Acrylics and watercolours and Zazzle

It's been a few weeks since I've done anything arty at all. Just life, being busy, and other commitments. But it's amazing how hard it is to get back into it. The left side of the brain that keeps going, in its nagging little voice, saying "you can't draw, you can't paint, why waste time trying, it'll never be any good" If I was really good at art, I guess I wouldn't even hear that voice. It's a bit of a struggle.

So here are my two works in progress - a bigger version of Clementines (acrylics) and a more painterly version of Milford Sound (watercolour). Actually, I realise I never posted the original Milford Sound watercolour- I got a few paintings framed around the time I did that one and it got framed before I took a picture of it. It's now on our bedroom wall. So here it is. I had to take the photo at an angle to avoid reflections:

For Clementines, I'm hoping to achieve a more dynamic look by using oil pastels, but it's not going well right now. I'm not even getting the basic blue right, so I'll have to add another layer, and it's starting to look too worked already. I'm a bit conflicted about what I'm trying to achieve, I think that's why it's not working out: I have a notion of a more dynamic feel, but at the same time, I want to achieve a realistic representation of the scarf and bowl. I don't think you can have both. At least, I don't know how.

For Milford Sound, I'm trying to introduce more texture rather than my trademark colour-block approach. Again, something I'm not comfortable with, so it's looking contrived right now. But let's reserve judgement.

The project I enjoyed the most this weekend was to design a Doodle speaker cover - I really didn't put much thought into it (Translate: the left side of my brain didn't interfere) and it's turned out quite pretty!

Bubbles of Sound by _MHBD_
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