Having said that, I have been doing a lot! If you follow me on Instagram, you will have seen it all. I have been reaching deep into my years of learning and really exploring my art practices and direction I want to go. Bottom line...I am doing this for me. It makes me feel good to know the only expectations I have are simply put on by me.
I'm going to post a few grouping of photos (from my Instagram feed) to show you the kinds of things I have been up to along with a bit of what they are about.
NOTE: the order of current is bottom right (think of reading backwards). Here goes...
These first nine are from November. I was on a black and white kick in my sketchbook after an inspiring class segment in a year ling class I am taking. The artist encouraged us to use out sketchbooks and simply doodle and then color in using black &/or white artist markers. I really enjoyed this as I doodle a lot in my journals, many of my doodles/sketches are my take on an image I have seen and found inspiring (usually on Instagram). I did more that just black & white, I included grey (and my pencil of course). My main markers of choice were Pitt Brush Markers in Black and Grey, my Sharpie Fine Point in white, Sharpie Extra Fine Point in black, and my Dixon Primary Pencil #1.
I didn't do a lot of actual painting during this time, but I did try and play in my book journal once in a while too.
I also took a very large project for a local charity - Stockings 4 Seniors. In lieu of gifts for nieces, nephews, Moms and Dads, I started last year sponsoring Seniors in our area in several of our families names. Last year I did four, this year, eight. I created game boxes (8) filled with those golf peg games that I spent many many days cutting, drilling, and marking each game with its needed numbers, letters, directions and such. Went out and bought Cold Lake out of golf tees (had to order more on Amazon), bought decks of cards, dice, Yahtzee pads, pens & pencils, typed up the rules for each, laminated them then loaded them up into eight totes and tied them up with a pretty bow! As gratifying as it was, I was more happy to see them gone from my home.
This is pretty self explanatory - painted in my journals. Experimented with some color mixings and styles. Bob was busy in his shop - turned an amazing little bowl out of a burr from one of the Mountain Ash trees he cut down at his Mom's last year. Then of course there is the 2019 Christmas Ornament he makes for all the great nieces & nephew's.
You can see I started with more painting in my journals, then I thought it was time to start working on an idea I had for Drake. I had created a piece for him a few years ago and thought it time for something new. I had an idea. Let's just say, it was a good thing I asked him to send me a picture of his guitar...
His response was, "Which one, I have five!" I said his favorite. So when I got the photo of is Fender Stratocaster, surprised is an understatement. I thought it was going to be his Gibson Les Paul. So all my sketches ended up in the garbage, as the Les Paul was greyish, and totally different. So back to the drawing board I went. Started out thinking I was going to paint it more realistic, but if you know me and my style - it just isn't me. So off I went on a tangent and by the time it was done, I was content with it and he was ecstatic - which was great, because that is what matters. I painted the entire piece using a Princeton Catalyst Tool (#01 Mini). Acrylic paints, and pigment blocks for the grungy shading effect. I don't think I actually posted a final image, but I do believe he shared on his Instagram stories hung up in his house.
the bottom two (right) were me working on a large canvas trying something new. As much positive feedback I got, it is still sitting on my book shelf were I see it daily as I wait to figure out what I need to do to it to like it.
The next seven are me experimenting with brush strokes on watercolor paper (12x18", 400# sheets). I used a limited acrylic color palette and larger brushes. They were a lot of fun to do, did them for about a week or so, then we were away on holidays and I got sick and was out of commission for a couple weeks.
The bottom right was the last of the brush experiments. I know I will go back to them, but as you can see, I get bored quickly and need to challenge myself. So speaking of challenging. The yellow and grey piece was a huge challenge for me. You can't see in the the images shown as the one that had the piece at the stage I liked the most isn't shown. Again, working on a limited palette and digging deep into my art educations, I worked through it, but alas...it too is set aside until I can figure out what I need to do to avoid painting over it! The brightly painted 3 pc photo is me just playing with an idea. I want to create an abstract series that has each letter of the alphabet in its composition. I have sketched it out in my journal, but not quite as easy when you are applying it with paint. The next image is me simply posting a photo of the paint I pushed around on my palette...just couldn't get into it that day. I think the issue was I was just bored (and still not feeling well). So instead of forcing the issue, I decided it was time to go back to my ol' go to...collage. It comes pretty natural to me and I usually find it pretty satisfying.
I had started this one and then later that day came across a video on You Tube by Jane Davies about Radical Layering. I was actually going through You Tube and watching anything and everything on Foo Fighters. Was on a Foo kick and was literally obsessed with watching and listening to all their old stuff. How Jane's video got in there I still have no idea. I watched the first couple of minutes, turned it off and ran back down to the studio. Ideas running ramped in my head of what I could do. If only I was patient long enough to watch the entire 6:55min video, it could have saved me some brain farts! That's okay, it was a challenge and I am still having a blast making these (on my second, about to start my third).
In this final grouping of nine pictures, you can see the evolution of the pieces. The end of the first and part of the second. Again, you not seeing the finals due to how they are grouped on the post. I have promised the art group I belong to a blog post on my process in detail. That I will be working on over the next couple of days (between starting a new piece).
I have learned so much during this process, what works and what doesn't, what works and what works better, what works and what is a waste of time.
Hope you are all doing well and staying safe along with creating some wonderful art that makes you happy!
No comments:
Post a Comment