Painting with the Tigers on Plein Air Friday

Bright and early this morning I was at Epcot laying the ground work for a watercolor sketching workshop  I will be teaching next week for artists and designers at Walt Disney Imagineering.  Got the demo spot scoped out with plenty of room for folks to gather around and honed in on other locations for everyone to sketch.

Getting ready to do the details

A few weeks ago I was at Disney's Animal Kingdom on the Asia trek painting near the bridge between the 2 tiger exhibits.  While I'm painting I love watching the early morning routines of the animal keepers and I end up learning a lot about the animals I'm painting near.  

Back up the hill after finishing some morning business

While I was working, there was a male tiger on the exhibit to my right and a female on the exhibit to the left.  They are currently separated until they get used to each other and the younger female is ready for mating.  They have to keep the shutters closed on the male's side because if he sees her through the glass across the promenade, he will go crazy! (This is what the keepers have told me.)  As it was, he can smell her and had some guttural sexy calls, that morning, which felt like he was carrying on right behind me! Nothing like loud Tiger snorts and groans to keep you awake in the morning.  She, the female, couldn't be bothered in the least! 

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Plein Air Friday, Back at Disney's Animal Kingdom

 I went back to the spot I was at last week in the Africa area.  I had very limited time today, I didn't completely finish.  I will put it up in the studio and analyze whether I will finish it or not.  Some I'm compelled to bring to completion and others I essentially see as a painting exercise.  As I mentioned in the last post, I tried a new paper I didn't care for so part of me doesn't want to spend any more time on this one.   It is at that point where I feel like I may have overworked it.  I will look at with fresh eyes another day. 

I'm posting a painting I did finish in the Asia area.  I  also wanted to share a link to the Urban Sketchers Blog.  Last week there was a meet up of different chapters all over the world to record anything related to the Chinese New Year, the year of the Rooster.  Noga Grossman the head administrator for our Orlando Chapter suggested the idea as well as documenting what other artists did on the worldwide Urban Sketchers blog.  If you would like to see the post you can click here.  One of my paintings of the Temple of Heaven in the China Pavilion at Epcot was featured!  There are other sketches from  Lisbon, Yokohama, Seattle, Orlando, Melbourne, Los Angeles, Beijing, Dallas/Ft. Worth, O'ahu, and Canberra, in the article.

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My Favorite Things Top Ten, Number 1: Escoda Perla Brushes

Over the years I have tried a number of brushes, and I have amassed quite a collection. I use different brushes for different purposes,  sometimes the task calls for a synthetic brush and sometimes, a natural hair brush.  I go over all these nuances in the workshops I teach.    

I have a number of Escoda brushes from their  various lines, The Barroco, The Prado and The Versatil.  My favorite is the Perla.  Iain Stewart turned me on to this one.  My go to is the number 14.  It has the perfect snap, and point and holds the right amount of water for me.  I really don't need any other size, with the point on this I can get really fine lines.  However, when I was at the Florida Watercolor Society Convention & Trade Show, this last fall, I spotted a travel brush set of Perlas.  

It was a treat yourself moment, I got them because at times I don't want to drag my whole plein air kit, but just put a few things in my purse, or tote bag. They even came with a handy leather case!  So I have Perlas in more sizes to use, sketching, plein air painting and in the studio!  If you are interested in getting some Escoda Perla Brushes, Dick Blick carries them on line.  Unfortunately, I have never seen them sold in any retail art stores I have been to.  If you have been good this year maybe Santa will put one or two in your stocking! 

Stay tuned my next post will be a Favorite Things Bonus, just in time for the holidays! 

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Favorite Things Top Ten: Number 6, Daniel Smith Undersea Green

I had to add a paint color to the list and although I have many favorites, I picked this one because it it's so versatile on my studio palette and my plein air palette.  It is really a time saver because I used to use a mix of ultramarine blue and quinacridone gold to get a variety of greens.  I add more blue to get a cooler green and more gold to get a warmer green.  Well Daniel Smith has combined the two colors in one tube!  Now I start with this and if I want it cooler, more ultramarine blue and warmer more quin. gold.  I also love the way it granulates. I first discovered it when I painted the menu program for the Coral Reef Restaurant at Epcot  and it has been on my palette ever since!

I would love or you to leave a comment on which paint color you love!  I'm always looking for new ones to try.

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Plein Air Friday: "Siamang Retreat"

I painted again this morning at Disney's Animal Kingdom,  and got a good block in and will go back next week to work on it again.  Here is the finished painting from my November 25, post.  This is the area that overlooks the Siamang Gibbon exhibit.  I'm very happy with this one.  Since there was a lot of green area in this composition, my goal was to pay attention to color temperature and value to have variety.

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Plein Air Friday: More from Disney's Animal Kingdom

I apologize to my loyal blog followers!  I haven't been very active on here lately.  I have a full plate of teaching workshops,  private students, demos, shows, painting for upcoming shows, and a kitchen remodel that is still in the works!  Therefore, I've been limiting my time on social media and writing blog posts.  I'm looking forward to things slowing down over the holidays.  This morning my husband and I went back out to Animal Kingdom to paint.  I had started this one in an earlier session, and finished it today.  We have a little less than a 2 hour window to paint each time.

I like how Violet is patting my shadow shoulder.

I had the Saimang Monkeys that are native to Southeast Asia keeping me company today. Since the weather has cooled off a bit they are a lot more active.  Violet and Veruka are five-year old twin sisters.

This is a work in progress from the start of the morning.

Veruka is hanging ten.

I will add a few more finishing touches in the studio but it's pretty much complete.

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Plein Air Friday, Disney's Animal Kingdom

The group I have been painting with at Epcot on Fridays has now moved to Animal Kingdom.  We are so psyched!  I was on the design team for this park and have loved it from day one.  We traveled to many places in Asia during the concept and design phase and spending time in the Asia area of Animal Kingdom brings back so many great memories.

This is where I finished today.  I'll tweak and punch up the values in the studio

One of my favorite things about plein air painting is the ambiance surrounding you. At the location today, I thought I would share with you some of my surroundings.  Just behind where I was painting was the home of the White Cheeked Gibbons.  One of the females just had a baby, and here is a video of her with her mom and a few of the males.  The female is a brown color and the males are dark.  The baby's name is Harper named after Harper Lee.

Every morning around 8:00 they start this ritual where they screech, or sing if you will,  to mark their territory.  It is an unbelievable sound and the first time you hear it you think they are electronic sirens or alarms!  Here is a  sound snippet of their songs!  Stick with it they really get going about half way through this one minute audio.

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Plein Air Friday, "Japan Cascade"

Staying inside today while hurricane Hermine passes through Florida. The west coast and panhandle are getting it way worse than we are in central Florida.  Everybody be safe!  I thought I would post a plein air sketch I did earlier this summer at Epcot.  This one is in the Japan Pavilion.  I loved painting all the different color temperatures in the rocks.  Plus, I also really like doing long vertical formats in my sketchbook.

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Germany Plein Air

Here is a small plein air painting of part of the Germany Pavilion at Epcot.  This one was done in two sessions. I had most of it done on the first day and then returned to lay in the background trees and add the details. I like to plein air paint in my sketchbook ( Stillman & Birn Alpha Series)  but lately I have been doing a few on paper taped to a board.  I ordered a sample pack of a variety of watercolor papers from different manufacturers to try them out.  I normally paint on Arches or Twinrocker. This one was done from an Arches watercolor block, 140 lb. I will be trying out some of the other papers in future paintings and let you know how I like them.

Check out my Travel Sketches and other Plein Air works:

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China Plein Air

This plein air painting was done at the China Pavilion at Epcot.  I had all but the last few details done on site and then finished it in the studio.  The challenge on this one was all the colorful ornamentation and details on the structure.  Therefore, this was a great exercise in indication and not getting caught up on details.  The paper on this one is one of my favorites, Twinrocker.

The day I painted this I was getting hungry I always keep a protein bar or some nuts in my bag for just such an occasion.  I had a bowl of almonds with me that day and as soon as I took the lid off of them, I had a buddy!  He was not shy in the least, as you can tell by these photos.  

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