I am following simultaneously The Artist’s Way, by Julia Cameron and Watercolor is for Everyone, by Kateri Ewing. Here are the exercises and practice paintings I completed since Sunday.
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I hope you check out the referenced artists, especially if you feel the need for a boost to your creativity.
My local art association is having an art sale in October. The members are asked to use 6×6 canvases to make artwork, choosing whatever media they prefer. At the event, each canvas will be sold for $66.
This is something I can do. This week I picked up three of these canvases. I came up with six ideas for subject matter. To get started, I made some sketches today (really, just contour drawings.) These will be painted with watercolors.
My hand was drawn from life. For the butterfly, I referenced a photo from the Audobon Guide to Butterflies of North America, published in 1980.
There were no photo credits in the book.
2. Baby sparrows in a nest: This drawing was made based on a photograph by Bill.
At times, parent birds choose unfortunate locations for building their nests. This nest was located in a door wreath at a downtown business. Here is my contour sketch.
I have something special in mind for this work. Fiber art will be involved, giving this painting more of a 3D object.
3. Two of my other ideas will be worked with fabric paint on cotton. I will recreate some early experiments of mine using the sun printing technique.
I’m excited to get started. Perhaps I will work on color selection later today.
Noodling around on a Sunday afternoon, with one of Bill’s bird photographs. This is the undercarriage of a sandhill crane, standing on one foot.
All I really wanted to draw was the claw and standing leg. But I had to include a few feathers in this graphite sketch.
It’s Wednesday, it’s time for a watercolor painting but…….
I had to test out my Christmas gift from Bill.
He’s the kind of guy that loves Christmas gift giving. So this is a BIG box of watercolor pencils. The first thing I had to do was make a swatch.
I spent a lot of time on Christmas afternoon making this swatch. First of all, the pencils weren’t in a usable order, so I had to re-arrange them. There were three steps. 1. Write out the color numbers and names in the same order that they lay in the trays. 2. Scribble each pencil. 3. Liquify each swatch with water to reveal the color.
For my first painting with these pencils, I chose a photograph by Bill of a cardinal.
I love this image, because of the light. He must have taken this one late in the day.
After making a sketch, I laid down an initial watercolor wash. Then I selected about a dozen watercolor pencils which seemed to match all the hues of the bird. I blended these on the sketch then stroked over with water to liquify the pigment. After it dried, I added black details and white highlights with paint.
At that point, it was obvious to me that the background was too pale. I deepened the shades using Payne’s gray and a little burnt sienna.
I’m pretty happy with the result. I think that I will try some floral subjects next.
The idea for this fiber object came to me one morning while porch-sitting with a book. It was a gorgeous day, but I was poring intently, with all my focus, on the book in hand. Surprisingly, I no longer remember what I was reading. The probable cause of this memory lapse was the very thing that intruded upon my thoughts. A catbird had begun an insistent and virtuosic song. The sound tore my mind from my book and into the present moment. Looking about, I failed to spot him. So instead of continuing to search with my eyes, I closed them and sat back in my chair.
Pretending that I possessed synesthesia, I imagined what that birdsong might look like, if it were visible. There were deep chortles and murmurs, but also squeaks, shrieks and ascending melodies. It went on and on. And on. Eventually the catbird flew off.
Here’s what I wrote in my journal: “Sky-inspired painted background. Reverse applique to suggest an unseen bird. Throaty -chortling purples, warm tones high pitch trills – bright white squeaks. dashed gestural lines to suggest direction of pitch. Parallel wavy lines for a musical staff.”
All very poetic. But I want to make a piece of visual art, and as such it must have form.
This week I got underway. Since my fabric paints were out, I started with the background. On a piece of white quilting cotton I stroked colors that I thought would make a good sky at daybreak – pale blue, violet, peach and gold. I achieved this rather startling canvas:
What sort of a sky has leaf and dark green in it? None I’d ever seen. I was prepared to set it aside and start again. But on second thought, I chose to continue with this background. The unconventional sky colors can represent the effect of birdsong on the air. Here is my bright background after it dried.
Next comes the sketch. I put the catbird’s silhouette in the lower left.
Now the hard part. Searching my fabrics for the colors mentioned in the journal, I found some purples and some brassy bright scraps. Also a few interesting prints. Most of yesterday was occupied with choosing, cutting and attaching fusible to the back of my chosen fabrics. Here is what this applique quilt looked like at the end of the day.
While I am keen to get on with this work, I need some supplies. So I will have to pause pending a visit to the craft store.
Daily Fiber 