Molly Hashimoto

Travel Journal Sketches

Churches make some of the most beautiful and fascinating architectural subjects. To the left is Nikolaikirche in Leipzig, an interesting amalgam of styles, as are so many other European churches, as succeeding generations added and rebuilt. Styles include Romanesque (foundations c.1165), late Gothic (additions c. 1525), and the interior of the church (c. 1797), which is lushly ornamented in a Baroque style. Nikolaikirche is famous for the prayer services and demonstrations in the 1980s where thousands protested against Soviet rule. In my sketch, I emphasized the unusual angles created by all the later additions to the church.
To the right is Thomaskirche in Leipzig, where J.S. Bach was cantor and director of music for 27 years. We heard two concerts there, including chamber music, and an organ and choral concert-- unforgettable! I recently read Evening in the Palace of Reason by James Gaines, about Bach and Frederick the Great. During his time at Thomaskirche, Bach had constant battles with the Leipzig city directors and it was sad and very surprising to learn how unappreciated he was by his employers during his tenure.  It was only later, long after his death,  that Leipzig embraced him, going so far as to move his grave from a cemetery outside the city to the church. Here again you can see the combination of styles, from Romanesque to Gothic. I really loved all the spires and chose to sketch the church from a vantage point that would show all of them.

On January 29, 2012, I'll be teaching a one day workshop on travel journals at Daniel Smith Artist Materials, and I'll be sharing different methods for sketching and painting.

Watercolor Travel Journal Workshop

On Sunday, January 29th, I'll be teaching a workshop at Daniel Smith Artist Materials on Watercolor Travel Journals. Pen and wash is a favorite medium and the images here were done both during and after a trip to Leipzig and Dresden, in the former East German Republic. In the workshop, participants will learn new ways to sketch architectural subjects. One of the approaches I teach bypasses perspective, and instead offers a way of placing parts of subjects proportionately. I will also offer some easy ways to incorporate perspective. The workshop has filled, but to accommodate the extra folks, I will be adding another date, so you can call Daniel Smith at (206) 223-5599 if you are interested in attending the workshop at a later date--it will be on a Sunday.

The natural world is a major subject for me, and we will spend time on thumbnails and quick sketching techniques for mountains, trees, water and other elements of nature.

Watercolor Sketches: Student Art

Today I'm sharing the work of student Eric Ramhorst. Over the time he has studied with me, he has created countless pen and wash sketches of places that he has visited, or read about and researched. He works freehand, and achieves admirable proportions and perspective in architectural subjects, which are among his favorites to sketch.
To the right is Eric's sketch of Freeborn Lutheran Church, between Arlington and Mt. Vernon, Washington.

To the left is a sketch of Grytviken, on the island of South Georgia. In winter quarter 2012, I'll be teaching a class on travel journals and sketching and I look forward to seeing Eric's new work.

An Unusual Holiday Tree: Camperdown Elm

On our walk through the Arboretum on Thursday, Arthur Lee Jacobsen pointed out this amazing, amusing little tree, the Camperdown Elm. I thought it made a very fantastical sort of Christmas tree.  Arthur said it is best viewed when leafless, as the contorted weeping branches are exposed in winter, while at other times of the year they are hidden by a lush canopy of leaves.

Trees with Arthur Lee Jacobson

Yesterday I toured the Arboretum with Arthur Lee Jacobson and some tree-loving friends. When arranging to meet him there, I asked him in advance if he could speak to us specifically about conifers, as I am especially interested in them. This photo of a Douglas fir illustrates a common and distinguishing feature of the beautiful trees: as they mature their lower trunks divest themselves of their branches. Arthur shared his deep knowledge, acquired over many years, about Seattle trees. A few highlights: there are over 30 native species in the city: the three big native conifers are Douglas fir, Western Cedar and Western Hemlock; the Western Hemlock is not doing as well in the city as formerly, because of dry and warm summers, but interestingly, the Mountain Hemlock is doing better here now. Visiting the conifers seemed especially appropriate for the holiday season: the Arboretum has an astonishing variety of them, though many are suffering because of the rampant growth of Bigleaf Maples, as they create too much shade for young conifer saplings.

Moonglow: Winter Paintings

I recently completed a series of paintings about winter. On a few lucky occasions while teaching at the Environmental Learning Center for the North Cascades Institute I have seen the simultaneous effects of moonglow and alpenglow on Pyramid Peak. Sublime is a word I might use to describe this phenomenon. Moments like these in nature are what I often want to paint, but it's dangerous artistic ground because it has been so well-trodden.  I try to find unusual subjects, ones that have not been photographed and made famous, and it's difficult to create anything that comes close to the raw power of a living landscape. But like most artists, I keep believing I will get closer to that with each new painting.

Kent Library Workshop: Winter Journal

On Saturday afternoon, librarian Rebecca Hershey invited me down to the Kent Library to offer a workshop on winter journals. The meeting room was filled with 25 happily engaged patrons celebrating winter time with art.

To the right is one participant's pen and wash sketch of a Japanese beautyberry, which I harvested from my yard for the workshop.

We sampled some fun watercolor tricks, including salting wet washes, and using masking fluid, which you can see on some of these paintings. Many thanks to Kent's Friends of the Library, who funded this program.

Sketching with Water-based Media: Students' Work

To the left is Sally Yeager's sketchbook filled with her interpretations of a quince. Of this work, Sally wrote, "I enjoyed exploring the same subject in several different media; by the end of it I felt that I really knew that one with the leaf attached! I'd like to do the same thing with other subjects."

 
To the right is Barbara Broderick's pen and wash sketch of a cathedral and bird. The perspective on this sketch is really interesting, and the high contrast adds much power. Here's what Barbara had to say about creating this lovely sketch: "I traced and copied in pencil the outline of part of this oil on canvas painting by Alan Messer called American Robin-the Cathedral Church of Saint john the Divine. I wanted to see if I could capture the sense of depth in the architectural structure in watercolor media. Getting the right colors and color shadings was a challenge..."

Watercolor Sketching: Students' Work

Some of the work we did in the recent class Sketching with Water-based Media included permanent pen and watercolor. To the left is John Tubbs' pen and wash sketch of his band Down the Road. About this sketch, John wrote, "I like how this sketch came out because it captures movement and a reasonable likeness of the musicians while still being sketchy. I purposely tried to minimize the amount of watercolor used to keep the feel loose and fresh."

Elizabeth Erickson painted this reindeer herding scene using only watercolor and her brush.

To the left is Terri Stueve's sketch of a dancer. She began with a light pencil sketch, and then let the color tell the story.

Watercolor Sketching: Students' Work

This is the second in a series of posts about my students' work in our recent class Sketching with Water-based Media. In each of these sketches, the artists painted flesh tones first and dropped in the clothing colors while the flesh tones were still wet. The sketch to the left is by Diane Adam, a group of figures painted quickly, and admirably capturing the sense of movement in action figures. About this sketch, Diane said, "because it was a warm-up exercise, I felt almost careless about adding primary colors to the flesh-tone paint for the figures. Color crept into the heads, and limbs, although I had intended the color to define the "clothes" of the torso. But the mix of colors just seemed to emphasize the pose of the figures & the effect was a happy one."
To the right is Carol Stanley's sketch of a group of indigenous Central American women, painted on Magnani Acquerello cold press paper. About her work, Carol said that she "enjoyed the experience of painting loosely and being able to see the form and spirit of what I want to depict in my painting." She added that it can be diffiuclt to achieve that without overworking a painting and being very tight. I think this is an issue for almost all artists, and exercises like this one really help us overcome that tendency to overwork. A sketch can be so much more alive, so much more filled with the artist's original "idea" than any studio work conceived and executed over many hours.