Watercolor: Queensboro (plus an easy Art Inventory System)

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Queensboro 18 x 14 Watercolor on Strathmore 400 series watercolor paper sold
Process shots are below. The study I did yesterday was a great warm up for all the linear elements, and the color on this one. The photo came from my friend VLB. Her photography is so perfect for painting, I’ve assembled a three ring binder devoted to her images exclusively. (And the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree; yesterday’s reference photo was sent by her daughter.)

Laying in a color base – to remind myself once I get into the zone of painting – where I want certain hues to go.

I spent a good amount of time laying in the drawing and measuring against the photo to get the perspective right. I think it’s worth the time to get the bones drawn under your painting before you start on something with so much detail. You can always edit out later with brushes & pigment.

This is my old fashioned art inventory system. I use a digital inventory system on my computer too… every piece of art is documented, with all the particulars: pricing, dimensions, exhibits, etc. But, as a visual person, I need to see which art is going to which show – on one page. When shows are stacked close together (Spring & Fall) on the calendar, I can whip myself to a froth by wondering if I have enough inventory, and which art is going where. This solves the problem for me.

The base is an old cork board painted with leftover laytex paint. The grid is gift ribbon pinned in place with push pins (which makes moving things around easy-peasey), and each square is labeled with an exhibit venue. I use iPhoto to keep a digital record of each piece of art, which allows you to print a contact sheet of selected images. With a paper cutter, the contact sheet becomes a little mound of art thumbnails. A piece of tape holds each painting in it’s corresponding show, subject to change if I want to move art that works better together, or when things sell. I still use the digital inventory, but I haven’t found anything that lets me click and drag art into upcoming shows, at a glance, all at once, so this works, even though it’s old skool. 🙂 What do you use?

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Art Quote
I met this last week a young Mr. Sargent about eighteen years old and one of the most talented fellows I have ever come across; his drawings are like old masters, and his color is equally fine. He was born abroad and has not yet seen his country. He speaks as well in French, German, Italian as he does in English, has a fine ear for music, etc. Such men wake one up, and as his principles are equal to his talents, I hope to have his friendship. ~J. Alden Weir 1874

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