From Sketch to Painting

On Sunday morning I sat outside  in the glorious sunshine having my coffee. My mind was wondering to painting and painting in acrylic.  I decided to capture  a little vignette in my yard and the neighbouring heritage yard in a little sketch. My yard is no show place but I  wanted to show there is beauty everywhere if you take the time to look.
These planters and pots have been long  neglected and are now homes for weeds. I didn't include the chain link fence separating the two yards.
My challenge was to make a painting only from the sketch. I did a bit of  cropping to come up with a common ratio. I painted  this on gessoed paper which I can mount onto a 12x24 canvas in the future. I am not completely comfortable with acrylics as my main medium is oils. I tried not to get fussy and used a 3/4 flat for most of the painting. I still have palette bug issues with  acrylics. Wet palette or dry. Today's painting was used with a dry  palette and a spray bottle.
It was a fun experiment with a sketch to painting and in acrylic with moderate satisfaction on the finished painting.

Another Abstract

I was procrastinating today. I should be working on another formal still life for my show. But a newly primed canvas was calling my name. I liked doing the last abstract so much that I wanted to try it again. My daughter came over after her night shift of work and crashed on the loveseat. I couldn't give myself over to 2-3 hours to do a detailed drawing today knowing she was here and going to wake up soon.

I think I will call this series Windows in the Sky, this one is Twilight.

Back in the Saddle

The things we do to ourselves as artists. We aren't very nice to ourselves sometimes. 2014 was not a good year for me art wise, a fair amount of rejections accompanied by being in a muddle. Not sure which caused what. 

This year has been so much better for my creativity. I did something that took my creativity to new places and heights. I was costume designer for a local and long standing theatre group. Les Miserables with 39 cast members. A huge challenge and undertaking, and I pulled it off with huge success. Please do not dismiss community theatre costuming as trifle. The budget was substantial, and I had 10 seamstress along with myself all working furiously. And all for an understated look that was 'period perfect' as the local arts critic said. This show got 5/5 stars and people said it was the best Les Miz they had ever seen.

Another big thing I did was get off Facebook. It was doing nothing for my self esteem. I do not miss it in the least. I am reading more because instead of surfing FB, I spend that down time reading. 

So I am back in the saddle, confident that I have a brain that works, I am still creative and the petty BS that comes in the art world is unimportant to who I am. I am working towards my solo show this summer, the Old School House (TOSH), Qualicum Beach, BC, August 10- September 5. Formal still lifes.

 

I am also enjoying painting abstracts. I am seeing some of my own unique style emerging. Mark making. I just wanted to share a bit, I guess in a small way I miss that about not being on FB. Happy day all.