Molly Hashimoto

Travel Journal: Students' Work in Pen and Wash

Here are two stages in Gail Karges' journal; these are cupolas and domes in eastern Europe. She allowed us to critique her first version in class and we felt that some ruled pen lines would add a crispness and strength to the page. Each of the journal pages here relies on pen work; in subsequent posts I will share other students' work.

The domes and the Road Runner page were done by student Soo Young Hwang. I admire how she adapted her style to the subject matter in each.

Watercolor Classes: Spring Quarter 2012

Spring quarter I'm teaching two 8 week long classes in Seattle. The classroom that I rent for my teaching endeavors is located in a beautiful old elementary school in the University District--now called  University Heights Community Center with various tenants--I think this is the best classroom I've ever taught in, with wainscot to ceiling windows on 2 sides, light pouring in on even the gloomiest days! I'll be teaching Mondays and Tuesdays 9:30am to 12pm beginning April 2. Mondays I am offering Wildlife and Birds in Watercolor with special emphasis on placing the wildlife in landscape contexts, and on Tuesdays Watercolor Flowers and Gardens. We will paint flowers using various styles and techniques, as well as garden landscapes. We'll visit at least 2 private gardens in this class, including my friend Jennifer Carlson's amazing urban organic garden, complete with chickens and vegetable garden as well as ornamental plants and hardscapes designed by her: to learn more visit Haven Illustrated.  Please email me to register for either class.

Watercolor Travel Journal: Student Art

Today I'm including a number of other student sketches created in the travel journal workshop that I taught at Daniel Smith Artists' Materials on Sunday. Looking at all the architectural subjects was a real pleasure, and made me realize that the kinds of structures created by human beings all over the planet and over the course of history are almost as diverse and wonderful as the natural world--in fact, they aren't really any less "natural" than, say, a bird's nest!

Watercolor Travel Journal: More Students' Work

These are two facing pages in the journal of Noel Kreicker, who attended the workshop I taught at Daniel Smith on Sunday on watercolor travel journals. I'm including other fine work below and on subsequent posts, not all of it with names, as some students weren't on my contact list.

Watercolor Travel Journal Workshop: Students' Work

Yesterday at Daniel Smith Artists' Materials I taught a workshop on watercolor travel journals. We did small vignettes using pen and wash, pencil and wash and walnut ink.  I am featuring several of the students' efforts here and in coming posts. These sketches are by Cathy Dempsey and are scenes from Amalfi.

To the right is Mary Heath's pen and wash sketch of a cottage in Hawaii.

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.

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.