Fooling around this summer, Take 2

From Sydney we flew to Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef. My idyllic image of diving there was shattered by cold temps, 25-30 knots of breeze and 6 foot waves. After an hour and a half trip to the outer reef aboard a large and comfortable dive boat with maybe 12 divers and 25 snorkelers, I would say a third were seasick (not us). The divers definitely had the better trip though. Dressed in double layer wetsuits, we were comfortable and the water below was calm. Highlights included giant clam shells that opened and closed for plankton, tons of fish, sharks, a very friendly sea turtle and a most unusual underwater landscape of coral, unlike anything we've seen in the Caribbean. A tour of the rainforest north of Port Douglas followed the next day. We had lunch at little place inside the rainforest with the best Baramundi (local fish) so far on the trip!

Divemasters gearing up with 6 foot seas

Rocking and rolling. See the pitch?

Cocodrile!

Kingfisher

Feed me!

Kangaroo with an attitude

Cassowary crossing

Fooling around this summer

Our son spent the past semester studying in Australia. In late June, my husband and I met him there, spent time in Sydney and Uluru, did some diving on the Great Barrier Reef and then flew to Bali with Ian for 5 days. It was the trip of a lifetime.

Below: Visit to the Gallery of New South Wales. Check out Australian artist, Tom Roberts who painted in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Amazing draftsman.

Drawing in the Gallery of New South Wales

Tom Roberts, Bailed Up

Tom Roberts, Darbin Creek

Tom Roberts, Breakaway

Picture highlights from Sydney:

Rainbow Lorikeets – urbanized and everywhere

Biggest bats I've ever seen – Botanical Gardens

Tuna, crack-of-dawn tour of the Sydney Fish Market, second largest in the world

Sydney harbor at dusk

Sydney Opera House

Ferries, Sydney Harbor

Archibald Fountain, Hyde Park

Finished Izzy

The finished image has maybe 8-10 layers of thinly applied paint. Dry to the touch.

Picking up where I left off

I admit it. I've been screwing off. Some traveling and some family time have filled up late June and July. Photos and sketchbook images to come but in the meantime, I will finish what I started.
Izzy take 4. The paintings were finished in early June.
Here you see the next layer, Permanent Rose over Chrome Yellow. Next will come various local color applications, followed by Burnt Sienna and Ultramarine Blue before heading to the finish detail.

Permanent Rose over Chrome Yellow

Izzy take three: Beginning the painting

The process involves thinly applied oils, each color added separately, with the color and form building up gradually as the painting progresses.

Izzy take two: Tonal drawing

After a couple of weeks with other projects taking priority, I'm continuing work on my sample children's illustrations. This step is where I figure out my light and shade. Sometimes pencil, sometimes oil wash, always on board that is textured with gesso and sandpaper, it serves as my guide for the rest of the painting.

Children's book exploration

My friend, Andi, and I are playing around with collaborating on a kids book. We've know each other for years and were quite a writing/illustration/design team at one point in our lives. We also have a kids bond. Her daughter, Isabel, and my son, Ian, are close in age and when they were young, got along quite well. I have to admit though, that I've missed Andi's company and that this joint effort is partially an excuse to see her more ofter.
The inspiration for me was this illustration, which was done several years ago for a story about pet spas. I've always liked it and with some outside encouragement, asked myself where it might go narratively.

So here are the first sketches of Izzy and her dog, Frank, enjoying their day.

Commission for Oil and Gas Investor magazine

This was a tough assignment from Art Director Marc Conly. A very dense and complicated story that focused on Canadian and US Royalty Trusts. These trusts are investment vehicles that supply capital for oil and gas exploration. Using a car engine as a metaphor, trust companies respond to new tax law changes, "tinkering" with their structures in order to attract investors.

Back to reality

We leave at the crack of dawn to drive back to Ann Arbor tomorrow.
The chicken paintings are done. I began them at the same time but finished one before the other, feeling more confident and loosening up as I went along.

Key West Chicken 1

Key West Chicken 2

Key West Chickens, take 2

Having painted in oils, or oil glazes for decades, I'm taking advantage of time away from assignments to relearn acrylics. Even though I'm using the new-ish Open line from Golden, I'm finding the same frustration with drying time that I remember from my early days working at the Free Press. The positives include: paint stays wet on the palette overnight with no covering, blending is easier than conventional acrylics, layering is faster and easier than oils. The big negative is that thin applications of paint still dry in minutes, necessitating careful planning and isolating work areas.
We leave to come back to the frozen north tomorrow, meaning that these will be quick exercises. We'll see how it goes.

 For a look at my commercial work: http://www.cathygendron.com/

Key West feral chickens

One of the first things you notice while strolling around Key West is the overabundance of chickens sharing the streets and wandering into the bars, restaurants and shops. Depending on who you talk to, they are either descended from fighting cocks or from the Spanish, who introduced them to the area as a domesticated food source.
They're protected, and Key Westers have dealt with them in various ways. At one point they had an official Chicken Catcher and last I heard they still held an annual Chicken Round-up, with the birds supposedly shipped off to a "sanctuary" on the mainland.
Drawing on canvas, ready to paint.

 For a look at my commercial work: http://www.cathygendron.com/

Mini donuts, finished

The painting is finally finished, thanks to an uninterrupted work day and the good sense to know when to stop. No FedEx at the door, no deadline – this is close to heaven.
The bag, cup and cigarette were left for last. I added some white to pop the yellow stripe color, the girl's hat, and other highlight areas. I'm happy with the composition and reasonably satisfied with the color and tonal balance. My aim is still to get the blending and strokes closer to the look of oils. On to the next project.

 For a look at my commercial work: http://www.cathygendron.com/