Mongolia Watercolors And Sketches So Far; Having A Wonderful Time!

July 14, 2014December 18, 2014 | foxstudio

I just returned from four great days at Delger Camp, operated in conjunction with Nomadic Journeys, and which is located at the Khogno Khan Nature Reserve, about six hours west of Ulaanbaatar. Staying in one place for awhile is very useful for getting in serious painting time. I do quick pen and ink sketches while on the road, but there’s usually not time to get out the watercolors.

Along with the paintings and sketches from this current trip, I also thought I’d share other pieces I’ve done up to now. Everything was photographed in less than optimal conditions in the apartment I have the use of, but I felt that sharing them while I’m still here would be fun and have an immediacy that would be missing if I waited until I get home in a couple of weeks.

They were done with either a Winsor Newton Cotman watercolor travel set or Yarka poured pigment watercolors and a Robert Simmons Sapphire brush. The paper is either Arches 140lb cold-pressed or a w/c paper I brought back from the Lake District in England many years ago. The pen sketches were done in a 7×5″ Pentalic Nature Sketchbook. I used a non-waterproof pen with a Koi waterbrush for the one with the tone and a .01 Sakura Micron pen for the others.

Gloomy day, so I did this watercolor study of the stove in my ger

Cloudy and rainy day studies at Jalman Meadows and Gun-Galuut

Stupa above river valley at Ganchen Lama Khiid, Erdenesogt — Stupa above river valley at Ganchen Lama Khiid, Erdenetsogt

Prayer wheel at Ganchan Lama Khiid, Erdenetsogt

Variety of vegetation, wetland area and surroundings

Storm light and storm clouds at Delger Camp

Quick sketch of wetland area (the driver was coming any minute to pick me up)

Quick Sketching In San Francisco And On The Road

December 18, 2013December 18, 2013 | foxstudio

We recently took a trip down to the San Francisco Bay Area. Inspired by Dinotopia author James Gurney’s great location work, I decided to try something new for me….quick sketching people while sitting in the van for the 40 minutes that my husband was in a business meeting and also sometimes even quicker sketching as we traveled on Highway 101.

It was fun! And I found that it’s a great way to work on developing one’s visual memory.

Here are two of James Gurney’s posts that particularly caught my eye and got me thinking about trying it myself: “Tiny Landscapes” and “While waiting for lunch…”, which demonstrates that anything can be an interesting subject if you just look at it in a fresh way.

As you can see, I didn’t try to add any color to these first attempts. I kept it simple: a 7×5″ Pentalic Nature Sketch sketchbook, which I chose because the paper is heavy enough to take a watercolor wash and a .03 Micron Sakura pen. None of these took more than a couple of minutes, other than some of the landscapes in which I got the shapes drawn as fast as I could and then filled in foliage and did a little tweaking as we traveled on. The Confusion Hill sign sketch was done while we filled the car with gas. My self-assignment was to find something, anything, to draw within my field of vision.

As you can see, it wasn’t exactly a warm day by the Bay.

“American Artist Susan Fox-The WildArt Mongolia Expedition” At ArtiCour Gallery And An Album Of Field Sketches

September 15, 2012 | foxstudio

As I mentioned in my last post, I’m going to be publicizing the WildArt Mongolia Expedition while I’m here. On September 22, I will be at ArtiCour Gallery, just off Sukhbaatar Square, from 11am to 7pm, meeting Mongolian artists and friends, talking about the Expedition, sharing images of my work and doing demonstrations of sketching, watercolor and iPad drawing. I’ve created a Facebook Event here.

I’ve been able to get in some good field sketching time this trip and thought I’d share a selection of what I’ve done so far. In August I went to Ikh Nartiin Chuluu and Arburd Sands. Once the Expedition in September was postponed, I needed to make other plans. I’ve spent six days at Jalman Meadows ger camp in the Khan Khentii Mountains and got back yesterday from four days back at Ikh Nartiin Chuluu, this time staying at Nomadic Journeys’ Red Rock ger camp. Tomorrow morning I go to Hustai National Park for four days to observe, photograph and, with luck, sketch takhi.

I’m using a Moleskin Sketch journal with Sakura Micron .01 and .02 pens and water- soluble colored pencils.

Ikh Nartiin Chuluu, August:

Arburd Sands: