Just Sketching

Au Sable Morning

2011-01-22T13:11:00.002-06:00

This watercolor was given as a gift to my good friend and parting NIFT President Ed. It was presented to him at our club's Winter Dinner. One of Ed's favorite places to fish is the Au Sable River in Michigan ( I am quite fond of it myself).

Maps Painting

2010-06-05T10:50:00.004-05:00

"Planning" - Watercolor and sepia ink on140 lbs. watercolor paper.

This painting was used in concert with an article titled "Maps" by Jim McLennan featured in the latest edition of FlyFusion magazine. This is a great article about using multiple special use maps ( good old paper maps not GPS) as a means of locating that great fishing spot.

New Book Is Out!

2009-12-17T14:38:00.004-06:00

I have just released my new book, Drawing Flies 365. What started out as a quiet personal project quickly gained a world-wide following. This book chronicles the artist’s journey as he challenges his creativity to draw or paint a fishing fly every day for an entire year. The book contains full color images of every fly created for his 2008 daily blog drawingflies365.blogspot.com. Along with the beautiful images, you will also venture into my head as I describes what was on my mind as I created some of my paintings. The book is available as a soft cover or as a hard cover with a dust jacket. You do not need to be a fly fisherman to appreciate the artwork contained in this book. Drawing Flies 365 the book, makes a great addition to any angler’s or artists library.

Click here to preview and purchase your copy. If you purchase before December 31st of this year, enter the promo code GREATGIFT and receive $10 off!

Vern's

2009-12-03T11:32:00.003-06:00

"Vern's" - Watercolor.

Vern's has been accepted in this years Algonquin Public Arts Program. This will be my third piece accepted over the past 4 years. Vern's is a taxidermy shop tucked in the corner of downtown Main Street. This is the first in a series of Algonquin landmark paintings I have in progress.

New Posts

2009-12-03T11:23:00.003-06:00

I realize it has been some time since my last post. A lot has transpired. Shoulder surgery which is now healed and back to 99%, and a new full time job. I have a number of new paintings in the works and will be posting them shortly. There will be more posts in 2010!

Mill Pond Sketch

2009-05-11T06:20:00.003-05:00

"Mill Pond" Sharpie and Watercolor. Another sketch vignette to try to keep things moving along as I recover from shoulder surgery.

Old Barn Sketch

2009-05-10T21:23:00.004-05:00

"Working Barn" Sharpie and Watercolor. I know it has been a while since I have made any posts. I finished my Daily fly drawing project and I am now onto new things. I will have more more posts in this blog this year.

Peggy's Cove Lighthouse

2008-09-13T07:42:00.003-05:00

My wife recently returned from a trip to Nova Scotia. Among the many pictures she took, this lighthouse and rock formation caught my eye. This was a perfect opportunity to practice some ink and watercolor wash.

Drawing Flies Project

2008-04-12T09:18:00.004-05:00

The Jeff Sketch blog is in limbo while I work on my Drawing Flies 365 project. I am drawing, painting or scratching out a fishing fly a day for the next 365 days. Check it out at www.drawingflies365.blogspot.com

Yuletide Carolers

2007-12-20T06:46:00.001-06:00

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all of my blog readers! The following is the steps I took to create the final painting "Yuletide Carolers". I have not done a full scale painting in a while, so this was a bit of a challenge. I wanted to create an image of our church with some Dickens style carolers at the front door. The feeling I was going for was a warm inviting feeling, even though it is cold and blustery out. The painting will have a cool dominance to enforce the feeling of cold. The warms were placed at the center of interest. With that said, here we go...

These were some of the initial sketches with 3 values applied. The value patterns show an overall mid with the lightest value at the center of interest and the darks creating the contrast at the center of interest. I was concentrating on creating interesting shapes and not "things".

I then created a more refined sketch. This helps me to get a better understanding of the shapes. I added some marker to some of the shadow areas. I try to keep thinking of shapes and not things.

I created some small (6"x8") initial color studies. These also helped me to loosen up a bit before I dove in.

I sketched the shapes in pencil on my watercolor paper, soaked the sheet with a sponge and applied the first loose washes of the mid values. I made sure that I did not paint the white or light areas.

After letting this wash dry, I was looking at the composition, and decided that I was not happy with it. The shape that bothered me the most was the large shape of the church split the paper exactly in half. I should have caught this at the sketch stage. Since this painting was to be used for our family Christmas card, I was pressed for time. I try to start the work on these holiday paintings early, but unfortunately this was a busy year and the time slipped by quickly. So I created another sketch that resolved the problems. I shifted the view which helped to create shadow shapes which I could use around the light value shapes. The church shape was set more to one side.

I created a more refined sketch to work on the composition a bit.

Here is the value pattern I will go with.

I roughed the shapes in pencil on my watercolor paper, soaked the entire sheet and applied the first loose mid washes.

I then added some dark shapes, using my value sketch as a guide.

Define more mid value and dark value shapes.

Reinforcing values and refining shapes.

More shape refining and a signature.

Jury Duty Sketches

2007-11-18T06:53:00.001-06:00

It has been a while since I have posted anything. I am trying to saddle up and get going on a series of paintings along with working on some Christmas cards. This page out of the sketchbook was done while I was on jury duty. This is a great time to get some sketching in.

Lighthouse study

2007-08-30T09:31:00.001-05:00

We took a family trip to Pictured Rocks in the UP of Michigan this Summer. During the sunken boat tour, we passed by an old restored lighthouse. This sketch is a quick study of this wood and stone light house

Linoleum Block Cut Experiment

2007-08-22T19:22:00.000-05:00

I have always loved the simplicity of woodcuts. My father was in advertising his entire life. I remember him taking me to the printers so he could oversee some of his printing projects. The the guys at the print shop hand leaded type and etched out the halftones used for printing. This was way back in the days before desktop publishing. I finally tried my hand at a linocut. As most readers of my blog know, I am a big fisherman. Having the privilege to catch even the smallest trout in a stream is an extreme thrill. They are the jewels of the creeks. My best friend and fishing buddy Corey caught a beautiful brown trout in our usual haunts. A quick picture was taken and the jewel was set free. The colors on trout are magnificent. Anyway, I developed a quick line drawing from the reference photo. I have been wanting to do a linocut, so I decided this would be a great subject. My intention all along was to enhance the linocut with watercolor. This way the colors of the trout would shine. If I was not going to use watercolor, I would have added more black so that there is not an even amount of black and white space.

Here is the original sketch.

Here is a shot of the linocut in process.

This is the first impression from the linocut. There are a few adjustments that need to be made.

This is a quick watercolor test to experiment with values and color. This is by no means the final version. I will make some more tweaks, create another test impression. Once I am satisfied with the printing, I will print out about a dozen or so to watercolor. Stay tuned for the final version.

EDM 126 Sponge

2007-07-13T07:55:00.001-05:00

Here is a quick watercolor sketch of my sponge.

Bluebird Study

2007-07-02T11:50:00.000-05:00

Blubird study using 5 brush stokes.

Trout and Salmon

2007-06-27T13:46:00.000-05:00

Here are a couple of fishy characters. The splashes of color in the background was accomplished by using a small bottle with a needle applicator. The bottles were filled with various colors of watercolor, then sprayed on the paper. Additional drops of clear water were sprayed on to soften some of the edges.

Pimp My Easel

2007-05-28T08:17:00.000-05:00

Sounds like a new artist reality TV show, but it is not. After using my Cheap Joe's brand French Easel, I decided to make a few modifications. Being a professional Industrial Designer and Inventor by day, I just could not help but make a few modifications. When I paint, I typically have two large buckets of water, a sponge, pallet, Windex bottle sprayer and a handful of brushes. Most of the stuff stores neatly in the drawer and in the back of the easel. When the easel is fully deployed ready to go, I open the drawer which contains my brushes, a knife for scraping and some tissues, and place my pallet on the open drawer. To prevent the pallet from sliding, I placed 4 feet on the bottom so that they straddle the drawer on either side. To make the easel a more stand alone unit, I needed a place to place my water buckets. The key is that they needed to be placed in an easily accessible location. I fashioned some L brackets out of aluminum and fastened them to each leg in the slots with a thumb screw and wing nut. This way they can be easily disassembled and placed in the box for transport. I thought the sponge placement would be a bit more difficult. I was able to fashion a sponge holder from a piece of aluminum angle and a piece of gray PVC flat stock I had laying around. I used a torch to heat the PVC at the desired location and bent a 90 degree angle. I attached the angle to the PVC with rivets and voila, a sponge holder. I found that attaching the holder to the leg joint on the easel an ideal location. Water bucket below, sponge above. I added a few drain holes in the PVC so that excess water will drain back into the bucket below. I also added a hook to the drawer pull to hold my towel. Stay tuned, I am sure I will have more modifications.

Approaching Storm

2007-05-15T12:45:00.000-05:00

Finally something to post! My month long design project has finally come to a close, so I can now get back to the serious work of painting! The above image was created for a Mother's Day card. I usually create all of my cards for various occasions. This one was an interesting challenge. I used the Cheap Joe's greeting cards that I purchased some time back. The painting is only 3" x 5". I am not use to working at that size. I ended up making 3 "Fancy Cards" as my wife calls them. All of the same subject. The image above was the last one I did, and one of my favorites. Quick sure brush strokes, completed in 3 minutes. The first two that were done took too long and looked over worked. This was a fun exercise which I will definitely do again.

East Side Stroll

2007-02-09T14:13:00.000-06:00

This painting was created as a commission which was the result of my "Fishing on the Fox" painting which hangs in our local library. Our town is situated in a river valley which offers great views, if you look for them. East Side stroll was inspired by a the beautiful Fall foliage which can be seen from from a small park which overlooks the river valley. The building is the village hall tower which is an old and recognized landmark for out town. I took some artistic license in showing the tower, but it adds local personality to the painting.

Milwaukee Morning

2007-01-14T14:11:00.000-06:00

I completed the painting as a gift to the greatest fishing buddy a guy could ever have. One of our favorite places to fish is the Milwaukee River for steelhead. This is one of the most incredible fish to catch (when you catch one). They are not called the fish of a thousand casts for nothing! I wanted to create a morning Fall scene which is usually one of the most beautiful times on the water. I over did the reds in this painting a bit. The fisherman is also a bit stiff, not loose enough. This is something I really need to work on.

Silent Night Step By Step

2006-12-15T07:19:00.000-06:00

Here is the original sketch completed with felt tip pen and gray marker. This is the stage where I work out the composition for the painting. A number of sketches were completed so I could work out various compositional experiments.

Since this was to be a night or dusk scene, the values were pushed a few steps darker. No white paper would be visible. My target value pattern was a dark shape surrounding a light area (the roof).

I completely soaked the paper and dried the church steeple area by blotting it with a cloth. I loosely applied the sky keeping in mind that I wanted it dark and that it would dry lighter. I gradated the sky from dark to a lighter area on the right hand side. I also changed the color for the sake of variety. I also added a yellow and red lightly and loosely in the snow area. This was also for variety.

A yellow and red was was added in the window areas of the church. This same wash was also added where the luminaries light the path to the church.

The treeline was added varying the color as I went.

Washes were added to the church to define the light and shadow sides. These washes were also varied.

More detail was added to further define shapes.

This is the final. It was used for our family Christmas card. The church is based on our church that we attend. The steeple was changed to show the steeple originally built with the church. Our church puts out luminarias every Christmas eve. When there has been a fresh snow, the reflections of the warm light against the snow is such an inviting view.

Sketches for paintings

2006-12-06T14:44:00.000-06:00

It has been a while since I have posted anything. These sketches will turn into painting subjects within the upcoming weeks. Stay tuned for a step by step of the church painting.

Fishing On The Fox Gets Accepted!

2006-12-06T14:36:00.000-06:00

Fishing on the Fox was accepted into our local Public Arts Program. The painting will be on display at our library for the next year.

FLYSHOP - Step-by-step

2006-10-14T17:39:00.000-05:00

This is the first painting I completed since taking my workshop. I felt a little rusty, but it felt good to throw some paint down on the paper. I will take you thru the process step-by-step. This painting was donated to the Midwest Chapter of Reeling and Healing. It will be auctiontioned off at a benefit with the proceeds going to the local Midwest Chapter. Reeling and Healing champions fly-fishing retreat programs for women diagnosed with or surviving cancer.

The first step of the process is to create my working sketch. This is completed with black pen and gray markers. My sketches are done in a 18"x24" sketch pad. The composition is from various elements brought together.

The next step was to pencil in the sketch onto watercolor paper. I used 140 lbs. Startmore Gemini for this painting. I changed the position of the drift boat because I thought it garnered too much attention in the position as shown in the working sketch. I also removed the rocks and changed the contour of the road. I typically sketch on my watercolor stock using a 2B or 4B pencil.

The next step is very important an often a step painters skip. I created a thumbnail value sketch to guide me in my painting. I will typically do 2-3 quick thumbnail value study roughs trying various value patterns until I find one that fits. I use a 4B and a flat carpenters pencil so I can quickly rough in the values. The value pattern is used was to have a light piece(small) surrounded by a dark shape (medium) on an overall midvalue field (biggest)

Now that I have a value pattern and my sketch is on my watercolor paper, it is time to get down to business. I thoroughly soak my paper and lay in the sky. I try to limit my time in the sky to 30 seconds. Anymore and I have the tendency to fiddle with it. I tip my paper on end to let the colors blend. I graduated the sky from dark to light. I also layed in the forground field using a large brush. The first steps look ugly, but you try to loosly get color and value in without the detail. Hopefully this will produce a fresh loose painting.

The next step I keep working in the colors and values. Referring to my value sketch. Since the midvalue is the largest, I typically work on this first. I can always go back and darken values if I need to. I try to not go into area more that twice. This helps to keep the painting looking overworked and muddy.

I wanted the painting to have a warm dominance. I contued to work the color and values, then I let the painting dry. The final step was to come in with the rigger and add my lines and my darkest darks. And here is the final.

Now it is critique time. I did not hit the dark values in the trees on the left side. They needed to be darker. The shape of the tree over the roof neede to foil the flyshop sign a bit better. The trees to the left of the fly shop are too similar in size and shape. No variation in size and the angles are similar. I will do this painting again, and try to do a better job with the values and make some additional compisitional adjustments along the way. Stay tuned for the next painting.

Workshop Review

2006-09-09T15:41:00.000-05:00

I just returned from my weeklong workshop with Tony Couch. All I can say is WOW! If you have the opportunity to take one of his workshops, I would encourage it. I traveled to Middletown Ohio to attend the workshop. And being the frugal traveler (read as cheap) I took my camper trailer to stay in. I found a trailer park 3 miles from the workshop to drop my camper. All the ammenities, water, electric and sewer. It cost me a whopping $50.00 to stay the entire week. One of the other workshop attendees who stayed in a hotel was nice enough to give me his complimentary USA Today every morning.

Tony has a great way of teaching watercolor. He is also a former student of Ed Whitney, who in his own right was one of the best watercolor instructors. Tony would start out every morning with a demo painting. He would verbalize everything he was thinking while painting. The afternoon was our time to paint. Around 3:30, we would have a critique. Tony would critique his painting that he completed in the morning, then critique ours. I would critique my painting and jot down what I would have changed. I would then compare these with what Tony would say. This is a great way to improve your skills.

The above two paintings are from the workshop. The barn is a vignette which was completed in 1 hour. I tried to use a minimal amount of brush stokes to complete the painting. I was also employeing the vignette techniques we learned that morning. The second painting was completed in 1 1/2 hours. I employed the use of a dark forground a light mid ground and a mid value background. We were learning about the various value patterns, so I thought I would take a shot at one. The paintings are not the best, but they remind me of the valuable lessons that I learned.

In the upcoming weeks I will be posting more paintings. I an energized to paint and draw after attending the workshop. In order to maximize what I have learned, I need to practice! This is one of the best learning tools.

Workshop Preparation

2006-08-18T08:48:00.000-05:00

At the end of this month I will be travelling to a Tony Couch Worshop for 1 week of nothing but watercolor painting. In preparation for the workshop, I have been practicing paintings from his workbook. The barn above is one of the exercises. I really enjoy his style and it closely fits the style I am developing. I am looking forward to meeting and learning from Tony.

Big Red

2006-08-09T19:53:00.000-05:00

This is a quick line and wash sketch of "Big Red" the lighthouse in Holland Michigan. I am experimenting with line and wash techniques. Trying different techniques and applying the elements and principles of design. The one thing that I would improve is that neither the line of the wash is dominant. The center of interest is to close to the center. What is nice is I can try again with my own critique in mind. This sketch took 1 hour to complete start to finish.

New Moleskine

2006-07-23T11:52:00.000-05:00

I just had to try one of these beauties. The paper is not the same as watercolor paper, but it is better than sketchbook paper. This is the first drawing from my new sketchbook. I started by just throwing some watercolor. Just a random pattern and random colors. I then added the sketch of the "Old Brownie" from my shelf.

IT Has Been A While

2006-07-21T15:47:00.000-05:00

I realize that I have not posted anything lately. My business has kept me away from blogging for a while (nice excuse). Anyway, here is a very quick and rough line and wash study of "Three Shapes". I found this refernece picture in a magazine and the shape arrangement intrigued me. More studies to follow...

This Is So True

2006-05-01T14:20:00.000-05:00

“There are those of us who are always about to live. We are waiting until things change, until there is more time, until we are less tired, until we get a promotion, until we settle down — until, until, until. It always seems as if there is some major event that must occur in our lives before we begin living.” - George Sheehan

Fishing On The Fox

2006-04-20T08:26:00.000-05:00

Here is the latest completed painting in my quest to complete 1 painting per week. Fishing on the Fox-watercolor- 15" x 22" is one of the fishing spots near my home. I have some alternate viewpoints which I will paint .

FINAL PAINTING

2006-03-25T06:56:00.000-06:00

Here is the final paint of Autumn Barn. The painting size is 22" x 30". To produce the final drawing, I first started by designing the painting. I had some reference photos of barns I had taken on a recent vacation. I tried various compositions applying the elements and principles of design until I settled on a composition. I then created small thumbnail value sketches based on the final design. I also created small color studies to test various color concepts for the composition. I am happy with the painting, but there are some things that I would change. I will more than likely do another painting using this same design so I can implement the changes. As you can see, there is more to a painting than just painting. I enjoy the process and the rewards are very gratifying.

Jeff

New Barn Sketch

2006-03-02T16:46:00.000-06:00

A quick watercolor sketch of a full size painting I am working on.

Jeff

Morning Hatch

2006-02-11T13:55:00.000-06:00

I did this quick watercolor sketch in preparation for a larger painting in the future.

Jeff

Sketch-About

2005-10-17T09:40:00.000-05:00

We had a beautiful October day for sketching in Riverfront Park in Algonquin. There are some great boathouses on the river to sketch and since it was Harvest Days, there were many life subjects to sketch. Here is a quick watercolor of one of the boat houses.
Colin had a fun time sketching the ducks.

Pepper and Pear

2005-09-12T09:28:00.000-05:00

I am working up to completing a full painting for our kitchen. All of these test sketches work out well as birthday cards. It has been a while since my last post, I need to post more often.

Jeff

Brown Trout

2005-08-09T08:47:00.000-05:00

When I am not drawing, I would rather be fishing. Fly Fishing particularly. This is a quick sketch I did of my fishing buddy Corey holding a beautiful small brown trout caught in the spring creeks of Wisconsin. I am still amazed at how beautiful each caught trout is. Like small colorful gems. The next step is to add watercolor to this sketch.

Jeff

Pear

2005-08-09T08:30:00.000-05:00

I produced this quick color study of a pear for a painting I am working on for my wife. I used this color study for a birthday card. Even though it was used as a study piece, it served another purpose in the form of a birthday card for my wife. It is nice to know that this small quick watercolor can be appreciated.

Poppin' Poppies

2005-07-28T11:40:00.000-05:00

I was traveled to my Mother In Law's in Michigan this past May. It was a hot and sunny weekend. She has a section in her backyard that had bright orange poppies in bloom. The colors were bright and vibrant. I pulled out my trusty watercolor sketch journal and went into action. Doing quick line drawings and throwing watercolor on them is such a great pleasure.

Poppin' Poppies In Progress

2005-07-28T11:37:00.000-05:00

Here is a shot of me in the act of sketching "Poppin' Poppie".

Drawing Flies

2005-07-26T15:09:00.000-05:00

The title does not having anything to do with personal hygiene or the flying insects that are found on your local neighborhood dog dropping. It has to do with the subject that got me started in watercolor....fly fishing salmon flies. I love the colors and shapes of the traditional salmon fly. I have not painted any in a while, and I need to get back to doing a few. I may even try some new techniques to keep things fresh.

Jeff

Drawing with Sticks

2005-07-25T15:58:00.000-05:00

With the dizzying variety of writing instruments available today, I have found a different and fun way to inject some personality and fun into my sketches. Instead of using my ever growing inventory of pens, I will use some unconventional tools to make a mark. These include a bamboo pen, sharpened sticks and carved Popsicle sticks. Simply find some suitable twigs, grab your trusty pocket knife and carve away. To make my marks, I dip the end of the sharpened stick into a bottle of waterproof India ink. Sure it is messy and you have to keep dipping the stick, but the varying line width you achieve is worth the effort. Using a waterproof ink allows me to come back and add watercolor to the sketch without dissolving the lines. Bottled ink is available in different colors, so you are not bound to produce line work in black. Sometimes while using these writing instruments, you may get stray marks, blobs and if you are lucky even a spatter or two. These types of marks are welcome in my sketches and make them that more special. If you want to get real loose, try drawing with a stick that is a foot long and hold it at the very end.

In a black and white sketch, obviously line is the dominant element. Using a pen with a precise size nib leaves little room to vary your line width. One way to get a varying line is to twist and contort the pen or use the side of the nib to achieve a varying affect. One can also achieve this affect by using various sizes of pen nibs and retrace over existing line work. The line is an all-purpose tool which can be used in a variety of ways to sketch. Hopefully stepping outside the box and sketching with something other than the trusty pen or pencil will add a new spontaneity to your sketches.

This post originally appeared on www.thedrawingclub.net .

Jeff