Sketch of 7th Avenue

Today I studied a plein air painting I did in New York last summer and thought about ways to improve it. I did about a dozen Notan ink sketches (black and white values only, in a sketchbook), and finally settled on a backlit variation.

Then I spent about an hour quickly sketching my idea with oil paint. I used a limited palette of four colors plus white, following a suggestion of Terry Miura: (1) yellow ochre; (2) transparent red oxide; (3) a little black; (4) asphaltum; and (5) titanium white.

It's obviously just a sketch, but I'm liking the composition! I may try to develop this into a larger studio piece. I'd add more cars, people, details, and clarify the drawing -- but, I hope, maintain the lighting and feel.

Geoff Watson, study, “Sketch of 7th Avenue at 57th Street,” oil on linen panel, 8” x 10.”

Dude in a big hat

I’ve been painting every day, but I’ve been a bit remiss about updating this blog. I’ll try to catch up over the next week or so. I did this sketch in life class. I was going for a Rembrandt feel, which is great except (1) I didn’t use a dark background, and (2) I’m no Rembrandt, lol. Still, I love it when I get to paint with a lot of red!

Geoff Watson, “Study of a dude in a big hat,” oil on linen panel, 9” x 12.”

Recent sketches

Here are a few more of my recent sketches. I did this first one a couple days ago, in about half an hour, using a pen. I like using a pen because you can’t erase your mistakes, which makes me concentrate harder. As the saying goes, measure twice, draw once.

Geoff Watson, “Sketch of a living room,” pen on paper, 11” x 14,” 2020.

This next one I did a couple weeks ago, from life, at the Art Students League in New York. It was the last open-sketching session of the year, I think.

Geoff Watson, “Study of a nude,” ink on paper, about 6” x 8,” 2019.

And here’s a sketch from a couple weeks ago. About 10 or 15 minutes, from life. Nothing spectacular, but I like the diagonal construction lines that I inexplicably included.

Geoff Watson, “Sketch with construction lines,” ink on paper, about 6” x 8,” 2020.

And lastly, a sketch in oil paint, from today’s life class. Our instructor urged us to mass in shapes and worry less about contour lines and other niceties of precise drawing. My results were somewhat mixed, especially as I never got around to putting in the ear, but it was a good experiment. About 90 minutes.

Geoff Watson, “Unfinished sketch of Moe,” oil on linen panel, 11” x 14,” 2020.

On the train

The holiday rush is finally over, and it’s time to catch up on this blog. I visited my family in New York, and I did a lot of sketching on the trip. I’ll post a few over the next week or so. This one is of a fellow passenger on the train. I used pen, which meant no erasing! This sketch took about half an hour.

Geoff Watson, “On the train,” ink on paper, about 5” x 7,” 2020.

Emily seated

It’s been a very busy September at work, and I hadn’t touched a paint brush for two weeks until today, so I felt a bit rusty. Still, this two-hour figure study, painted in life class, turned out better than I expected.

I should have a bit more time to paint in the coming weeks, so I hope to post a bit more frequently!

Geoff Watson, “Study of Emily seated,” oil on panel, 11” x 14,” 2019.

Daily painting #81: Compositional sketches

I set up an interesting still life scene, and then I spent two hours ineffectually trying to find a good composition. Here’s the scene itself:

“Still life setup,” July 2019.

I sketched various combinations of these objects, and I still haven’t found an arrangement I like. (I also need to wash the glasses!) I couldn’t include any live objects, like fruit, as we’re about to leave on vacation for a week. Anyway, here’s one example of a possible composition:

Geoff Watson, “Study-sketch for a still life (in progress),” oil on linen, 5” x 7,” 2019.

Here’s an earlier start, focused on the pitcher with the other objects receding into the woodwork. It’s okay, but I think I’ll go with the vertical composition above. I have a week to think about it, as I’m not bringing these objects with me on vacation.

I will, however, be bringing my paints. Tomorrow will be a busy day, so at most I’ll post a quick sketch, but starting on Sunday I’ll be painting Rehoboth, Delaware in all its glory. Weather permitting. :)

Geoff Watson, “Study-sketch 2 for a still life, in progress,” oil on linen, 5” x 7,” 2019.

Daily painting #79: Caesar (day 1)

I had very little time to paint today, as I had other obligations, so this was a pretty rushed start. Next month I’ll be getting busier, so once I get to daily painting #100, I’ll probably declare victory and work on longer-term painting projects.

Anyway, I started painting a tiny little 4-inch statue of Caesar. Here was my lay-in, with just transparent red oxide, using a small round brush, in about 20 minutes.

Geoff Watson, “In progress: Caesar,” oil on linen, 5” x 7,” 2019.

Daily painting #68, and my pochade box

Here’s the little pochade box I used for all my little paintings while visiting New York. It fits 6” x 8” panels, and it’s made by Guerilla Painter. As you can see, it’s pretty small and basic, but the design is clever. The palette slides away to reveal storage space for paint tubes and such.

Geoff Watson, photo of my Guerilla pochade box.

Using that box, I did this quick sketch of Red Caps at Penn Station while waiting for my train. Again, I had only the three primary colors to work with. The painting is not the greatest thing ever, but not bad for a quick thing from life. I did touch it up some on the train and at home, but most of the work was done on location, in about half an hour.

Geoff Watson, “Sketch of Red Caps at Penn Station,” July daily painting #7, oil on panel, 6” x 8,” 2019.

Daily painting #65: Self-sketch

I’ve taken my daily-painting show on the road! I’m in New York visiting family, and I brought a portable easel and five tubes of paint: red, yellow, blue, white, and transparent red oxide (for sketching). I spent the evening trying to paint family members, but I kept wiping out half-decent efforts — without remembering to photograph them for this blog! Dumb! So I got back to my hotel room with nothing to post. But the daily painting streak must live on! So I did a quick 15-minute self-portrait sketch, in just one color, transparent red oxide. Not great, but I like the old-style sepia feel.

Geoff Watson, “Self-study (sketch),” oil on panel, about 6” x 8,” 2019.

Daily painting #62: A crane, a cafe, and a collage.

I did this collage of the thirty paintings I did in June. The final painting actually took 3 days, but on several days I did more than one painting, so I probably did at least 30 paintings all told. Some are better than others, but I like most of these a lot. Some standouts include the Jefferson Memorial, the Great Falls picture, the roses, the yacht, and Voltaire.

The daily painting craze continues in July! Today I started painting a giant red crane, but it kept changing positions, perhaps because it was being blown around in today’s high winds. After an hour I gave up, wiped out the painting, and did a quick sketch of diners across the street at Olazzo, an Italian cafe and restaurant on Norfolk Avenue in Bethesda. I had only about half an hour, as the diners finished their meal and left. If I’d had more energy, I would have found substitute models, but by this point I was tired and called it a day.

Geoff Watson, “Sketch of diners at Olazzo’s,” study, July daily painting #1, oil on panel, 8” x 10,” 2019.

Daily painting #54: Amy

Today’s model, Amy, was wearing a slightly surprised expression, and I seized on it as the focus of my portrait study of her. This was a single-session pose; it took less than two hours.

Geoff Watson, “Amy,” June daily painting #23, oil on panel, 11” x 14,” 2019.

Daily painting #53: iPhone

I actually made three paintings today, but only one of them is worth posting — this little sketch of my iPhone. I tried to paint it in as few strokes as possible. I counted about 350, but the actual number was surely more than that, as I’m sure I forgot to count strokes in the heat of the moment. The idea is to think more about each brushstroke, to make sure the brush is loaded with the correct color, and to get the brushstroke right the first time. I did find myself mixing paint and cleaning the brush more often, which is a good thing. It’s easy to get lazy and pick up paint that’s close but not quite right, or to make too many strokes with a dirty brush.

I like the resulting image, though the composition is a bit stark. If I’d had more time, I’d have added other objects or a more elaborate background. But it was a very worthwhile exercise.

Geoff Watson, “iPhone sketch,” June daily painting #22, oil on panel, 6” x 6,” 2019.

Daily painting #51: Listerine

Time was short today, so I did a quick sketch of a bottle of Listerine.

Geoff Watson, “Listerine,” June daily painting #20, oil on panel, 6” x 6,” 2019.

Daily painting #21: Floral sketch

I did this little sketch in an hour or so; wish I’d spent more time with it. Not a bad start, though.

Geoff Watson, “Floral sketch (in progress),” May daily painting #21, oil on panel, 6” x 6,” 2019.

Danny's truck

My sore back has kept me inside during the gorgeous spring weather here, but today I could no longer resist, and I gingerly set up my easel on my front yard and painted this truck, using mostly gouache — transparent watercolor. I haven’t touched my gouache in a while, and my blue and red tubes were caked dry, so I had to improvise to get the colors you see here. Time to buy some new paint!

The underlying drawing is better than the finished painting. I did a very careful and accurate pencil drawing, but I chose brushes that were too large. Artists always say use the largest brush possible, but I think I took that principle too far here. Still, it was great to get outside and paint again.

Geoff Watson, “Sketch of Danny’s truck,” gouache, watercolor & graphite on paper, 5” x 7,” 2019.

Broad Branch Market

Broad Branch Market is a charming neighborhood general store in northwest Washington DC. Every time I visit it, neighborhood kids are buzzing around socializing, neighborhood parents are shopping for groceries, and friendly people are sitting at the tables in front of the Market, enjoying the day. Followers of this blog may recall that I painted a tiny ink-and-watercolor sketch of the market last summer, plein air, in my sketchbook.

Well, the Market is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, and I guess they were googling themselves when they ran across my blog post. They contacted me about acquiring the painting and displaying it in their store and on their website. So lo and behold, the Market now owns the original painting, now handsomely framed under glass. Their website apparently will be updated later this year to commemorate their anniversary; here’s the current link. https://www.broadbranchmarket.com/

Anyway, if you need some groceries and neighborly cheer — and if you want to see a Watson original — stop by the Broad Branch Market. :)

Geoff Watson, “Broad Branch Market,” ink wash & watercolor on paper, about 5” x 8,” 2018 (private collection).

Fenway Park thumbnail

Here’s a tiny thumbnail sketch of Fenway Park, one of several studies for an eventual oil painting. The original is 2” x 3” or so, maybe smaller than the image you see on your screen. Ordinarily I don’t post my thumbnail sketches here, but it’s Opening Day, so why not? (We will not speak of the unfortunate result of Boston’s Opening Day baseball game against the Seattle Mariners.)

The main idea here is to highlight the Green Monster by graying and darkening things around it. The Green Monster is Fenway’s huge, iconic left-field wall. I think Monster is a rather unfair name for such a beautiful piece of architecture, but there are lots of left-handed pitchers who disagree with me.

Geoff Watson, “Fenway Park (thumbnail sketch),” study, ink and wash on paper, about 2” x 3” (2019).

Thinking

A quick watercolor sketch of a woman lost in thought.

Geoff Watson, “Lost in thought,” watercolor and pencil on paper, about 5” x 8,” 2019.

Sketch of Moe

I did this oil sketch of Moe in about 40 minutes today, in life class. I wasted much of class prepping my panel and then dashing to my car repeatedly to grab supplies I forgot to bring inside. So this quick painting is very rough, mostly painted with a very big brush in one go. Next time I’ll get to class early!

“Sketch of Moe,” oil on panel, 11” x 14,” 2019.

Orange Roof

I’ve been itching to paint this house for months, and today I finally got to it. It took about two hours. I got cold and declared victory!

Geoff Watson, “Orange Roof,” oil on panel, 9” x 12,” 2018.

Before I did the painting, I did this little sketch. The idea of the sketch was “light house against dark background.”

Geoff Watson, “House on Brookside,” ink and wash on paper, about 4” x 6,” 2018.