Another House in the 'Hood

Here's another sketch from the #housesinthehood series. This time, it’s our house. I drew some light pencil lines, then used gouache paint for the colors, then black and grey soft brush pens for the darker lines. I have to say: I kinda like it. 

Houses in the 'Hood

Inspired by artist/teacher Marc Taro Holmes, whose course “Travel Sketching in Mixed Media” I am taking from Craftsy.com, I’ve been using Holmes’s technique of laying down some minimal, sketchy lines in permanent ink with a carbon platinum fountain pen (extra fine point) and then adding the watercolors – all in very loose fashion.

I decided to draw a few houses from my neighborhood. My first sketch was the house directly across from ours. The owners recently painted their steps and shutters pink, making for a nice visual contrast. I found, though, that as I sketched, the tree wanted the most attention and the steps and shutters became the supporting cast.

Next up was this little blue-gray bungalow just around the corner. It too has an oak out front, as do many homes in our ‘hood, but this time the sidewalk color and texture attracted my attention the most: 

On to another house, a lovely two-story brick that the owners have been bringing to life, inside and out. What I like about this little sketch is the warm palette of tans, yellows, pinks, and browns — with just a little cooler contrast of blue in the windows and along the wrought-iron railing.

 

Next, just around the corner, a Tudor with a bright red door and, again, a lovely oak.














Then I made this sketch of another house in the hood with a red door – this house in colonial style. I tried to capture the purple ash in the upper left in all its glory, with its translucent peaches, plums, corals, and lime greens. Purple ashes are my favorites of the fall trees — all the more so these days as the emerald ash borer threatens this species. 

  

But a cropping of this sketch reveals the true main characters: once again, the signature oak, this time with two trunks. (Sorry, purple ash. I will try again next year, so you stay healthy.) 

When I sketch I try to use the same techniques I would if I were meditating: I bring a compassionate, non-judgmental, present-moment awareness to the process. Even as a budding artist I can tell there’s plenty wrong with these sketches, but I prefer to focus on what I like about them.  

(A note re: Craftsy.com: this is a great web site for artists, with many how-to videos ranging in the range of $20-30. So far I have taken courses from Shari Baukhof and Marc Taro Holmes; I give both instructors two thumbs up.)

Maybe the Timing Is Just Right

A few years ago I took a class in pen and ink from Doug Eckheart in Decorah, Iowa. He showed us how to draw a landscape (on location) lightly with pencil, and then return to the studio to make light marks with a quill pen dipped in black ink. We added color with watercolor paints, then finished the drawing with more quill pen marks.

I made some bad drawings that day, but I feel like this one sort of accidentally worked and somehow represents my first official serious effort toward The Sally Project. The drawing made me happy and gave me the fuel I needed for continuing my learning curve in art.

There were  eight or ten women around the table, all of us in our forties, fifties, or sixties. As we worked, he quietly said, “Many of you here are just turning to art because you’ve been busy with kids and careers. I can’t help but wonder: What kind of art you might have created during all those year if you had had the time?”

I wondered that, too. It felt so late to try to get started as an artist. I wished I would have been more intentional about creating art even during my busy times. But I also recognized that Sally’s exuberance may have had everything to do with starting something so totally new in her later life.

Maybe the timing was – is – just right.