And then when I had a bit more time, I pushed the experiment further, on a square of Fabriano Unica paper, using watercolour, iridescent acrylic ink and soft pastels.
What did I enjoy about today's studio session? The flow of pigments, watercolour and acrylic ink pushing against each other. And the strong colours. And the marks with pastel.
I'm in a bit of an art slump at the moment - it's ok. I'm not panicking yet. Maybe I had reached a natural end to my exploration. But when that happens, I have to find ways to start again.
So I was very inspired by Sally-Ann Ashley's words when she had the opposite problem (too many ideas fighting for attention) "So if your mind is a hive of activity right now like mine, ask yourself one question, 'what did I enjoy the most about today's studio session?' Whatever answer jumps out at you, don't discard it and don't overthink it. Let it be your starting point for tomorrow - as this will be mine"
When I woke up this morning, I thought about which item in my studio book was intriguing me the most. It was an ink piece, done in orange and purple, creating an abstract sky and land in very strong colors.
So I did what I always do, colour swatches, and a little experiment in a watercolour sketchbook. And then I couldn't help adding a bit of those iridescent acrylic inks, and Unison soft pastel!
I cut up those ink blobs, trying to find shapes that appealed to me. But did not find much in the way of shapes to collage.
And two quotes that spoke to me recently, and that I copied into my studio book.
It turned out to be a sunny afternoon, but it started with some very heavy showers, so I had a few stop-and-starts. And it was cold of course. Why can't we have a nice Spring like everywhere else! Saw a few of our sketchers down an alleyway and joined them. But I struggled with the view - it ended up being a mish-mash of everything that was in front of me. Then I sketched some of our other sketchers. Just liked the way they were sitting on the steps. Text added at home. I think text always helps to balance my pages.
Sometimes I get a notion. But I have no idea what to use these inks for! And I just recently threw out two bottles of masking fluid which I had barely used.
A wonderful session on Zoom with Suhita Shirodkar and her Substack followers. We sketched cherry blossoms, each in our own way. Looking forward to our cherry blossoms in Ireland very soon so I can sketch them for real.
This month's Street View World Tour was extra fun, as we went under water, guided by Nina Khashchina, who regularly sketches while diving. She does it for real, we were doing it virtually!
Really not sure where I'm going with these. Part of me is longing for the crashing of waves at Clogher beach. I did a few paintings a couple of years ago. Now I would like to re-explore this location. But of course, I'm not the same painter I was then. I need to experiment before I can approach this again. Here I was just doodling with Ecoline markers, ArtGraf taylor shapes and a Zig marker.
A while back, I ordered lots of A2 cartridge paper (something like 200 sheets). But I didn't check the weight of it. And it's too light for what I wanted to used it for, ink and watercolour experiments with a fair amount of water and scribbling. It's really only good for charcoal or light drawing, which I don't do much of. So, it's sitting under my desk, and I'm finding uses for it (the only thing is that it's super sharp, so I have to be careful about paper cuts - and no, I'm not using it to rest my feet!)
So now I've ordered a block of heavy-weight cartridge paper and I experimented with some inks, and I'm much happier with the result. Even more so after cropping. Now I want to do something like that in watercolour. Will I be able to create the same intensity?
1st April in Dublin. Still cold enough to wear a woolly hat. But I didn't need to wear my mittens. Yay! The focus for the group was to sketch McNeill's pub. But the Good Vibrations adult shop next door is what caught my eye. Particularly when the sun came out and there was great shadows from the neon sign, which reads ROCK. The gentleman in the shop behind us told me it used to be a jeweller's and the sign was the first neon sign in Dublin. I don't know what the "The Irish Firm" sign painted on the wall means.
Maybe I should have tried to sketch a little bit more of McNeills's, but I was meeting a friend and ran out of time.
I knew I had to let go of the past. But not quite sure where to go. Time to play with absolutely no intention. Picked up some Neoart crayons I don't use much and some inks. The paper I was using is that thin cartridge paper, and I used lots of water, not a wise move. The only element I like in the whole lot is the red and dark blue drawing. I closed my eyes and I just drew without thinking.
