Sketch Work from Dreams and Surreal Experiences

Night Swimming
©2016  Katherine Kean
graphite 10 x 8 inches

Night Swimming 2
©2016  Katherine Kean
graphite 9 x 8 inches

 I never forgot having an encounter with an owl while swimming at night. My guess at the time, as it swooped very low just over my head, is that with just my head above water I must have appeared to be prey. I'm thankful the owl had second thoughts. I've heard of other owl situations that didn't end as well.

Dream Drawing: Horse 
©2016  Katherine Kean
graphite 6 x 10 inches

 I've been finalizing drawings and preparing linen for painting. I've been gradually changing from stretched supports to linens glued down to panels. It requires a longer preparation time, but less, make that no, sagging, buckling, re-stretching, tightening, denting headaches down the road.

I've been using Lineco glue for the archival and reversible qualities, but find it a pain on larger sizes. It sets so fast that the glue on one end of the panel is dry before I can finish applying it to the rest. I'm going to try BEVA film next time. It is heat activated, so I may be able to simply iron it down. Either way, I'm finding it handy to have many large format art books handy. They do make incredible weights.

Chair Books Fire Water Dream wip
©2016 Katherine Kean
oil on linen on panel

The same art books appear in this dream based painting shown in the initial blocking in stage. Some of the drawings made to develop this image can be found here: Dream Sketch :Books, Chair, Fire, Water.

Liquid Sun Splash

Liquid Sun Splash Sketch Katherine Kean
graphite 8 x 10 inches

“If you don't like the weather in New England now, just wait a few minutes.” - Mark Twain

The weather in Hawaii provides a similar effect, or rather than waiting as it changes, a person can experience radiant sunshine and pouring rain simultaneously.

Liquid Sun Splash wip Katherine Kean
oil on linen 12 x 16 inches

This provides a new challenge for me when it comes to windshield weather paintings. Instead of a soft, misty background as a backdrop for well defined rain drops, the background is bright in places, and parts of the road are sharp along with some of the water edges. 

Connect the Drops Katherine Kean
oil on linen 12 x 16 inches

Between the Drops Katherine Kean
oil on linen 12 x 16 inches

Counting Raindrops Katherine Kean
oil on linen 12 x 16 inches

It's less about a foreground veil for gazing out from a separate interior world and more about the sudden encounter and the dynamic patterns made.

Liquid Sun Splash wip ©2016 Katherine Kean
oil on linen 12 x 16 inches

I've let the brushstrokes remain painterly, brushy, a little bit textured and slightly raised, particularly for the drops. It's almost there, I think, just a few more touches.

Did you hear that?

It’s not very loud. Just a faint scratch on paper, or a soft blerp or splat or splosh or slosh of paint, and perhaps an occasional sigh. The sounds of the art studio and work being made with pencil and paint.*

First the thumbnail sketches...

 Then the studies.

Eventually underpainting begins.

And at last the first color layer.

That's not the end of it. There is more to come, so stay tuned.

"Painting is silent poetry, and poetry is painting that speaks". Plutarch

*onomatopeia - a word, which imitates the natural sounds of a thing.

Three to Get Ready

Deukmajian Wilderness Trail Sketch 
©2016 Katherine Kean
graphite on paper 8 x 10 inches

 I read somewhere that just thinking about the future—not even the rewards, per se—can strengthen willpower.

During the last few days of 2015 an artist friend had a great idea to sit down on an evening with calendars ready and pencils in hand and create a plan for the coming year. We mapped out how many paintings we would paint, what sizes they will be. We decided which new skills and levels of accomplishment we will reach and what kind of study, classes, or workshops might be required to reach these improvements. We also counted in time for travel, family, friends, and fun, time to experiment and time to take risks. When we were finished we marveled and laughed at our ambitions and wondered if the year would be big enough to hold all that we planned to put into it.

Foothill Storm Clouds Sketch ©2016 Katherine Kean
graphite on paper 8 x 10 inches

“Time is short, my strength is limited, the office is a horror, the apartment is noisy, and if a pleasant, straightforward life is not possible then one must try to wriggle through by subtle maneuvers.” – Kafka

I’ve always been curious about how other artists structure their days. I know what works for me, the hours that are the most productive, how to get started, and how to avoid distractions - that is, as long as I'm choosing to be productive. Mason Currey has put together a book that gives a glimpse into the routines and work habits of well known artists, composers, and writers in Daily Rituals: How Artists Work.

Liquid Sun Splash Sketch ©2016 Katherine Kean
graphite on paper 8 x 10 inches

“I calculate that I must have spent nearly 20,000 hours in writing Ulysses.” – James Joyce

“Sooner or later, the great men turn out to be all alike. They never stop working. They never lose a minute. It is very depressing.” – V.S. Pritchett

So, with calendar, list of goals, and a calculator I added up my plan of paintings and divided by available studio hours to see if there is a possibility to make these studio dreams come true. Mathmatically at least, yes, seems that there is. Let's see how it goes...

Sky, Field, Sheep Sketch

Scottish Sky, Sheep in Field Sketch
©2015 Katherine Kean
graphite 8 x 10 inches

"Whenever he could, he sought out a new road to travel. He had never been to that ruined church before, in spite of having traveled through those parts many times. The world was huge and inexhaustible; he had only to allow his sheep to set the route for a while, and he would discover other interesting things. The problem is that they don’t even realize that they’re walking a new road every day. They don’t see that the fields are new and the seasons change. All they think about is food and water. Maybe we’re all that way, the boy mused."  
- Paul Coelho, The Alchemist

Storm, Eucalyptus Tree Sketch

Storm, Eucalyptus Tree ©2015 Katherine Kean

graphite 10 x 12 inches

I'd like to make this a larger painting. I've been working on small and medium size work the past three months. I work in the smaller space under my house in the summer. It's much cooler! Now that the days are getting shorter and aren't as hot, I've moved back into the larger space, allowing me to scale up. 

 I was pretty happy with this sketch until I decided that the tree is just too static. Considering the wind that's pushing all the clouds around it ought to be moving, or bending. I'm looking at these Burchfield and Hopper paintings for inspiration. I'd be happier if I can get the tree to have the same feeling of wind and energy that I get from these paintings.

 March Winds  Charles Burchfield

Windy Day Edward Hopper

And then, just about the time I was wondering where to turn for inspiration, I got lucky.

The Santa Anas came. Above, a quick video of a neighbor's enormous Eucalyptus in the wind.

And last, a revised windy tree.

Pencil Sketch "Dominion" from Dream Image

Dominion ©2015 Katherine Kean
graphite on paper 4 1/2 x 10 inches

This is an initial sketch from a dream. My idea is to get the image and mood while not fretting too much about detail and accuracy. Later on I'll need to refine the scale of the animals to each other and their environment.

 The dream? I'm on a rocky shore, towing a large, old, wooden boat full of animals, through shallow water. The animals are not all exotic animals. I remember there was a cow and a cat among them.

 Did I mention I've been pet sitting all week?

Kicking Dust

Kicking Dust ©2015 Katherine Kean
graphite 5x10 inches

"If you are walking on a path and not kicking up dust, then you are not walking on a path."

 

Visiting a wild horse sanctuary and watching the horses race around, kicking up enormous clouds of dust, I noticed that when the sunlight glowed through the dust cloud, the shadows of the running horses were captured as if on a screen. 

There was no reason for the horses to run other than we were there watching and they didn't mind showing off.

Bar Harbor Sketch

Bar Harbor Sketch ©2015 Katherine Kean
graphite 8 x 10 inches

“Surely joy is the condition of life.”  - Henry David Thoreau

I've taken major liberties in this sketch of Bar Harbor; moving Bar Island on the horizon to the left and further away, and eliminating the pier that to me obscures the landscape. This also demands a color study. I think the mood will live in the pearly gold of the sky and the glimmering mauve of the water - if I pull it off.

Thunderhead Over Marsh Sketch

Thunderhead Over Marsh Sketch
©2015 Katherine Kean
graphite 7 x 8 3/4 inches

I'm eager to get started on this painting - looking forward to balancing deep, bright blue skies with luminous clouds, gold grasses, and dark rain clouds. I need to decide on the size. Maybe 40 x 50inches.

Coincidentally we have been having amazing Thunderheads appearing over the Angeles National Forest. Yay, El Nino!

Sketches: El Niños and Other Atmospheric Conditions

Angeles Forest Storm Square Sketch
©2015 Katherine Kean
graphite 8 x 8 inches

Conditions are good for more storm cloud artwork. It looks - and feels - like an El Niño year and my favorite weather blog confirms it. El Niño is already here and is expected to be one of the largest, in fact, "a majority of the global atmosphere ocean models are currently suggesting the potential for an event rivaling the strongest event in the historical record." Even though El Niño doesn't guarantee rain, it does draw the probability closer. And even though it won't solve our drought, it can't hurt.

Chain of Craters Clouds Sketch
©2015 Katherine Kean
graphite 8 x 8 inches

 The sketch above is from Hawaii, along the Chain of Craters Road. Storm clouds are much more dependable there. They also have a different look. I'd say the clouds are taller - loftier - and brighter.

Volcano Fumes at Night Sketch
©2015 Katherine Kean
graphite 6 x 10 inches

This last sketch, also from Hawaii, is of the atmospheric conditions over the volcano. It wasn't easily apparent to me whether the clouds were from weather or from the volcanic fumes, or a mix of both.

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Quick Sketches From Dream Images

Children Sketch Katherine Kean
graphite  9 1/2 x 13 inches

The particular image I have in mind is of wild horses running past children who are crouching at about eye level with the horses hooves, and just visible through the kicked up sand.

The sketch above is a detail of the children. I've sketched them in in the drawing below, can you see them?

 I'd like the painting to be large and tonal, shapes just coalescing out of the dust.

Wild Horses Running Sketch Katherine Kean
graphite 6 1/2 x 14 1/2 inches

Murmuration on the Water Sketch

Murmuration on the Water Sketch  Katherine Kean
graphite on paper 8 x 10 inches

Imaginary bird murmuration sketch; a rather simplified composition. I might want to change the ratio. A wider composition seems like it could be more dynamic.

Murmuration on the Water Wide Digital Sketch  Katherine Kean

Grant Street Winter Murmuration Sketch

Grant Street Winter Murmuration Sketch Katherine Kean
graphite 8 x 8 inches

Another imaginary murmuration, I obtained a photograph of the house we grew up in from my sister, photographed by a friend of hers - and permission to use it as reference - thank you kindly Kris and Mark.

The house, built in 1896, is a historical building and has had some restoration. The enclosed second story sunporch was my first art studio. The depth of the snow and the wintry feeling are as I remember New England winters to be.

Vertical Sky

Vertical Sky Katherine Kean
graphite on paper 6 x 4 inches

"It is more natural to me, lying down. Then the sky and I are in open conversation..." 

- Sylvia Plath, I Am Vertical

I'm trying to decide which piece to send to the Twitter Art Exhibit in Moss, Norway. It'll probably be this one, because it is right in front of me and it must go out now if it is to get there in time.

Suburban Murmuration 2

Suburban Murmuration 2 (working title) Katherine Kean
graphite on paper 8 x 8 inches

Another in a series of bird murmurations in the skies over suburbia. All made up, of course. The first sketch can be found here, and the finished painting from that sketch here.

Dream Sketch: Books, Chair, Fire, Water

I've been drawing from dreams, choosing a few that stand out, especially after much time has lapsed. Many of these dreams are long and segments of them overlap, so in each I've decided to focus on selected key parts. In this dream what stayed with me was this scene. A chair in a narrow room with art books stacked on and around it. The left wall is on fire and through the right water comes into the room. I am mesmerized watching to see which; the the fire or the water, will reach the chair and the books first.

I drew it first as I remembered, getting all the essential elements. The feeling is there, although the scale seems off.

I allowed some distance in this sketch and still retained much of the feeling of the dream scene. While I like the openness and shape of the window on the right, the perspective is wrong.

More distance and better perspective and the chair is far away. I begin to wonder if it wouldn't be more elegant to simplify.

Better? I'm not sure if I'm satisfied with how the books are arranged. They seem to lead the eye in a semi-circle and out of frame. Also, this way it is more of a still life instead of an interior landscape.
I'll likely do both, but in the meantime another sketch or two, or ten, is on order.

All images ©2015 Katherine Kean

Bird On Branch

Bird On Branch Sketch Katherine Kean
graphite 8 x 8 inches

I had so much fun with the Bird in Brush painting that I wanted to do another. Although I like the mosaic-like busyness of the other painting, I decided this time to let the little guy have some space instead of being overwhelmed with foliage. And besides, this one looked like he was posing.

Sketch: Charge Into the Deep

Charge Into the Deep Sketch Katherine Kean
graphite 5 x 7 inches

I don't often draw my dreams, except for the ones that stand out and have vivid imagery I can't ignore or forget. Some people call this type of dream a numinous dream, a term coined by Rudolf Otto and used by Jung. I recently had one of those types of dreams. 

At the start I was at the birthday party of a famous artist. Also in attendance were George Lucas ( a visionary of the future) and Walter Cronkite (the most trusted man in America) and we were having a very, nice chat when a large wild red horse charged in and grabbed my finger between his teeth - not in a way to cause hurt, but firmly, so I had no choice but to hang on and go along for the ride. The horse eventually let go of my finger as we raced on to the ocean. I was never on the horse, I just hung onto the mane, which was like a living thing, coiling and waving, as we galloped straight into a tunnel formed by the oncoming waves.

This dream was about a month ago and it took several sketches and studies to organize the imagery to this point. It might take a few more before it's ready to become a painting.

Showing Metal

Coastal Pine Katherine Kean
3 x 3 inches silverpoint

Coastal Pine Katherine Kean
3 x 3 inches silverpoint, aged one month

I have been wanting to try drawing with silverpoint for ages. An artist friend suggested it to me years ago. I have a light touch, which serves me well in watercolor and oils, but for which I must compensate by using very soft pencils. With metalpoint drawings it doesn't matter so much how hard one bears down - the mark will be about the same. 

I decided to try it out with a tiny drawing of very familiar subject matter.

All the marks one makes in silverpoint are indelible. There is no erasing. Metalpoint drawings are ethereal at first and darken with age as they oxidize. You can see a slight difference in the early drawing above, compared to the same drawing photographed again about a month later.

A quality I like about metalpoint is that one piece of metal lasts a long time and I don't find myself taking trip after trip to the sharpener. Without a stylus, metal to work with can be found in the silverware drawer or coin pocket. I also like that the finished surface has a silvery sheen when the light hits it. Silverpoint is difficult to photograph - the scans here are blurry from the light bouncing around, and the drawings look better in person, which I think is true for much, if not all artwork.