Key West Conch Houses

I'm finally figuring out how to post pictures! Here is a shot of some "conch houses" near where we are staying:

Ever since our first trip to Key West, I have really admired the colorful "conch house" architecture. These structures have diverse architectural roots, hailing from New England, the Caribbean, and even some New Orleans/Creole influences. I just love the colors, simplicity and tropical influence of these houses, and especially the little shotgun cottages. More sketching today, with a focus on these structures.

To see my oil paintings of Key West, click here.

-Jennifer Young; Vibrant Landscapes www.jenniferyoung.com Contact

Fun in the Sun

I wish I could figure out how to post images more easily while I am away but the wireless connection is pretty low at the hotel. We are having a great time though and spent the day riding bikes and exploring some more. It is still windy here which makes watermedia difficult for me outdoors, so I am mainly sticking to sketching. I am gathering lots of reference material though and taking a ton of photos for further development back home in the studio. Next time I will definitely want to bring my entire oil setup (I will take my chances with the airlines!) as the oils stay open and workable so much better than watermedia, especially in the wind. Other than that the weather is terrific. Clear blue skies and very little humidity at present. We've rented bikes to get around and it's been fun cruising through some of the lesser known side streets. I could get used to the pace of life here! Here I am sketching in one of the hidden alleys:

 

 

-Jennifer Young; Vibrant Landscapes www.jenniferyoung.com Contact

Exploring Key West

We have arrived! We left Richmond on Saturday with temperatures in the 30's and arrived in a warm Key West topping out at 80 degrees! After stopping off at the hotel we went by the Wave Gallery to visit with the owner. I was a little worried that with the recent hurricanes a lot of the flora would have been destroyed. Key West did receive it's share of destruction from the salt water storm surges, but it appears that the old section has largely been spared. It is beautiful here!

I spent yesterday morning doing some gouache studies of the various plants while Dave conducted important business largely involving lounging in the hot tub. By afternoon thunderstorms rolled in, so no painting.

Weather today is sunny but very windy. I may be able to bring a modified setup to do some sketching, but with these winds I might be limited to taking a lot of digital photos.

As soon as I can figure out how to get my photos downloaded remotely I will try and post some pictures.

To see my oil paintings of Key West, click here.

Jennifer Young; Vibrant Landscapes www.jenniferyoung.com Contact

Off to Key West

I'm off for a few days to bask in some Florida sunshine! I have determined to bring my gouaches and watercolors to make for a very portable plein air setup. Sometimes it is good to experiment and move beyond the comfort zone. I was extremely tempted just to bring my oils, but the compactness of watermedia is hard to beat. I managed to fit almost all of my art supplies into a small 9x12" pack. If I can get my ducks in a row, I hope to post to the blog while traveling. Best wishes, Jennifer Young; Vibrant Landscapes www.jenniferyoung.com Contact

Fun with Gouache

I spent some time yesterday playing with gouache paints so that I could see how I liked working with them as a possible candidate for my portable studio. Gouache is a water based medium; basically it is an opaque watercolor. While as an oil painter I wouldn't exactly call it opaque, it is more so than traditional watercolor. I've worked with many different water media before, including gouache, but it has been some time. Here's what I discovered:

My "oops" moments:

• Some of the colors don't behave at all like either watercolor or oils. In general the gouache colors were somewhat darker and took some experimenting to get the mix I wanted.
• The paint dries very quickly! In the future I may rethink squeezing out big blobs on my palette all at once (an overzealous oil painter's habit.) If I painted with these outdoors, I'd definitely need a spray bottle or drying retardant to keep my paints moist and fluid while working in the open air.

My "hey, cool!" moments:

• A very forgiving medium that is easy to work with. Most mistakes can be "lifted off" with water and brush. The opaqueness allows you to paint over certain passages and change the composition (something not so easily done with watercolor.)
• Versatile- can be mixed with watercolor and pen and ink. Acts as a watercolor for washes, but can also be laid down more opaquely and mixed with white.
• Easy cleanup. Like watercolor, just a little soap and water does the trick.

Gouache paintings are treated the same as watercolors in terms of care and framing. They should be displayed under glass and kept out of direct sunlight for best longevity. Gouaches tend to like a rigid surface, so a heavy paper or mat board is a good substrate for this medium. Here is a little painting I did of the Provincial countryside:

 

 

 

Jennifer Young; Vibrant Landscapes www.jenniferyoung.com Contact