Sketchbook Coalition

Triptych

2010-02-17T13:46:00.000-08:00

It's been a while, but maybe we can revive this blog. Nate, I heard you're making an application to graduate school. I wish you the best of luck with that.

I pitched project to you guys about a year ago, and I finally got around to it a few months ago. I went through a few different revisions. The gold leaf ended up being a little impractical. I cut some stamps from a block to create the pattern on the frame. The piece represents a departure from the work I usually do, and I'm a little nervous about it. I'm afraid that it comes across as corny. Here's another shot that shows the work I did on the frame.

Recent Figure Drawing

2009-09-28T07:31:00.000-07:00

Sorry that it has been a while since I last posted something here. Things have been hectic at USU. Anyway, here's a recent drawing from a Wednesday evening figure drawing group. Lots of fun. I wish I could go more often.

By the way, I'm managing USU's galleries now. If anyone might have a portfolio of work, preferably a CD with jpegs, I could see about including something in a show for the 2010/2011 academic year. Send it to Scott Foster, Art Department, 4000 Old Main Hill, Logan UT 84322. We recently struck an exhibition of artists from all over the country. We've also shown the work of a Polish video artist. So you'd be showing in good company. Send me some work.

Update on the Jack Daniels Project

2009-08-12T14:55:00.000-07:00

As I sit in the Starbucks across from my work on my break, I decided that I would put together another blog entry from the JD Project. I've been quite pleased with my work ethic as of recent. I was able to sit down and paint three times in the past week which is about 300 times the normal amount. Last Wednesday, on my day off, I headed over to Green Lake to paint a quick landscape and on Saturday I took the time to work some more on the Jack Daniels Project. This morning I didn't have to work until noon so I got up early and with coffee in hand, I began my morning properly with some painting.

Between Saturday and today, I was able to make some decent progress on the shadow of the figures shirt and the arms. Today I finished up the left leg of the figure and put down the highlights. I'm hoping my work ethic will persist throughout the week and I'll be able to make some additional progress on the figures shirt. Although, if it's nice out, I may just head back to Green Lake. We shall see...

Previously posted on NateKnodel.com

CWAC CWAC... Camp is Over!

2009-07-27T09:46:00.000-07:00

Previously posted at NateKnodel.com

I've been a bit of a bum today since getting back from Camp Spalding. Last night I drove straight home from the camp in order to indulge myself in some much anticipated vegging today. It's taken me 12 hours to finally get off my ace and do something productive.

Camp was great. I had an excellent time directing my young pupils into becoming beautiful artists and appreciators of God's creation. I can't begin to explain the wonderful joy that came from teaching and shepherding these incredible kids. I'm still in awe of how well the kids worked and how receptive they were to the instruction. Below are a few of the paintings produced by some up and rising artists. I hope you enjoy and feel free to leave some comments.

My Green Sunshine -Litcelle E. Parahan

Insane Pathway - Caymen Hoadley

The Spicket - Jacob Hanson

A Literal Piece of Garbage - Lauren Shern

Flickr Photoset

Not Toooo Shabby.... could be better

2009-07-16T22:53:00.000-07:00

I just finished up at Green Lake painting my first of all time landscape watercolor. It's my first so don't be too harsh on your judgement of my professionalism here. I took a quick pic with my iPhone after I had finished but am still hesitant to post a scan of the full painting due to my lack of confidence with my new found ability.

I'm headed over to the Clearwater Arts camp up at Camp Spalding tomorrow after work and will be teaching some younglings the methods of being an artist. I have the privilege of teaching basic drawing, watercolor and of course my bread and butter, oil painting. The purpose of the landscape tonight was to get my feet wet (no pun intended) so I'm not at a total loss when trying to instruct the fresh minds of young children. Thanks to Scott Foster for giving me an in depth explanation on the proper methods of watercolor painting. Scott, I have a long way before I'm as brilliant as you my friend.

Stay tuned to my blog next week as I plan to update it from the art camp.

This post was previously post at NateKnodel.com

the joy of sketching

2009-06-30T02:33:00.000-07:00

When i am tired and in a bad mood
when i am in doubt about being an artist
when i need an infusion of new art blood
i take my pen and sketchbook
and go out to sketch
suddenly i am happy
every part in my mind falls in place
and i become a whole person again
I drove to the market today, by luck found a parking place by an old couple selling used
mercandise-and sketched them.

2009-06-23T11:54:00.001-07:00

I've been working on some smaller watercolors this summer. The watercolors are part of a project that Katria and I are working on. She's using a salt printing process for her photographs. We'll show them this fall. I'm using a couple different blacks. I found that Lamp Black is flatter and cooler. It seems to recede. A sky painted with Lamp Black seems to look so much further away. Mars Black is warmer and has a granular texture, especially when painted into a wet area. I use it to give a roughness to the foliages.

The small scale has been amenable to my schedule this summer. I've been having trouble staying focused on larger pieces. I seem to lose sight of the initial vision after many interuptions before I reach the end. Any advice?

2009-06-15T04:46:00.001-07:00

I live in a small city named petach tikva.it is a city with no special distinction-not by the sea , no river,and no historical ruins.mainly apartment buildings-old and new-high and low.sounds boring-but i love painting and drawing it.i know the buildings look the same,but i also know that in every apartment lives individuals-every person or family different from its neighbour.

suddenly i start seeing many colours-and i hope it can be seen in my paintings

sketches in an old age home

2009-06-09T10:57:00.000-07:00

this is my first blog ever-so i shall be short until i get used to writing.my mother has alzheimer and i visit her nearly every day.it is not an easy visit.my sketchbook is a great helper on those visits.sketching people in the old age home helps me see them as idividuals.it also helps me sit longer with my mother-as she is past having a conversation.the sketches are rough-trying to catch impressions-so that actual patients cannot be recognised.

Progress is being made

2009-06-07T13:05:00.001-07:00

Despite my lack of blog posts, I have continued to work on JPD #2. I've recently had some health issues so I haven't been able to post as regularly as I've wanted. So here it is... I've almost completed the blanket and started on the figure a bit. I'm continueing to focus on my brush stokes, short and sweet, in order to replicate Sargents style. Hopefully I'll be able to somewhat figure out his style so I can apply it more appropriately to my next painting, which is a tribute to one of his.
This post was previously posted on NateKnodel.com

Ahso and the painting continues...

2009-05-14T22:49:00.000-07:00

What up yo's... I made some more significant progress on my latest painting today. I was able to add in the brilliant colors and highlights of the under-blanket which has really added some nice depth to the monochromatic piece that I'm sporting. I've highlighted the portions of the painting that I've worked on today... you'll see the brush strokes are short and sweet, just like that of Sargent (of whom is my current favorite artist). Bright and intense color is my fortey and I'm hitting it hard again with this one. Peace till next time my peeps!

This Post was previously posted on NateKnodel.com

And it shall be known as...

2009-05-12T10:22:00.000-07:00

More progress was made today on my next installment of the Jack Daniels Project. From now on, I will refer to this painting as JDP #2 or at least until I decide on a more permanent title. I was able to get a lot of canvas covered today as that has been my goal since my under painting continues to soak up all my progress. However, as I've been working, I've started noticing the small defects with my drawing and it's beginning to irritate me. In order to bring this up to my standards, I plan on re-working the specific details of the drawing once I get the canvas fully covered. Overall though, I felt like I made some significant progress on the painting given the short amount of time I had allotted to me.

This post was previously posted on Knodelart.com

Next Installment of the 'Jack Daniels Project' (day 2)

2009-05-02T10:50:00.000-07:00

After frantically trying to make my 7:45 AM work meeting on time, I was able to get back grab a cup of coffee and continue on my next installment of the Jack Daniels Project. Friday, as I watched my paint dry, I realized that my underpainting was soaking up all the progress I had made the previous day. So my objective for today was more specifically founded in finishing a rough drawing and covering the canvas with paint rather than the specific details. I figure I can work out the small details later on when my paint will stick better. Apologies for the poor picture quality.

This post was previously posted on KnodelArt.com.

Next Installment of the Jack Daniels Project

2009-05-01T17:27:00.000-07:00

Last night I was driving home from my indoor soccer game and I got this crazy urge to start a new painting. I've been working on what I call 'The Jack Daniels Project' for a few months now which will be a series of 3 or 4 paintings the first of which is called 'The Hat, The Blanket and The Belt Buckle'. Here is a preview of the progress I made last night on my next installment of the project. So far, this painting is untitled.

This entry was previously posted at KnodelArt.com.

Blog post on 'The Hat, The Blanket, and The Belt Buckle'.

Portrait Study

2009-04-10T07:25:00.000-07:00

I was able to spend some time with a model last Tuesday evening. I've had a few busy weeks in a row, so it was nice to be able to unwind a little and draw. I sometimes forget how enjoyable that is. I'm able to forget myself and become absorbed in a state of contemplation. It doesn't happen all the time, but when it does, it's a monastic kind of feeling. I am the charcoal. Do any of you lose yourselves in this way?

Preliminary Sketch for a Painting Idea

2009-04-03T14:05:00.001-07:00

Preliminary Painting sketch, originally uploaded by Nate Knodel.

This is an idea I've been having for a painting awhile now. I plan to have it slightly play off of a painting done by John Singer Sargent. I've already got the model for the pose but haven't found a dress that is suitable for the painting. I'm thinking I'm going to have to rent one from a costume shop that has old victorian type dresses. We'll see....

Another Lunchtime drawing from Pallino Pastaria

2009-04-03T13:51:00.001-07:00

Pallino Pasta 2, originally uploaded by Nate Knodel.

It's been a while since I've been able to post any of my sketches. I moved to a new apartment recently and am finally starting to get settled in. Also, my productivity at my real job has been suffering ever since I started drawing during my lunch hour. So in an effort to bring my productivity back up, I've decided to only draw when I've finished work for the day. As a result, I haven't been able to post on here as much as I would like.

Pallino Pasta

2009-04-03T13:46:00.001-07:00

Pallino Pasta, originally uploaded by Nate Knodel.

Lunchtime sketching.

arm studies

2009-03-23T13:02:00.000-07:00

Still studying anatomy. It's a mental and physical exercise for me to do these. It may seem a bit repetitious but it helps solidify the forms in my head.

1. the scapula and clavicle as seen from behind

2. Bones and muscles of the arms

3. Surface anatomy.

A couple of 12 min poses

2009-03-14T11:28:00.001-07:00

12 min pose, originally uploaded by Nate Knodel.

Pardon the poor scanning. I bought a new sketchbook and the paper seems to reflect the scan a bit. Maybe it's just my cheap scanner, who knows.

A couple 5 min poses

2009-03-14T11:26:00.001-07:00

5 min pose, originally uploaded by Nate Knodel.

It's been a couple weeks since I've gone to the Saturday morning life drawing session. Here are two of my first 5 min poses.

last one for now!

2009-03-12T07:25:00.000-07:00

please excuse the paint spots on the first one.

even more life drawings

2009-03-12T07:15:00.001-07:00

more life drawings

2009-03-12T07:12:00.001-07:00

20-40 min

life drawings

2009-03-12T07:08:00.001-07:00

Some stuff from life! The first one is a 5 min warm up. The second is about 20 min.

Neck studies

2009-03-09T09:18:00.001-07:00

more anatomy.

The Hat, the Blanket, and the Belt Buckle

2009-03-05T12:01:00.001-08:00

The Hat, the Blanket, and the Belt Buckle, originally uploaded by Nate Knodel.

I was finally able to document my latest painting and get it uploaded on the web. This painting is my first installment into the series 'The Jack Daniels Project'. I figured why not put it on the blog right away.

Lunchtime with the Trash

2009-03-04T12:24:00.001-08:00

Lunchtime Trash, originally uploaded by Nate Knodel.

Yesterday was an extremely stressful day at work. It seemed like every customer I had didn't have any sort of common sense. So I thought, what better to clear my head than to go sketch some trash cans. And so I did.

Red sits alone

2009-03-02T10:47:00.001-08:00

Red sits alone, originally uploaded by Nate Knodel.

I completed this sketch during my Saturday morning live session this week. Again, like the moleskin sketches, I've been focusing more on capturing the atmosphere of the scene and interpretting depth and density rather than putting my whole effort into the accuracy of the drawing.

more anatomy studies

2009-03-02T10:35:00.000-08:00

I hope these don't get a too repetitive.

Starbucks Toppings

2009-02-27T18:44:00.001-08:00

starbucks toppings, originally uploaded by Nate Knodel.

Here are a few more of my moleskin sketches from this week. The past few days, I've been focusing less on the accuracy of the sketches and more on capturing the depth of the scene and the environment around it. I think some of these sketches could turn into good ideas for paintings which could mimic the voyeuristic style of Edward Hopper.

The Star Workaholic

2009-02-27T18:30:00.003-08:00

starbucks workaholic, originally uploaded by Nate Knodel.

The Cow Lies in the Village

2009-02-27T18:30:00.001-08:00

After noon Lunch, originally uploaded by Nate Knodel.

2009-02-23T07:39:00.001-08:00

some sargent studies.

its been a while

2009-02-23T07:11:00.000-08:00

A couple after Rockwell...

Moleskin Chronicles

2009-02-22T13:42:00.001-08:00

2.20.09, originally uploaded by Nate Knodel.

Noon day news paper and coffee.

Moleskin Chronicles - Pallino Pastaria

2009-02-22T13:29:00.001-08:00

2.17.09, originally uploaded by Nate Knodel.

I have the pleasure of carrying my moleskin everywhere I go, so I decided on my lunch break I would begin chronicling moments around me.

Emulating the Masters

2009-02-13T10:16:00.000-08:00

I've been on a Van Gogh kick for awhile now so I thought it would be fun to try an emulate his famous self portraits. Here is a quick loose self portrait reflecting that of Van Gogh's.

starbucks brought to the scetchbook

2009-02-12T17:35:00.001-08:00

starbucks2, originally uploaded by nateknodel.

And another sketch...

starbucks brought to the sketchbook

2009-02-12T17:29:00.001-08:00

starbucks1
Originally uploaded by nateknodel

I began taking my moleskin to starbucks since I seem to live there. These are my observations.

Demonstrations for Painting I and Figure Painting

2009-01-20T10:55:00.001-08:00

Painting demonstrations for my students forces me to try to go back to square one and answer the most fundamental questions that they have. Questions about paint mixing, composition, and brush handling. These were painted during the first week of school here at USU. In Painting I, I start them off using a single color and painting value gradations by varying the transparency and opacity of paint. In Figure Painting I started them with a similar assignment, but we've quickly moved into working with more colors.

For the non monochrome image I used a group of four colors I think of as the Spanish Palette, because of its similarity to the colors used by Velasquez and Zuruban. I used Yellow Ochre, Venetian Red, Cremnitz White, and a blue black made my mixing Ultramarine Blue and Ivory Black in a ration of 1:1. I actually thought this one was really going to suck after 15 minutes of painting. I was sure I was going to be embarrassed, and was looking for a quick way to pull things together. After talking with my students through some of the mixing difficulties I was having, I managed to pull it together in a way that hopefully was instructive.

Figure Work

2009-01-08T09:43:00.000-08:00

I've had to put a few projects on the back burner to prepare for classes this semester. I'm teaching an overload, which is depressing me a little. I think my first day in the studio since December is going to be next week some time. Hopefully I can learn to be more efficient in my use of time.

Part of my preparation for figure painting is painting some quick studies to prepare me for the demos I'll be doing in class. I'm working with a smaller size and giving myself 1-2 hours for each piece. It's actually been a lot of fun to do something so different from what I usually do. I gave my first demo in the figure class last night, and I think it went pretty well. I'll post the after I can get a slide or two taken.

jeffs sketchbook

2008-12-20T10:12:00.000-08:00

more anatomy. A few pen studies

a few humble sketches

2008-12-15T07:01:00.000-08:00

not much to post here. I got a new scanner to play with. It captures graphite alot better than a camera can.

Morning Studies

2008-12-11T09:55:00.001-08:00

2008-12-08T07:22:00.000-08:00

I had the opportunity to judge a K-5 art show the other week. This kindergartener had drawn and field, a sky full of butterflies, and a girl. The color (crayola crayons) was a little washed out. I wasn't able to take a photo of the piece, so I've tried to recreate it here. I've been trying to use it in the piece I'm working on now, but I'm looking incorporate it in a more significant way in my next piece. I've been researching medival and renaissance painting techniques and would like create something that draws together the complex and beautiful materials that many artists used to work with: gold leaf, lapis lazuli, and multiple gessoed panels. Maybe I'll even use some egg tempera. I think this drawing might allow me a different way to combine flat and modelled areas.

In the secondsketch I've layed out my most recent idea about what this might look like. The border areas will be gilded to allow the bole to show through, and I'm planning on incorporating the butterflies and flowers from the drawing as a pastiglia design. Here's a link to a painters website that may allow you to visualize the process. http://home.comcast.net/~f.wessel/tech.html

The topmost image is an idea for the central area. I want a high keyed piece in the center to help difuse the light of the leaf.

The Kingdom and the Gospel

2008-12-05T13:20:00.000-08:00

I can't help but post this on our blog. If you can't tell, I've been inspired by the brand new University Ministry campaign here at Seattle Pacific University. I've had so much fun working on these illustrations. My goal was to present the vast openness of space as the metaphor for the kingdom, and the familiarity of our planet as the metaphor for the gospel. My hope is to visually communicate UM's vision in connecting these two significant components of our faith. Together, we want to emphasize this beautiful union.

NOTE: Illustrations combined for a total of 12.5+ hours of photoshop editing and image compositing

Edward Hopper

2008-12-05T11:40:00.001-08:00

Here is a little something I found on Youtube in honor of the Edward Hopper exhibit being shown at the SAM the next few months. If any of you have the chance to check it out, it comes highly recommended. Those of you not in Seattle, this might give you a good reason
to come visit.

more studies

2008-12-05T06:37:00.001-08:00

Here's a few more anatomy studies I did a little while back. I will get some gestures up at some point. Probably sometime this weekend after I buy a scanner.

Gesturing

2008-11-30T16:16:00.000-08:00

For my first post I thought it would be appropriate to showcase some of my gesture drawings that I have been doing during the Saturday morning live session. All these sketches are based off of 30 sec. poses up to 3 min. poses.

here it goes

2008-11-28T10:33:00.000-08:00

Here are few early pages in my current sketchbook. I've been focusing on anatomy studies. These are all copied from various anatomy books. I probably need to do more from life. Please excuse the camera distortion, I need to get a scanner.

sketchbooks!

2008-11-25T07:06:00.000-08:00

As the name of this blog implies, we want the sketchbook to be the basic part of an artist life. It should be something that you should try to use daily. Feel free to post more finished pieces as well.

I encourage everyone to post pics of their sketchbooks. Monthly, weekly, daily, hourly, or often as you can. Show us what your working on. Show us your life drawings, your landscapes, your anatomy studies, or anything else important enough to sketch.

So, now that your sketching, we need people to comment/critique as well. This should be a place of growth and as such, critiques should be helpful, honest, and respectful. Have fun. Now get sketching...

welcome

2008-11-25T06:44:00.000-08:00

As Nate stated, we are looking to start an artist community that is committed to helping each other develop. I firmly believe that to grow as an artist you need to be constantly drawing to keep your eyes and hands active. It doesn't matter if you are a fine artist, a graphic designer or anything in between, we all need to grow in both our skills and our ideas.

It is also important to have a group of like minded individuals to support and encourage you along the way and to help you grow. I hope this can be a place to discuss movies, books, shows, or pretty much anything art related.

Testing All Bloggers

2008-11-24T22:25:00.000-08:00

This is obviously a test blog made up by Jeff Gingerich and myself, Nate Knodel. The purpose of this Blog is to bring a community of artists together in a relaxed atmosphere and critique each others works. We will post pictures of works in progress, sketchbook projects and speak our thoughts about the art of our peers in a constructive but critical way. It will be an open source of discussion and with Jeff's permission, open to anyone who wants to be apart of it.