Today I went for the 1st time to the Kirkland Arts Center's Open Life Drawing. Wow had such a great time the Model was awesome great poses and the energy was amazing. These are a few of my works done in this session. Its been since 1997 since I was able to go to one of these, since my days at Cornish. I hope to have more time to attend again. I miss it already, I could of stayed for 3 more hours! Enjoy~

Watercolor Sticks FREE Demo this Saturday 2.4.2012 at Daniel Smith Seattle at 11am and 1:45pm

Daniel Smith Watercolor Sticks add a new dimension to your paintings. The Sticks are great for those sketchies, and Plein Aire artist that want to carry light on there travels. Thats not to say their not used in your studio work, they are a very versatile medium. Since the sticks are chock full of pigment you can use them opaque, right off the stick or use water to use them like traditional watercolors. Don't like to see pencil lines in your work? Use them to draw directly on the paper and use a wet brush to mix and add beautiful washes. In this demo Che will show you the 3 main techniques to use with the sticks, but that by no means are these the only ways to use the sticks. Use your imagination and find your unique way to create beautiful and colorful works of art.

Smoke'n Joe Frazier

I have received so many positive responses from this painting. This is by far my favorite, I really learned a lot from painting this piece. I took these pictures as I painted, Im glad I remembered to document my process. I used Watercolor Sticks, I love how much pigment I can get with my brush. I start with my drawing, then drew in the shadows with Hansa Yellow Medium, from there I grab my brush and paint in the areas with clean water. I then use a little of Quinacridone Coral to add warmth to the shadows. And I slowly build up from there. I end up using Imperial Purple to finish up the darks. I ended up using DS watercolor ground to highlight and add back the whites I might of lost. Enjoy~

Finished piece "Smoke'n Joe Frazier" 15 x 22 Watercolor on Paper

Dia de Milagros Project

Since Milagros was born I've been trying to document her growth with sketches and paintings. It has been hard with the limited time I have while Im with her, but I found a cool way to document her month by month. Im going to paint a 6"x6" panel of her for every month till she is 2 years old then going to frame it for her. Im not just painting them, Im going to try to use different mediums to make each one. So here are the first 4 months so far, Month 1 Watercolor on paper, 2 Ink and Watercolor, 3 Pencil on paper and 4 Color Pencil.
enjoy~

Redux Artist Challenge "el Santo" Sketch

Every year the Kirkland Arts Center holds an Artshow and Artist Challenge to raise money. KAC is an awesome local arts center for all ages and am proud to be part of this organization for the last 3 years! This years artist challenge is "Popart" and the winner gets $1000 and all pieces are donated for the auction that they have in September. So its a win win for me I get my art out there and I get to paint!
So this is the initial sketch on canvas with my marker comp to work out the composition and colors. Enjoy~

Journey Continues...

With the addition of my new Pilot Brush Pen i've really been on a roll. It really feels good to put color on paper. I hope to keep it up and not slack off, I have a competition Im entering in October and I need to get working on the piece. I'll post some pictures of my progress.
But for now here is another on of my brush exercise, this is from a photo of Venice in 2007, I took a plethora of photos. This took me 20 mins or so from pen to paint. Im trying not to over work my sketches and just lay down color as I feel it. Enjoy~

Urban Sketches - Lisbon

I came across this great group on the net called "Urban Sketchers" There are groups all over the world that go and sketch around their town or cities. These are some pictures I drew from in Lisbon, I hope to catch up with the Seattle chapter. Check them out @ http://www.urbansketchers.org/

Pen and ink sketching - Part 2

I finally received my new brush pen with permanent ink, my other brush pen only have water soluble inks. I do like this new Pentek from Japan. These few sketches are just figuring out which paper I like better to ink and paint with. Im liking the Hot Press paper for the way the ink lays on the paper. Hot press paper takes watercolor a bit different from Cold Press, the watercolor isn't absorbed into the paper but stays on top of the surface for nice effects. And last but not least are 2 pages from my Moleskine sketchbook using my Sumi Brush pen. Enjoy~

Pen and ink sketching - Part 1

Working on some pen and ink watercolor sketches. I just used a sharpie to draw the line quickly without really thinking and just letting it flow. Almost like a contour drawing, been drawing a lot in my Moleskine sketchbook with a brush pen to become quicker in the field.

Back to basics...

Since Milagritos arrived my drawing and painting has slowed down almost to a dead stop. So the days where I can just sit down and paint for a few hours is gone ( for now. ) So I decided to do some brush drawing in the mean time, maybe 10 mins worth , Im using sumi ink and a brush, then paint when I get some time. Im going to carry around a couple sketch books, a Drawing and a Painting Moleskin. Drawing people I see on TV and Milagros. So wish me luck I really need to draw and paint something, its drives me crazy lol

Milagros 9 month painting ( part 1 )

Well with the birth of my beautiful little girl Milagros, papi had to transform his studio into her room. But all that changed in November when we bought our 1st house. Big enough for all of us +1 god willing ;) and my own studio space! Now that I'm slowly setting up my new space, I started on this new painting...Milagros 9 Months ( Acrylic on Canvas 30in x 30in )

KAC Plein Air Workshop @ Kirkland Marina

Week 2 of my 4 week Plein Air Workshop at the Kirkland Arts Center. We meet at the Kirkland Marina on a beautiful day, started overcast but then the sun showed its glorious face. Was able to paint a little while my students worked on their paintings. Walked around and helped with technique, but these ladies pick things up quickly. Excited to see what we come up with next week!

Watercolor Textures Demo and Workshop Information

Would like to thank everyone who attended my Textures Demos this weekend at DS Bellevue. If you liked the demo the Workshop will be loads more fun and I will go in depth on the techniques I covered and more I didn't get a chance to get to.

Watercolor Textures Workshop - DS Bellevue Sunday August 8th, 11:30am t0 4:30pm ONLY $75

Creating a sketch.

What makes a sketch a sketch? Well for me its a quick study or studies on a particular subject. I try to work quickly and let my feelings and instincts take over, not worrying to much about color or value.
From this point I start to put a little bit of thought into the next step which is working the middle values. Keeping in mind that she is a baby and not to over work the values, the more you layer the more you age the subject.
Now for the dark values in the eyes, cheeks and lips. Framing the face with Sepia in the cap it starts to come together.
The last few steps are the details, eye lashes, and a bit of line work to keep it together. Add Manganese Blue in the background to adds a cool value and punches up the warm values in the face.

Done! From start to finish this sketch took me 15 mins.

Happy Brush :)

With the birth of my lil girl Milagros, papi has been busy spending as much time as possible with her. One day I picked out a new Moleskin Watercolor Book and with brush in hand stood over my beautiful lil girl and painted her while she slept. Needless to say picking up the brush and putting paint on paper felt great.

Now with my classes and workshops starting up again, time to bust off the paints and brushes and get back to work. For workshop and class info please visit www.artofche.com. My goal is to post at least twice a week, going to try hard to keep painting everyday but as some of you know once at the gym I like to hit people ;) So keep your hands up and chin down!

che out~

Building textures in Watercolor

This is a demonstration I did during my class about building textures in your paintings to add a bit of chaos into your landscapes. Just a bit of texture or splattering paint will add interest and movement.

Look for a Workshop on "Building Textures in Watercolor" on August 8th at Daniel Smith Bellevue.

Sketch of the Day

Red Boat, Blue Sky

I've been teaching how to paint wet on wet skies in my "Everything Watercolor" class, which actually got me inspired to paint again. This is the beginning of a Boat painting I took on our second year anniversary in Langley Wa.

In my class I stress the importance of a value and color study, you want to work out the colors and values before you start painting so not to get hung up toward the end of the painting. Working out your ideas will make for a successful painting.

New Year, new post...sometimes it feels that way

Well now that it's a whole new year feeling I should be posting something.
To update everyone, with the baby coming in April I had to convert my studio into the baby's room. So its hard to paint in a smaller area, still working out the details of my new painting space. More to come soon :)
Here is a oldie but goodie.

Ink and Watercolor Sticks

This is a painting I did during my Everything Watercolor class this morning. Sunflowers done in Ink first and then painted with the watercolor sticks. It took me about 15 mins. or so.