I had a Pinterest account, and pinned things to it here and there, but I was never a heavy user. I recently decided to delete my account altogether though, as well as add the no pin meta tag to my site and disable pinning on flickr. I have been seeing countless articles online about how bad their TOS is regarding copyright issues and I was disheartened when I read it for myself. I am a great respecter of copyright and don’t want to associate myself with any service that facilitates theft. Although it is an interesting concept for a social media site, I’m not willing to spend time requesting permission from other people to pin their content. While some people are okay with linking to the original source and giving credit, logically this is not enough for me. For now, if I have interesting things to show you, I will just link to them the old fashioned way.
The above image was a practice sketch I made for the October 2010 Virtual Paintout. I never posted it anywhere though, until now.
Awhile ago (longer than I care to admit), a relative asked me to paint a portrait of her granddaughter in watercolor. At the time, I was hesitant because I had never painted a portrait in watercolor before, but I said yes because I didn’t want to disappoint and I didn’t want to acknowledge that there was something beyond me.
I started making sketches and ran into trouble immediately. Then I shelved the project thinking I needed more practice on various aspects (drawing children, mixing skin tones in watercolor, etc.). But I never ended up feeling confident enough to start.
It became awkward to see this relative at family functions. “How was the portrait coming along?” she would ask. I felt guilty because I knew I hadn’t started on it.
It was only recently that I decided that I needed to do the painting, no matter how bad it came out. I don’t want to be a person that makes empty promises. So I made the painting over the course of a few days, to the best of my ability. I know there are a multitude of issues, but in all honesty, this probably isn’t bad for a first attempt. I would love to repaint this same subject once I take a few watercolor classes and get some expert instruction. But for now, at least I did what I said I would do!
I am vowing never to let this happen again. It’s better to be honest or say no than to put myself in a situation where I feel overwhelmed and less than authentic.
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.
I signed up for a two part Botanical Illustration class at the Mass Audubon society. It’s really inexpensive and I’m looking forward to getting out of the house by myself for a bit.
I got started on a particular painting that I have been putting off for over a year now. When I’m done with it I will be able to move onto other things with a clear head!
I painted the above image on a watercolor greeting card. It was a scene from my trip to Maine in 2010.
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 bought some hotpress watercolor paper to try out. I’m not sure how I feel about the surface; it will take some getting used to. Coldpress paper seems to allow me more time for “wiggle room” before leaving an indelible mark. Also, coldpress paper seems to take more abuse and “scrubbing” before the paper’s surface starts to disintegrate. I painted this rose, but I mangled the leaves badly so I cut them off with the paper cutter.
It’s frustrating to have something turn out badly, especially when I don’t get to paint whenever I want anymore. I know that it is to be expected though, and I’m glad I experimented with this new paper.
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!
Here is another composition of sliced pears, this time with bold blue shadows. I really like the combination of blue and brown. Now that I have both ultramarine blue and raw umber on my palette, I think I’ll really enjoy myself.
In reality, this pear was unripe and not very good for eating. It was sitting on a plate getting kind of slimy when I painted this little still life, but I like the way the painting turned out.
The blog Orangette recently had a lovely piece about poached pears. I would love to try it if I were lucky enough to find good pears, which is rare in New England. Perhaps I will try it the next time I get a box from Harry and David.
