A visit to the Met

I did a little drawing at the Met the other day. The crouching Aphrodite and Heracles seated. Both Roman copies of Greek originals. Very fun to draw, I want to make regulate visits to museums for sketching. We'll see how it goes.


-R

Astoria Park, NY

I'm back in NY now and the weather is amazing. I wanted to go to one of my favorite places and do some painting. I met up with my friend and fellow painter John Hendrick and we headed to Astoria park. This park is in a nice neighborhood, it has a great view of Manhattan and two famous NY bridges run across it; the Triboro and Hell Gate bridge.
I brought my watercolors, and a light travel easel and I set up for a painting. I started out as I usually do, with a sketch in pencil of what I'm going to paint. Like I mentioned in the last post, in this drawing I'm trying to organize the composition as well as make notes about shading and I try to draw the architecture somewhat accurately.

After this preliminary drawing I redraw the scene following the schema from the first sketch. I tighten the drawing up where I think it should be, and in some areas I don't even bother drawing at all. For example the architecture of the Hell Gate bridge itself  I did in much more detail than everything else, the trees underneath I didn't even draw in. I wanted to just paint the trees without having them be so preconceived. I think it's good to balance between following your line drawing and just letting colors mix in a little. So after a lot of catching up and chatting with my friend I finally finished my sketch. 

I think it's obvious that I followed my first drawing almost exactly and I like doing that because I think the second time around I can really build the architecture better. I try to correct my perspective mistakes and small kinks before I dive into painting. Of course this was more of a long sketch, but in an actual painting I would be doing the same, except of course I'd be dedicating much more time to it. 

All in all it was an excellent day, we did one more painting at the park and then headed to Fort Totten park where we ran into some rain. We both enjoyed the sun while it lasted and I'm sure this won't be the last time John joins me for some plein-air painting and drawing. 

This is one of the drawings John did during our excursion, it's a portrait of me painting. It is definitely one of my favorite drawings of the day. 

-R

Part of the San Miniato complex in Florence

     One of my favorite places in Florence is San Miniato al Monte. It's a beautiful romanesque church on the highest point in Florence. I have drawn and posted the church facade, but I don't think I've ever added the other bits. The church has a cemetery and a small shop where monks sell home made soaps and oils. I did a watercolor of a small corner of the monastery and the store.
     I wanted to quickly explain how I go about even doing a watercolor sketch. I think one of the most important things I've learned to do is to do a quick sketch before hand. This has really helped me with composition and figuring out the light and the way I want to build the painting. This is what one of those pencil sketches look like.

     I'm really just trying to organize the buildings and to figure out perspective and composition. In this stage I am definitely making corrections and changing things. This is why this step is so necessary, I know it's a thumbnail sketch and I don't have to worry. Plus I am already painting in my brain while I'm doing this. These sketches vary in their detail. Sometimes I do much more detailed sketches where I make notes on light and shadow in a more in depth way, and also simple quick sketches just to make lines and place things. Afterwards I set up my paint and I redraw the scene. I am following the sketch, making small changes and corrections in the buildings. I then proceed to paint, which is a process that changes from painting to painting, so I'll save that for another post. Here is the completed painting. 

-R

Another view of Siena

This is the view from the Pinacoteca Nazionale di Siena. You can see the beautiful rooftops and of course the Torre del Mangia, which is the large tower on the left. It's part of the Palazzo Pubblico, the city hall building in the main piazza.


-R

Beautiful buildings in Brussels

Looking outside of my window in Brussels, Belgium.


-R

Beautiful Ponte Vecchio, Firenze

One of my favorite cities in Italy is Florence. I love walking through the city, almost everywhere in the historical center there are beautiful buildings and important symbols of the renaissance and medieval Florence. One of the most well known places or structures in Florence is Ponte Vecchio. It has a long history, having been first built during Roman times. It's been destroyed and rebuilt several times, the bridge that stands now is from the early 14th century, once used for butcher shops. It's now occupied by jewelry shops and is a favorite hang out spot for tourists and Florentines.

It's incredibly hot in Italy so I tried to draw and paint as fast as I could. I tried to make sure I captured the structure first before even worrying about the color. I've drawn and painted this bridge several times, but I must admit I think this last effort is my favorite.

-R

An old train at the Milano Centrale train station.

Traveling in Europe means you'll be spending a lot of time in train stations. I didn't mind so much in Milano Centrale, which is a beautiful Stile Liberty (Italian Art Nouveau) building, plus I had time to draw. Here is an old train that was sitting at a platform not far from where I was sitting. I wish I had a little more time, but I had to catch a train.

-R