Planning New Work

I've begun a new body of work based on our trip to Finland this summer. I want to enliven my memories and make renewable experiences from them. Here is a recent study. It reflects our time Kirjais, a (barely) village on a small island in the Turku Archipelago.

Kirjais Study (Wild Children), watercolor on paper, 5.5" x 8", 2015

Dynamic Image as Notebook

I made a GIF.

Paulo, watercolor, 10" x 12", 3/26/2015

1301 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Starbucks

I used to work in the building on the left, one of the Flatiron designs ringing Dupont Circle. From my office I looked out onto the shorter building in the background, which I liked to think was transplanted from Paris circa the Second Empire.

1301 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Late August--Early September, watercolor, 8.5" x 5", 2015

The Brewmaster's Castle

The Brewmaster's Castle (Heurich House Museum) Seen from N St, Late August, watercolor, 8.5" x 5", 2015

St. Matthew's...A Geometric Pile Up

St. Matthew Cathedral, RI Avenue, NW, August, watercolor, 8.5" x 5", 2015

St. Matthews on Rhode Island Avenue

Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle, RI Avenue, NW, watercolor on paper, 5" x 8.5", 2015

17th between N and Massachusetts, NW

17th between N Street and Massachusetts Avenue, NW, watercolor, 5" x 8.5", 2015

Dupont Circle Starbucks (North)

Starbucks North of Dupont Circle, 4/17/15, watercolor, 5" x 8.5", 20015

Sick Day in May

A few sketches of a sick-day nap back in May.

Nap in Running Stroller, 80 Degrees, 5/11/15 graphite, 8.5" x 11", 2015

N & 17th Street from Daniel Webster Park

I'm currently drawing the two buildings lining the west side of 17th Street between N Street and Massachusetts Avenue, NW.  I worked from a similar motif one afternoon in May.

N & 17th Streets, NW, as Seen from Daniel Webster Park (off Thomas Circle), 11" x 17", 2015

Metro Portraits

Portraits from the Metro this week. Rapid and gestural, as is necessary on a packed train.

Metro. Green Line. Monday Evening, 7/20/15, Micron pen (.05), 5.5" x 7"

Metro. Red Line. Tuesday Morning Commute, 7/21/15, graphite,
5.5" x 7"

Jefferson Place

Around the corner from my office building, this one-block street is one of my favorite in downtown DC. This and N Street, NW, east of Connecticut Avenue. Both bring to mind the quiet townhouses of powerful NYC streets.

1821 Jefferson Place, NW. June & July 2015

Past Study

I've always enjoyed the sparseness of this drawing as well as its chromatic punch. I just came across it while going through my image files.

The Actor from My Name is Asher Lev (Lise), graphite & watercolor on paper, 14" x 17, 2009

Switching Mediums & Staying Alert

Over lunch a couple of months ago, a nice, sharp charcoal pencil gave me crisp lines and lively textures. 

Periodically switching to media I don't use much keeps me alert and helps me work openly.

Florida and Massachusetts Avenues, NW, 4/28/15

Letting it Be

When working alla prima, it takes faith to let a painting be, call it done and walk away.

Here's an early state of a piece I did a few weeks back during my Thursday night model session at Washington Drawing Center Brookland. It should have been the final state...with maybe a little more definition in the eyes...or maybe not.... See?

But because at this point I had close to two hours to go in the three-hour sitting, I pushed on. Though I like what I ended up with at the end of the session, I wish I had had the gumption to call it a night with the painting below.

State 3 of Brian, June 11 (oil on board, 12" x 16", 2015)

Where Rhode Island Avenue and M Street Meet

Pre-work 15-minute sketch from yesterday morning. 

I've toured office space in the pie-shaped building. I think I saw a gutted floor and another that looked like a hastily abandoned boiler room call center. I used to get lunch in the greasy spoon on the first floor and never once bought flowers from the nice floral shop next door to it.

Where RI Ave. and M St., NW, Meet (6/18/15)

Color as Language

Often, I'll make notes about color and value on my sketches with the intent of later adding watercolor washes or translating them into a larger painting. 

But sometimes, it's just fun to leave the notes without the addition of their counterparts on the spectrum. The result can be just as vivid, albeit in a different way.
 

National Cathedral, Northern View (5/24/15)

Garish

This watercolor is so garish...but I kind of like it because it captures the muggy, unpleasant atmosphere of the day I completed it. I wasn't going to post it, but...

I did the piece over two recent lunch hours. The drawing was delicate after the first session, though I may have set the tonal key too dark when I added the wash for the left-hand tree as a concluding thought. When I got back to it after more than a week (wet weather was the delay), I was grappling for the initial hook but plowed forth without it. I was time-frustrated. And then it got out of hand.... But like I said, it actually is an honest portrayal of the feel of the scene...despite the uncouth lines and over-the-top chroma.

20th St. & NH Ave., NW (5/28, 6/9/15)

 

1301 Connecticut Avenue, NW. Morning. June 16.

I used to work in this building. Now I work down the street.

1301 CT Ave, 7" x 5.5", 6/16/2015

Sitting in the Shade to Avoid the Heat

...right next to idling DC Circulator buses....

The garden overflowing the fence belongs to the Inn at Dupont South. There was a board meeting going on in the building next door, according to a handwritten sign. There is a new pizza place up the street. I was tripped up again with the question, What do you do? I never know whether to talk about my job or my artwork.

19th St. & Sunderland Pl., NW, 5/29 & 6/10/15

Washington Plaza Hotel

Washington Plaza Hotel, Friday, 8/22/2014

A Year Ago

Drawings from a year ago today and yesterday.

Franklin Park, 6/4/14

Franklin Park, 6/5/14

Color

While I don't mind today's gray weather---the light is sharp and Clocktower Radio is playing some good music (some sort of mellow dance music...trance?)---a little color wouldn't hurt. Here are some quick watercolors from a few years back.

Emma, 2013

New World Trade Center Under Construction, 2012

Rain-Bound

It's been a gray, rainy week. Chilly, too. I haven't been able to finish the two watercolors I'm working on.

So here's lunchtime drawing from a few weeks back. It was in the high 80s then. It is in the low 60s today.

Patterson Mansion with Exterior Renovations, 15 Dupont Circle, 5.5" x 7"

Summer Approaches

It's getting hot. Summer is coming. I draw where the shade is.

The Brewmaster's Castle (Christian Heurich Mansion), New Hampshire Ave. & 20th St., NW

A Year Ago

Lunch-time drawings from about a year ago.

Franklin Park, 5/19/14