Two palms

It’s taken me a bit of time to come around to the idea that Buff Titanium is a useful colour. I was first introduced to it by Jane Blundell at an Urban Sketchers symposium in Singapore. I bought a tube of it sometime later and it sat in a drawer for many years. I guess I don’t have much use for it in Montreal although I can see why Jane likes it. Here’s what she says: A wonderful granulating cream pigment. Granulates in a wash. Fabulous for sandy beaches, shells and pastel florals. This is an unusual choice for watercolour, but as I paint a lot of landscapes, especially featuring Australian sandstone, this is one of my top pigments.

Here in SW Florida, the luscious pastiness of Buff Titanium has finally come in handy. I love it for painting the dead fronds on palm trees, especially the parts in sun. And it truly is the perfect colour for the sand here, which is composed mainly of quartz and broken shells. I have been trying to match that light sand colour with my usual palette of colours, with no success, but it finally felt right when I ran a wash of Buff Titanium across the page of my sketchbook.

Happy holidays!

The past year has been difficult for so many people, but it’s still given me unexpected joy as I’ve connected (and often sketched) with many of you virtually, through online courses, Zoom chats, email and blog comments. I am grateful for the gift of art, which has brought us closer together, even when we can’t paint side by side. I hope that the holiday season and the new year bring you love, health and lots of time to create.

Julia Victoria and Miss Amy

This morning I had company for my sketch outing. My friend Suhita is visiting Sanibel with her family, so I’ve been taking her to a few of my favourite sketching spots in the area. Of course we had to go to San Carlos Island where the shrimp boats are docked for the holiday break.

Suhita loves to sketch people, so it was exciting to find a spot where three guys were welding some boat parts. Check out upcoming posts on her blog to see what she did! It was tempting to sketch the welders but I chose the boats instead. We’ve been having some turbulent weather — dark clouds, lots of wind, and even a tornado close by yesterday — so the sky was still dark when we got there just after sunrise, and the light boats were so inviting against that dramatic sky. This was a quick one, done in just over an hour, with the biggest flat brush I had. Painted on a pad of Arches CP paper, 14″ x 10″.

Out back of Tipsy Turtle

I’ll admit, I don’t really like doing painting commissions because usually the subject is chosen in advance and it isn’t always something I might choose to paint on my own. But I DO love commissions when I can choose the subject. The instructions were “just paint something from Sanibel”. I had no idea what that would be when I set out on my bike with my sketch kit in the panier, but as soon as I saw the turquoise trim and the orange umbrellas of the Tipsy Turtle Restaurant & Bar, I had a feeling that might be the place. I’m not carrying a folding stool on this trip so I sat on the curb in the parking lot. Unfortunately I was there between lunchtime and happy hour so there were no patrons at the tables to model for me, but I did have a Wood Stork nearby to keep me company.

Just one palm

As a Canadian girl, palms trees are a mystery to me. Of course, I’ve sketched them many times on various holidays but I’ve never really studied their forms and colours up close. I set up my easel intending to paint a full scene, but decided that it might be more interesting to really look at one tree, and try to paint it in direct watercolour (no pencil) by putting colour next to colour. And it was then that I realized how many colours you can find in a palm. Deep greens, pale yellows, rusts and purples. And that is just in the fronds. The trunks are yet another study in colours and textures. And in case you are curious about brushes, I have tried many but found that a dagger brush works really well for the pointy ends of the fronds.

Historic Bunche Beach

What an interesting background story Historical Bunche Beach has, and this is excerpted from the panel at the entry path to the beach:

“Bunche Beach was named to honour Dr. Ralph Johnson Bunche (1903 -1971) scholar, educator, civil rights advocate and world statesman. He was the first person of color to win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1950 for his successful mediation of the first war between Israel and its neighbouring states of Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon.
In December 1949, Bunche Beach was dedicated as the beach for Blacks. At this time, it was the only beach in Lee County that persons of color could enjoy without rushing harassment or arrest. Close to 5,000 people attended the dedication.
In 2001, 705 acres of surrounding land consisting of 1 mile of beachfront and sensitive salt marshes were purchased by Lee County. The site is now preserved for all people to enjoy and provides habitat for wildlife such as the piping plover that uses the site as a winter home.”

Alice on vacation

Alice likes her days in Sanibel. There’s a walk in the morning and a walk at the end of the day. If she’s lucky, both of these are on the beach. She’s getting used to walking on shells, ripping apart the fibrous insides of beach coconuts, barking at pelicans, and dipping her paws in the salt water. At the end of a walk she likes to sleep on her bed but often her head is resting on the cool floor. That’s when I like to draw her, using Procreate on my iPad.

Shrimp docks and bug beach

I’m catching up on plein air painting. This week I’ve been trying to paint one or two small (10 x 14″) watercolours every day. The results are uneven. Some are bad. I’m happy with a few of them. But the result doesn’t matter as much as the fact that I am out there, looking at stuff and moving paint around on the paper.

Yesterday morning was foggy, and I thought the fog would burn off by late morning but it stuck around all day. I painted from a tiny cove on San Carlos Bay. The distant palms and the Sanibel Fishing Pier kept appearing and disappearing in the mist, the fog horn was blowing at the lighthouse, but the most unforgettable thing for me was that I neglected to carry my bug spray and came home with dozens of bites from the famous no see ums (biting midges in scientific terms). They like me a lot.

This morning I carried by bug spray and my painting bag out to where the shrimp fleet comes in on San Carlos Bay. It’s my favourite spot in the area, and I’ve painted there many times before. I tried to paint this one quickly (big flat brushes work best for this) because the only shade was under a small tree, so I think it was done in about an hour, with a few lines of rigging and other details added when I got back home.

Toasted on both sides

I doubt this man on the beach saw me sketching him. I was quite a distance away. I think he was just a restless guy who moved around a lot, or else someone who wanted to make sure he had an even tan.

With backlit figures like this you can’t see much detail in the shadows, so my technique with quick sketches like this is just to look at where the highlights are. The rest of the figure is quite dark, and warm. The little white shapes I try to save are the slim, upward facing ones. That means I need a brush with a good point on it. I was lucky with this guy. He held each pose long enough for my quick pencil lines and then a few saturated washes with my brush. And then when he was toasted on both sides, he packed up his chair and went on home.

Good stuff

I have to admit, I am a sucker for a bunch of stuff with some good light on it. This good stuff is at the boatyard where the shrimp fleet comes in on San Carlos Island. My original intention was to paint the docked boats but I got there too late to find any shade, plus it seems like most of the boats were out in the gulf.

So why does this good stuff appeal to me so much? When I’m out looking for something to paint, I’m searching for good shapes to put into a composition. This spot had many. Plus I’m looking for contrasts, and again, this was a winner. White pails in sun, deep darks behind, and all of that against a middle value wall. Add to that some spots of pure colour, a shady place to set up my easel, and I’m a happy girl.