Monday, August 24, 2015

Aurora Colony Days

Many thanks to Aurora Colony Days organizer Susan Black who went out of her way to encourage sketchers to attend her event on August 8. The other residents of Aurora were very kind to us while we were there, as well - two people walked up and told me how grateful they were to have artists out in their streets!

I sketched a large yard sale that was happening under a massive walnut tree, which turns out to be 131 years old.  Then I wandered down the street and sketched Aurora Mills.

I was hampered by the fact that I had accidentally brought an old watercolor palette from which I had removed all the "good" colors, leaving only a few pigments: an overly saturated yellow, an under saturated (but nicely textured) blue, napthol red, and a burnt sienna.  It took a lot of effort to get any blue onto the paper, and the slightest touch of yellow was shockingly intense, so these sketches were a bit of a struggle - I was glad to have that rust tone, at least!  Anyway, art is defined by its limitations...

These sketches are viewable at a larger size in my flickr feed.




6 comments:

  1. No complaints on your results...even though you did have a struggle with an off palette of colors. These are so nicely packed with the excitement of the day...it was a good place to be.

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  2. The colors on that barn!!!! Lovely. I would never have guessed that you were only working with your non-favorite pigments.

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  3. These are really wonderful, Kalina. I love the tree canopy in the top one and the expansiveness in the 2nd. Both have such a sense of place.

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  4. Your sketches are fabulous! Beautiful work.

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  5. I think your palette worked really well for you...or at least you worked well with it! As others have said, both have a great sense of place and expansiveness--well done!

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