Two paths meet

The shapes in one of the photos I had put in my Seeing More Clearly concertina book were calling out to me. And also the realisation that I want to introduce the actual shapes from the landscape into my more abstract paintings. I'm not sure why (yet), but it's important to me to recreate those roads and mountains, while at the same time hiding their exact locations. It's like they are my own personal haven. I want to share their beauty with the world. But I also want to keep them secret! So I have started with a thumbnail. An actual small-sized thumbnail. Not sure yet how I will merge this with my loose wild watercolour application. But that's another day's work.

Mind-mapping - prelude

Day 2 of Seeing More Clearly. My favourite bit. Mind-mapping. I'm already discovering so much with this. Years of creative adventures are opening up in front of my eyes. I want to live to 100 and create every single day until the day I die! 

Journey variations

Working from the 6 images I painted on a full sheet. Now I'm exploring each individually, seeing where it will lead me.

I'm pretty happy with the first one, the colours are light, the idea is simple. The interaction of watercolour and line (oil pastel, Cretacolour wash pencil and soft pastel) work well.

In the second one, I went too crazy with the soft pastel, using marks that didn't work with the background, then trying to flush them out. We'll have to see if I can recover it in some way!

 

Prelude to Creative Shift

I've decided to go through Sally-Ann Ashley's Creative Shift again this year. It really helped me on my creative journey the last time I did the course (is it two years ago? I can't remember) . I have gone back to my notes many times and I still use a lot of the ideas to find my way when I am lost. This year, I feel I need it more than ever, so I have signed up for the full course again. It's starting in early September, but she's running a free mini-intro, called Seeing More Clearly, and I'm enjoying it already. It was fun to make an concertina sketchbook out of heavyweight cartridge paper. I can already see that the format will help me see things more clearly!!

The big ha-ha for me was using the Photos app on my laptop and taking screenshots of groups of 8 thumbnails of photos I had selected from my Google Photo albums. I had chosen the images by location, but otherwise just going with my gut instinct as to what images appealed to me. I take photos in 16x9 format, but the Photos app on my Mac shows me square thumbnails. 4 to the width of my screen. I took screenshots of 2 rows of 4 at a time. Completely random. And yet, what I saw in front of my eyes was so beautiful. Great start to another creative adventure!

A little zine of random people

Had a frustrating few days before this, so my energy levels were low. And was feeling no energy whatsoever from my surroundings. Should have headed to the Fleadh instead! But I had my little folded piece of paper - folded from A4 to A6 spreads, meaning each rectangle is A7? The place I was in was not great for sketching people, a few lost tourists on the way to nowhere. Yes, definitely should have gone to the Fleadh instead. Next time I will check what's on in Dublin and go where I please!

Sketching random people

Focussing on sketching people. I was a bit preoccupied, so didn't give them any context - some were queuing in a café, others just sitting down at a table.

 

Journey

The journey has started. First layer exploration of two of the compositions from my 6 pieces.

I had more orange tubes in my stash than I thought!

I had no idea I had so many orange tubes in my stash. That's without counting colours that are already in palettes!

Back to basics

This is as important to my practise as the wild watercolour landscapes that seem to emerge out of nothing. Understanding the consistency of what's on (or rather, in) my brush.

Elemental

I'm painting again! I was starting to worry. I had so many ideas that I felt like a rabbit in the headlights. But  after spending some time in my studio book, looking back at notes from 3 years ago and painting from the last couple of years, I had a better idea of what I wanted. So, here is the first step! Lots of ideas emerging already from this set of 6 painted as one. Mostly watercolour, lots and lots of water. And a little watersoluble pencil.

Small thumbnails

It's a long time since I've done small thumbnails. I was checking out some colour combinations. Neither piece is completely satisfying, but the one with Grey of Grey and Bloodstone Genuine (and a Hansa Yellow Deep or Gamboge, not sure which_ does appeal to me the most. I'll park it for now, but will come back to the idea at some stage. 

Down the river

It's a long time since we had rain on a Sunday afternoon. We were not mentally prepared. The forecast only showed a 3% chance, but it happened. Not enough rain to green the grass. And I did find shelter and sketched some more. In my last sketch of the day, I actually included a little bit of the Jeanie Johnson. If you want to see better version of the boat, head to www.dublinsketchers.com!

Rough and Smooth

Can't decide what paper to use. I thought hot press would be best, but I'm getting better results with rough paper! I thought I wasn't going to pursue results. I'm just experimenting and playing, right?

More people sketching

A few more people inspired by the class by Jenny Jing Zhang on Vivify. 

Time for reflection, reset, trial and error

I haven't been painting much lately, busy with sketching and other distractions. It's really been a few months since I have painted anything I'm 100% happy with (apart from the big cloud over the beach, which I like a lot). Amazing how hard it is to get back to painting now.  

I'm taking it one step at a time, looking at my own works that I like, thinking about what I want to take from this reflection. Also refocusing on shift words and how they might express in design elements. Basically going back to process and play, rather than trying to paint a painting worthy of an exhibition. It will take a while!

No prizes for guessing which ones I'm happy with! I just have to listen to my inner voice and remember not to try so hard!!

Sketching people, silhouette first and limbs first

Practising drawing people using the 3 strategies taught by Jenny Jing Zhang on her Vivify class. Then I lost my Neocolor for flesh tones and had to use a Stabilo Woody - a bit chunky but good fun to use as it forces me to not be precious. I tested a few locations in town, and Trinity College is the best place, with lots of tourists who are too busy to notice me, as they are finding their way to the Book of Kells.

Drawing limbs first is not easy - one man ended up with 3 legs, as I realised that my original placement was not aligned with the body! And it's warm enough that people are wearing shorts and summer dresses. In a few weeks, the only bits of flesh we'll see will be heads and hands. Will try a different strategy then.