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Andy and I used to live in humid in Miami, Florida. The average humidity in Miami is between 50ish% - 70ish% year-round, like in Ojochal, Costa Rica where are living. The HUGE difference is that Miami has air conditioning everywhere. In Costa Rica, air conditioning is rarely found or used, no matter how hot or rainy. Air conditioning acts as a dehumidifier as it allows the air to dry out. Since there’s no air conditioning…the air stays humid…and… Andy and I are renting a house that has NO glass in the windows. The windows have a decorative and practical ironwork and screens. We have lots of fans to keep the air circulating in our home. The fans keep things dryer and us cooler: double win. The bad is that we also have a lot of humidity, no matter how many fans move the air around…so we use a lot of Ziploc bags to keep things as dry as possible. Sadly, many things stay damp…and there isn’t a way to dry them (no oven, no iron). One of these things are the watercolors that I loved to use with my sketchbooks. I learned that watercolors melt. The binder (glue), that holds the pigment (color) melts when the paint is kept in humid conditions. It takes just a couple of days for most of the colors to turn runny. I’m writing this not to complain but more to laugh. Laugh because no one ever mentions melting watercolor paints. I did Google this…and found only One artist writing about it. In the meantime, my sketchbooks will only have blue or brown line drawings and little if any color. My next post will be how I can maybe fix my watercolor kits…maybe….  I opened this kit on Christmas Day as a treat. By New Year’s Eve, it was a taffy caramel mess. These are “pills” or “cakes” of watercolor paint. I’m sticking the individuals down to the bottom with a double sided foam. 11 Advantages Of Sketchbook Practice Over A Painting Studio Practice:
I’ve been here before. It’s ok if I’m not painting. I’m in transition. As long as I can sketch, I’ll be ok. Besides, my Painting Studio Practice will thank me later as I’ll have so many ideas that I can hardly wait to be in there! Want to see more of my sketches? Head on over to Instagram and follow me @angelinemarieartist If you’d like to see how my sketchbooks influence my painting, Lisa Call shared photos of my sketchbooks and a little about how I data mine through them here: Artists and Their Sketchbooks by Lisa Cal  Andy and I just ordered our meals and I had a few minutes to draw the still life that was all ready for me at our table. The sugar packets in a tiny pot, the hand sanitizer, the napkins with their holder. I’m using a Kaweco fountain pen with sepia ink.  Before my watercolors melted, this is a sketch I did of different areas around us. I miss the colors, but I can’t pack them in my purse because they have melted. I already cleaned up the mess and stashed my kit away. 5 Questions Answered by Keeping a Sketchbook
I recently realized that I need a Sketchbook Practice before I have a Painting Art Studio Practice. I love painting. I want to know what to paint. Knowing what to paint helps me get into a roll while in my studio instead of walking In circles, wondering what to paint. The last time my art painting studio was in limbo, I filled sketchbooks at a rate of one per month. These sketchbooks helped me paint for hours when my studio was set up and ready to use! Now, my dream art studio is in limbo…so sketching is what I can do now! If you’d like to see some of my sketches and maybe words from previous years, you click through these: 3 Artist Must Haves mentions sketchbooks Watch on YouTube here: Sketching Drawing at Frida Kahlo Exhibit at Dali Museum Via this channel.  Sketches done at home of the turtle release at Playa Tortugo, Costa Rica. It was dusk and the walk out to the shoreline was gorgeous. I left my sketchbook kit safely at home. Sometimes it’s just better to sketch later.   Lucky me, I have friends who understand me and allow me draw while we chat. These are random items and garden scenes at Randy and Maria’s home. I didn’t date this doodle. I found it while sorting my art studio for our move. It was too good to toss, so it lives digitally! Does it matter how a meeting is named?
Here’s a quick list of Big Meetings at My Former Job. Town Hall Alignment Site Update Safety 100 Hours Stand Down… Whenever you have more than 10 people in a room...the behaviors shown in my doodle are on real-life display. The only difference between meetings in 2019 and meetings 2020 to present is a video call-in option, IF your company bothers to give you this option. I prefer video call-in meetings. I prefer having the option of having the video on or off. I still pay attention at (to?) meetings, either way. I prefer to never attend another long, drawn out, carefully curated, propaganda filled, “talk at employees” company meeting ever again. Of course, never attending another one of these types of meetings means the opportunity for a doodle like this will never happen again, for me. That’s fine by me. Do you see these behaviors, etc. at company meetings you attend? What do you doodle during these lost hours? The first ever drawing book was published in 1608 by Italian painter and printmaker Odoardo Fialetti. For the first time, anyone could learn how to draw at home. I wonder who is accredited with the first ever online drawing class? Yes, I Googled, but couldn’t find who has that credit. For some awesome drawings from 1600s and forward, plus more about the story of drawing books and where the exhibit is being held, please click here: https://hyperallergic.com/526880/how-europe-learned-to-draw/ In the meantime, you might find me drawing!  Above: my studio armoire with most of my how to draw, etc. books. Yes, a 2020 goal is to organize it, lol! Below: A detail section of a dog portrait, Maya. A basic skill for painting is drawing. I love painting pet portraits because it means I'm drawing, lol!  |
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Drawing, painting both analog and digital, and other artsy things while living in Costa Rica.
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