I feel like this has been one of my less successful painting months, both in volume and quality. Partially, this is because my attention has been split, focusing on work, birding (I attempted three checklists a day!), and video games (I’ve been playing Tiny Bookshop). Partially, though, it’s been because I’ve been doing painting stuff without immediate payoff: pushing my comfort zone with urban sketching, reading, and trying exercises (especially from Jeanne Dobie’s Making Color Sing, which I’m posting about chapter-by-chapter: see chapter 1, chapter 2, chapter 3, chapter 4).
Learning Projects
These were created to for an upcoming Jeanne Dobie post.
Sky of the Day
I feel I’m consistently falling short of capturing what I want to convey with these skies, but I am at least observing some things that work and don’t work (mostly don’t work)! Here are some pages from my Sky Sketchbook with a photo of the sky that inspired them.
Urban Sketching
I went to two official urban sketchers meetups, and did some miscellaneous painting around town.
In some cases, I tried new experiments. For example, in a painting of the Prudiential Building, I tried the “color first, ink later” approach.
I also tried painting with travel brushes and a water cup, instead of a water brush! I expected this to make my outdoor paintings immediately a lot better and was disappointed that it did not, but I guess I just need more practice.
Still, I was able to achieve pointed shapes, which I don’t usually with a water brush!
I have a number of learning experiments I want to follow up on in the coming months, including continuing to work my way through Jeanne Dobie’s book, learning more about perspective, and perhaps working outside more now that the weather’s becoming more temperate and less miserably hot and humid. And, before we know it, it’ll be foliage season again!
Comments
One response to “Monthly Retrospective: August 2025”
Lovely work generally, but the Great Meadows painting in particular jumped out at me – so atmospheric and delicate. That third little tree in the background is just perfect.