The Perfect Sketchbook, Perfected

Last night at 9:00, Erwin Lian launched an Indiegogo campaign for a new version of "The Perfect Sketchbook." He sent me samples, and I have to agree, they are perfect.


(Link to YouTube)
It has a very heavyweight Fabriano Artistico watercolor paper that is robust enough to stand up to any technique, with a recycled leather cover that will be custom embossed with the names of backers at the slightly higher levels.

The book is more than twice as large as the first pocket sized Perfect Sketchbook. Being vertical in format, it's ideal for doing portraits.

I can recommend this sketchbook for anyone who wants to pass down a treasured keepsake of their visual encounter with the world around them. Here's the link to the Indiegogo campaign, which has just launched.
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Article on Dramatic Lighting

I wrote an article appearing in the current (November) issue of ImagineFX magazine about painting bizarre lighting on location. The article opens: "Who says you have to copy mundane reality when you're outside plein-air painting?"

I'll share more about the making of this painting on the blog in November. It will be one of the subjects of an upcoming tutorial video called "Fantasy in the Wild."

Painting a Hearse in a Limited Palette

When a hearse pulls up in front of your house, paint it! Because you can't paint it once you're inside it.

1967 Oldsmobile hearse, gouache, 5 x 8 inches, by James Gurney

This is the classic dead man's limo.

The limited palette is brilliant purple, cadmium yellow deep, raw sienna, and white. This is really a complementary palette, using two values of yellow against purple. The short new video on YouTube shows the sequence of steps.

This wraps up our visit to Colorado. On Thursday we'll be at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia for a lecture and book signing in connection with "The Art of James Gurney" exhibition.

Today is the deadline for the Graveyard Painting Challenge, and I want to thank everyone who joined in. The results (and stories) are amazing, and they're from all over the world. It's going to be really hard to choose the finalists.

Painting at a Wolf Sanctuary

In this new video, we visit a wolf sanctuary to feed the wolves and paint their portraits. (Link to YouTube video)

Wolves are silent most of the time, and they bark only when they're scared. When occasional visitors like us appear at the sanctuary, the "ambassador wolves" are curious to meet us. 

They're hungry and restless at first because it's feeding day, which happens only twice a week. After feeding them donated livestock, we enter the enclosure and sit down with our backs straight.

I'm not scared, really, but more intensely riveted, especially when they bring their noses right up and press them against mine, with their yellow eyes looking right through me. 

Portraits of wolves by James Gurney, casein, 5 x 8 inches

Once they have checked us out to see we're not a threat, they're no longer interested in us. They're ready to take a nap, and we set up our easels just outside their enclosure. 

Thrown to the Wolves from Brooke Davis on Vimeo.

Here's a video with more about Mission: Wolf (Link to Vimeo)

Mission: Wolf allows visitors, and you can even stay there for a couple weeks if you're willing to volunteer your time.

Alleys in Salida

 
In Salida, Colorado, we wake up early and paint in the alleys. I use a limited palette of titanium white, yellow ochre, burnt sienna, and Prussian blue (also called iron blue).

I choose those pigments because they're enough to mix anything in the scene, and I am guaranteed that the overall effect will be harmonious.

Here's the same alley at sunset, facing the opposite direction, and painted with a different set of colors. This one is cadmium yellow deep, raw sienna, and brilliant purple. It's basically a complementary scheme with two values of yellow on one side and violet on the other.

Finally, here's Jeanette's sketch of the same alley earlier in the day, using transparent watercolor and a Micron 02 pen. "This is line and wash," she says. "I lay it in with pencil, then put in the washes, then finish it off with pen. I like having a pen to define forms with lines and dots."

Glenn Tait had a couple questions after yesterday's post:

Would you or have you done a two page spread like this using gouache?

Yes, gouache works fine for a double page spread, too. Sometimes colored pencil will rub off on a facing page, but the paint stays down pretty well. You just want to be sure the closed book doesn't get too much heavy pressure after it's finished. Painting panoramas in open spreads is a common practice among Urban Sketchers. You can set up a special frame to make a changing home display of your open books.

What is the "open" time on the palette with casein compared to gouache?

All things being equal, I believe casein stays wet or open on the palette a little longer, though I haven't done a systematic experiment. But the more important variables are: 1. Humidity, 2. Whether you're in the direct sun, and 3. Whether or not you squeeze the paint on a damp paper towel. Given those variables, gouache or casein can set up on the palette in anything from 20 minutes to three hours.

The good thing is that the texture of the paint changes as it dries from runny to thick, and that's what you need at various stages of the painting. I like to have runny, wet paint at the beginning as I'm laying in the big areas, and thicker, goopier paint for highlights and accents at the end. If I want to paint for more than a couple of hours, I just wipe off the palette and squeeze out new colors.
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Video tutorial: "Gouache in the Wild"
• HD MP4 Download at Gumroad $14.95
• or HD MP4 Download at Sellfy (for Paypal customers) $14.95
• DVD at Purchase at Kunaki.com (Region 1 encoded NTSC video) $24.50

Speed Painting in Colorado

The cottonwoods in the Gunnison River Valley of Colorado are lit up with autumn color, and I decide to paint the view as a double page spread. Check out the speed-painting video: (Link to YouTube Video) 

Gunnison River Valley, casein, 5 x 16 inches.

Video tutorial: "Gouache in the Wild"
• HD MP4 Download at Gumroad $14.95
• or HD MP4 Download at Sellfy (for Paypal customers) $14.95
• DVD at Purchase at Kunaki.com (Region 1 encoded NTSC video) $24.50

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Black Canyon of the Gunnison

The Black Canyon of the Gunnison in Colorado is a deep cleft in the ground with almost vertical cliffs of rock leading down to a whitewater river thousands of feet below.  

Black Canyon of the Gunnison, casein, 5 x 8 inches

Rudyard Kipling described an 1889 visit: "We entered a gorge, remote from the sun, where the rocks were two thousand feet sheer, and where a rock splintered river roared and howled ten feet below a track which seemed to have been built on the simple principle of dropping miscellaneous dirt into the river and pinning a few rails a-top. There was a glory and a wonder and a mystery about the mad ride, which I felt keenly..."

The sun disappears behind clouds, so I try to reconstruct the light effect from memory. A thunderstorm is coming, so I pack up quickly and run back before the rain and lightning comes. 

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October 27 is the deadline for the Graveyard Painting Challenge. Check out the amazing paintings that are already appearig on the Facebook Event Page.

Upcoming Appearances

I'm excited to announce some upcoming public appearances. They're all gatherings that I would recommend, so come on by, say hello, and get your book signed. 

October 29, 2015: University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA.

In connection with the museum exhibition, "The Art of James Gurney," I'll come to Philadelphia for a digital slide lecture, booksigning, and reception.
Public Presentation: Thursday, October 29: 1 - 2:30 pm, Levitt Auditorium
Reception: Thursday, October 29: 3 - 4 pm, 

at the Von Hess Gallery, Anderson Hall, 333 S Broad StreetPhiladelphia, PA 19107

April 14-15, 2016: Portrait Society Conference, Washington, DC

I'll be doing an opening lecture, a breakout session, reportorial sketching, and other surprises. This is the best convention if you like head painting from life.

September 11-17, 2016: SKB Workshop, Dubois, Wyoming

I'll be a featured instructor, with lectures, demos, and camaraderie. This is a week-long intensive workshop with multiple instructors, and an emphasis on outdoor painting and wildlife art.

October 28-30, 2016: Spectrum Fantastic Art Live, San Francisco

I'm thrilled to be a featured guest, with lectures, book signing, sketching. They're still announcing the other guests, but one will be Bruce Timm. The event will be hosted by Arnie & Cathy Fenner, John Fleskes, and Academy of Art University, one of my favorite art schools.

Down from the Mountain

We make it safely down from the mountain to Animas Forks, Silverton, and then Durango. I celebrate by painting a view of Durango in casein.

People from Colorado are so lucky to have the mountains around them, and everyone seems to embrace the outdoors.

Engineer Pass

According to the website Dangerous Roads, the rough gravel road from Lake City to Silverton over Engineer Pass is "mostly a first gear ride because the road is rough and rocky.  The road is difficult and it’s a nightmare in the wet or dark (or both). It's really too narrow for a 4WD pickup truck."

At 12,800 feet, Engineer Pass is one of the highest mountain passes in Colorado, and winter is rapidly closing in.



We stop for a packed lunch in an alpine valley as the road heads farther and farther up.



The abandoned Ute-Ulay Mine beckons us to explore.



The forge was recently used by miners. Core samples drilled from deep underground lay in boxes all around. A letter on the floor, sent from a brother in the Iraq War, says that life wasn't so bad in boot camp: "It does suck, but everything here becomes a custom. Only thing I miss is listening to my music."

Miners lived up here year round, despite avalanches that cut them off from civilization.

We find an open mine shaft and explore deep into it, turning back when we hit water. This is close to the area where the EPA released a flood of toxic water into the Animas river. 

Here's what it sounds like inside the mine (link to Soundcloud file)

The road leads higher and the snow gets deeper. We're above the tree line and higher than most of the adjacent peaks. The road is just a narrow shelf along the mountain face. It divides into multiple forks, with no signs or maps. Which way from here? The only way seems to be up. Somehow we've got to get over and begin the descent....

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Just a few days until the deadline for the Graveyard Painting Challenge. Check out the amazing entries so far.