Documented Life Project - Week 42

Week 42 Challenge - Stars.

Well I took liberties with this one. I am useless at drawing stars. I just can't get the angles right. But that instructional video on masking fluid saved me again!

The challenge didn't specify how many stars I was to depict? How about a night sky full of them?

What I'm wearing today

Black Boden skirt 

M&S grey thermal long-sleeved tshirt

Old Belgian scarf

Boden boots (bought a looong time ago)

Matching Boden tights

Blurred picture, but it shows the boots quite well

I love these Boden boots. I know I should have bought them in black. It would have been much more practical, but I loved the colour. I would call the colour dark pink? What would you call it?

another wonderful performance by Isabel Leonard

What I'm wearing today

Boden jeans

Boden red jumper

Benetton grey scarf

Clark's red shoes

Birch Trees

Finished my Birch Trees watercolour last weekend. As you may remember, I had used masking fluid and a pouring technique to get started with this painting, but I was worried that I would ruin it all in the next stage.

Well, after finding this wonderful instructional video on masking fluid, I decided to throw myself into it. After about 3 or 4 layers of masking and painting, here is the result:

And here are a few detailed shots:

PS - this is not a very big painting - about 20 cm tall. Painted on watercolour board. I'm rather pleased with it.

Oh, I nearly forgot, here is the original photo that inspired this little project. Three beautiful birch trees in Marlay Park. For me, it's important to paint from something real. I can't just paint notional trees. I would just feel they would lack heart and soul. That said, I did take a few liberties with my subject.

What I'm wearing today

Boden black jeans

M&S black top (really old!)

M&S black boots

Benetton black scarf

And in case you're wondering, the aqua bracelet on my left wrist is a Fitbit

Interstellar

I had read a really bad review in the Sunday Times, so I was worried. But the 2 hours 45 minutes went really quickly, so that's a good sign. Interstellar wasn't science-fictionny enough for me, but it wasn't a bad movie. But what with Hollywood's obsession with cute kids and a happy ending? And why did it have to have a baddy that was so obvious? And how did the hero keep his farmer's tan through months/years in space?

Three Rock

Wonderful Sunday morning up in the mountains!

This photo courtesy of BB:

What I'm wearing today

The same Boden jeans

Another Boden stripy top!

What I'm wearing today

Black Boden jeans

Rust Boden short-sleeved top

Benetton black cardigan

Clarks black ankle boots

And a very old scarf

Il barbiere di Siviglia

The barber of Seville to you and me. Met HD last Saturday night. Such fun

Isabel Leonard is such a wonderful singer/actor. She lit up the whole opera.

What I'm wearing today

The same Boden jeans (again)

H&M jumper

Japanese scarf

Killiney Beach - Sunday 16 November

what I'm wearing today

Boden navy jumper

(and the same jeans again)

What I'm wearing today (or yesterday, actually)

Boden jeans

Boden jumper (I love my new jumper - check the stitch detail below)

What I'm wearing today

Boden jeans

Banana republic stripy top

Documented Life Project - Week 41

The challenge this week was polka dots.

I used my small round puncher for this, using a mediocre gelli print. When I was finished punching, I realised that I had printed on both sides of the paper. And both sides of my polka dots were equally lovely. If I glued one side onto my page, I would be losing the other side forever! Too much of a dilemma for my poor nerves. I don't have a laminator, so that wasn't an option. I tried to capture the dots between two layers of acrylic medium, but that didn't work.

In the end, I decided to glue the dots onto acetate transparency, using acrylic medium as my glue. The result is a little bit smudgy, and not exactly in military order, but it works. Not as a frameable work of art. But as a journal page challenge, it's actually quite pretty.

Here are all the dots thrown onto a page:

And the reverse side:

And a close-up of one of the dots (isn't it so pretty?):

And one of the verso:

And here is the finished page with the flap closed

This is the reverse of the flap

With the flap open

And this is a view through the flap.

It looks better in reality!

What I'm wearing today

Very dark out there today. A real November day.

Same Boden trousers as yesterday

Boden grey stripy top

Clarks black ankle boots

Birch trees

Am I moving on from my water obsession? Or just returning to my tree obsession?
And why do I keep working in watercolours when I feel that acrylics would be a much easier option?

Inspired by more art videos, I decided to paint a stand of three birch trees in Marlay Park. We took that photo years ago. I loved the colours. I wanted to try out masking and pouring. That part of it worked out all right. It's how I complete the painting that's got me stuck!

Birch tree leaves are so delicate.

I found a nice painting that looks good - but it's an acrylic. How do I achieve something semi-abstract  like that in watercolours? All the instructions I'm finding are showing how to paint bare birch trees. There's probably a good reason for that!

Here is where I got to so far:

First pour - still wet. The trunks are masked with Pebeo masking fluid.

My three colours: Winsor Red, Winsor Yellow, Ultramarine blue

First pour after it's dried

After my second pour. I flung more masking fluid onto the page before the second pour. I love the colours at this stage. And I'm completely stuck. I have no idea how to proceed. All I need is to add some leaf shapes in the upper part of the painting, but I really don't know how to do that without losing my beautiful colours!

Masking fluid video

Some excellent tips in this video. It's a little bit long, but worth the time I think.

What I'm wearing today

Boden black trousers

M&S grey thermal top

Hilfiger Outlet grey cardigan

Benetton grey scarf

M&S black heels