Haven't touched my diary painting since before Christmas (writing this on 21 January). But now, I'm feeling the pull to try new things.
So I went from this (lots of black and ochre ArtGraf:
Moving on from stones and mountains to skies, and maybe seas. I am exploring the elements that inspire me. I haven't really done fire yet, well at least not consciously.
These few were inspired by a sunset I saw from the window in mid-January. Bringing my exploration closer to home and noticing what inspires me. I did these in sketchbooks and loose paper. The different papers really made a big difference. I used an Etchr sketchbook (cold press, I think? - even left page and right page felt very different), a Baohong sketchbook and a quarter sheet of Bockingford cold press.
I like the one with the least texture (number 3) and the one with the most texture (5). Now I need to spend a bit of time with them to see what calls out to me.
It was a good day to be in a warm indoors location to sketch. And the State Apartments in Dublin Castle are always such a treat! Not too many tourists on this mid-January day, so I really relaxed into sketching. I had decided to work in continuous line drawing. Well, more or less continuous. And it really helped me to not be overwhelmed by all the detail in front of me. I just kept following the line.
I'm looking at Liz Steel's Foundations online course again and it's helping me reconnect with sketching in a way that I find satisfying. And Liz is such a generous teacher. If you do her online courses, you get to do them again for free every time she runs a live runthrough. I don't always get to do them, but there is always something new to learn or something old to relearn, so even if I only have the time for a couple of weeks, it's always worth it!
Sea and sky - there's a lot to figure out. And that's even before I try it it in watercolours.
I keep a studio book. It's a big square Seawhite of Brighton sketchbook It looks like I am ready to move from my rock and mountain exploration to sea and sky (Inspired by Peter Davis, Aquarelman). Let's see where this goes
I keep asking mysel is it time to move on. So I think it is. I'm taking lots of photos from morning and evening skies in Dublin. That's definitely a nudge!
A great session with Pencils4Tea in mid-January. God knows when I will get to post this on Instagram.But I feel the need to keep the chronology of my life, so I will resist the urge to post it earlier. I used some grey watercolour pencil, some graphite pencil, my artgraf tin, and some Luminance colour pencils. I'm so glad for this opportunity to practise faces and hands! I have to admit that I was a bit anxious at the start, as it felt like I had forgotten how to draw!
Leisurely sketching while chatting with friends. Unfortunately this sketchbook doesn't open fully on the spine, so I should remember not to sketch people in the middle!!
I'm going through Liz Steel's Foundations course, as she is currently running a live runthrough. Always fun and interesting to relearn all these things I have forgotten!
Here is how they looked before I added watercolour on top of watercolour pencil and tempera in my two favourite colours.
Some days, it feels like I can't paint anymore. And that's perfectly normal, isn't it? It's a horrible feeling, though. Back to the process! And by the way, I have cropped the picture, so the composition is actually not as bad as it is in reality!
Had fun playing with these tempera sticks, working from photos I had taken on my morning walk. Love the immediacy of tempera sticks. The box says they are acid-free, but they are designed for children, so they are probably not permanent pigments. Ah well, that's alright. All the more reason to play with abandon!
Travelling always does this to me. Even a short trip to Belgium - two days over there. Travelling over in the afternoon the previous day, and a morning flight back. So in my mind that's 4 days. And I get stressed before travelling. And then I need a day to get back into my life. So that's a week - in my head anyway!
So, yes, I feel a bit disconnected from my art flow - that's how little it takes to disrupt my routine. But it never stops me from showing up, even if I'm just throwing paint around or dragging a card through wet paint. I do like the first one.
