Mixing it up

I'm continuing to challenge myself, and feel very privileged to have the time to keep this up.
The brilliant Illustration Friday website posts a theme each week so I'm attempting to do a piece for that (if I'm inspired by the theme! The challenge is to do something even when uninspired...). This has really helped me to continue to experiment, try new things and get a bit competitive have fun!

 

Here's what I came up with for the topic of 'Sleep'.

 

 

Here I've placed pen drawing over watercolour for the first time, something I've been intending to try for a while. Mixing it up was great, and I really like the result.

 

Also I've posted more pieces on my tumblr page.

 

...and breathe

I have found my joy.

Acrylic paint and LARGE canvas...

 

 

And here's a close-up of the other:

 

 

I have had such encouragement about my work this week. Thank you!
Now if only I could get some sleep...

Cheesy smiles...

I finally saw my piece hanging in the exhibition! Yey!

 

As part of being accepted to the Winter Exhibition at The Beaney I was offered the opportunity to sell my cards and prints in the gallery - so I chose the wettest Thursday to zoom dangerously down the A2, carrying bags and a table in the rain to set up for 3 hours (limited by the school run).

Here's my CHEESY thumbs-up grin (and what is my hair doing?) with my piece.

I'm sure it's shrunk. It looks so tiny in the huge space, with huge pieces hung round it.

I counted about 30 people who wandered in while I was there - not bad for a wet Thursday. I had some lovely conversations, was very encouraged even though it came close to being a traumatic wash-out, and I even sold a small number of cards.

(If you missed my blog posts from Tumblr about the run up to this exhibition and the Bespoke Fair just click on the November 2014 tab on the right - I have transferred it all back here.)

 

In all the rush of getting there, I forgot my sketch book or any kind of book to pass the time! Luckily I had nice pens with me, grabbed some flyers from reception and doodled happily on the back of those, plotting my next piece.

 

And in a similar vein... to answer the question posed in my last post, Watercolour vs Acrylic... I still haven't made up my mind, BUT I did paint this with Acrylics two nights ago. It's bigger than it looks here, about 50x40cm canvas. Still not convinced. It's heavy and I didn't use a big enough brush. Hmmm...

 

 

Something from nothing

Watercolour is so hard to work with, and the best advice I've received so far in working with it is to let the paints do their own thing, not to mess with them too much. So as I was experimenting the other night I decided to do the whole process backwards.

I wetted the paper, splodged watercolours and Indian inks onto the paper randomly, let it dry and worked with the shapes created. I know, it's a bit left-field, most likely been done before, but I'm pleasantly surprised with the results!

Here are a few before and afters, and some smaller little pieces: 

 

 

The freedom to fail, prolifically

Summer has been full of beauty.

In among the squabbles and the exhausted bits, we've crammed a lot in...

 

 And while we were away I got my watercolour Tombows out every night, and wallowed in the freedom to fail in my experimenting.

It was bliss.

 

 

And now I have reached a point, a pinnacle, a place I knew I'd been scrabbling to,

the reason sketch-booking really does work...

 

Yet this is just another beginning...
Onwards!

Aged 15

I apologise for the randomness of this blog... still experimenting... having fun... flitting.

Last night I read up more about Sarah McIntyre's work (she has illustrated the lovely Mythical Maze Summer Reading Challenge 2014 for the libraries) and I happened upon a challenge she did a while back for her own personal progress: 'Draw yourself aged 16'

So I thought why not take up the challenge, see what happens. Here's me at 15 (memory going in old age... this is a mixture of me at 14,15,16...)

I outlined in waterproof pen, then filled with the Tombow pens. I still have to practice mixing them, some areas got a bit saturated, but it was fun x

Water and blooms

So I took myself off to see Jackie Trinder's work during Open Studios, and ended up doing a painting workshop with her this week - highly recommended!

She left me to finish the piece at home - dangerous! - and I have managed to drain most of the colour from the centre of the left-hand flower trying some water effects BUT overall it's better than I suspected I could do (for a first time ever sitting to do a proper watercolour study!).

Here's my favourite section of the piece:

The dull leaves actually have a ghostly soft feel, and good shape.

 

So I had a bit of courage to do something using colours I prefer, and managed the paint, and background wash etc much better than before the workshop:

 

I'm also going to try some 'negative painting' next.

All good fun! (and the sound of cleaning my brushes while painting is very soothing and therapeutic...)

 

Beavering away... in a sketchy way

Next year, the local Scout group [my daughter is a Beaver there] will mark 90 years since they were established...

so I thought I'd practice people and mess around with a poster/illustrated idea.

In other news, I'm on a steep learning curve with Adobe Illustrator. It is so different from Photoshop [which I've known since about 1999!] so I'm being pleasantly challenged [hmm] in that area... watch this space. YouTube is my friend.

Happy Wednesday!

Enjoying the process

I had the privilege this week of visiting some of the open studios around my area of Medway as part of the Medway Open Studios and Art Festival

There are so many creative people enjoying working in lots of different media here, and it's been so exciting to be a spectator of a growing art scene right here in my own little town - and one day I hope to move from spectator to participant!

(Wouldn't that be fun?).

I saw paintings, found objects, moulds, prints, wire work, textile pieces, and every person I spoke to was so friendly and welcoming.

One such artist is the lovely Jenni Burrows and when I popped into her studio we ended up nattering for quite a while. I told her how impatient I am with the process of working on my pieces. I just want to get to the end, see the finished thing and move on. We talked about the 'journey' of creating, working on things over time and holding on to an idea. She uses sketchbooks to really explore all the things that pop into her head. I know that I do sketch, I do write ideas down, but I don't like to leave them or experiment too much.

 

My kids have taught me a lot about slowing down. This week my youngest had chicken pox so we spent a lot of time sitting on the carpet doing puzzles very sloooowly.

 

I pulled every ounce of patience out of me to wait and see how my daughter wants to tackle the puzzle. And I realised that, for her, the process of doing the puzzle is far more fun than seeing the completed image. Finding pieces, seeing what fits and what doesn't - that's 'doing a puzzle'.

 

So here's a sneak peek at something I am in the 'process' of working on. I'm not sure what will happen with it, not really sure where it came from [although I know he's called 'Macaroni Cheese', as named by my youngest!] but the process for me is deciding on colours and layout, looking at contrast and shade, tone and opacity.

 

Below is the pony in colour and the pony in red. 

 

 

 Which do you prefer?

I'm really not sure... let me know what you think!

The Crochet Cat

I have been busy, busy attempting new things - some are frustrating, some come easily...

Pen and digital

 

I actually forgot that I did this piece a week or so ago - played with the colours, not sure about the black background but I wanted to move on. I wanted to do a bit of pattern and repetition, but I get bored soooo quickly. So here it stays, the cat sleeps in the dark...



Shadows

 

(Pen and digital)

 

It happens to us all...

Toes

After a few dull days the sun has finally popped out again.

Hoorah!

My daughters and I painted our toenails bright pink this week, so I was inspired...

 

 

Pen and Digital

Sweet, sweet summer

 

Happy Birthday to MEEEEEE!!

These are just some of the lovely gifts I've received today.

And I was spoilt by Steve who took the day off work so I could stay in my pjs until 2pm.

Here's one of the pieces I worked on today:

 

I'm a little bit digi-obsessed this week, but I promise I have also started a lovely little watercolour painting with my new paints.

And there are other bits too - all to come eventually.

Such fun!

Oh, and I'm surrounded by birthday flowers!

Houses, houses, everywhere!

Ok, so I couldn't keep away, and I have MISSED posting each day.

What a shock on Saturday when I was allowed to do nothing at all

and I really, really got twitchy!

So this is what I've been working on this week so far:

 

Pen and digital colour

 

Where we live it is so hilly - not in a 'hills and dales' lovely way, just in a 'can't push this pushchair any longer' kind of way. But as it is quite built up, I am always reaching the top of a hill for a breather and looking down onto a valley of houses; rows and rows of inter-war and post-war houses and I actually really love how that looks.