At my recent botanical illustration class, the teacher had us close our eyes for about two minutes and then open them and notice what drew our attention. She wanted us to see if we were drawn to the lighter areas or the darker areas of the room first. I noticed the light filtering in through the window and then the contrast of some white antlers against the wall.
Then she explained her theory that people who are attracted to the dark areas first find it more natural to work in oil, acrylic or pastel. People that prefer the light areas first tend to enjoy watercolor, colored pencil, graphite and pen and ink. I felt like my own instincts were confirmed! I had never before heard someone explain this theory, but in my case I think it definitely applies.
Another small painting from Google Street View in Elba, this time experimenting with my new Derwent Coloursoft colored pencils. I like the soft feel of these pencils and they come in a lot of natural looking colors, but I have trouble distinguishing different colors from one another.
I tend to draw with a ton of different colors strewn all over the table, but that won’t work with these pencils. The color swatches at the end of the pencil don’t seem very accurate, and the leads don’t look like the actual color on the paper. Being organized and having a scrap paper on hand for tests is critical for me, because I had a few accidents when I started using the wrong color.
My only other (small) gripe is that the pencils are too large to fit in my electric sharpener. Luckily, I have a manual one that works. Otherwise, I LOVE these pencils.
This is nothing like what I normally do, but I rather like it. It was fun to work on, which is the main thing I want out of my artwork these days. It reminds me of some kind of fantasy land from Haroun and the Sea of Stories or some other fantasy novel. This is my submission for February’s Virtual Paintout on the Island of Elba. It’s a beautiful island, and Napoleon was lucky to be exiled there!
I’ve been scanning a box of photos so I can throw out the originals and declutter my space. Recently, I found this small seascape, painted in 1994. Back then, I usually copied from photos in magazines, but I made up this scene in my head.
At the time, I remember being so proud of myself because this was the first watercolor that turned out the way I wanted. I’ve kept it around all these years as a memento of that feeling. Now I’ve thrown out the original, but I still have the memory.
I hope everybody has a prosperous and productive New Year. Because 2011 was so crazy for me and I have no idea what will happen in 2012, I’ve decided not to declare any set goals. I did write a list of things that I would like to accomplish, but I have no idea if any of those things will happen the way I would like them. I feel under so much pressure to make every spare moment count for something, so I should be able to make some sketches to post here in any case. I think that will be good enough for now!
This is my submission for this month’s Virtual Paintout, located on the island of Sardinia. Looking around on Google Street View, I thought that this would be the perfect vacation spot for me. I love the dramatic landscape, and the sea is so beautiful. I would love to go there for a week or two and paint lots of watercolors.
This is my submission for the July VPO which is on the Island of Jersey. I usually don’t wait so long before submitting my painting, and I finished just in time. I started this picture earlier on in the month, but didn’t get around to finishing it until yesterday. I painted in watercolor first, and then went over it with the colored pencils. Finally, I used the colorless blender to brighten up the colors and smooth them out a bit. Since I was working on watercolor paper, I couldn’t hide the tooth of the paper, but I’ve always liked this effect because it allows me to get really bright colors. I wasn’t trying to be especially realistic with the colors and was going for something happy and sunny instead.
This scene is based on a photo I took on a small private beach in Maine that I found while taking a walk along the coast. I made one sketch beforehand, rearranged the rocks just a bit, and changed the colors. Blue is my favorite color, can you tell?
I was doing some sketching earlier from some photos I took in Maine last summer. It was a mental escape from my actual environment right now, as seen over at Sketching in Nature.
I hope everyone has a peaceful and relaxing Christmas with your families. I am planning on having a nice one myself. I will be back next week with my review of 2010 and my 2011 Art Goals.
