Aimless

Sometimes Aimless doodling looks ok. Can't go wrong with ArtGraf Tailor Shapes

 

Post-Christmas sketching

The Stephen's Green Shopping centre was never my favourite building. It looks like a Mississippi River boat that lost its way. I don't remember what was there before. Probably when I first arrived in Dublin in the early eighties, it was a vacant lot of some sort. So anything was better than nothing. But now there's talk of replacing it with an ultramodern block. And offices. Like we need more offices and hotels in the city centre!! The café was a perfect location for sketching the entrance to St Stephen's Green. I always chose a different view. This time, it was the lights hanging from the ceiling that caught my attention, and that group of four young people. From where I was, I couldn't quite catch what language they were speaking. Maybe Russian? Enjoying the good life in Dublin while avoiding military service? Who knows? If they were my children, I probably would send them away somewhere safe too.

 

Mandarin

Love eating these around this time of the year! And sketching them too.

 

Studio Book update

Trying to look back at 2023 and forward to 2024. 

Despite the obstacles, 2023 was incredibly productive and successful. Which, for me, makes planning for 2024 harder. "Where do we go from here?" Because, I thought that having a solo show would be enough for me. That it would be enough to reassure me about my art and, yes, where I stand in the world. But now, I find myself agonising about where to take it next. I suspect my plans for 2024 will keep changing. Do I want to push myself further, or just do the things I enjoy? Or are the two things the same?

Back to Square 1 2 3 4 5

This afternoon was the first time in a long time that I spent time in my art room. For many reasons, I haven't been able to paint in a good few months. Lots of sketching and doodling, yes, but no painting as such. So today, first day of the Christmas holidays, I decided to go back to square 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5. Yes, painting value squares was a great way to ease myself in. It's a technical exercise, and it absorbed me completely. Without the pressure of painting a painting! It felt so good to hold my Da Vinci Casaneo brush again!

And I mixed colours which are much more neutral than my usual!

More Christmas sketching

Another Dublin Sketchers Christmas gathering. I added watercolour when I got home. 

We were sketching in Books Upstairs, and I grabbed everyone who was in my line of sight, Some people moved, which explains why some people appear to be talking to the empty space!

I have added a little bit of texture to this sketch, but it's too dark now to take another photo. If I get a chance, I will add the updated photo later.

It's been so grounding to have this wonderful group of sketchers, all through the year, through the rough times and the fun times! I am so grateful to be part of such a wonderful community. 

Sketch with Suhita - end of year session

A wonderful Zoom session with Sketch with Suhita. Where we talked about fitting sketching and art into our lives. Lots of great ideas were discussed. I had brought a few objects to sketch and I pottered away while other people talked. A great way to wrap up the year!

Christmas party

This sketch didn't photograph very well. 

Mixing ink drawing with Kooh-i-noor magic pencil maybe wasn't the best idea. But the result is quite dynamic. Sketching the sketchers at our Dublin Sketchers Christmas party 

Travels

We spent a week in Belgium. Nearly. Travel days included. Spent time with my Mum in Brussels, then spent time with Brendan in Ghent for 2 days. Got three sketches done, including two airport sketches. I brought minimum supplies with me. This trip wasn't about sketching. It was about spending time with people who matter to me. And then when we came back, it was the mad rush to Christmas. And here we are, nearly there. Another year gone. 

Had to have another look at those fish

It bothered me that I didn't draw these fish very well in the previous sketch. So I had another go at them. Much happier with these. I'm not doing much these days, in terms of painting or sketching that is. Lots of other things getting done, like delivering paintings, planning for next year, reading about autism, getting to understand myself better, including Rejection Sensitivity Dysphoria, and some travel. Plus the everyday stuff. But this little drawing, probably the thing that's made me the happiest in a long time. 

Gros Maquereaux

Another great session with Suhita's Substack team. We were exploring a French fish market. I rushed at the start, story of my life, and ended up with a black line going through the fish. But I did manage to hide it pretty well in the end. Is there enough of a focus? The orange fish do pull the eye in, so I would say yes! I used watercolour paper and it just wouldn't dry, which was quite a challenge. And everyone's version was completely different. And yes, Gros Maquereaux means Big Mackerel.

 

Painting and lifting - rocks

Trying to find tools and techniques to explore the landscape. Here, I'm lifting watercolour, which works really well for rocks. But then I get so absorbed in this that I forget about the different layers of landscape. My middle ground is way too bright and jumps forward, and I end up with only background and foreground. Next version, I need to think about that! And also, I lifted too much of the sky, trying to create bad rain, and losing the value contrast that was essential. I do like the squiggles though.

Rejection Sensitivity Dysphoria

THIS! 

https://neurodivergentinsights.com/blog/how-to-deal-with-rejection-sensitive-dysphoria

And THIS

https://neurodivergentinsights.com/blog/rsd-and-friendships

Painting and Lifting - clouds

Back to Neutral Tint, Burnt Umber and Hansa Yellow Medium. Not working with anything in mind. Just exploring how to paint very wet and lifting with kitchen roll. Not sure. I really need to have a foundation before I can paint. 

I like the first one best. I didn't lift too much and the landscape has some interest. The second one is not great

National Gallery, and a portrait that will not make it to those walls!

We went to the National Gallery to look at the Zurich Portrait Prize shortlisted pieces, as one of our friends, Marie Lemen, is one of the shortlisted artists. She did a fantastic watercolour portrait of Sean Hillen. I was a bit disappointed to see that half of the shortlisted entries were photographs. I love photography. My husband is a street photographer. But I think it should be a separate category. How do you compare photography and painting when deciding on who wins the overall prize?

I sketched for a little while, focusing on visitors to the gallery who were looking at The Rape of Europa . I didn't know the title until I had finished my sketch. But I thought it worked in my current mood. But I couldn't focus for very long, so left it with just colour pencil drawing. I added watercolour at home.

Then I went to the café and sketched Pat. He's always a willing subject. He's been sketched dozens of times by many sketchers at this stage.

A few faces

I'm not great with long meetings. But sketching people helps! Particularly people who move their hands a lot! 

Magenta, she said?

Things sometimes take a turn. I was looking at Louise Fletcher's Art Tribe prompt for December, and it was Magenta. So I dug out a tube of QOR Magenta (PR122 I think), Van Dyke Brown, Hansa Yellow Medium and Horizon Blue. The first one I did was wishy washy (the one at the bottom). For the second one, I used masking fluid instead of resist pencil, and I let the colours merge and swish and go super intense. Does it evoke the mountains on the Beara Peninsula? Maybe a sunset on a summer's day? My friend Shinobu told me it reminded her of my silk paintings when I was in my late teens. She's right!

 

Let's talk about intention

My intention for this one was to use Neutral Tint, Burnt Umber and Hansa Yellow Medium and explore white resist with the colours from the painting I had started with (see a few days back). Somehow, I added Horizon Blue, and probably some Sap Green too. And the Brown looks more like Van Dyke Brown. I do like the colours and how they work together. But it's not what I had originally intended. Is it good or bad? Maybe it's what is called "responding to the painting"?

I do like the resist lines, although I probably shouldn't have quite so many. We'll see where it goes. Maybe bigger lines?

I need to see those rocks in real life again

I'm trying to explore one path before I get distracted and go in a completely different direction. It's probably not obvious if you compare this painting to the previous two, though! All three are inspired by the landscape of the Beara peninsula, the imposing mountains where purple rocks dominate narrow strips of grass. For this one, I started with a white resist pencil. I also scratched a lot. And let the paint drip too. It looks nothing like the original landscape. It doesn't even look like a landscape anymore. But it's a study into a feeling about the landscape, let's say. I'm going to take some notes and see where I go from here.

Experimenting

Back to experimenting. Not quite what I call painting. But something is happening at long last. I'm going to explore for a while and see where it leads me.

A few things that come to my mind. I do love scratching into watercolour paper to create marks. And I love wet on wet. Very wet on very wet actually, which sometimes blurs too much. I am thinking about a more muted palette. In this case, neutral ting, burnt umber and Hansa Yellow Medium.

 

For this one, I introduced  more colours, some Cobalt Blue, Cerulean Blue, Monte Amiata Natural Sienna. It's a different feeling. I do like the little circles I have lifted. Maybe they remind of sheep?

Somatic Therapy and Autistim

And that's why I love my Somatic Therapy sessions so much!

More sheep

Need to practise more. But it seems that I don't have long periods of time for my art these days. I should really spend a few hours drawing lots and lots of sheep from Google rather than one here and 4 or 5 there. It's been that kind of year, except when I focused on painting for my exhibition. Now I'm at the stage when my paintings are going to their new forever homes, and there's a bit of juggling involved! But everybody is excited about bringing their new painting home and I'm excited to send them on their way. And sad to see them go, too

Stone walls?

Looking through Google maps on the Beara peninsula, and it seems to me that the few stone walls I could find are not in great repair. Very different landscape from the Dingle Peninsula!

So, I am working from Google Maps still to figure out how to use my concertina sketchbook. With this sketch, I realise that I was paying more attention to how to connect it to the previous page than to the composition on the page itself. Something to keep in mind!

Christmas at the Ginger Man

Just a little flavour of Christmas from the Ginger Man pub. It was so packed with Christmas decorations, and people, that it was hard to decide what to sketch, so this is a bit of a medley. But if you connect everything with red paint, it speaks Christmas, doesn't it?? I didn't stay very long, as I felt very cramped in my little corner. I'm glad I'm better able to identify how I feel and take action to remedy the situation!

 

Dead Zoo

A good few of our sketchers got given out to for using watercolours in the Natural History Museum. It makes no sense - all the exhibits are behind glass. And we're always so careful not to cause any damage or obstruction. But the manager on duty was not happy, apparently, and even told sketchers they couldn't use the chairs! Don't understand it. We've been going there for years and were always made to feel welcome. We just blend into the background with our sketchbooks and everybody is happy, particularly the children, who love to look at our drawings! 

But I had no trouble, despite using watercolours in a large sketchbook. I did find a discreet spot, it has to be said, completely out of the way, whereas some sketchers were spreading their gear on top of the cabinets (not the brightest thing to do!). I blended so well into the background that I became part of the attractions, with some tourists taking pictures and even filming me!!

I got so taken in by the display that I forgot to draw the cabinet around it, so it's not really an urban sketch, but hey, it was done on location, from direct observation, and if you notice that I have sketched both above the water line and below, you will agree that I'm telling the story of the display!

Painting a painting

I felt I had enough of jumping from one thing to the next. I was painting with Shelley, so I stood at my easel and used a quarter sheet. Picked a photo I liked without thinking too much about it. It might not be a great painting, but it's a step in the right direction. Sky in gouache and land in watercolour.

cards and squares

I remembered to photograph them before sending them on their way! Little thank you cards for the people who bought my paintings! And I wanted to keep a memory of them, as they might inspire me to paint something more!