Virtual Hike Process Notes

I don't want to clutter up the Virtual Hike posts with my notes, so people don't have to scroll past a lot of text to get to the good stuff. But sometimes I like to describe the technique I used or how I found the scene I painted. So I'll put that here.

New York City

This was a great experiment for me. I used oil pastels, more or less in crayon shape. They were quite the blunt instruments, which I loved because I'm always trying to be looser and less detailed. I simply couldn't be detailed with these. Overall I think the scene is a bit chaotic and doesn't present a coherent scene, but I'm glad I tried it.

Croatia

I don't have much experience painting with acrylics, and I received a nice set for Christmas. I don't think I could have replicated those intense greens in oils, so I'm quite pleased with that. Croatia has the most amazing rivers and waterfalls, and the water color is apparently due to the limestone in the water. Confession: after I'd done this painting and posted it, I realized I had wandered into Slovenia! I felt like it was too late to rectify the error. 

Cote d'Azur

I already put notes in the post itself, but I wanted to say one more thing. When I decided to start up this virtual paintout, I promised myself I wouldn't get too picky about how "good" one of my paintings is. I'd never post anything if they all had to meet some quality standard, and my main purpose in this project is getting myself to paint at least once a month. Also I thought maybe someone would see my posts and say "Wow, I bet I could paint better than that." If so, good! Maybe it will encourage someone to try.

Kyoto

So, I forgot I had some ruling pens, and used 40 year old Rapidographs for the whole thing.  Had a blast trying all sorts of pen and ink techniques for the different textures. I wish I'd left the sky alone.

South Dakota

I had a lot of fun with this one. I was really struck by the green tower and the red pickup. I did move things around so that I could get the tower in the frame the way I wanted. This is interesting, the Streetview has been updated since I painted this, and I can't get the same scene anymore. Glad I found it when I did. The painting also has my nemesis: vehicles. I have some kind of mental block about painting them. Same with boats. They have complex curves, and the squarer I draw them the better. 

Transylvania

I haven't drawn with charcoal for years, so this was fun. I used a variety of textures and darknesses (is that a word)? I'm pretty happy with how it came out, except for that pitcher thing. I just couldn't capture its texture of rough metal. 

Florida Keys

I reworked this so many times, I really should have started over. I didn't want to lose the time I'd invested, though. I'm not a prolific painter, sometimes it's difficult to get one painting a month done. However, I was very happy with "Busted Down in Margaritaville" (scroll to the bottom). I had some new gouache and new pastels, and I like the way they worked together. And I think I achieved a nice looseness while capturing enough details, like the shadow of the bike.

Romantic Road, Germany

I used a variety of pencils for this drawing, which prompted my husband to buy me an electric pencil sharpener. Definitely came in handy. I drew in the sky first, which was supposed to be the lightest part of the scene. Oops, too dark. I lightened it a little bit with an eraser but I didn't like how that looked so I left it alone and moved on. My favorite part is that car in the center background. It actually looks like a car and not a dented sausage.