Virtual Gouache Land

2012-01-16T17:40:00.000-08:00

Sepia Tree Cluster study with shadow-obscured artist sketching on the lower left side. Italia Acquerello water color paper -6x6 inches. Watercolor, gouache, sumi ink, Liquitex Ink! - transparent raw umber, sepia ink, dip pen, reed pen, charcoal pencil with additions of Pitt artist pens along w/ sable brush work.

2012-01-01T22:16:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year! All the best to everyone and may this be a very creative year to all of you.

2011-12-21T22:39:00.000-08:00

Just finished a recent landscape commission using Pt.Reyes National Seashore (West Coast of Northern California) for inspiration. Oils on linen - 80 x 29 inches. In my post from earlier this summer I shared a handful of digital color sketches and the client picked this one to develop.

2011-11-20T12:33:00.000-08:00

I wanted to share some recent imaginative color sketches. A French pastoral landscape and an Italian campagna setting are both atmospherically set with fast changing weather.
-Digital-

2011-11-17T14:11:00.000-08:00

Digital Gouache sketch from memory after a hike. Morning light with breaking fog, 8:30am. It was interesting to notice the buzzards looking dark in their shapes and with the right angle see them shift to a high shine against the muted hillside.

2011-11-15T21:21:00.000-08:00

Sun dissolving into the headlands fog. Digital color sketch from memory.

2011-11-03T22:26:00.000-07:00

Recent gouache study for a larger painting. Thinking about Valenciennes, Poussin, Lorrain, Richard Wilson, and Turner. 6x6 inches with additions of gold gouache dip pen boarders.

2011-10-15T22:38:00.000-07:00

A study of river side woods with the great Barbizon school painters in mind, in particular the friendship between Harpignies and Corot is evoked. I can't even imagine
how wonderful sketching and painting the Italian country side must have been in the 1860's with these great ones.

Gouache & watercolor on hot press paper with pastel pencil, pastel stick, sepia pen/ink and touches of lifting out with paper towel. 24,5 x 10,5 cm.

2011-10-11T18:42:00.000-07:00

Watercolor and gouache sketch painted on location near the Golden Gate Bridge. 6x6 inches - Italia Acquerello paper by Magnani.

2011-09-26T23:04:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to spread the word about the upcoming SketchTravel book auction that will be held October 17th in Brussels. Please check out the links to help out a great cause!

I've been lucky to be featured on the SketchTravel Blog today.

official website
http://www.sketchtravel.com/

facebook page

There are so many ways you can help!
1) Donate to Room to Read: http://www.roomtoread.org/sketchtravel
2) Visit and "like" the page:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/SKETCHTRAVEL/30677216995
3) Re-share this to spread the word.

2011-09-24T10:39:00.000-07:00

Thank you for those who attended my Watercolor & Gouache workshop last week. It was an excellent group of artists and I had the best time! Here is one of my demos of a Mendocino Cypress tree study. An old dilapidated fence rested at the base of the trunk, almost like a faint attempt at holding up the 100 year plus tree. We sketched outside and then carried on in the studio with painted value and color work.

Watercolor burnt umber with Sepia ink. Touches of dip pen work, and a Derwent Inktense pencil (Outliner) used for blocking in the shapes. In addition, white gouache and chinese white watercolor were used for the sky and foreground details. 6.5" x 9" on warm gray smooth card paper.

2011-09-07T20:54:00.000-07:00

A study of parting clouds and mist above a bay - moonlight. Watercolor, dip pen with touches of gouache. Arches cold press paper, approximately 5x11 inches.

2011-08-31T11:04:00.000-07:00

Drawing on a post-it note with yellow background (3"x 5"). Brush Markers, grey pastel pencil and permanent Pitt artist pens for details. This approach can be useful in working out ideas for projects. I have made hundreds of small sketches like this for various films over time. Warming up for concepts is something I recommend trying before diving into complex pieces. I like to do this when thinking of new paintings to be later carried out in oils or gouache.

2011-08-22T17:08:00.000-07:00

Workshop Coming Up!

My Mendocino Gouache & Watercolor workshop is just around the corner. Please sign up soon: it's the weekend of September 17-18, 2011. Besides demonstrating my painting approach and how to tackle the local coastline and other landscape features, I will also be able to look at portfolios and give feedback on all aspects of your work.

Workshop Info

I also wanted to share that there are special discounts at local inns- just ask the Mendocino Art Center: 1-800-653-3328 ext. 10

*The sepia image is a recent digital painting exploring an invented Italian harbor, in the spirit of the Dutch Italianates.

2011-08-15T15:51:00.000-07:00

Study in blue, brown, green and purple grays. Gouache & watercolor, Glass Beach, Fort Bragg, California. Heavy overcast started to set in.

2011-08-07T12:43:00.000-07:00

Painted yesterday in Penngrove, California, in the Sonoma wine country. There was an incredible change in the weather as the sun was setting.
The valley got more diffused and finally the fog shrouded the distant hills in a veil of blue mist by sunset. Gouache and watercolor on hot press Fabriano 'Artistico' paper. 5"x7". There are a few touches of warm gray watercolor pencil in the background mid way through the painting process. Big thanks to Kim's family for sharing their vineyard views!

2011-07-27T15:09:00.000-07:00

Introducing a HD video clip showing the process of the 'Gouache Ruins' painting. The music gets louder at the end just to let you know. You can see the full resolution if you click over to my Vimeo link.
Enjoy!

'Gouache Ruins' Speed Painting from Erik Tiemens on Vimeo.

2011-07-26T17:47:00.000-07:00

An invented Italian architectural (theatrical) sketch of ruins with a limited palette of gouache and watercolor. Fabriano 'Artistico' rough paper 5" x 9 1/2". There is some pen work that had bleed through the lighter gouache, almost separating into a bluish stain. I taped the painting session for a tutorial down the road.

2011-07-17T10:54:00.000-07:00

Fall 2011 Workshop Coming Up!
I'm excited to announce a new painting workshop September 17-18, 2011. I will be teaching a Gouache and Watercolor class on the West Coast of California, at the Mendocino Art Center. Please sign up if you are interested. The location is superb for outdoor sketching and continuing the paintings in the large studio at the center. I will be painting multiple demos and assisting students with their thumbnails and sketch paintings.

For complete information click here: Exploring Gouache & Watercolor

The watercolor pictures here are from a recent East Coast trip. I had a chance to explore the coast of Maine and work on location. These are stills from HD video that was shot. I'm experimenting with possible tutorials this way.

2011-06-23T17:59:00.000-07:00

A recent imaginative painting titled Autumn Storm. The medium is oil on panel, 9x12 inches with an egg tempera under painting. It could be a California landscape with hints of Dutch Italianate. Painters like Jan Both painted the transitional hilly spaces of travel with the often dry Roman Campagna setting in the distance. This at times can look similar to the vast pastoral valleys of California minus the classical ruins.

2011-06-16T10:38:00.000-07:00

A small format oil on panel study inspired by the works of Jacob van Ruisdael, 1628-1682, supreme master of dutch landscape. In this case using cold press linseed oil as a medium and walnut oil as a brush cleaner, no turps for me!

2011-06-08T15:19:00.000-07:00

Recent group of color & lighting studies for a fine art commission. 80 inches wide! Just got the linen canvas today from the John Annesley Company from Healdsburg, CA today. They create museum quality supports. Unbelievable quality.

2011-05-14T20:47:00.000-07:00

100 posts later! Here are some playful capriccios with a Roman 1600's theme. Current personal project that I'm working on.

2011-05-13T14:55:00.001-07:00

Detail of the digital painting, left side. I used Painter 11 in creating the image. Taking various Dutch, Italian Baroque themes and placing them in a 19th century landscape format.

2011-05-13T14:38:00.001-07:00

Recent digital sketch painting, experimenting with gouache like drybrush and textures.

2011-04-21T14:05:00.000-07:00

Oil study, linen on panel - 9x12 inches. Great cloud day several weeks ago near the Golden Gate bridge. This was painted on location with a small pochade box set-up.

2011-04-15T22:14:00.000-07:00

Here are more shots and the Asilomar, Ca drawing.

2011-04-15T21:58:00.000-07:00

Visited Pt. Lobos/Carmel area of California the past few days. What a wonderful spot to see the meeting of land and sea. I worked on a quick gouache sketch painting using Fabriano 'Artistico' cold pressed watercolor block paper (5"x7"). The paper had a strong coating of grey gouache from a previous painting-prep session, so this was nice to work on in the brighter sunlight. I painted thicker than usual and then finished with more watercolor touches and weak glazes. The Asilomar black and white sketch was created quickly using brush markers and a bit of pencil. I would like to take this further as a painting in the studio and work from these notes. I always suggest some kind of warm up thumbnail sketch to get a feel for the subject matter and potential framing before painting.

2011-04-06T20:22:00.000-07:00

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.

2011-03-22T21:03:00.000-07:00

A few more sumi-e brush studies painted on rice paper. The tree study is based on a rapid pen sketch I made while walking on a coastal trail near Pacifica, California. The mountain study is more of calligraphic exercise from imagination. I'm curious to try other unique papers with ink and watercolor.

2011-03-21T09:14:00.000-07:00

Recent experiments with sumi-e ink (水墨畫) Chinese & Japanese names (水墨画) brush drawing. Out of complete enthusiasm and ignorance I made up the brush characters in the sketch but enjoyed the process of seeing how you can't work back into the paper and make changes. It is all additive on the mulberry kozo paper (Shoji Gami). My daughter and I made some birds and flowers as well and added watercolor pigments for some color. I recommend that everyone try these materials.
The Asian Art museum in San Francisco has a wonderful collection of treasures including some contemporary sumi-e art work.

2011-01-05T10:33:00.000-08:00

Wanted to share some rapid studies from my flat files. Experiments on blue gray and green gray toned paper. In addition the clouds above the water contain several types of opaque whites (Zinc & Chinese White - Titanium, different manufactures, materials, etc.

Venetian study - 3x4 1/4 inches - Gouache & Watercolor w/ dip pen & brush

Clouds over Water - 5x6 inches - Gouache & Watercolor w/ dip pen & brush

2011-01-02T22:59:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year!!

Jumping back into it with a gouache and ink study from an oil sketch by Pierre-Henri de Valenciennes (Toulouse 1750 - Paris 1819). A remarkable painter and theoretician of Classical Landscapes. He was a major influence on creating the Prix-de-Rome du Paysage Historique... the big prize for landscape painters. Archille Michallon was one of his students and Corot being his student.

His Landscape with Ruins has a Roman setting. I think it's interesting to see nature take over the building forms and dissolve early architectural profiles.

2010-09-19T22:36:00.000-07:00

Just to mix things up a bit I'm posting a recent oil on linen painting created this last August on the shores of Connecticut. The day I finished it, Hurricane Earl was roughly coming our way that night, but it ended with a sputter and nothing much. I had to rig an umbrella to my easel as it was starting to rain towards the end of the painting session.

The painting is currently for sale Susan Powell Fine Art - Gallery in Madison, CT.

2010-09-19T21:28:00.000-07:00

I've been curious about paper making recently and over the weekend experimented with a hybrid linen cloth & 100% cotton rag watercolor paper blend to form a stronger than average handmade watercolor paper (Am I crazy?). I've contacted several specialized paper companies and wish to learn more about this historical process. Very labor intensive but rewarding to say the least.

2010-09-05T15:46:00.000-07:00

On location nature study. Gouache on gray toned paper - 6x9 inches.

2010-09-05T09:03:00.000-07:00

After seeing numerous watercolors at the Yale Center for British Art's archives I was inspired to experiment on my break back on the East Coast. Girtin, Turner, R.P. Bonington, Cozens, Gainsborough among others was outstanding to see up close.

Sketch from imagination on prepared Arches MBM Ingres (Michallet) paper with gray wash, gouache, w/c and pen&ink. 5x6 inches.

2010-05-29T21:25:00.000-07:00

Getting close to finishing the mini ebook tutorial, thanks for your patience! Here is a recent value study for a stormy cliff composition. Perhaps a French sailing barge grounded with crew looking on, dwarfed by the scale of the crumbling precipice above.

Gouache on gray canson paper, dip pen loaded with diluted watercolor and gouache, touches of pastel pencil. 6x10 inches.

2010-05-03T00:29:00.000-07:00

This is an invented high mountain scene starting with light transparent washes and smaller opaque passages in the center rock area. Winsor & Newton extra large full pan watercolors with M.Graham Chinese white was used. 9x12 Montval watercolor block paper and small amounts of sepia pen & ink work added at the end as well.

2010-04-25T23:12:00.000-07:00

As promised a few shots from my demo lecture on a recent gouache/watercolor painting.

I am writing a twenty page plus breakdown of the process and it should be informative for those interested in learning more about gouache painting and how to start simply when developing more complex imagery.

I will keep you posted when that is ready in the near future. The tutorial will be available as a PDF for viewing. I am considering a small fee for the time I am putting into it.

2010-04-24T20:33:00.000-07:00

Some casual sketches from the back yard and dinner table today. The plate of artichoke petals dissolved away in the evening light. I love springtime. Pencil on smooth moleskin style sketchbook. I will post the previous work in progress photos this Sunday!

2010-04-19T19:45:00.000-07:00

Thanks to everyone attending this last weekend's workshop at Kevin Chen's Concept Design Academy in Pasadena, California. What a wonderful group of students and Kevin and his wife Estelle were terrific hosts. I enjoyed the Eaton Canyon location on Sunday's portion of the landscape painting/sketching workshop. Springtime near the base of the mountains provided us with babbling streams and shimmering leaves of sycamore to inspire us in our artwork. I will post some demos and quick sketches from the class soon. Here is the full picture of the painting I promised last week. This was also part of my slide lecture on the process of starting and completing a painting in gouache and watercolor. Later in the week I will show a collection of in-progress stills on this painting.

2010-04-10T20:47:00.000-07:00

A small detail from an imaginative gouache and watercolor painting called 'Turner's Valley'. I captured the process with digital photos showing various stages in creating the image. I will go over these in my upcoming workshop next weekend... looking forward to sharing! 9x12 inches - Fabriano Hotpress watercolor block. Small additions of pastel added.

2010-03-18T16:54:00.000-07:00

A few spots still open for April 17-18th 2010 Painting workshop!

Upcoming Workshops in beautiful Pasadena, California. At the Concept Design Academy -

Gouache & Watercolor Painting with Erik Tiemens - April 17 -indoor lecture/demo only

Gouache & watercolor Painting with Erik Tiemens- April 17+18 with outdoor painting. Limited spaces.

If you are interested in enrolling contact the Academy at - contact@conceptdesignacad.com

http://www.conceptdesignacad.com 818-669-4657

2010-03-06T22:13:00.000-08:00

Rapid watercolor/gouache sketch at the bay's edge. Boatyard with repair cranes and good low tide muck at the waterline to study. Grayish clouds building to a weak storm front. Additions of brush pen marker, dip pen with sepia ink and Caran D'ache water-soluble gray pencil on a Daler-Rowney sketchbook page - 65lb paper.

2010-01-10T20:11:00.000-08:00

Pine trees near the Palace of Fine Arts museum in San Francisco. A cold breeze out, but wonderful atmospheric layering of tree groups in the distance. Sepia ink with gouache burnt umber and freshly prepared sumi ink. Exploring metal dip pens and reed pens today.

2010-01-03T21:49:00.000-08:00

Rapid limited palette study of a river bank with active water. Hot press paper (not from a block) with an ink sketch painted out on the upper left. 5.5 x 7 inches. My daughter was painting next to me using post-it notes and watercolor.

2009-12-28T10:35:00.000-08:00

Greetings Virtual Gouache Land followers, I wanted to let everyone know that I have redesigned my website - Watersketch.com. I will be posting info regarding prints for purchase and upcoming workshops soon. It is still a work in progress but much easier to navigate.

Happy New Year

Link: http://www.watersketch.com/

2009-12-26T22:15:00.000-08:00

Tree trunk study from imagination. Ink, gouache, watercolor and small additions of chalk and crayon. 4x8 inches on fabriano cold press paper.

2009-10-14T22:56:00.000-07:00

Imaginative landscape study with hunters approaching a lake side castle. Pen and wash with additions of transparent watercolors. I am trying out Winsor & Newton's large pan professional watercolors. Original on cold press Sennelier paper, 4 x 9.5 inches. This ratio is similar to a widescreen movie format like Panavision's 2:35.

2009-10-04T22:35:00.000-07:00

Eroded cliff with exposed eucalyptus roots. 10x14", Canson -Montval watercolor paper. Limited palette with additions of red/brown ink, gouache white, light gray and transparent watercolors.

2009-09-26T20:58:00.001-07:00

Small ink, watercolor & gouache sketch from life. A grouping of eucalyptus trees with various sapling undergrowth. Fabriano paper.

2009-09-16T23:52:00.000-07:00

Large 24"x18" warm up sketch 20mins over abstract transparent doodles. This was a class demo while everyone was warming up. Starting very transparent then mix gouache into the wet washes.

2009-09-16T23:50:00.001-07:00

Part III. Color Warm ups and example of sketch to larger color painting.

2009-09-16T23:37:00.000-07:00

Gouache & Watercolor class Part II. (two images are from last year's class, the stormy cliff sketches and wide format gouache/wc image.

2009-09-16T23:27:00.000-07:00

What a fantastic workshop last weekend up in Mendocino, California. There was 21 students who signed up and I tried to do as many demos as I could muster. We also had several hour sessions to sketch outside and take in nature. The focus of the class was to take these sketches and work on variation from memory in small warm up sketch paintings. Everyone was a good sport when some sprinkles rolled in. Wonderful work by everyone! Various sketches, photos of the area and workshop pictures to share.

2009-09-08T22:05:00.000-07:00

Experimental composition with Prussian blue under painting and additions of India ink - pen work. Zinc white gouache was used to build up opaques. This is a hybrid of English and Dutch landscape influences from the 1600's to 1800's. (6x9 inches on Cold press W/C paper)

I will be going over techniques in my class this weekend on how to improve usability of outdoor rapid sketches and employing them in the studio for more elaborate small format paintings that capture complex lighting situations.

2009-09-01T19:50:00.000-07:00

To mix things up a bit I wanted to share an oil study I made this summer on the east coast. Pretty small, 5x9 inches or so, linen mounted on wood panel with a middle warm gray ground. Rapid painting on location. I love the lush greens in Connecticut and all of New England for that matter. There was so much rain in June, that this was a rare moment to brave the elements and capture a small slice of nature.

2009-07-28T21:57:00.000-07:00

Some recent sketchbook entries.... some of these are master studies for warm ups. Pen & ink work as well.

On another note I wanted to give folks interested a heads up for a Fall workshop:

Greetings Art Enthusiasts!
I wanted to let you all know about a special fall workshop I'm teaching at the Mendocino Art Center.
Their website: http://www.mendocinoartcenter.org/PSS_Cart.54.LassoApp?category=189&feature2=Fall
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September 12 - 13, 2009
INTERMEDIATE - ADVANCED GOUACHE AND WATERCOLOR PAINTING WORKSHOP
Erik Tiemens

Class begins Saturday, September 12th. Two day weekend workshop meets Saturday and Sunday, 9:30 am to 4:30 pm. Tuition: $180 (members may take a $25 discount on one workshop per year).

From the smallest thumbnail sketch to more finished works in the field, discover the importance of planning and seeing more options in your compositions, color palettes and tonal combinations before committing time on larger studio paintings. The workshop will go over techniques to previsualize your final idea and truly see the many options a location can inspire in a final painting. By combining the best of gouaches opaque-change friendly qualities with watercolors transparent subtlety, you can work more efficiently in capturing lighting, atmosphere and tonal information.

Material List Here: www.virtualgouacheland.blogspot.com

It's going to be inspiring to paint in Mendocino- I hope some of you can come!
Best, Erik

2009-05-25T19:57:00.000-07:00

Today a stiff wind danced across a nearby coastal valley with rolling fog dissolving edges of this tree study. Sepia & burnt sienna watercolor washes with pen & ink on hot press Sennelier calligraphy paper - a nice lush vellum like surface.

2009-05-20T23:14:00.000-07:00

Recent figure study in watercolor and gouache, with small additions of pen. 4"x6" hot press block.

2009-05-10T18:17:00.000-07:00

This is inspired by Thomas Gainsborough's sketches that show his interest in Poussin, Hobbema, Ruisdael, Wijnants and others. Gainsborough primarily used Dutch principles of design (with a touch of Fragonard), to create a unique vision all his own. I find it wonderful that he would compulsively find bits of coal, lichen and even broccoli plants for trees and then add mud/dirt to create invented landscapes as a model to work from. This he would set up on a small wooden table in his studio under candle light.

-Erik

2009-05-03T23:04:00.000-07:00

Developing compositions loosely with watercolor, gouache - Zinc white, with small additions of pastel and pen and ink on some of the drawings/paintings. Very rapid studies in the 4" - 6" range. Most of the work on Fabriano Ingres paper with a laid style of paper, along with Arches hot press 90lb paper.

2009-03-22T17:26:00.001-07:00

Recent finished commissioned landscape painting. 45x60 inches - oils on linen support. I apologize for some of the glare in the photo.

2009-02-28T22:10:00.000-08:00

Sketch book detail of a grove study. Experiments with higgins sepia ink with fountain black ink as well. Dip pen with tinted washes on Ingres paper (Fabriano Classic Artist's Journal). I was taking a look at some of Ruben's pen and ink and wash studies, sometimes with chalk, beyond mind blowing!

2009-02-22T22:53:00.000-08:00

Limited palette Frisian landscape with gray gouache (Daler Rowney brand), in addition Rembrandt pastels mostly in the clouds and transparent sepia, umber watercolors for the foreground.... gray primed panel as the foundation.

Today I saw some work by Salomon van Ruysdael (1602-1670, Haarlem) and was struck how thin and translucent the large water themed landscape was painted. He was the uncle of Jacob van Ruisdael considered one of the greatest landscape painters and a huge influence on Turner.

2009-02-22T20:00:00.000-08:00

Small experimental riverbank study from imagination (4"x4") in gouache & watercolor. Chinese white was used from a watercolor line, rather than gouache. This was painted on a clay based primed panel that has an absorbent watercolor paper quality to the surface. Gum arabic used in the darker passages to increase depth.

2009-01-30T22:38:00.000-08:00

Landscape study near the coastal farming town of Pescadero, California. Rough sketch to start with, pencil layout, washes and general steps to the finished painting. The sun went down fast and I darkened the foreground towards the end. Gouache & mostly watercolors.

2008-12-15T21:12:00.000-08:00

I am thrilled to share with you some more watercolor and gouache painting tips with my first DVD release coming out Dec.22, 2008! It's been a real pleasure working with the folks over at The Gnomon Workshop in Los Angeles, Ca. I am planning more in the series, including on site sketching, mood sketches, time of day studies and how to approach master studies down the road.

Watercolor & Gouache DVD

2008-09-20T23:26:00.000-07:00

Mixed media/digital color sketches for a landscape painting commission. The finished size will be 45x60 inches in oils.
(Mono chromatic gouache underpainting scanned in with Painter X work over that.)

2008-09-09T09:25:00.000-07:00

Suggested Materials list for Workshop:

Watercolors:

M.Graham makes a nice line, but W&N are fine too.

Burnt Sienna

Burnt Umber

Ivory Black

Yellow Ochre

Ultramarine Blue

Anthraquinone Blue

Hansa Yellow

Quinacridone Red

Sap Green Permanent/ or Virdian

Gouaches: M.Graham

Titanium White

Ivory Black

Gouache Extras: Not needed, but nice to experiment with.

Daler Rowney Brand

Delft Blue, Neutral Gray 1, 2, 3. Warm Gray 1,2,3. Van Dyke Brown Hue

Watercolor Brushes:

Blick Master Kolinsky Sable Brushes work great!

Sizes 1,4, 6 Plus any kind of Synthetic blend Flat brush, 3/4 inch wide. (Robert Simmons Short Handle Sapphire Brushes work fine for flats.

Paper Blocks:

Fabriano Artistico Watercolor Block Hot Press 5"x7", 9"x12", Cold Press same size to see texture differences.

Drawing Tools,

Penicls - 2b, kneaded eraser, vine charcoal, pitt artist pens, fine tip and brush tip.

SketchBook (smooth paper) of your choice, not too small.

Water jar, paper towels.

2008-09-04T21:33:00.000-07:00

Upcoming Fall 2008 Painting Workshop!

Gouache and Watercolor Painting in Mendocino, CA

Workshop info & Location:
Fall/Fine Art Section

Please join me for a fun weekend, exploring two of my favorite mediums.
________________________________________________________
October 4 - 5, 2008
GOUACHE AND WATERCOLOR PAINTING
Erik Tiemens
Class begins Saturday, October 4th. Two day workshop meets Saturday and Sunday, 9:30 am to 4:30 pm. Tuition: $175 (members may take a $25 discount on one workshop per year). NOTE: THIS CLASS IS FOR INTERMEDIATE TO ADVANCED STUDENTS.

From the smallest thumbnail sketch to more finished works in the field, discover the importance of planning and seeing more options in your compositions, color palettes and tonal combinations before committing time on larger studio paintings. The workshop will go over techniques to previsualize your final idea and truly see the many options a location can inspire in a final painting. By combining the best of gouache’s opaque-change friendly qualities with watercolor’s transparent subtlety you can work more efficiently in capturing lighting, atmosphere and tonal information. Intermediate to Advanced. Tuition: $175.

2008-08-16T15:07:00.000-07:00

Recent sketches from my trip on the East Coast. Fantastic clouds there! I also got to see the Turner show and a nice collection of Dutch landscape paintings from the 17th century at the Met in NYC. In addition a real highlight was getting together with Jim Gurney and his wife Jeanette for some outdoor plein air painting.. lots of fun. My friend Bill Mather joined me too.

2008-07-13T22:38:00.000-07:00

"The Unknown Path" 16x20"

Recent oil painting on panel that was created for the Totoro Forest Project. There will be an auction and a book of the artwork with 200 artists sharing their creations this September with selected pieces being shown at the Cartoon Art Museum in San Francisco, Ca. All proceeds will go to help save the Sayama forest near Tokyo which is threatened by development.

More info here:

2008-06-11T21:52:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to mention I will be giving a workshop this weekend
(June 15, 2008) in Hollywood, California with the Gnomon School of Visual Effects.
Many talented folks who I have worked with and are friends with
will be presenting too. Should be fun. I hope to see you there if you are in the area.

http://www.thegnomonworkshop.com/events.html

I am doing a workshop this October in Northern California (Mendocino) also.
This will have more of a focus for fine artists and concept artist who
want to improve their sketching skills and how to work with gouache and watercolor
in the planning stages for more finished work.

http://www.mendocinoartcenter.org/PSS_Cart.36.LassoApp?category=189&feature2=Fall

2008-05-03T15:22:00.000-07:00

Watercolor & Gouache still life. Quick study of textures and edges.

2008-03-29T21:25:00.000-07:00

Part 3 Gouache Demo (last section)

2008-03-20T21:16:00.000-07:00

Part 2 of the 3 part Gouache Demo. Thanks for all the positive feedback!

2008-03-11T23:20:00.000-07:00

1 of 3 (5 minutes each) quicktime videos. This is a my first demo, done spur of the moment and fairly sloppy but gets the idea across. The main theme of the lesson here is starting loose, letting shapes evolve into forms that are influenced by moody light.

Enjoy!

2008-03-10T21:57:00.000-07:00

This has been saved as a Gouache Demo painting - 16 mins long. I will break this into several parts so it can be uploaded. As it stands it is 254 mb. 3 parts should work.
Coming Soon!

'Storm Castle' 5x7 gouache

2008-02-12T22:50:00.000-08:00

Gouache figure studies on dark blue paper. 20 minute poses.

2008-01-13T21:20:00.000-08:00

Study of young oaks with spring running down a trail.

After our recent rains and severe winds in Northern California the hills are saturated with moisture and will provide for a robust springtime. I opted for a monochromatic study in browns and grays on Fabriano/ Artistico traditional white cotton paper. 12" x 18" is roughly the size of this gouache/watercolor. I had to work fast for the almost impossible capture of detail and shifting light. I was interested in the sweeping S curve and the small cliffs catching light in the background. Working in black and white reminds of the old newspaper illustrations from the turn of the century (1900). I was also thinking about Ruisdael again with his large tree drawings approached with grays washes.

2007-12-18T16:55:00.000-08:00

An escape to an imaginary forest was in order on this rainy day.This is a small format (5x7 inch) watercolor/gouache study for a possible larger oil painting. Turner, Fragonard and the Dutch School are kept in mind.

2007-12-02T23:06:00.000-08:00

I clipped a rough watercolor block to my steering wheel and sketched this scene of the San Francisco bay. It was kind of upsetting to see 30 or so haz-mat workers cleaning the rocky shoreline with oil soaked rags in the nearby harbor. Our recent oil spill was a real wake up call about how fragile everything is. The conditions were windy with some sprinkles, so I worked in my mini studio aka the car.

2007-12-01T22:47:00.001-08:00

Backyard gouache study from the dinning room during the baby's nap.

2007-11-13T22:57:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since I have done some figure sketching. I decided to work with gouache and watercolor for these quick 20 min poses. I selected bristol 3 ply plate finish sheets as my 'ground'. This was enjoyable as some of the pigement washes can really retain an expressive quality that can otherwise be muted with cold press papers. Transparent washes of watcolor (Holbeini + M.Graham brands) were added to slightly model the forms. A structural mixture of gouache brown and regular watercolor brown was the frame work in laying out the painting, from thin to thick then back to thin washes.

2007-11-10T17:23:00.000-08:00

This is a small 5x7 invented composition on hot press watercolor paper with a transparent watercolor wash base followed with opaque gouache on top. I was thinking about how the Dutch painters in the 17th century would invent Italian landscapes from their studios in Holland. I am exploring here a romantic landscape, perhaps in Spain or early California before the giant oaks dissapeared. When you look at Ruisdael you never see sawed off limbs from standing tress but rather pure forms with twisted, broken branches in various states of decay. All very interesting areas to get lost into. In addition, I find the lone figure or small groupings in the landscape classical and timeless.

2007-10-29T22:56:00.000-07:00

A California Buckeye tree gestures along a dirt pathway was my subject on last Sunday's outing. I am trying out a canvas panel that you can do watercolors and gouache on. It is very tricky as the watercolor brushes seem to be wasted by the thirsty surface of the canvas but offered some nice dry brushing transitions that I enjoy when I oil paint. This area also happens to be one of the only leash free dog trails in the county, so my luck would have it, every dog came by and sniffed my palette, studied my alien set up and sauntered along their with way with master at side. It's better though than the bee sting I got a couple weeks before in a similar spot.

The additional study is an invented doodle painting. I sort of do these to relax after painting outside. Gouache on a vellum finish bristol 4 ply card. The more reduced the color palette the more you can dance around with the density of the pigment and explore the dialog between paper and brush, something sorely lacking in digital painting.

2007-10-08T00:24:00.000-07:00

I wanted to share some recent field studies in watercolor and gouache. The large rock formation is just outside of the Golden Gate bridge area. The cliffs had so many variations of color in the light brown palette - interesting to dive into that. All of these pieces were painted in one session from life. Extreme wind by the ocean, and a lovely bee sting at the end of the oak tree study are all part of the fun when you are outside, but I would not trade it for anything.

2007-09-23T22:45:00.000-07:00

Gouache study with a very limited palette. I was taking inspiration from 17th century Dutch Landscape painters and a bit of the Constable/ Isabey storm obession they score their paintings with. I am also combining Chinese White (Holbein), Zinc White, and Titanium Goauche (from M.Graham). The Daler-Rowney Zinc White is super stiff and not so good, but could be interesting for weak glaze mixtures. I also coated the paper with a prepared sizing from W&N. They don't make it any more though.

2007-07-09T22:47:00.000-07:00

Watercolor / Gouache sketches - very small 2.5 x 4.5 inches and one that is 3 x 6 inches. The darker tree themed one was inspired by my trip to Yale- British Museum of Art in New Haven, CT. A small but nice collection of Turners, Constable and Bonningtons among others. A couple of the other sketches are very rapid along the shoreline in CT and Nantucket, Mass.

2007-05-24T23:27:00.000-07:00

Recent watercolor near Pt.Reyes, California.

2007-05-07T22:21:00.000-07:00

This is an experimental landscape from imagination using rough fabriano (Aristico) paper with watercolor and gouache. I reworked the clouds a number of times. The surface stood up to repeated washes and scumbles. An Australian landscape comes to mind. I have seen a number of excellent water media artists that come from down under via art books.

2007-04-16T22:42:00.000-07:00

An old school bus yellow crane floating on a dark oil soaked barge. Hints of russet pink on the island in the distance.

2007-04-01T22:00:00.000-07:00

French Broom in the foreground (yellow flowers) is pretty profuse in Northern California at springtime. Having just a small amount of time in the late afternoon I went for a small format - 5"x7" - using a Fabriano watercolor block. I was interested in capturing the dappled light on the ivy growing up the smaller trees. This was at a point in Belvedere, very quiet with just the daydream like sounds of the surf below undulating between the rocks.

2007-03-25T23:23:00.000-07:00

With the fog dissolving the view of Baker Beach in San Francisco, the focus was more on the twisted pine trees in the foreground dressed with dying vines on the left side of the picture. I sketched the white tee-off as this was one of the sections of the Lincoln park golf course. It was interesting to see every other set of players drive home a shot into the Pacific Ocean before they took aim at the green, is that cool for sea life? I am trying out more Holbein watercolors with Winsor and Newton perm. white and Holbein chinese white as opaque additions.

2007-03-17T18:26:00.000-07:00

Today's gouache sketch (6"x9") on cold press water color paper. The block in was created using transparent watercolors, then chinese white was added to mixtures to make more opaque passages. Really a nice day with perfect spring weather.

2007-02-27T21:28:00.000-08:00

I'm posting some more gouache studies, painted this past week. One outdoor, the other painted at home. I am using watercolors as a base and then introducing more opaque colors as I complete the pieces. I am using Holbein Zinc white gouache along with other colors on top of the more transparent washes of traditional watercolors. I am also using a cheaper student grade Montval watercolor block (10x14") which is really nice for reworking the surface. It seems to take a lot of rough brush work while building up a luminous patina.

2007-02-11T17:31:00.000-08:00

Nice cloud day to sketch in gouache. Rapid studies of clouds and their cast shadows on the distant hills. The fence study was from the living room. A small oak takes form against the sky with hungry birds to the sides.

2007-02-04T22:09:00.000-08:00

Gouache and watercolor fog study of Angel Island. 9"x21"

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