capturing the edge

Shoreline II

watercolor and gouache on cold pressed paper

5.5 x 7.5 inches

©Ann Thompson Nemcosky

This is what I worked on yesterday. I just can't leave alone all of those images I have collected of the surf. There is something about edges that fascinates me. Where water meets the land, or fields meet the tree line, the horizon line of sky and earth or sky and water. What started out with every intention to be a combination of drawing and watercolor became almost entirely watercolor once I had that loaded brush in my hand. And I managed to lose some of my white areas along the way but that was remedied with a little white gouache at the end.

Sketchbook Tuesday

Thank you to those who responded to my previous post about your favorite sketching tools. I find it fascinating just learning even a little about how other artists like to work.

Cathy Johnson's Artist's Journal class finishes this week. It has been an interesting journey and I am glad I decided to take part. Spending a dedicated amount of time focusing on one topic in a class setting is a marvelous way to accelerate your skills and creativity. The topic of this class, Keeping An Artist's Journal, also helped me define my goals for my art work. At just the right time too.

So here it is another Tuesday, another gouache landscape study. These are a fun and challenging way to plan a composition, looking at the placement of values and contrast. And they are a clue to what my new project is for the coming year. But you're going to have to wait a little while longer to find out exactly what that is all about. To help you wait here is a little sketch of Sammie. He's a very patient dog. Most of the time.

Sketchbook Tuesday

Here we are approaching the Thanksgiving holiday already. I have been thinking about just how much I have to be thankful for this year. Family, friends, pets, a home to enjoy, the list goes on. But what I want to mention here is that I am thankful for you. It is because of your visits to my little blog, over here in my corner of cyberspace, that I am encouraged to keep creating. Your comments bolster me and keep me going. So in this time of year with its celebrations of the harvest, I am thankful to have found all of you. May you all enjoy a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday!
These are two more gouache studies in my hand.book journal. They are fun yet challenging to do, quick and spontaneous reactions to shape and value, without the aid of color for defining form. The second image is inspired by a photo taken by my friend Beth. Thanks Beth for the lovely image!

Sketchbook Tuesday

Some time ago I purchased a couple of tubes of gouache, white and burnt umber, to experiment with and do value studies. Here is my first attempt at that in my hand.book journal. I enjoyed playing with the gouache, which unlike watercolor, I can put light values on top of the darks, allowing for more push and pull of those values.

The Artist's Journal class has begun this week with an overwhelming amount of enthusiasm from all the participants. Inspired by others in the class, I decided to try making my own handmade sketchbook.
Here is my paper cut to size and the covers that I made. The paper is 140 lb. Fabriano hp. The covers are made from the back of an old sketchbook, covered with fabric on the outside and marbled paper on the interior side. Also shown is my hole punching guide. The marbled paper is some that I had left over from a craft project that Kiddo and I did a couple of years ago. The fabric is what remains from some very old curtains I had made for a long ago apartment. This part of the process was really pretty easy to do, especially with the help of class mates!
Here is the book stitched together. I followed this online tutorial in order to figure out how to do the stitching. Again, this was much easier than I anticipated. Although I did end up taking it apart and re-stitching it with different thread that I waxed first, which made the book feel more sturdy, but it looks the same as the picture here. I just may start making all of my own sketchbooks from here on out! Of course, I do have a few store bought sketchbooks laying around that I should finish working in first.