I brought my car to the dealership for a service checkup. The service guy told me it would take about 45 minutes.
He pointed me to a waiting room, which had a coffee machine, some magazines, and a TV set. But I was tired of hearing about Romney and Obama. So I headed onto the sales floor. I found an empty chair next to the snack machine. I laid out my watercolor gear on a desk and got to work.
The hazy daylight streamed in through floor-to-ceiling windows. Clusters of red, white, and blue balloons hung from the ceiling. A sports car sat in the middle of the room, its silver paint mirroring bright highlights from the windows.
The sales people seemed transfixed by their computers. One guy played digital solitaire. They took no notice of me. When I was finished with the painting, I showed it to them. They took photos of it with their cellphones to put on their Facebook pages.
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50 comments:
Another great sketch, James. I love the way you leave the white paper for those highlights. It's something that can be so easy to forget to do (for me, at least). But it's so effective, and worth remembering.
Do you ever use the Niji water brush with the watercolors? I know you use it with the wc pencils. I sometimes use the Niji as my water color brush and find that it seems to save time and eliminates the need to carry the water. Of course the water supply in the Niji is limited, and it does require a quick cleaning between colors, but I don't find that to be an impediment.
Nice. I like how your brush strokes on the floor create a sense of perspective. Perhaps the employees were on their computers transfixed by your blog.
A great post. Computers and technology have become such a part of our lives; I feel like we are constantly surrounded by screens. I love the conveniences of technology and the wealth of knowledge afforded to me by the internet, but I worry sometimes about how far they remove us from the tangible world.
I was lucky enough last night to meet the artist Alex Horley at the Drawing Club in Los Angeles. He talked about how he still only works traditionally, as opposed to digitally, because he needs to feel the tangible connection between himself and the work of art. He said, for him, adding a wacom tablet and a screen is like adding another level of separation between himself and the art. Obviously it's just a matter of personal preference, but I thought it was interesting.
Hehehe, very nice, I have to say that last paragraph was great writing, and very representative of today's world...
On an unrelated comment, Mr. Gurney, I just finished reading a book I think you might like. Orhan Pamuk was awarded the Nobel Prize in 2006. One of his chief works is "My Name is Red", a murder novel with the backdrop of Muslim illustrators of the 17th century. It talks a lot about color, composition, style and the value of illustration in general.
Thanks, everyone. Gina, I know what you mean about the joy of traditional media, but I have to say that I'm also inspired by artists like Robh Ruppel who sketch in all sorts of unlikely places with laptops and iPads.
Andres, thanks for the book suggestion. I've heard of that book, and I'll have to check it out.
Chris, in addition to the brush, I was using a colored pencil for the carpet texture.
Tom, I have used the water brushes for the watercolor, but in this case I used about a 1/4 inch flat folding brush. The painting is only about 5x7 inches.
Narrative! You're practising what you preach, Jim - and it sure is rivetting!
James! Haven't we all been there waiting in the auto show room for our cars and bored to death with the repetition of politics. Bravo! You just put a huge smile on my face with this work! I love turning lemons into lemonade! Oops! Hope the auto is okay! =!+ Dorine
Best thing you did! Drawing is better than watching TV any time! Thanks for sharing it! :)
I drive a Mazda, too. Zoom, zoom.
I appreciate your work on documenting the everyday.
Yeah I would be annoyed by the politics on TV as well. But I probably would have gotten out my sketch book and started to doodle creatures and what ever else was on my mind. Or I would have just sat there and thought of ideas.
You make it look so easy! I love the blog, love the variety of themes you present. Thank you!
I did the same thing with my iPad at a Honda dealership.
Lovely, though this also caught my eye as I was sitting in the waiting area at MY local Mazda dealer trying to ignore the TV on the very same day. Sadly, I was not painting, but wrestling in Photoshop with a work assignment.
Being in the moment.
You captured the light and the mood beautifully!
Wonderful! This is truly a work of art. Who would've thought that you can make this in 45 minutes or less? It's a good thing that the service checkup also took 45 minutes. If it didn't, you wouldn't have finished it, well, you would eventually, but considering the situation, I say it’s better this way. I really admire your work. As most painters and artists say, "Art is long and life is short". We should remember that. :)
Finally!! Thanks to Google, I found the information I was looking for. Bookmarked this URL. Will surely visit this site more often. Thanks.
I can't believe that someone can actually make this painting under 45 minutes! You are truly a talented guy, James. Why don't you display this in the nearest museum in your place? It deserves to be admired by different painters and artists in your neighborhood. By the way, what’s the problem of your car anyway?
Vannessa, Thanks! Just an oil change this time. There are a few of my plein air paintings in the Lyman Allyn museum show.
Note to readers: this blog post seems to draw a lot of spam, and it's a hassle to erase each one, so please know that I'm aware of the spammish comments that may follow....
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