A Stroll through Bowers

Made a little side trip over to Bowers Museum to renew my membership and took a quick sketching trip through the galleries.  I had started this page awhile back when I visited an exhibition from China just doing the hatband for a crown.  Took a spin through the Spirits and Headhunters: Art of the Pacific Islands to finish the page.

This is another collaborative piece with M.  He painted the watercolor and I added the pen work.


Both of these are in my
Robert Bateman 5" x 7" Sketchbook
Pen and Watercolor

Little bird, little bird….

…in the cinnamon tree.  One of many great songs from Man of La Mancha.  Now I'll be humming that all day!

This page came from working with one of my art students.  We played with an 05 micron and drew some little birds and then we added color with Inktense pencils and our water Niji brushes.  It was a great fun day and I will post hers when it is finished.

Robert Bateman 5" x 7" Sketchbook
Pen and Inktense Pencils.

Colorful Circuits

A little more play with some abstracts.  I just put my pen to paper and came up with some connected shapes and lines.  It looks like some type of whimsical circuit board to me.  Don't all circuit boards have a few flowers in them?

This one is approx. 6" x 8"
Micron pen and watercolor

As I drew each line I went back over it quickly to make a double line and then I added watercolor.  Where there was a space between the two lines I add a little accent color to give the pieces some dimension.

These two are a little smaller approx. 4" x 5"

Okay, these just make me happy!

More Playing Around

Amoeba? Jellyfish?

It is so funny sometimes when a zentangle becomes something else.  It is kind of like looking at clouds and finding something.  I really like the movement of this one.

5" x 5" Handbook

This one started out as a Sharla exercise at our monthly ZenFriends meeting.  I like the cross hatched background which came about because I was too lazy to fill it in solid black.  Being lazy can be a good thing!

5" x 5" Handbook

I played a little more with the colorful ropes using the Zentangle "hollibaugh" as the pattern for this one.  Playing with these has a very zen quality very similar to the calming "zen" of Zentangles.

5" x 7" in my sketchbook

A Little Abstract Fun

One day while I was visiting one of my favorite blogs, Kathleen Pequignot, I came across a great set of step photos on this idea.  I loved the patterns, colors and depth and thought it would be a great lesson for Sruthi and myself.

This one belongs to Sruthi…….

and this one is mine.

We had a great time chatting and getting lost in the process of coloring and shading, keeping the center light to help boost the dimension.
These are somewhere in the 6" to 7" range done in our sketchbooks with pen and color pencils.

Check out  Kathleen Pequignot, you can link to her site from my blog friends list.  She is a wonderful artist and I love her sense of whimsey.  Her daughter is a wonderful musician as well.

Lotusland

On Saturday I joined a tour through Laguna Nursery with Ruben Flores to Lotusland in Montecito by Santa Barbara.  Lotusland is a spectacular private botanical garden that is open to the public by reservations.  The story of the gardens and Ganna Walska is quite interesting and the grounds are fantastic.  We had a great guide and the weather could not have been more perfect.  The metal figure on this page was not at the gardens but at Laguna Nursery.  I sketched it after my mimosa and before getting on the bus.  It was a long day but well worth it and it felt good to get out there and do a little sketching again.

The actual tour moved too fast to sketch as we tried to cover the 18 acres but after lunch we had some time so I managed to get a few things down. This page is a compilation of some things I found interesting.  The bird is from the Japanese garden, some plants from the bromeliad area and the interesting shaped flat stones were  almost planted themselves as they stood upright is their own garden.  Fabulous!

Robert Bateman Sketchbook
5" x 7"
Pen and Watercolor

First Beets!

First Golden Beets of the season!  Roasted beets for dinner,Yum!  I haven't been doing much sketching lately so I'm thinking I may have to assign myself the task of sketching before I eat the harvest.

5" x 7" Robert Bateman Sketchbook
Pen and Watercolor

This little black and white page was started when Jessica and Sarah were drawing a fantasy picture to watercolor.  I started with the butterflies and decided to continue in black and white except for the balloons.

5" x 7" Robert Bateman Sketchbook

Days 14-16 Everyday

   Busy, busy, busy!  It has been a challenge these last few days to fit in my "Art Everyday in November".  But I guess that is the bottom line of a challenge.  It took me three days to do this one little page in my outings sketchbook, a little everyday.  Some things from my garden including an owl rock from Sharon and a stone angel of stacked rocks. The magnolia seed pod is from playing with my grandson.  He always wants to hold one of these whenever we see them outside.  It was fun to try and sketch this one with the open seed pods and funny angles it gets as it opens to release the seeds.

Robert Bateman 5" x 7" Sketchbook
Pen and Watercolor

The Year of the Dragon

This is the year of the Dragon, the Water Dragon to be more precise.  I was not only born in the year of the Dragon but also in the year of the Water Dragon. So "look out baby" this is my year!  I did this page in a journaling book a few years ago and when I realized it's the year of the Water Dragon I decided to post it.    Happy New Year to you all, especially any Dragons out there.

Sketchbook 6" x 10"
Pen and Watercolor Pencil

Walking with Wiley

A few weeks ago I went for the first walk of the year with Wiley at Irvine Park.  She was a little slower that day wanting to spend time sniffing all the wonderful smells.  So every time she stopped, I stopped, looked around and picked up a little treasure.  Then I brought them all home and sketched them.  I set them on the table in a small pewter dish and enjoyed a little bit of the outside, inside.

Robert Bateman Sketchbook

5" x 7"

Pen and Watercolor

Warriors, Tombs and Temples

There is a new exhibit at Bowers Museum, artifacts from the Qin, Han and Tang Dynasties.  There were the full size terra cotta warriors and some of the smaller smiling warriors. I am drawn to the beauty of the characters so I tried to copy the symbols for the three dynasties.  I really enjoy sketching interesting objects that are over 2000 years old.  Amazing! What a great way to start a brand new sketchbook.

I love the shape of the female attendant and the Buddhas are always so peaceful. The golden dragon was a great study in contour drawing.  The small reliquary was number two in a set of four nesting boxes. My new friend, Kathy and I sketched for about an hour and then had a great lunch at Tangata, the restaurant at the museum.  It was a fun day and I enjoyed getting to know her better.  Thanks Kathy.  Anyone want to join us next time?


Robert Bateman 5" x 7" Sketchbook
Pen and Watercolor

Amy, Bryan and Julio

My niece, Amy got married to Bryan last month in San Diego.  We stayed at the Humphrey's Half Moon Inn. It was a beautiful weekend and a wonderful wedding and reception.  My room had a lanai that faced out to the gardens. This tiki pole was carved out of the trunk of a palm tree still in the ground.  Looks like a blessing of laughter for their marriage to me.
Congrats to the lovely couple!

Robert Bateman 5' x 7" Sketchbook
Pen and Watercolor

I volunteer and work with groups of kids making art.  Last week Julio was in my Zentangle group.  This was his second Zentangle which he did all on his own and proceeded to give it to me.  Wow! Thanks Julio!

3.5" square print paper and ink

Another Visit to Irvine Park

Wow, another beautiful and fun day at Irvine Regional Park. The sun was out and there was a wonderful breeze again today.  After Yukun and I took our little walk, I took my chair over by the Zoo and sat to sketch this scene. I took it back to the group to paint it and picked up some little treasures along the way.  There were seven of us today and we all enjoyed the outdoors and a picnic lunch with each other.

5" x 7" Robert Bateman Sketchbook
Pen and Watercolor

There was a group of kids at the park with Peace Camp.  Three years ago while sketching at the park a group sat in front of us to eat their lunch.  I loved their logo and sketched it my book.  When I saw another group of Peace Campers today I shared my page from 2008 with them.  One of the camp leaders asked if I could send him a copy which I did.  I took that as a nice compliment!

5" x 7" Robert Bateman Sketchbook
Pen and Watercolor

Summer Painters at Irvine Park

Our little summer painting group met up again today.  This time we went to Irvine Regional Park.  It was a most glorious day with sunshine, shade and a great breeze.  Sharon and I started with sketching part of the stone walls and then I found lots of interesting bits and pieces of the park.  The one little insect decided he liked my little paint palette. Ann worked on a upo watercolor and Yukon made up a landscape composed of different elements including Ann! Sack lunches and lots of laughter made for a great day, so much so we are going back to the park in two weeks.

Robert Bateman 5" x 7" Sketchbook
Pen and Watercolor

Painting Group at the Arboretum

It was a very warm day at the Fullerton Arboretum but a few of us braved the heat and humidity for art.  There always seems to be a breeze and lots of shade but silly me, I ventured out to the cactus garden to capture a few of these beauties.  In two weeks on July 20th we are meeting at Irvine Regional Park.


Robert Bateman 5" x 7" Sketchbook
Pen and Watercolor

Euhla's Backyard

Summer is here and so our little band of Summer Painters has started our group get togethers.  Last week we all gathered in Euhla's backyard with art supplies in hand.  She has a beautiful garden with lots of interesting things to sketch.  We meet every two weeks and next week we are off to the Fullerton Arboretum, anyone want to come and play?  Weds. July 6th 10:30 a.m. on the grass by the gazebo and Victory Gardens.

Robert Bateman 5" x 7" Sketchbook
Pen and Watercolor

Ito Jakuchu Exhibit

Friday I went with some friends to our little Bowers museum to see the Ito Jakuchu exhibit. Ito was born in 1715 in Japan, was a monk and did scroll and screen paintings.  It was a great show and only the first half!  It is now closed but the second half opens on June 18th.  Most of his screen paintings had what he called an absence of color.  It was interesting trying to capture the brush strokes with my micron pen.  Yukon actually did a little brush painting of a crane in the lower right corner.

The scroll paintings had lots more color.  Andora wanted me to try the tiger so I did.  He looks a little juvenile even though he was an adult male.  I'm not sure I have the colors right on the lobster but I like him.  The bougainvillea branch was from our flowers at lunch at the museum restaurant, Tangata.  Very yummy lunch, good company and an excellent exhibit, well that equals a great day in my sketchbook.


Robert Bateman 5" x 7" Sketchbook
Pen and Watercolor

South Pacific

Bowers Museum had an exhibit from the South Pacific.  It had lots of very interesting, somewhat barbaric but very beautiful things to see.  There was also this wonderful music, drums and sounds of the forest playing as you walked around. I think I walked the exhibit three or four different times.  I'm never disappointed with Bowers.

Robert Bateman Sketckbook 5" x 7"
Pen and Watercolor

Sketching with Kari

 On Sunday my new friend, Kari and I went to Armstrong
Nursery to do some sketching.  It was Kari's first time out and she did just swell.  It was a little cold with some wind but we didn't care and we followed it with a warm lunch.  Thanks Kari for a fun day.

Robert Bateman Sketchbook 5" x 7"
Pen and Watercolor

The Last of 2010

I am starting 2011 by finishing 2010. These are some sketches that I never posted. I went with my sister, Nancy to her friend, Paige's home and sketched around the house while they had their meeting.

My other sister, Lynette and I went sketching with an other sketching friend, Sydney. We ended up at the Treasure Barn which had some cool stuff but really had a lot of junk. We did managed to find something to sketch, Mari would be proud.

http://www.artraveljournals.com/

In June a group of us went back to the Fullerton Arboretum, our favorite summer haunt. I love all the great flowers, fruits and veggies. It is always a great relaxing day with good friends.

On this day a man was picking some blackberries in his patch and we told him we were the official berry tasters. He had a bumper crop this year and gave us a big bag of the juiciest berries! I dabbed my page with the juice from the bag. A surprise addition to our sack lunches.

Robert Bateman 5" x 7" Sketchbook

Pen and Watercolor