Wednesday, April 06, 2011



A small sketch on prepared hot press paper (300lb). Working on a dried wash of grayish paper bag brown, I put down a rapid under drawing with a dip pen and acrylic ink (burnt umber). Very simple palette of white gouache, sepia watercolor, blue gray gouache and black watercolor pigment. I took liberties with the location, not being topographically correct but getting the spirit of the location. Just as a note I used tube colors more than the half pans shown in the photo.

9 comments:

Domas said...

Hey Erik,

Another great piece! I was wondering how much time do you spend on it, doing these live paintings? I really like how you incorporate the paper as part of the landscape and keep it minimal like that :) it's ruff yet smooth. I try to get that kind of feeling in my environments still need practice tho. Thanks for sharing


Bless

Domaz

Domas said...

By the way, how do you choose your spots and places when it comes to painting them? Do you have specific places mapped out and just visit them and perhaps explore once your there for where your gonna paint or...? Anyways looking forward to the next piece :)

Domaz

Laurence said...

What a lovely piece. Thank you for posting it and letting us know some of your process.

E.Tiemens said...

Thank you Laurence and Domas for the feedback!

Domas - Regarding time and location scouting, I tend to hike around near where I live and I'm always thinking of areas to revisit for sketching. Google's 3D Earth is another way you can visit a location and set the time of day with their shadow & sun tool. This is neat because you can map out the rough shadow shapes on the hills for example, so if you set up in the afternoon, you can get an idea of what it will turn to into a few hours later. I have not tried that too much but it could be useful.

As far as time I spend on the paintings, it depends on the size and range of colors. In this case I used a very limited palette and it was about an hour and half to complete. The paper is an important component when you use this 'drawing' approach. This was a popular method with artists first starting to work in the field, capturing the landscape of the Roman Campagna (1600's).

Domas said...

Erik, Thank you for sharing your knowledge with me, thats really appreciated. I'm gonna try this upcoming week and see what i can make out of this. Great idea for using google 3D earth. It's kool how inventive you can be these days using everything around you as a option to get inspired or get your work done. I never actually thought that paper would be that important, it might sound ignorant of me to say that but yeah i always thought that it's more about the tools you use. Come to think about paper is part of the tools so i guess i learned today a new thing. Thanks again hopefully with allot of practice i will get to that next level with my work :)

Bless

Domaz

Gregory Becker said...

Great insight into your color drawings. I want to try this. Thanks for the comparison pic. Seeing the location and the drawing gives me some insight to interpretation methods while on location. I usually follow the Hudson River School blog when they go to the Catskills each year with Jacob Collins. I love seeing the differing interpretations of same locales. Very helpful to see the possibilities. Your blog has been one of the greatest helps to me.
Thanks Erik

Shane Pierce said...

fantastic work - thanks for sharing!

PleinEric said...

Really nice Erik! I've pulled out the watercolors lately and find you work inspiring! I especially like how you've incorporated some the line-work into the painting.

Koen Ivens said...

great work! good to see the fotos that give an idea how you see things and what you do with it. Wouldn't it be wonderfull to have had this kind of info on the works of Girtin, Turner, Corot, Cotman and all the others. Let's say a little film on Youtube of Turner sitting on a rock sketching. Only dreaming ...
Practical question: what kind of ink do you use in your pen?