Studies of Chickens

Pen on Paper, 6 x 8 inches --

It was overcast and kind of rainy outside. So I invited some of our pet chickens inside the house while I was working on desk work. Bennie, the Golden Laced Wyandotte, was lying down right next to my chair, and didn't seem to want to go anywhere for a while. She just wanted to hang out with me. So I decided to do drawing of her from life. She was sitting still so long that I was able to do several drawings of her. Each time, I was getting a better sense of how much information I wanted to add, or how much is too much. I numbered each drawing. The figure number one had more information than I actually needed. And here's the last piece with longer sitting. After a while, she actually start getting impatient, and moved away. So that was the end of the drawing session. Thank you Bennie!

Here's a study of Leo, the rooster. He was standing in front of the deck, and standing very still for a long time, except turning his head side to side occasionally. I think he realized that I was drawing him, and wanted to pose for me.

Sketch from the College Hill

Pen on paper, 6 x 8 inches --

This is one of the sketches I did during my last visit in Pullman. It was so overcast in the mid-afternoon that landscape looked less exciting for plein air painting without strong contrast of lights and shadows. I drove up the College Hill near WSU, and walked down a trail toward the bike pass along the rail road with a camera and sketchbook. This old building and grain tower was sandwiched between a highway and railroad with busy traffic and so on. But I drew only what I wanted to show. Plus I didn't want to spend a lot of time to include all other stuff around my main subject. I really liked the result. Nice and simple with enough information of tonal values. It could almost be anywhere. Now I feel like I could create a painting out of this. I think I'll do sketch like this more often and post it on this blog.

Sketch of the Old Shed

Pen on paper, 5 x 7 in 

This is a preliminary sketch for a commissioned painting. The lines inside the page represent the cropping area for the final composition. I combined various elements from the photos I shot at the scene to create a narrative using Photoshop, and drew this from the edited image. The biggest challenge was to determine the true horizon of the landscape, as the shape of the shed is so distorted, and the it's on the slope. Fortunately I had another photo of the  zoomed out scene that shows a new garage with reliable vertical lines. I used that reference to transfer the actual orientation to a telephone pole in the distance in the close-up photo. Then I corrected the orientation of the landscape. When I paint on the site,

Chicken Study

Pen on Paper, 7 x 5 in.

It's been about one week since the Taylor Bridge Wildfire in Central Washington started last Monday. Our house in Ellensburg is several miles away from the fire zone. But our Kittitas Valley has been pretty smoky. Many roads are still closed for through traffic. I've been taking a break from plein air painting this week. Instead, I've been taking care of things around our house, including our pet chickens.
   One thing on my wishlist is to be able to paint chickens and other animals in my landscape on the spot, abstracted yet believable. I realized that the best way to learn abstracting shapes is to draw from life as much as possible.
   For the last few days, I've been trying to draw chickens from life while I'm hanging out with them in my studio or in the backyard. Ultimately, I want to be able to paint them from life. But sketching with a pen on a 5x7 sketchbook is overwhelming enough so far. Chickens usually move so quickly. I'm training my eyes and hands to respond faster. It seems as if there are moments when they hold a pose for me to draw..., but I'm not responding fast enough. The models for this series of study are the two little chicks we got this May: Sophie and Coco. They were perching on the garden bench. I realize I have a long way to go.

Study of Bride & Groom

Pen on paper, 5.5 x 8 in

This drawing is a study for a large oil painting commissioned by a Korean couple in the Eastern Washington to commemorate their recent wedding. I love creating pictures of happy moments of people, as well as animals. That's my art is all about.
  I realized how much I enjoy drawing, and I always did. I almost forgot that I used to spend hours and hours drawing with pens on sketch book at night, when I was young and had no access to personal computer or camera. I wasn't very good at expressing my self to the strangers, and drawing was the way to connect with them. Later that expanded to other forms of art, including dance and music. I belonged to the anime club and art at school all the way through high school, and drawing was my way of spending time at home. But now, I can work on drawing and painting, looking at perfect reference photos on my computer monitor, while listening to the Internet radio stations. Not much different, but way more convenient.

Purple Tulips & Peter Rabbit

Pen on paper, 5.5 x 8 in.

It's been very warm for the last few days, and some flowers in the yard are blooming. These purple tulips we planted last year in our Rose Garden, have just joined the party today. The wind was calm, but the clouds were coming and going throughout the afternoon. It's not so great for painting from life when the ambiance, especially the lights, are not consistent. So I decided to draw on my sketchbook. I brought out a little tripod-chair. It took me a while to find a sun hat because I've never needed it this year yet.
  Half way through the drawing session, here comes a wild pygmy cottontail bunny. He moved into our yard a few years ago from no where, and became a good friends with our pet chickens ever since then. I named him (I suppose?) "Peter Rabbit." I've been always a big fan of bunny rabbits since I was very little. The character, Peter Rabbit, was always my hero, beside Bugs Bunny, and I grew up drawing and painting them all the time. It is exciting to have our Peter Rabbit at home. We even don't have to take care of him. He's very self-sufficient, other than taking advantage of our predator-free backyard.
  This time, the rabbit was hanging out just behind the tulips and eating grass. I was wearing dark glasses, and he probably could not see where I'm look at. I pretended I didn't care about him, but kept sketching him as quickly as possible on another page. Then I decided to juxtapose the rabbit behind the tulips to add narrative. I tried not loose track of his move, while moving my pen frantically over the paper. The rabbit also kept popping his head up to keep track of me. It was such a rewarding WOW experience.

Study of Dutch & Skookum

Pen on paper, 5 x 5 in.

This drawing is a study for a commissioned oil painting of a baby goat and a dutch rabbit. I went through at least four versions of sketches before this, and I'm settled with this one. I'll post the finished painting when I am done.
  I like doing studies with pen on paper before painting, especially when I'm working from photos. Usually, I just start drawing directly on canvas with oil color to save time. I get to know the shapes and values better through drawing. It reminds me of sculapting with clay. A difference is that drawing has to do with a pen instead of my fingers.

Study of Kiki & Shea

Pen on paper, 8" x 5.5"

Since last spring, some of our hens started pecking their own eggs in the nesting boxes right ofter laying. If left alone, some of them even eat the whole eggs. This only seems to happen at the beginning of the spring when most of the hens start laying eggs again after malting feathers and spending short day time during the winter. For the rest of the year, the hens don't eat their eggs in the nesting boxes. So, last year, I figured that the best and only way to minimize the development of this habit was to stay right inside the chicken coop and stake them out, just like a homicide detective. I usually bring my cup of coffee and something to read with me. But sometimes I bring a sketch book and draw the hens with a pen. I never use pencil for sketching anymore, as it makes the sketch book messy over years.
  This sketch is a study of two chickens: Kiki (barred rock) and Shea (golden laced wyandotte). I did this drawing from life in front of their nesting boxes. I've tried oil painting from life there, but the inside of the nesting boxes is usually too dark and too far away from my easel to paint from life. The chickens don't sit still long enough for oil painting. So this quick drawing is as much as I could do.
  After all my daily effort, I managed to make the hens leave the eggs intact. Instead of staking out for a few hours, all I need to do is to pet the hen or greet her when she is laying an egg in the box. Today, I found just one pinkish egg eaten. (It's probably by Bennie who has just started laying eggs for this year.) But one lost egg from at least ten active hens is a huge improvement from 50% survival rate two months ago.