From sketch to commissioned drawing

One of the nice things which has happened to me since our visit to Provence is that I've been commissioned to convert one of my sketches into a proper drawing.

So what started out as a lovely lunch and afternoon's sketching has now become a drawing despatched as a present to a cyclist in the USA.  He stayed at the hill top hotel in Crillon Le Brave where I had lunch - and climbed Monet Ventoux three times in one day on his bike - hence this view has a special meaning for him!

Mont Ventoux from the Hotel Crillon Le Brave
12" x 16", pen and sepia ink and coloured pencils on Arches HP
copyright Katherine Tyrrell

I had a great time reliving a very enjoyable Sunday afternoon on 12th June 2011 when I had a wonderful lunch followed by a delightful afternoon of sketching the view of Mont Ventoux from the terrace.  (see Sunday lunch and sketching at Hotel Crillon Le Brave)

If anybody else would like a drawing from one of my sketches you can contact me via my website

A potager in Provence

A potager in Provence, a photo by makingamark2 on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
This is Ruth's potager (vegetable garden) at Couguieux with Mont Ventoux in the background. it's a little way from the house and all the water has to be transported by hose and watering can.

This sketch was done in my last full day in Provence. it's not finished - it got too hot to continue where I was sitting. However I like the composition with Mont Ventoux in the background so will probably have another go at creating a drawing of this view.

The good news is that I am typing this while sat at the dining room table. The man from the telephone company came this afternoon and plugged in the new modem and did various testing stuff and pronounced the wifi as working but the connection to Julian's computer to also need replacing. Which means I continue to be limited to posting via Flickr - and one pic at a time. There is a backlog!

I've got the art books and painting stuff packed. Just got the clothes to do but before that I'm going to have a go at finishing the big pastel of Mont Ventoux before packing clothes and concocting a meal from what's left in the fridge.

Last night I had my "treat" meal out at Le Mas des Vignes and the sketch of that will follow in due course.

Late Sunday afternoon

Late Sunday afternoon, a photo by makingamark2 on Flickr.

I've had my eye on the wisteria round the door to the dining room since the beginning of the holiday. Late Sunday afternoon I rose to the challenge.

I think it was the rather interesting shadows cast by the chair which provided the stimulation to "have a go".

there won't be a post tomorrow morning as I'm taking Sarah to the airport at Marseilles for her flight home. She's done some 50+ paintings since she arrived so will have a lot to post when she gets home. The oils are now packed and she's now switched to watercolours.

Tonight we're going back to Vieux Four at Crillon Le Brave.

Tomorrow I'm planning a Van Gogh side trip to Arles http://www.beyond.fr/villages/arles-provence-france.html - where Van Gogh painted Starry Starry Night - and St Remy de Provence http://www.beyond.fr/villages/st-remy-de-provence-france.html where he painted a number of his more famous paintings. I'm going to look to see whether the Van Gogh trail is stilll there at the sanitorium where I first found it 20 years ago.

Then there was one. I'm looking forward to seeing posts from Robyn and Sarah posting again from their own computers.

PS. Julian and Ruth - I've just picked up the new modem from La Poste so you can start to arrange the works.

A work in progress

A work in progress, a photo by makingamark2 on Flickr.

I forgot to take a photo of the two sketches I did yesterday so am posting this photo of the work in progress.

It was a very hot day so we had a rather lazy Sunday sketching and painting on the terrace. This one started as a detailed pen and ink sketch which I always find very meditative. This sketch will be called "a quiet place in Provence" and the subject is a wall which changes colour all through the day.

Today we're going to sketch/paint the hilltop town of Gordes - see http://www.beyond.fr/villages/gordes.html

Crillon Le Brave vista

The view from the Terrace, Hotel Crillon Le Brave, a photo by makingamark2 on Flickr.

This is the view from the terrace of the Hotel Crillon Le Brave. We paid a visit on Thursday for Robyn's "treat" meal out. This was the view from where I sat.

Today Robyn is driving back to her home in Italy.

Sarah is sat next to me in the Hotel Relais de Mont Ventoux - and is up and running with Internet access on her iPad. she's going to see if she can upload images via the photo gene options.

Then we're thinking about going to paint lavender near Sault. However there's a road race we need to avoid - the Optic 2000. I was filling up with diesel at the Lavender Garage in Bedoin this morning with a Ferrari and a Porsche and fit young men in racing gear. I don't seem to be able to get away from young men who like fast cars on this holiday!

we' also looking at and we might be investigating the option to post to

Mont Ventoux and the vines

Mont Ventoux and the vines, a photo by makingamark2 on Flickr.

This is a sketch for a pastel I'm thinking of doing. I've christened my new A3 size Moleskine Sketchbook this week and this is the third sketch in it. It's a big view so it seemed sensible to work out how it worked and what colours a involved before I start thE pastel - which might wait until I get home.

Sarah sends her regards but is unable to post following the thunderstorm. I can only post via my Flickr account and the hotel bar of the Hotel Relais de Ventoux.

Today we discovered that there are road works and we have no water so I had a wash with "wet ones" and am hoping I'm not offending the locals!

Fortunately coloud pencils don't need water.

Today is Robyn's last day and she's getting ready to go home in her lovely new car via all the tunnels and viaducts which connect the South of France to the North of Italy.

Meanwhile Sarah is painting a blue chair and lavender.

Artist at work

Artist at work, a photo by makingamark2 on Flickr.

A slight element of trying to emulate John Singer Sargent painting Claud Monet going on here! you can see preparatory pen and ink sketches on Flickr.

This was done before the massive thunderstorm at 3.30am on Wednesday morning. The first crack of thunder was so loud and so long I thought a plane had crash landed nearby. I've not heard or seen such a major thunderstorm since I was last in tropical latitudes.

Many thanks to Ruth and Julian who are trying to sort out the problems with burned out filters/sockets etc from a barn in Oxfordshire.

in the meantime, I get to access the Internet from the Relais Hotel in Bedoin which has kindly allowed me to use their Internet.

Saturday at Couguieux

Saturday started a bit grey and cloudy - but got better.  I went back to coloured pencil sketching while I pondered on the oil painting of the day before.

Here's a couple of sketches of our immediate surroundings at Couguieux.

The first was done in the morning when it was still rather grey

The wall at Couguiuex
11" x 16", pen and ink and coloured pencils in Moleskine

The next done was done in the middle/late afternoon as the sun came out and the blue sky reappeared

The Terrace at Couguieux
11" x 16", pen and ink and coloured pencils in Moleskine 

Now I`m off to gesso some canvas boards!

Dinner at Restaurant du Vieux Four, Crillon Le Brave

On Ronelle's last evening with us, we went out to dinner at the Restaurant Vieux Four in Crillon Le Brave.

Two sketches this time - one of the food and one of Sarah and Robyn who were sat opposite me on the terrace with their backs to Mont Ventoux and Bedoin.

My three courses comprised

• Duo de Chevre - tapenade at tomatoes cerise (Goat's Cheese with tapenade and cherry tomatoes)
• Filet de Loup Rot, creme au basilic (Fillet of Sea Bass and Basil Cream sauce) and
• Veloute d'Abricot Carimelise et son sorbet (Caramelisd apricot veloute with cherries, red currants and a red berry sorbet)

I switched between drawing the meal and sketching Sarah and Robyn - to comments as to how I might improve how they were looking!


We nearly got our departure just right as the heaven opened and rain began to plop in large drops just as we were getting up to leave. Fortunately it was on of those downpours which is heavy for a couple of minutes and then eases off

We scooted back to the car stopping en route - at Sarah's request - for a quick spot of night sketching

Breakfast sketch from the terrace

Breakfast sketch from the terrace
11 " 16", pen and ink and coloured pencils in Moleskine

I've been doing this sketch for the last three days while sat on the terrace outside the house in the early morning.

The tones and colours change very fast as the sun gets higher in the sky.

On the morning I started the various airlines had created some fabulous vapour trails for the sky. This is a painting which really needs to be portrait format to get the full drama of the sky.
This is also a sketch of mini mountains next to Mont Ventoux- check out the number of pyramids you can see.
This is also probably a view which will get painted in oils in due ciourse

Today I'm collecting Sarah Wimperis from Marseiiles airport - she's arriving at 5pm.

Sunday lunch and sketching at Hotel Crillon Le Brave

Yesterday I did a mini stockup at the supermarket in Bedoin and then went to find some lunch.

I knew there were a couple of places at Crillon Le Brave which did decent meals and had views of the surrounding countryside from their terrace. So off I went having decided I'd eat at whichever I found first.

Lesson #1 - Satnavs can't cope with hilltop villages. The streets get too narrow. This can lead to taking an inadvertent wrong turn.

Lesson #2 - I haven't lost the skill to do the endless three point turn when car has gone down the wrong alley and is now poised with nowhere else to go to go and the camber is very wrong on both axes. Take a deep breath and start very slowly to turn the car round still works fine!

Lunch was taken at the Hotel Crillon Le Brave which has a splendid terrace and very nice food too.


Here are the five sketches I did. They are:

• The view from where I was sat in the restaurant at the Hotel Crillon Le Brave
• My lunch: mediterranean fish soup, aioli and croutons; tuna steak, shaved fennel salad and aioli tartine and a floating island in lavender
• The view from the terrace of Mont Ventoux and Bedoin in the distance

How will I get to Provence?

What has been my three companions' big question since the idea of Provence came up months ago,has now become my biggest question! I was the only one who had no problem with transport, since I live in Correze, which is not too far from Provence and I had my own car. But suddenly, along with the sudden change of weather and all the rains pouring down in France at the moment, I had a sudden change of circumstances too, along with my own rains of hiccups pouring down on all my fancy intentions!To deepen the scars of damage, we have a long weekend in France and the whole continent is on the travel to some far off destination.

Well, my name isn't Ronelle for nothing. I will dig up an alternative....

Maybe I could take Bella out of her facelift surgery for a week...?

...bella?...

Or perhaps Gaitchi could get me there, but will I want to be stuck with a painful derriére for a week...?

...gaitchi?...

My cute bicycle is a dainty solution...but oh , all those uphills..!!

...uphill?...

I could of course put on my running shoes, but seeing I've only started back on running recently, I'm not sure I will reach the Vaucluse before Christmas..?

...running?...

But, get there I will, and I'm leaving on Sunday morning first thing...even if I have to ride on my own thumb!

...thumb!!..

My Art Materials - or why it's a good idea to take a car!

This is my checklist of art materials and equipment for drawing, sketching and painting in Provence.  It contains some top tips from people more experienced than me at painting plein air in oils.

I thought I might as well put it on the blog and then I can't lose it!  I'm bound to have forgotten stuff I need to take so this will keep being updated as I remember it!  Hopefully it will be complete before I set off on 9th June.

Now I know it looks like a lot but I am going to be in Provence for three weeks and this is a painting holiday not a sightseeing one.  Plus I've got six days of travelling there and back when I'll be fitting in sketches to break up the journey.

Plus I'm driving - and that's what I buy a decent sized car for - so I can take art materials on holiday!

Sketchbooks

• Moleskine sketchbooks (A3, A4 x 2, ordinary size)
• Moleskine watercolour sketchbook
• Panorama sketchbook?
  

Dry Media

Unison Pastel Sets at Walden Pond

• My complete sets of Unison Pastels - seen above during a plein air outing to Walden Pond in Massachusetts
• My Pastel Art Bin (more portable!)  So sad to see that they don't seem to be making these any more - I really like them.  However they won't take Unisons which is why I've always kept mine in their boxes.
• Lots and lots of coloured pencils + pencil wraps + pencil cases

Links:

• Pastels - Resources for Artists
• Coloured Pencils - Resources for Artists

Paint

Water based media

• Schminke paintbox - if I can find it
• Gouache - but whose? / do my old tubes still work?
• Black brush roll and Brushes for watercolour / gouache

Oil paints

• W&N Griffin Alkyds (need to buy / including 200ml white / need to decide how these are best carried)
• W&N Liquin
• W&N Art Guard
• W&N Art Gel
• Brushes for Alkyds - to buy 
• Palette knives for Alkyds - to buy
• Cheap nutcrackers for if lids are hard to open (tip from Vivien Blackburn)
• Zest It
• Disposable Palette Pad
• Really Useful Boxes for paint tubes and other art media
• Baby oil to clean brushes and clothes!  (another tip from Vivien Blackburn)

I'm also looking at oil bars as maybe a half way house for me -see Winsor & Newton's page Artists' Oilbar - Oil Colour at your Fingertips

Paper and supports

• Pack of Arches sheets cut down to usable sizes
• Arches HP Block
• Ampersand Colorfix (Fix colourfix to mountboard?)
• Mountboard cut down to usable sizes (plus gesso? / plus watercolour ground?) 
• Oil Painting Pad (A3?)
• Baking Paper to cover wet paint (that tip was from Sarah) 
• Cling film to cover palette (that tip was from somebody else - I forget who) 
  

Links:  Paper and Non-Canvas Supports - Resources for Artists

Art Equipment

Me on my Phillips Chair - nearly 20 years ago
Sketching Pura Ulun Danu Bratan by Lake Bedugal in Bali
Check this gallery for the pastel painting completed at home

Various chairs and stools

I'm going to take different ones have different weight for different circumstances - plus we're a party!)

• Blacks Eurohike Compact Chair
• cheaper camping chair 
• Phillips De Luxe Folding Chair 
• Blacks Compact Stool (for sketching)
• RHS Kneeling Pad - for sitting on ground

Drawing boards and clips

• Different size sheets of 5mm foam core for drawing board 
• LOTS OF BULLDOG CLIPS (can you tell what I often forget?)

Easels and pochade boxes

• Box easel - probably not.  Buy a lightweight sketching easel instead?
• Pochade box instead of an easel? 
  
• Maybe a Julian?  (see Places to buy Pochade Boxes in the UK)
• Maybe a plastic clic box instead? (see Really Useful Boxes)

Vivien - who understands my problems with carrying too much weight / the need to maintain balance at all time (or else I fall over due to very dodgy feet!) - suggests I forget the pochade box and easel and use something lightweight as an alternative - she's now written up her advice in the email below as a proper post re what she takes on painting holidays

Consider as an alternative,  a simple plastic food box - the kind with clip sides is good.  That's what I took to Cornwall.  Though I took my easel I never actually used it!   I hand hold my work - you can use the lightweight board you use and clip your sketchpad and palette to it with bulldog clips.  The liquin and palette knives fit into the box as well.   Brushes in an old padded envelope rolled up.   Then baby oil and rags and tissues plus your oil paper sketchbook and it all fits into a lightweight rucksack.

Vivien Blackburn (Painting Prints & Stuff)

Painting media equipment

• baby oil and wet wipes - for cleaning up
• Masking tape
• roll of kitchen towel 

Pastels and Pencils media equipment

• Cornmeal for cleaning pastels
• Really Useful Boxes for keeping pastels I'm using in plus cornmeal to keep them clean (this is a Felicity House tip - see this post)
• Electric pencil sharpener (Yes / No / Maybe?) I do wish there was still a decent portable sharpener around with like my old Panasonic KP-4A
• Jakar battery powered erasers + small batteries + spare erasers - I'll probably pack three as I'd be distraught if I only packed one and lost it
• Tuff Stick (this is a tip from Dianna Ponting)

 Links:   

• Art Equipment - Resources for Artists
  
• Pastels and Pencils - Art Materials - Erasers
• Pastels and pencils - Art Materials - Pencil Sharpeners  
• Product Review: Really Useful Boxes (for art media and crafts) 
• Product Review: Jakar Battery Operated Eraser Pen

Camera etc

• Camera + charger
• two new SD cards
• spare batteries + charger
• Camcorder + charger + new SD card
• iPad + mains lead + USB cable + up to date software
• card reader
  

Venice shopping trolley
doubles as Artcart

Other essential equipment

• Sun Tan cream / sun block
• long sleeved shirt for if I'm in full sun
• insect repellent plus cream for if I get bitten (guaranteed!)
• Visor to keep sun out of my eyes.  I don't wear sunglasses while using colour.
• Hat with decent brim
• Baby Oil and wet wipes - clean up equipment
• Shopping trolley from Venice - this from a holiday where I gave in and realised that the shopping trolleys were an excellent way of getting stuff around really easily 

Exhibition

Even if it's just for ourselves!

• BluTak for displaying work without damaging walls 

Books about Oil Painting

But that's another post.......