Friday, August 1, 2008

En Plein Air Ink and Color Wash Sketches

Remember Cinerama filmed in Cinemascope?... the loooonnnng screen movies of the mid and late 60's and maybe going into the early 70's. Well Strathmore has come out with a 6"X18" watercolor sketch pad...just like Cinerama! I call it my "Slim Jim", and I have used it for most of these demonstrations I did for my Sacramento City College outdoor watercolor sketch class. I might start with a quickie pencil thumbnail on a small drawing sketch pad to develop my composition, but after that, I go directly to a fine tip drawing pen. Several years ago I stopped drawing with a pencil first and going over it with a pen. It's now nothing but pen...keeps you concentrating and not worried about exact copying what you see. Anyway, I love to edit out detail and just capture the impression of things.

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

These are so fine! Just beautiful examples of the diversity of your abilities.
Lucky students to have you as an instructor.

I know what you mean about fog or rain or overcast. We too are grateful when it isn't hot and sunny all the time. It's raining and thundering right now, first time in 2 months that we've had rain. It's so wonderful, I don't want to leave the house.

Have a great time- and thanks for the link to Terry Miuras' blog- he is so very good.

Anonymous said...

Hi, David. Love your sketchbook work! Beautiful and sensitive without being overdone.

Anonymous said...

The austerity of the pen and ink wash in the shore drawing is really moving. Love the crest of the wave and shadow below, drawing focus across the vast panarama. Your students are lucky.

I'm still working through my moleskine watercolor sketch book... but Cinerama® format is striking. Since I'm working in small sketches, I might just crop a page down to something more like these proportions for a dramatic sweep.

[Vagrant thought]:It occurs to me that Joe Green's monument, if it were in Italy, would say "Guiseppe Verdi".

Nick said...

Great David, love that jet!

Ed Terpening said...

I like this format, too. I just re-ordered some linen panes from Raymar, and they have 8x16 and such. A bit more expensive to frame, but when you find the right subject, it's perfect.

David Lobenberg said...

Bonnie: Enjoy the thunder and rain!!

David Lobenberg said...

anonymous: That's the trick,,,not to over do. Thanks for dropping by.

David Lobenberg said...

"Austerity" I like that word Edgar! Love your vagrant thought!(:

David Lobenberg said...

Thanks Nick!

Jared Shear said...

Fantastic!.....I will have to try and pick up one of these "Cinerama" sketch books.

Theresa Rankin said...

Thank you so much, David. I am honored!!... may I add you to my list of blogs/sites to visit? You have some wonderful sketches in this post! Loose yet precise.

Frank Gardner said...

These are very cool sketches David.

David Lobenberg said...

Theresa: Let's make a mutual admiration thing here...you add me as a link to your blog and visa versa. We'll kill two stones with one bird! Or something to that effect.

David Lobenberg said...

Muchas gracias, Frank.

Leslie Sealey said...

I like your sketches-they really sparkle!

David Lobenberg said...

Thank you Leslie...err...I mean hippo lady.