Checks v2.0

I had to try it again.  I thought a change of pace and colour would make a difference and I think it did.  Just not the difference I wanted.  The background doesn’t lend itself to anything more and yet it isn’t really enough on its own.  So to beat a dead horse once more...why am I doing this again?

Grassy

Another plan.  Another questionable outcome.  Another picture I am going to have to repeat because I actually like the idea for this one.  AEDM is making think I can do anything and perhaps...that isn't entirely true.

Checks and Flowers

 There is a part of me that thinks planning is for morons.  Let's face it, art I plan never comes out the way I planned it and I get into a funk about it.  This was a nice enough idea and the thought of layering water colour just so I could see how it would come out fit perfectly with the idea of  a checker board.  Then I decided fine lines with masking medium would add to the effect.  Finally, I decided masking the centre of the flowers would also give me a nice look.  Planning complete, I started working on the project and...this is not the way I planned it.

So planning is going to the fishes for now.  I am going to work off the cuff and hope it also doesn't suck.  And once I'm certain there is a point to all this planning business, I might try my hand at this again and do a few things differently.  Have to figure out what that's going to be first though.  So here's a AEDM page although I'm not sure I want it to count. Blah!

Watercolour Flowers

Yeah, so the whole watercolour thing isn't going as easy as I thought.  I think the key to working with it is really patience.  At least that's what I'm learning.  I can do things in a hurry and they will turn out okay but if I take my time they turn out wonderfully.  It's a great way to learn but there are times I wish I could do this without the angst.

So that's another one for AEDM and I need to up my game.

Poppies

I bought a watercolour set from Cotman: 12 half pans and a nice brush to add to all the others I have.  I've always been drawn to watercolour technique in acrylic but it never has the same translucence I like.  This was the solution to that problem.  This is one of the tutorials from the set that comes with several sheets of watercolour paper as well.  This is phase one and...

Butterflies

So I've already admitted to loving butterflies and the love isn't fading so that's always great.  I couldn't seem to get the dimensions right so I found a few outlines online and copied them a few times.  Once I knew what I was doing wrong, I tried this out and I love how it came out.  The splatter was  done in excess watercolour paint I had left off from another picture and the butterflies were done in black ink over the  whole.  They looked too plain so I added my second love - swirls.  It looks more complete but it isn't much of a background for art journalling. I guess I'll just have to take it as it as. And that's another one for AEDM.

Happy Halloween

http://creativeeveryday.com/art-every-day-month

I was helping out at a Halloween Art Camp for children between the ages of 4 and 13 and this was one of the drawings the older kids had to do.  Originally a tutorial for Derwent's Inktense Colours, it works just as well with their Watercolour Pencil set or watercolour paints which we used with the kids.

It was actually a lot of fun for me to try the same image and although I was a little aggressive with the watercolour pencils, it came out pretty well.  Even though it is a little late for Halloween.  I really want this to by my first image for the Art Every Day Month challenge.  Here goes nothing.

The Paradox

The paradox 8.5 x 8.5 in watercolour and pen

I first heard this quote in an episode of Criminal Minds.  I love the show even though for the most part it showcases the worst of humanity.  There is something oddly right about having the good gus win...and something even better when they are smark, sexy people who get to carry guns.

But enough about that...I like that they always show how everything in life is really a remake.  Even when we look at all the things people can do to each other, there is always some other person who has spoken of it before.  It makes me wonder what creativity really is.  If we are simply redoing and remaking what has already been done, can we truly be original? 

I think perhaps for that I would have to rely on another smart persons quote for it is C.S. Lewis who said, "Even in literature and art, no man who bothers about originality will ever be original: whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring twopence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it."

Say it with Pictures

Talking with pictures isn't something new. We are always being reminded that a picture speaks a thousand words. So I tried to make a statement of my own and this was the result. I did the picture in about half and hour but the border took ages and considering how little I was able to write, I'm thinking 'a thousand words' is a bit of an exaggeration - that or my pictures are very reticent.

Splattered Hope

This is by far my favourite page so far.

It was inspired by television once again. I was watching 'The Human Target' and saw the starting title. Their splatter is a little gorier (is that a real word?) but I really liked the idea of the intentional mess. Figuring out how I was going to do it was a little more interesting. but I clearly got that right. The outcome is wonderful...if I don't say so myself.

I like how the lettering came out. When I started this, I only knew I wanted the writing to be in white and I had the quote already prepared. Cutting out the stencil for the larger letters took a little while but it was worth it just to see it come out so nicely when using acrylic paint dabbed on carefully. The other letters were written in white ink and a standard stencil just to avoid my scraggly handwriting.

I'm thinking of framing this one and putting it up where I can see it every day. That way it can serve as a continued inspiration and a reminder to keep striving for something greater than what I already have.

Unused Background

There was a plan for this background. I was experimenting with the joys of watercolour pencil and water splattering before it got dry...then forgot all about what was supposed to go on top of it. Clearly, my memory needs a little more work than my art.

I might try printing on it using my computer and printer and seeing how an inkjet deals with the rough texture of Gesso...basically, doing something I haven't tried yet. If it works it should help me with a few other ideas I have that are not easily accomplished with my scratchy handwriting.

Many Hearts

I'd like to think I was inspired by Valentine's Day but it was a long way away when I did this. I liked the idea of having many hearts but after I was done with it, I realized it would have come out a little better if I had used a stencil.

Clearly the learning process is just that...a process. I'll probably redo this one at some point and maybe next time I'll try for less brush strokes as well. They drive me a little crazy and I'm currently experimenting with a few ideas to stop it from being so...obvious.

Illustration Friday: Worn

I've been away a while but I knew I couldn't let another Illustration Friday go by without an attempt. I'm trying something different and hoping it will work but so far... I figure it's still better to do bad art than to do no art so this is me getting my head back in gear.

I like to call this image 'the bag lady and the mannequin'. Make it a metaphor if you please or take it as it is. I just hope the idea of worn gets across.