Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Lyman

"Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Lyman"
14" x 10" (36 x 25 cm)
Watercolor and pencil on Arches 300-lb CP paper
© 2009 Steve Penberthy


I based this painting on a photo from the Library of Congress' Flickr site. The woman's expression was really appealing, so I thought it might be fun to paint. Mr. & Mrs. Lyman were Polish tobacco farmers near Windsor Locks, Connecticut; they were photographed by Jack Delano in September of 1940. The photo is part of a Library of Congress (LOC) photo collection of the U.S. Resettlement Administration, the Farm Security Administration (FSA), and later the Office of War Information (OWI). The most active years were 1935-1943, and the entire collection was transferred to the LOC in 1944.

The painting is much simplified as compared to the original photo. I restricted myself to a limited palette this time, which I think worked well; I like the color harmony that resulted. The palette includes raw sienna, burnt sienna, french ultramarine, carbazole violet, perm. alizarin crimson, and Payne's gray.

Here's my original pencil drawing:


There's other stuff at Flickr.

Subway Guys

"Subway Guys"
10" x 14" (25 x 36 cm)
Watercolor and pencil on Arches 300-lb CP paper
© 2009 Steve Penberthy


I know all but one of the men in this painting. These guys were standing in front of a Subway restaurant near a courthouse square at an event I attended a few years ago. I painted this from a photo reference.

I chose this scene because of the strong morning sunlight, and thought it would be challenging to paint a scene mostly in shade but with some strong sun.

One of my favorite parts of the painting is the reflection of the American Flag in the doorway on the right; the flag was flying at the courthouse across the street.

I don't use salt as a watercolor technique much at all, but I used it extensively in this painting; I wanted it mainly for creating a texture on the concrete sidewalk, but I found it to be useful as a texture on the shirt of the man on the far left as well as creating a mottled effect on the door reflection where the flag is.

This was an extremely satisfying painting on which to work; it took me a while, especially the pencil sketch, but it was very worthwhile. Here's a thumbnail of the initial pencil drawing:


Hope you enjoy it as much as I did creating it!
Steve

There's more stuff on Flickr.

How To Plan Your Next Painting

Just the other day, I ran across this really great presentation on how to plan a painting. The presentation, titled, "Planning the Work, Working the Plan," outlines six basic steps on how to plan your next painting. There's color examples given and mini-exercises on how to write out what you're going to do. The presentation, written by Peter Ulrich of The Art League School, assumes you will be working from a photo reference.

Here is a summary of the six steps:
Intro: An overview on choosing photographic reference material
1. Examine why you picked the particular photo as a reference
2. Make one or more planning sketches
3. Scale the photo to size on your watercolor paper
4. Write down your plan of attack
5. Stop and review what you wrote down in Step One
6. Paint your picture.

Definitely worth a look! Note: The presentation is a Microsoft PowerPoint file, so you'll need to have Microsoft Office installed on your machine to view the file.

Waiting for Brunch

"Waiting for Brunch"
7.5" x 11" (19 x 28 cm)
Watercolor and pencil on Strathmore Gemini 140-lb CP paper in handmade sketchbook
© Steve Penberthy, 2009


"Waiting for Brunch" really means waiting for brunch at Bread Winners Restaurant in Dallas, Texas. I had brunch there with my wife, sister, and niece in April while visiting in Dallas. It was a beautiful, bright sunny day, and the warmth of the sun compensated for the breeze and slight chill in the April air.

We ate at Bread Winner's Uptown location, on McKinney Ave. The Uptown area of Dallas is a very cool neighborhood, with trolley-car tracks still in the roads left over from bygone days of trolley cars; however, you can still ride the McKinney Avenue Trolley, a vintage electric streetcar while enjoying the shopping, dining, and entertainment in the area. The Bread Winners Uptown location is a popular one; there was a good crowd that day and therefore a little of a wait, but it was well worth it. The painting above is a representation of those waiting for their tables that morning. We sat outside (actually the table behind the guy that I illustrate in the red shirt above). I had the Normandy french toast, which is made from sourdough bread stuffed with cream cheese and raspberry jam and topped with berries and cream. Wow--unbelievably good; try it if you get the good fortune of visiting. Also, the mimosa was quite tasty!

There's more stuff on Flickr.

Bread Winners

"Bread Winners"
6" x 9" (15 x 23 cm)
Watercolor and pencil in Aquabee 808 Super Deluxe Sketchbook, 93-lb (152 gsm) paper
© 2009 Steve Penberthy


I sketched this scene from a photograph of my sister and niece taken while eating brunch at Bread Winners Restaurant in Dallas, Texas.

I used the "upside down" method of drawing, where I turned the photo upside down and drew the sketch. Drawing upside down forces you to really observe and just draw shapes.

I made a photocopy of my pencil sketch then did a value sketch from that. I don't normally do value sketches (other than little thumbnails) but I am trying to do more of them since I'm currently putting more emphasis on value, the purposeful focus on which has been sorely lacking in my work.

There's more on Flickr.

Watercolor Landscape - Chase Park Plaza Hotel, St. Louis

"The Chase Park Plaza Hotel"
6.75" x 9.5" (17 x 24 cm)
Watercolor on Strathmore Gemini 140-lb CP paper in handmade sketchbook
© 2009 Steve Penberthy


I came across this view of the Chase Park Plaza Hotel while walking around in Forest Park last weekend. Built in 1922, the Chase is a St. Louis landmark and the centerpiece of St. Louis' central west end, standing watch over beautiful Forest Park.