It is complicated drawing the myriad reflections of light through a clear glass of water. To be precise, one has to take the time to figure out the tonal values of overlapping reflections, refractions and shadows. If drawing outside, one can’t take too long, or the sun will move and tonal variations will change.
There’s got to be a better way to depict reflections on a shiny car hood. I get a better sense of the reflected branches on the windshield than the hood. Not sure why that is.
The object of this study was the center of a sun umbrella: a brass collar in between two large wooden dowels. It was difficult to replicate the elongated reflections.
The palm tree is divided in two by the frame of the mirrored window.
Multiple reflections and geometric divisions provide the environment for this self portrait. The large repetitive rectangles in the foreground and the smaller ones superimposed thereon, are reminiscent of unrolled strips of photographic film. Thus, even though this is a digital photograph, it is an homage to film photography.
Sometimes, when I’m early to work, I just wait in the car for a while. Now and then I practice drawing. In today’s world of glass windows and reflective storefronts, we don’t always notice reflections. They become invisible unless we make ourselves aware of them. I only captured a few of them in my sketch […]
I finished the biography of Leonardo DaVinci this morning. The lesson I learned from this book of more than 500 pages is: Be curious about everything. I learned this early in life thanks to my father. He was a theoretical physicist who knew a great deal about nature. He was a ‘natural philosopher’, an old […]
I began today’s tree painting as I have for the past several days: introducing earth tone pigments to the wet half of a 12″x9″ piece of watercolor paper. As usual, the pigment bloomed into tree-like forms. I wanted to make a forest so I let the first color application dry, re-wet it and added another […]
Today’s watercolor experiment: My last foray into reflections for a while. Time to put this chapter of the Tate Watercolor Manual * to rest. Below is my moon-snow-waterscape. I followed the same procedure as in my warmup exercise (Warmup – Moon Reflections) by encircling an area of the paper with neutral tint wash. The aura […]
