transparent,but can be laid down thick so it covers well, they also lift off nicely when wet. I'm still in preliminary stages of getting to know my new set, but I've been experimenting and playing around. I did a quick self portrait and I immediately learned how some colors behave (I accidentally dipped my brush into the Pthalo Blue and did the shadow under my glasses, I don't mind the mistake but I will say that the Pthalo is incredibly strong and the smallest dot of paint will last for a while.) So this set is a permanent addition and I'm sure I'll have more work to show in the upcoming days/weeks.

ps: rich green gold and olive green are also some of my favorites.

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A few photos from the last completed sketchbook

Just a few random pages. I hope you enjoy them. Thanks.

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Philadelphia part2 Philadelphia Museum of Art

Like I said in my previous post on Philly, I didn't sketch or draw as much as I was planning on because I was exploring and looking at art the entire time. Here is one of the quick watercolor sketches that I did get to finish up. This is the Philadelphia Museum of Art from the stairs, there was a late Renoir show (which was pretty amazing) and they had the banners in between the columns spelling out "RENOIR." Like I said before, the museum is beautiful and their permanent collection is eclectic. Hopefully I get to go visit again soon. There is a lecture on Eakins and the Gross Clinic in two weeks perhaps I'll try to go back then. This was done in an Arches watercolor sketchbook (140lb cold press) with Sennelier half pan watercolors.

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RG Peredo after Matisse

At least once every two weeks I like to go to a museum here in NY. I frequent the Metropolitan museum of art because of the Greek and Roman sculpture garden as well as the European sculpture section. This last week I went to the Museum of modern art armed with my sketchbook and a pen. I walked around and I also got to see the new Henri Matisse show which was pretty incredible. There was a lot of artwork, a lot of etchings, paintings, sculptures etc. I think my favorite pieces were the simple etchings, which were studies and quick portraits, Matisse's self portrait etching was my favorite of the bunch.

After I saw the whole exhibition I walked around the museum and ended up on the 4th floor in the european hall, I found myself again in front of some of Matisse's work (I drew this painting, the tag next to it said "Odalisque with a tambourine" but I actually looked on the web for it and another Matisse painting shows up.) It took me about 15-20 minutes to do this drawing, and in that time I met a very nice family on vacation in NY from France. They walked up to me and started watching me draw and then slowly the children started asking me questions. I eventually started making conversation with the parents.

I think that's one of the cool things about drawing in public, you get to meet people who are curious and always interested in art. At the same time some people don't necessarily like the fact that you're there for a while drawing. I had a woman come up to me and ask me why I was drawing there, that I "should take a picture and draw at home." I always try to step back and leave room for others to see the works of art, but some people just like to interject their opinions. All in all the day was nice and I did a lot of drawings, but this was my favorite.

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Self portrait on brown paper

This is the other self portrait I did using that same reference photo. I did this about a month ago using a regular ballpoint pen and a white gel pen. I'm almost finished with the sketchbook I'm carrying around now, so in a few days I'll post a variety of pages from it. Perhaps maybe another version of this drawing.

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Auto retrato en Gris

I like to do self portraits often. I do a lot of my self portraits looking into a mirror, but I also use photos. I have a folder on my phone with various reference photos of family, friends, places and things that interest me or that I eventually want to draw. The photo I used for this drawing is in that folder and I think I've done three different drawings of this same photo so far.

I bought three cool grey alcohol markers from Blick : 20%, 40%, and 60%. I use black ink for the drawing and try to leave room for the marker to take over, instead of flooding the drawing with hatching lines. I want to try to use the markers to express different values. I'm going to keep my work kind of loose since the Ecru sketchbook I've been using has really tight and calculated drawings. I think the grey marker sketchbook will be more about getting to understand values with only these three markers. As always light is the most important issue to tackle.

ps: Auto retrato en Gris is spanish for Self portrait in Grey.

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Quick watercolor sketch

This is a pretty quick self portrait done in watercolors. I used Sennelier (half pans) in my Canson watercolor sketchbook (140lb cold press.) I tried to do it as fast as possible that way I could practice mixing colors and just get a knack for moving the watercolors around. I'm pretty satisfied with this sketch, I'm going to try to do a watercolor painting/sketch daily. I really like the way watercolors look and it's definitely way less time consuming (set up specially) than oils and acrylics. I'm still painting in oils here and there I'll post some stuff when I get a chance. I got some nice alcohol markers today so I'll post some of the stuff I've been doing with those soon.

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Ram drawing after Andrew Wyeth

This drawing is based on a painting I saw at the Nassau County Museum of Art. I'm almost 100% sure it was an Andrew Wyeth painting, but I can be mistaken. Whenever I head back to the museum I will find out for sure and post it here if it wasn't him. This drawing is in the same Ecru sketchbook that I've been schlepping around everywhere. I thought it was a good way to practice doing different textures (hair, horn) and also improve on my abilities as a draftsman. I'm pretty happy with the end result and it was a fun drawing to do, especially the horn.

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Auguste Rodin

I actually wanted to draw Rodin since I visited the Rodin Museum in Philadelphia. I was bored earlier today and decided to take a stab at drawing the famous French sculptor. I love my new sketchbook and have been really trying to stay with black ink ( Pilot V7 pen) so I can really concentrate on making more levels of shade and therefore adding more depth to my drawings. I've been doing this for a while and I think it's somewhat a success. I feel like using the pen with crosshatching is forcing me to think more before I make lines.

Rodin was a 19th century French sculptor, Most well known for The Thinker, The Kiss, The Three Shades. All made originally designed for The Gates of Hell, an entrance for a French museum that was never made. Rodin was well known for being an admirer of Michelangelo and in my opinion (and many other people's) the most important sculptor since Michelangelo and Bernini. If you have a chance visit the Rodin museum in Philly , which is under construction but still an excellent place to see Rodin's beautiful sculptures and even his plaster studies.

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New sketchbook new drawings.

 I recently ordered some stuff from Dick Blick, and one of those things was a new sketchbook. I have used a lot of different brands of sketchbooks but my favorites are : Moleskine (of course) Cachet earthbound, Handbook journal co, and Fabriano classic sketchbooks. I've use many other, but I stick with these, mostly because of quality and availability.

            I ordered a Cachet classic Ecru sketchbook and I love it. The paper is about the same shade of cream as Moleskine sketchbooks, maybe a little darker. The paper is 70 lbs and has a little tooth, which is nice. I've only used a regular ink pen but I will experiment with light washes of watercolor. I've been carrying this book with me for a couple of days and the size and the wire binding make it very easy to to use for travel. I'm still looking for perfect sketchbook, but this one so far is doing very good. 

PS: The last one of the three is a self portrait, the middle is a sketch of a woman at B&N in NJ, the first is a hand study with a hard light source.

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Painting on school campus

Yesterday I had my Italian final and afterwards I met up with my good friend Victor, who is an talented painter and artist. I don't paint in oils much , I've done a couple of paintings but I feel like I still have a lot to learn about this medium. I recently bought a french easel so I wouldn't have an excuse to NOT paint. My home studio isn't very ventilated and painting in oils there is rough.

So this small painting is a result of 2.5 hours of work. I'm debating wether or not I will continue to work on it after it dries down a bit. I think i'm going to leave it "as is" so I can use it as a starting point to see how I progress with every new 2-3 hour study. This happens to be the back side of Jefferson Hall at Queens College. The older buildings on campus are really nice to paint, the watercolor I posted on the 29th is actually one of these buildings as well. I'm decently happy with the outcome, but I know i have a long ways to go before I am satisfied with my oil painting. I look forward to learning and I definitely enjoy the slow process of painting in oils (this photo is actually about an hour into painting)

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Philadelphia part I

My weekend in Philadelphia was pretty incredible. I didn't draw or paint as much as I originally intended. That's not because I was being lazy or didn't feel like it, it's just that there are so many places and things to explore. My girlfriend and I walked around the entire city, but my favorite place of course was the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The building itself is beautiful, the architecture is similar to classic Greek temple fronts, which I love. My favorite piece of artwork that I saw in person was at the Perelman building (The Perelman building is off the main property, but there are shuttles that take you to the Perelman frequently and for free. ) The painting that I admired the most and was most inspired by was "The Gross clinic" by Thomas Eakins. Eakins being a native to Philadelphia is a very important part it's museum.

The "Gross clinic" was on display at the Perelman because it was just recently restored. I think they did an excellent job of restoring the painting and explaining why and how they did it. I stood and stared and stared for at very least an hour. This painting in person is 100 times more incredible than it is in photos. I suggest everyone make the pilgrimage to Philly to see this. They also have the "Agnew clinic" and some oil studies at the Perelman, but in the main building the have a lot more work of his to look at, including sculptures, drawings, photographs, etc. I know there's been a lot of things being said about Eakins and his life, but I try to separate the artwork from the personal life of the artist. At least somewhat.

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Working with watercolors on campus.

 I did this watercolor painting in an Arches sketchbook using Sennelier half pans. After spending a couple of hours in the studio, I decided to take a break from copying a Bargue plate to do this. I walked around campus at school and sat in a nice spot in the shade. These buildings are: Lloyd Delaney Hall & Laura and Arthur Colwin Hall.

 I'm going to try to dedicate more time to doing watercolor sketches . I'm visiting Philadelphia for the weekend with my lady, so I will have plenty of drawings and watercolor paintings to show. I have a nice new set of sable travel brushes and a couple of cold pressed Arches watercolor sketchbooks. So I have no excuse ! 

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Another completed sketchbook.

I just completed another sketchbook !!!! Now I can add it to the pile. It feels extremely good to finish a sketchbook from front to back, and know that you've recorded a lot of ideas and places. As I look from beginning to end I see in my own books how I learned and picked up different tricks and techniques. As I look from the oldest to the newest I see a big difference and a big improvement. Not only an improvement on aesthetic and technical aspects, but an improvement on sensitivity of subject matter and also a manipulation of various mediums. In my opinions sketchbooks are the most important part of being a creative person/artist. It's showing dedication as well as allowing you to see your own progress. It isn't just a finished piece, it's a record of the work, thoughts, and research you have accumulated. I don't think I will ever stop filling sketchbooks even if I slow down and stop doing art seriously. It's just the most complete way of document your life and your creative thoughts. So with that said... onto the next one.

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Copying Bargue drawings.

Charles Bargue was an academic painter in the 19th century. Bargue produced over 200 plates that were used in ateliers to teach students about proportion, three dimensionality, and tone. An artist friend of mine suggested that I start working on making copies of these important drawings. I've been working on this Bargue plate for about 7 hours, I plan on working on it for at least 40. I'm going to try my hardest to produce it to perfection, but I will continue to do these and hopefully my improvement will be self evident.

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Drawing couches at Queens College !

After my Italian summer course I usually walk around the campus at QC to look for things to draw before i start doing my homework. I found myself in the Lefrak concert hall and I decided to draw some of the furniture. I didn't always love drawing furniture but i'm quickly very motivated to doing so. I think once the furniture is out of the context of a room it looks much more interesting. Plus it gives me a chance to use some sort of geometric perspective which is usually lacking when I do portraits. I did these with a Rapido-sketch pen filled with black india ink, I also used a light watercolor wash and a white pen highlight.

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Alexander Calder

Alexander Calder was an American artist mostly known for his sculptures, but he also painted, made toys, did etchings etc. This piece is called "Sandy's butterfly" and I saw it in person at the Nassau County Museum of Art. I love all of Calder's work I was introduced to him by a printmaking professor of mine. His work is always fun to look at. So if you're in NY you should stop into Long Island and visit the NCMA. It's worth the trip, the property is huge and has a lot of history, plus you'll be able to see work like this plus works by many other artists installed all over the grounds.

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