Gouache Video Workshop

Posted on by Thor

Stella Arbelàez and I painted along with a gouache and color theory workshop video. It is fun learning new painting skills with another artist. Only 3 tubes of gouache along with white were needed for the workshop. Since I was borrowing the dabs of gouache from Stella, I was very conservative about how much paint I used. On a few occasions I used some of my watercolors when the gouache ran low. The colors used were Red, Yellow and Blue which are the primary colors. Any other color can be mixed from those three colors. There was no use of black on the palette. Instead, the instructor focused on how to best mix warm blacks and cool blacks. All the variations were so subtle.

The gouache colors used are very pure and thus very dark and full of pigment. Very often white would need to be mixed into the color to differentiate one color from another. Being able to paint a light color on top of a dark color was a thrilling change for me, since I have only worked with thin washes of watercolor for years.

The instructor had us mix a gradation between two complimentary colors. He picked yellow and purple. In the middle of the mixture the colors neutralize or become muddy. This is important since most colors seen in nature are not pure and vibrant, they have to be muddied up a bit. My everyday palette is organized so that complimentary colors are opposite one another. I often will find myself mixing complimentary colors to make them less vibrant.

We all worked from the same reference which was a scene of a market in Flushing or Queens New York under the elevated subway tracks. Having lived in NYC for 10 years I was very familiar with the scene. It reminded me of the early morning fish market I used to sketch at the southern tip of New York City. It would be great to return to the fish market again since I know I could capture the scene so much better than I did way back in the late 1980s.

I love finding colors while mixing. That is why I used to love to paint in oils. I stopped using oils simply because I never want to leave any trace of paint behind when working on location. I work fast and sloppy so the change of oils getting on my hands and then on a carpet of cushion are pretty high. Working gouache into my everyday kit seems like a good compromise. I can keep part of the sketch fluid with thin washes and them add opaque paint in areas where it is most needed.

If I were to use thick paint as I did in this workshop then it would become necessary to start working smaller. For me the biggest challenge is to always try to keep the brush clean. I might be painting in the darks and then decide to try and paint a bright and light color. The darker color always seems to find a way to hide deep inside the bristles and then muddy up the light color I was hoping to paint. Plenty of experimentation is going to be needed.

I purchased a small landscape hardbound sketchbook that I will try and use at the Orlando International Fringe Festival in May. That is where I will experiment with using gouache for the first time extensively. There are so many other supplies I would like to get, but I am living out of a backpack right now and don’t want to carry too much weight.

The Inspection

Posted on by Thor

A home for sale in Azalea Park caught my eye and I was considering buying it. I liked that the front and back yard were full of native plants rather than grass. The front yard had a huge Live Oak which was hundreds of years old. The home was almost invisible from the street due to all the dense growth. I liked that. The home was built in 1947 and I have been researching events of 1945 at the end of WWII extensively.

When I first saw the place with my broker Rebekah Carr we did a quick walk through, and I noticed cosmetic issues but figured I could fix the place up in time. I was enamored with the yard which felt like an oasis. There were bamboo, firecracker bush, orchids and ferns amongst plenty of native Florida plants. Even more than the house, I was excited to maintain and expand on this plush landscape.

The air conditioner filter had not been changed for years, that is one thing I noticed and there were structural cracks in the walks and ceilings. I figured those could just be patched.  The shower didn’t work and a makeshift shower had been set up outside. That was odd, but I figured I could fix that in time. I noticed a hole in an overhead beam in the carport. I poked my finger inside and found the wood hollow. A chunk of the wood fell off when I pulled my finger out. Embarrassed, I delicately wedged it back into place hoping no one noticed.

I went to see the place for a second time with my sister and her husband. He has been a contractor his whole life so I wanted to get his thoughts on how much it might cost to fix the place up. He found a number of issues and in the end gave me an estimate of about 70,000 dollars for the repairs. He was talking about removing some walls and putting up new sheet rock and the carport had major issues. I wanted to use that estimate to bring into the negotiations. He said that if there were termites, he would be able to see little piles of sawdust and he didn’t notice any. I thought I saw termite damage in the carport but he said it was mostly water damage.

I went ahead and made an offer which was reduced by 25 thousand dollars. Before the sale could be finalized I had to have an official inspection. I went out to the home the day the inspector went there. He took drone footage of the roof and inspected every detail inside. I followed him around for a bit. While he was working the owner came home. The owner was slurring his words. That is when I decided to go outside to sketch and let the inspector do his work.

After the sketch was done, the inspector came outside and was packing his supplies in his SUV. He said to me, “I have some very bad news, there are rat droppings in the attic and more important termite damage in the roof rafters.” The home sale documents I had read showed that the owner did not believe there was any termite damage. I now knew that there was extensive termite damage. The roof would have to come off and be rebuilt from scratch. I considered getting a camper and parking it in the driveway while the work was done but the carport wasn’t tall enough for most campers. The place was far from move in ready. I don’t mind the idea of making repairs, but this was going to be a major rebuild. If termites were in the roof rafters, they very well could have also found their way into the wall joists. The place was going to be a money pit.

I had drawn up a floor plan from measurements I took on my first tour through the house. My studio fit, but with little room to spare. Now thinking back there really wasn’t enough light in the place. I dropped out of the sale and got my escrow back. The owner wanted to get rid of the property “as is.” He purchased the place years ago for 40 thousand dollars and ultimately sold the place to someone for a little over 300 thousand dollars.

I am glad I got out of the deal but I am still looking for a place that can work as a good studio. I want to be close to a downtown area where I can sketch arts and culture. I’ve been staying in Airbnb’s in Orlando and I like just walking to theaters and restaurants. Downtown places often feel cramped like the money pit I just avoided. After the sale collapsed, I lost interest in finding a home in Orlando.  New York State has been on my mind and my decision to stay or drive north is being reserved until the end of May when I finish my series of sketches documenting the Orlando International Fringe Festival.  Last night I started thinking about getting a rental place with a friend that could work as a studio for both of us. That prospect is exciting. I’m torn between New York and Florida but in general living in America has become less enticing.

Crealde Christmas Party

Posted on by Thor

Returning from Europe, I was hoping to re-establish my courses at Crealde School of Art in Winter Park. The problem is that Crealde published a printed course brochure and submissions for the courses happened while I was away. My Urban Sketching Course was not in the printed brochure, so I would need to wait until the next brochure was printed. I filled out a revised course description last week to try and generate interest in the art of sketching on location. Instead of focusing on Urban Sketching, I decided to re frame the course focus more about Travel Sketching. My course will be offered again in the summer and fall.

At the Crealde Christmas Party, I got to meet the new Crealde Executive Director & CEO Emily Bourmas-Fry. She was wearing an adorable set of deer antlers. She was warm and inviting and made me feel right at home again. Jim Hobart the Crealde Photography Program Manager has been talking to me about mounting an exhibit of my series of WWII sketches that follow my father 1st Lieutenant Arthur Thorspecken through Europe in 1945. It has been 80 years since Germany surrendered to end WWII and I sketched every city where my father’s C-Company was encamped and fought in France, Belgium, Netherlands and Germany.

Towards the end of the series I started adding black and white paintings based on historic photos on top of my location sketches which show what the area looked like in 1945. I now have to go back over all the sketches I posted while I was traveling in Europe to add these black and white historical visual notes. Since history is repeating, I sometimes let modern history morph into the history of the 1945 atrocities. I plan to show the paintings by framing them in white shadow box frames and then having the black and white historical paintings elevated on the glass to show some parallax and separation of past and present.

In sketching the artists mingling, I noticed David Cumbie, the Sculpture Garden Curator & Sculpture Program Manager. I sketched at one of his welding workshops once and when I think of an artist who is completely committed to forwarding the Crealde art cause, I think of him. My course is offered on Sunday mornings and when I used to walk to my classroom, I always noticed David hard at work in the sculpture studio.

For over 3 months I have not interacted with people since I could not understand what they were saying. In some ways that is liberating. I would just assume they were complimenting my sketch, and I would say, Merci, Bedankt, Dank Je or Danke, My American roommate had suggested that I would meet the love of my life in Europe (Eat, Pray, Love style) but that was impossible since I could not understand any thread of conversation. I did not know any French, Flemish or Dutch. I was happy that my limited German was partly understood for the final months of the trip. One German female artist did invite me to her studio, but when we discussed meeting again, I had misunderstood what she said, and I went to the wrong place.

American party small talk therefore was not something I was prepared for at this Christmas party. I talked to a few people about the project I am working on, but when I discussed the German Stalag Forced labor camp that my father’s C-Company helped liberate, I could see people’s eyes glaze over. It seems discussing war atrocities tends to be a party conversation killer. I listened to one conversation, but it was all about commuting times and I lost interest and walked away. I wasn’t interested in loosening my inhibitions with drink, so after I sampled the food and desserts. I drifted off and made my way back to the home studio where I could settle in for a quiet night to write and sketch.

Henry VI Part 3:The Rise of Richard, Final Poster

Posted on by Thor

Henry VI Part 3: The Rise of Richard is being performed at the Orlando Shakespeare Theater (812 Rollins Street Orlando FL) through April 19, 2026.

I went to a performance and had a great time.

Having won the battle of St. Albins, Richard the Duke of York descended to the throne of England. Later York is killed in battle. His son Edward the Black Prince took the crown and soon died as well.

The murdered king Richard had three sons, Edward IV, George Duke of Clarence, and Richard III.

Richard III was who I put on the poster. Richard III was just one of many who were in the whirlwind of deceptions and murder leading to the crown. The crown changed hands multiple times between King Henry VI who was pious and weak willed, and Edward who was the oldest son of York.

The only way to keep track of all the players in the war of the roses was to follow the family tree in the program and a chart summarizing who supported who in the power struggle. Though on the sidelines through much of the play, it became clear that the misshapen Richard III was willing to do anything to ascend to the thrown. The path to the throne would be bathed in blood.

When you enter the theater, you are given a sticker with a white or red rose on it. The white rose shows that you side with the House of York and a red rose shows that you support The House of Lancaster. At time in the show armies would rush down the aisles of the theater shouting White Rose, or Red Rose! Members of the audience would shout back in response. The play is mostly about a dysfunctional family who use murder to gain power and the crown. Pick you family crest wisely.

Tickets can be found of the Orlando Shakespeare Theater website.

 

Henry VI Part 3: The Rise of Richard, First Pass

Posted on by Thor

With the Henry VI Part 3: The Rise of Richard  poster I did for the Orlando Shakes, I had an advantage in that the actor for Richard, Mark McClain Wilson, would likely reprise the roll in the next season. For once I knew who to paint for the poster. The Shakes was kind enough to supply reference of Mark from a previous production.

The main thing I knew was that there would be multiple battles for the crown. I researched battle uniforms of the 1450’s period and chose these thick tan tunics with the crosses on them. Well the crosses were really off mark. This was not a show about a holy war. The costume would have to change.

The Bare Bard Series which started in 2019 with Richard II and continued through Henry IV Part 1, Henry VI Part 2, and Henry V as well as Henry IV Part 1, Henry IV Part 2 and Herny V in 2003. Then the pandemic slowed down the series for a bit. The War of the Roses revived the series followed by Henry VI Part 1; Joan of Arc, Henry VI Part 2: She Wolf of France and now Henry VI Part 3: The Rise of Richard. Next season Richard III: The Bottled Spider completes the series.

An usher in the theater was saying she was surprised that there were so many shows in the War of The Roses series. She thought there was only 1. She asked if I had seen any of the other shows, and I have been along for the whole Fire and Reign series illustrating and learning new history of royal conquests.

What is unique about these shows is that there is no director, the actors block out the scenes themselves as they rehearse much as they did back in Shakespeare’s day. They also go into the costume shop to pick out their own costume for the show. Some costumes feel like they are from the 1450’s period, but others might be more modern in flavor. It all depends on how the actor decides they should look on stage. In a past show, Mark McClain Wilson had chosen a hip leather jacket to wear. Since that reflected his taste, it was suggested that I should depict him in leather.

The crown changed hands many times in this show. A complicated family tree in the program was the best way to figure out who was part of the house of York and who was part of the House of Lancaster. The House of York was represented by a white rose and house of Lancaster was represented by a red rose. I have painted many roses over that past several years.

Audience members were given a passport book in which they could paste the stickers that are handed out for each show. I don’t use the passport book. Instead, I place the stickers on my sketchbook cover which makes finding a particular show sketch very easy when I go through the sketchbook archives.

For this show I was given a red rose sticker, but secretly I was rooting for the despotic and twisted Richard who wears the white rose.

Henry VI Part 3: The Rise of Richard is now playing at the Shakes through April 19, 2026. I had a great time. Grab your tickets today!

Langford Park Orlando

Posted on by Thor

After the experience with Jeff Wirth as part of  the Play Coach Story Swap, Stella Arbeláez and I decided it would be nice to do a painting in Langford Park. Stella had her full painting set up in her car and I had my usual sketching supplies. Langford Park and Dickson Azalea Park are right next to one another. The little stream that runs through Azalea Park also runs through Langford Park. Langford park is more open and expansive with some of the oldest trees in Orlando.

Stella and I set up on a sort of peninsula that is between several paved hiking trails. The advantage of this spot was that few people would walk buy as we were working. It offered privacy in the otherwise very public park. While we were painting and sketching, a large group of after school children were being guided on a forced march around Langford. The adult in charge would shout at the top of her lungs, “ Sarah, stop right there! Let everyone catch up!”  The fits and starts of the forced march were punctuated with constant commands from the supervising adult. Was my childhood that structured and highly supervised? Dear god I hope not. Rather than enjoying the sights and sounds of nature these kids were being hearded to the point of squeezing away any joy.

Stella set up her easel and was doing a full on painting while I sat in my tiny artist stool and sketched the tree and stream. Stella got to play with magnificent warms and cools in her study , while I cranked out my dark sketch of a beautiful live oak with it’s twisted limbs. The focus of my composition was the horizontal light gap below the gnarly branches. The grass was sun lit on the distance while the live oak was a dark mass casting much of the scene into the shadows.

I got up a few times to see what Stella was up to. I liked the vibrant colors she was playing with. I have been getting frustrated lately at how dirty the colors are that I end up using thanks to of my filthy everyday watercolor palette. It is almost impossible for me to get a clean blue sky without some green getting thrown into the mix.  I just purchased 3 tubes of primary colors of gouache yesterday and want to start using them to mix more opaque passages in my sketches.

In this sketch, I wanted to make the hanging Spanish moss more obvious but the areas had already been painted with dark greens. I lightened up the moss with some white colored pencil but gouache would have worked much better. It would also be nice to paint in some light gaps between the bulk of the leaves. I have some of the parts to assemble a compact easel. I just need to settle down long enough to actually screw the parts together.

There is something very reassuring about working beside and artist whose work I respect, knowing that they are experiencing the same doubts, and frustrations while creating. There is a dopamine rush that comes as the many mistakes and corrections start bringing the sketch or painting to life. I get lost in the process and despite the many questions and doubts, I feel good about having gone through the process each time. I need to feel that rush every day. It is an addiction.

Play Coach Story Swap

Posted on by Thor

Jeff Wirth is a dynamic theatrical powerhouse in the interactive Orlando Theater Community. I sketched some of his unique workshops and productions early in my Orlando sketch a day journey. In one workshop he demonstrated the proper way to roll up electrical chords. You wind the chord between your wrist and elbow and every other turn the chord needs to be flipped to take away some of the rotational tension. Anyway, I think of Jeff every time I roll up a chord after working in the shop.

Jeff is the director at the Interactive Play lab. The Play Lab fosters Interactive performance  where audience members become co-creators of performed fiction. The Interactive PlayLab provides resources and training for creators of interactive performance. Jeff offers books, e-books, apps and templates to help performers meet their full potential,

Jeff moved to New York for a number of years and he dropped off my radar. When he returned to Orlando he immediately promoted his Interactive Play experiences on Facebook. I signed up but wanted to find a way to also sketch the experience. Sketching is how I play. I recruited a dear friend, Stella Arbeláez to also participate. The experience involved sharing stories and I know she is exceptional at sharing her story.

We met Jeff at the entrance to Dickson Azalea Park. I was looking at the possibility of buying a home in the Azalea Park area, so I considered it a sign that the universe was speaking to me. The home it turns out had termites that had infested all the roof rafters. Since I wasn’t up to rebuilding the home from the inside out, I abandoned the sale. All the reconstruction costs would have added over $100,000 to the price.

We walked with Jeff through the park until we came to a bench that overlooked a babbling stream. Jeff and Stella sat on the bench and I set up my little artist stool to sketch. Boo Boo jumped up on Stella’s lap and settled in. He was having a grand time with all the new smells to be found in Azalea park.

The structure of the Story Swap was pretty straight forward, Jeff asked a few questions and let Stella relate her stories of  shock and recovery. I will not recount what she discussed, they are her stories to tell, but they left me feeling inspired that the creative human spirit is incredibly resilient.  She took a sip from her aluminum water canister between tales.

Jeff then relayed his own story of a young relationship which had to end, yet there was no animosity in the separation. They both loved one another but work pulled the couple in different directions. They walked into divorce court holding hands. Having lived through a bitter divorce that probably still clouds my dark view of what a relationship can become, and having a marriage proposal refused, I found his story of loving separation surprising and ideal. Like an army retreating, my bridges are demolished with explosives.

I was so elated to have two of my dear friends relating such intimate and heart warming stories the very first time they met. When I look at social media or follow politics I see nothing but stories of violence and deception. I make it a policy that once I see a punch thrown on social media I turn it off and instead go about doing a sketch. Sitting with Jeff and Stella made me feel that there is still hope for friends to share meaningful stories that show how the human spirit can grow despite life’s challenges. Life can be a playful challenging adventure that is meant to be shared.

After the story swap, Jeff walked off, and Stella and I decided to do a painting in the park. We walked off to the car to get art supplies and when we got there, Stella realized she didn’t have her aluminum water canister. She riffled through the car but it wan’t there. She must have left it on the bench by the stream. We hiked back into Azalea Park toward the bench. As we got close, I noticed a man walking towards the bench. He was with his ten year old son. The dad picked up the water canister and started to walk off. We ran after him shouting out that the canister was Stella’s. He was happy to surrender it. Another of life’s tragedies had been narrowly averted.

Olive Garden

Posted on by Thor

I have been helping Stella Arbelaez with several large art projects. After a day of working in the studio, we went for dinner and a sketch at Olive Garden (10027 US Highway 441 Leesburg Fl). She had a coupon for a free dinner from years ago. She wasn’t sure it would work, but it was still valid. We ordered a big salad and pasta and then we both started to sketch while we waited for the food to come out. The menus on the tables were electronic. The displays flickered with adds constantly. I am amazed at how digital displays are invading even the simple act of going out to eat.

I focused on the group of diners seated next to us, while Stella did a sketch of me. Her sketch turned out rather good. It is one of the better sketches of me with my 75th Infantry cap and my beard.  There must have been about 5 different servers who stopped by the table. One was an artist himself who was attending college. The fellow who brought out the food would respond with “I got you” for any request. He said it to everyone in our section of the restaurant. I find myself saying it now in a joking way anytime someone makes a request.

There is something truly rewarding and relaxing about sketching with another artist. being around another artist you know they understand the struggle to create. A sketch isn’t easy, It is often a compilation of mistakes which hopefully is believable in the end. There might be two steps forward and then a step back. It is simply reassuring that sketching around another artist there is no expectation of perfection. As she put it, there is no need to act like a “normie’. We could just relax and be ourselves as we created.  For me there is always a feeling that I need to capture the moment with a sketch. In a restaurant there is a certain rush to try and block in the sketch before the food comes out. In Europe, especially Paris, many people will linger over a meal and watch the world go by, but in America there is a rush to get people served and out the door as quickly as possible.

I have gotten used to eating out alone, because that way I can always get a sketch done. It is a rare pleasure to share the experience with someone else.

David Plotkin Memorial

Posted on by Thor

I have been staying in an AirBnB in Thornton Park Orlando Florida for the past week. It has been wonderful to be able to walk to venues each day to sketch. One of the first places I wanted to sketch was at Stardust Video and Coffee. At this coffee house, Doug Rhodehamel has been assembling a magnificent display of brightly colored cardboard fish in honor of a dear friend David Plotkin.

David who was a close friend of Doug’s was a former Orlando Weekly staffer, WPRK DJ, a political activist and a cultural mover. Doug was asked by the Casselberry Arts & Sculpture House to do a solo show and he enlisted the help of David to come up with a concept for the show. Unexpectedly David died on April 1, 2025 from heart failure before the brainstorming session. Doug considered canceling the show, but decided instead to make the show a tribute to David.

Doug wondered what Dave would want to see if he were to go to the show. David was on a pickle kick. He had old drawings that Doug called war pickles. Doug decided he would build the show around pickles but also allow them to become something else. He ultimately decided to create a huge school of pickle fish swimming through the void. The fish are light and vibrant reminding anyone seeing them that there is light and wonder in the world which is often all too dark and drab. Besides the large school of pickle fish, Doug created a green pickle moon and blue corrugated cardboard columns that resembled coral. The opening reception for Flight of the Pickle Fish was on July 18, 2025.

It took Doug close to a year to cut out all the fish out of corrugated cardboard. I am familiar with Doug’s fish because he mails out a fish each year as a Christmas ornament to friends and supporters of his work. I look forward to seeing each unique fish each year. Some time in the future I hope to have a Christmas tree to display all the ornaments.

The David Plotkin Memorial Aquarium was unveiled on March 22, 2026 at Stardust Video and Coffee. Doug plans to keep making changes to the installation over time. The Stardust installation recruits many of the fish that were on display in the Casselberry Pickle Fish show along with new exotic species.

I went to Stardust Video and Coffee first thing in the morning to sketch. The online Stardust website showed photos of delicious looking waffles. At the front counter I asked for a coffee and the waffles. The woman behind the counter apologized. They no longer have waffles although they are listed in chalk on the blackboard above the counter. There was also an item on the blackboard called the Rhodehamel. I asked what the Rhodehamel was. I imagined it must be some kind of delicious sandwich. Maybe it was a pickle fish sandwich? She had no idea. The kitchen also does not open until 11AM. At least I got my coffee and set about doing the sketch. I was fascinated by a woman at the bar who was on a Zoom meeting about wine sales. Her earth toned dress had fish shapes all over it. When the sketch was complete, I went back to downtown Orlando to grab the waffles I craved.

Venetian Gardens, Leesburg Florida

Posted on by Thor

I went to Venetian Gardens in Leesburg Florida with a friend to paint. We made the mistake of getting to the gardens right before sunset. The golden hour light illuminated the far shore of the lake a golden orange. Two fishermen were out in small boats pulling in the last of their catch. It was a beautiful scene but we had to work supe fast to try and catch it.

The second it got dark, the mosquitos came out with a vengeance. We both scrambled to pack up our art supplies while getting bitten from all angles from clouds of mosquitos. I don’t even mind getting bitten, I just hate when the mosquitos buzz into my ears. I swear that every mosquito takes a kamikaze run at my ears. Hitting myself on the side of the head to try and kill the culprit is useless and deafening.

We both managed to get something 0n the page in the limited time we had. I of course would have liked more time to mix richer colors. I am considering making changes to my daily sketch kit to include gouache colors which can be applied opaque. With watercolors I can cover the page quickly with thin washes but there are times when I want to paint lights back into the sketch or mix rich pure colors. My watercolor palette is always rather dirty so finding pure color is a challenge.

In this same park there was a magnificent Christmas light display. Lights would flicker on and off in tempo with the music, and a series of reindeer would turn on in sequence making it seem like they were galloping across a bridge. I wanted to return to do a digital sketch of that display but I never got around to it. There were a few magical places to sketch in Lake County, but I have returned to downtown Orlando to search for the types of events that I have loved to sketch for years. I am on a sketching staycation in Thornton Park right now. I am staying at AirBnBs each week and walking downtown  to explore and sketch. My goal is to stay in Orlando long enough to sketch the Orlando International Fringe Festival in May.