Virtual Paintout Bulgaria

Every month I choose a scene for the Virtual Paintout challenge and nearly every month I run out of time. I was determined not to let it slip by me this month. So Friday night, I got into bed with my gray marker and paper and sketched this out while I watched Jimmy Fallon and Tom Cruise smash eggs on their heads.

Check out the original scene. I couldn't tell if these were homes for people or stuff. They seem suitable for neither.

Artwork: 6.5” x 4.75”,

gray marker on gray paper

If the link above doesn't work, enter this…

 “60 улица „Татарли“, Sofia, София-град, Bulgaria”

…in google maps turn 180 degrees from where you land and take one hop down the street.

Lovely watercolors by Al Woodford

Every month I look forward to seeing Al Woodford's latest watercolor on Bill Guffey's The Virtual Paintout blog. Looking at them gives me a feeling I can't describe, like rediscovering a hazily remembered favorite picture book from childhood. So charming and story-like...I can't help but imagine a tale to go with each one.

I can't find a website for Al, but if you want to give yourself a little treat, go to google, click on images, and enter "Al Woodford" in the search. Then click on each picture to enlarge it and enjoy!!

Virtual Paintout: Breckenridge Colorado..."Slopeview!"

Now you can see it before you ski it! Google Streetview has actually recorded a few ski slopes so Bill Guffey of Virtual Paintout sent his fans out into the snow-covered mountains this month. While downtown Breckenridge looks charming, I thought the novelty of the view on the slopes was too good to pass up. I found these snowboard boys chillin at the top of a hill.

 This pic will do double duty in my Art House Coop Sketchbook...due in just over a week!

Virtual Paintout: New Zealand

Close to the intersection of Glenorchy-Paradise Road and Priory Road

This is not one of my more successful Virtual Paintout projects, but at least I got one done this month. I am always very eager to see what the new city is going to be and I check Bill's site early on the first of each month. I usually choose my scene within a day or two. And then somehow, the month gets away from me, and half the time I never get a picture completed! Today, mission accomplished, with literally less than ten minutes to spare.


My original drawing is on a medium gray paper so it's dark to begin with, and I couldn't lay down enough color because of the texture of the paper. To salvage it, I decided to make this a manual/electronic work and bump up the contrast and color in Photoshop. Not great, but better than my original drawing for sure.

Click on the caption under the picture to see the actual scene on Google maps. The trees are not really pink but as you'll see, the real scene is a bit dull so I took liberties.

. . . . . . . . . . . .

Yes, it's a lovely picture and all, but where are the beads? 

I have been away from the clay too long, but a new commitment to the gym (down 10 lbs, thank you very much) and the new cat have taken precedence the last few weeks. I promise I will use my three-day July 4 weekend to re-stock my etsy shop. It looks like Old Mother Hubbard's cupboard in there! I also owe a few custom items to people so those are on the agenda as well.

Happy Fourth of July!

Virtual Paintout: Romania

I missed last month's Virtual Paintout to Boston so I swore this month I would do my picture early!
I found a good scene and drew it last night while I watched Jimmy Fallon and Carson Daly. I used a gray, fine point Sharpie marker. I'm pretty pleased with the picture.
You can see the scene on Google StreetView. This area, Strada Tudor Vladimirescu, Pantelimon, România, seems to be a little shopping district where people have shops in their garages, a tent, or out of the back of their van! Almost everyone seen in the surrounding streets is carrying a package or two.

Virtual Paintout: Rio de Janeiro

My Virtual Paintout project for November. This scene can be found on Google Streetview here:

331 Rua Francisco Enes, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil

 There seems to be graffiti on every building there.
It's hard to drop the Google Streetview Man anywhere and not find it!

Virtual Paintout: San Miguel de Allende, Mexico

Here's my latest for Bill Guffey's Virtual Paintout. So many beautiful flowers everywhere you drop the Google Streetview yellow man! I went with colored pencil this time.
This scene can be found by clicking here.

Virtual Paintout: Manhattan

It's been a few months since I dug into the pastels. But since Bill Guffey chose Manhattan as the source city for VirtualPaintout, and I'm going on vacation there next month, I forced myself to give the clay a rest long enough to make a picture.

It's not very good but I did achieve my goal of being more deliberate, deciding where to make a mark, make it, then move on. No blending with my fingers and I only had to brush a tiny area off three times when I made a mark that was totally off the mark!

The man up front is probably too tall, and the people in my painting don't look like the people in the Street View image, but they do look like people. Instead of the soup line that it is, it seems more like moms and kids on a field trip!


Paste the address below into Google Maps, zoom in, click on the map marker, and click on "Street View."
392 W 28th St, New York, NY

I really like this tiny section of my painting:

Virtual Paintout: Canary Islands

This is my April pastel pencil drawing for Bill Guffey's Virtual Paintout. This time we visited the Canary Islands. This funky apartment complex at 2 Camino Los Tableros, Moya, CN, Espana caught my eye. I proceeded to take major liberties with the colors!

Click the link to go to Google Maps. Once there, click on the red A and select "street view." Use the direction arrows at top left to spin around to find the buildings on the hill.

Pastel pencil, 9”x12”

Virtual Paintout: Stavanger, Norway...

...or more precisely, 24 Kongsgata, Stavanger, Rogaland, Norge.
My painting for the Virtual Paintout this month was my third attempt at this same image. I tried colored pencils first and I gave up shortly into it. There was too much detail and it was hard for me to leave it out when using a fine point. The same problem popped up on attempt #2, using my new Bic Mark-Its markers. I love them but have not found the best use for them yet.
On the third attempt I set up my pastel easel and did a very fast and loose picture. This is not a great result but I do kind of like the trees at right. I need practice simplifying scenes so it was a good exercise.

Virtual Paintout: San Francisco

I finished my February entry for the Virtual Paintout blog a few minutes after midnight but hopefully Bill will let me slide. (If you want to see the Google Street View image this is based on, enter "278 Noe Street San Francisco" and put the "yellow man" on the street and circle him around until you see the outdoor cafe.)

After being inspired by Leslie Hawes' great colored pencil work, I decided to pick my colored pencils up again. I have a 120 set of Prismacolors somewhere that I bought at least 10 years ago but I can't find them. I decided to try the Derwent pencils and purchased two small sets to test them out (Artists and Colourfast).

I liked the Colourfast better...they seemed to put more pigment down. After being used to pastels, I wanted more coverage than the pencils gave me but I'll keep experimenting. It's just a different way of working. And speaking of that...I forgot how much longer pencil takes than pastels. No grand sweeps of color in one fell swoop with these babies.

I've been working on this picture off and on for two weeks but realized this evening that the month was over today so I slapped it out! This picture is very terrible if you look at it close -- I recommend distance and squinting for best viewing results.

Leslie Hawes: Colored pencil magic

Click on her name to view Leslie Hawe's lovely little colored pencil pictures for this month's Virtual Paintout. So pretty!

Virtual Paintout: Corsica

With so many holiday things going on I missed last month's VP of Mexico City so I made sure to get my Corsica project finished early! One thing I noticed about Corsica...the dogs there are absolutely fascinated by the Google car! Go see the other participants' images. Check back at the end of the month to see all the submissions. It's always an interesting tour!

Sketchbook: Nova Scotia (Virtual Paintout double-duty)

From Leslie Hawes' blog (she makes lovely colored pencil drawings) I learned of the Virtual Paintout. Bill Guffey chooses a location somewhere in the world and participants use Google Maps Streetview to find a scene to render in pencil, paint, ink, or whatever it is they do. FUN! This drawing is doing double-duty as part of my Arthouse Co-op Sketchbook project also. The water part of this picture isn't too good but that's what a sketchbook is for. Practice!