Pepper sketches for Napa Valley Open Studios

Bell pepper  •  © 2011 Karen Lynn Ingalls

So, of course, I've got sketches of peppers, too. Here are some sketches of bell peppers I'm pulling out of the sketchbooks for Open Studios.... (By the way, the copyright sign, year, and my name I've added digitally to the images for the web – my signature and the title at the bottom of the page are actually on the drawing.)

Bell pepper  •  © 2011 Karen Lynn Ingalls

Aren't peppers lovely?

Bell pepper  •  © 2011 Karen Lynn Ingalls

They're deceptively simple, but if you look closely you'll see within each pepper are curves and planes, concavities and shallows, in a compact architecture.

Bell pepper  •  © 2011 Karen Lynn Ingalls

The next time you hold a bell pepper in your hand, I hope you'll pause just a moment to appreciate the beauty of its form.

Pear sketches for Napa Valley Open Studios

Pear sketch  •  © 2011 Karen Lynn Ingalls

Since I seem to be in a little–original mode with the block prints, I thought I'd get out some of my little sketches for Open Studios, too.

Pear sketch  •  © 2011 Karen Lynn Ingalls

I love to draw pears, apples, and peppers – and to use them for painting demonstrations for my classes, too. I think it's because they're so figurative... they take me right back to my figure drawing roots. If you want to learn how to draw people, start with a pear.

Pear sketch  •  © 2011 Karen Lynn Ingalls

You don't believe me? Look at these little sweeties – they have hips, they have attitude, they have saucy little stems....

Pear sketch  •  © 2011 Karen Lynn Ingalls

These pears came from my friend Heidi's tree. They were little, and sweet. And they had such personality!

Simple Pleasures II

Cherry Trio • © 2011 Karen Lynn Ingalls

Last Thursday's Calistoga ArtWalk was a wonderful evening for me. Thank you to everyone who stopped by for my reception! If you're in Calistoga sometime between now and the end of August, and haven't seen it yet, I hope you'll stop by All Seasons Bistro and take a look at the drawings I'm showing there.

I added a couple more small pieces shortly before the opening – okay, I started to get a little more paint-y with the apple, but I still consider these essentially drawings with color washes (albeit multiple layers). They're on either side of the wine library doors, and easy to miss, so be sure to go all the way to the back of the restaurant to find them.

Blue Plate Apple • © 2011 Karen Lynn Ingalls

By the way, All Seasons is a marvelous restaurant, well known for both their food and their very large wine collection. Their current dessert menu includes two or three desserts with cherries, so my little cherry drawings turned out to be thematic without my knowing it.

This show, and the work I've been doing lately, has really taken me back to my drawing roots, which has been a joy. My big brushes and canvases are calling, so I'll be returning to my bright, warm palette of colors and California landscapes soon... but I don't intend to stay away from my pencils and sketchbooks for too long....

Simple Pleasures: Show at All Seasons, Calistoga

Two Peapods • © 2011 Karen Lynn Ingalls

Since I've been in a drawing mode lately, it's appropriate that my next show, Simple Pleasures, be one of drawings and drawings with acrylic washes.

Peapods Snuggling • © 2011 Karen Lynn Ingalls

These are three new little (all 7" x 5") pieces that will be part of the show.

Pair of Cherries • © 2011 Karen Lynn Ingalls

The reception is Thursday, June 2nd, from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at All Seasons Bistro, 1400 Lincoln Avenue, in Calistoga, California. It's part of Calistoga's First Thursday ArtWalk, so you can also stroll over to several other spots and see the new shows in town. If you're in town, come join us!

Simple Pleasures: Show at Napa Senior Center

I just put up a new show of still life work at the Napa Senior Center. This is the first time I've had a show of my drawings – these are both small pencil drawings (I'll post one or two of them later) and larger graphite drawings with acrylics, like the two I've shown here, Thistle Bouquet and A Simple Repast II.

These were inspired by my students, as so many things are. Our conversations in class about still life, about composition, about using acrylics in a watercolor-like way, about lights and darks, about simple palettes, and about drawing ellipses – all inspired me to revisit these lovely subjects.

You can see this show, Simple Pleasures, at the Napa Senior Center, 1500 Jefferson Street in Napa, California, through the holidays.