….another painting using this simple technique with watercolour pencils and black ink
Poppies in Watercolour and Ink
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Tag Archives: art
One Success and One Massive Failure
….happy with the first one and not so much with the second
Painting for me is a process. I’m more of an intuitive painter. I put down a mark on the paper and go from there. Sometimes it works out well and other times it doesn’t.
Yesterday I put a heavy black stroke of black ink on my paper and I knew as soon as I did that it would overpower my subject but I continued painting anyway. After finishing the piece I showed it to my husband and he honestly told me that the black was too much. I agreed and I tried to calm it down with white paint and other marks but it didn’t help.
I’ve decided to wait a bit before doing anything with it but I will probably cut it up and use the parts that I like and collage them into another painting.
Playing With Paints Again
…it’s been too long
I cleaned off my art table yesterday. That was half the battle. Now I have no more excuses not to paint. On Hallowe’en I actually painted four individual cards for my neighbours but I forgot to photograph them. Painting is very therapeutic for me and I need to do it more often.
I’ve watched dozens of painting videos in the last four months and even though I felt inspired I just couldn’t get motivated to set up the paints. I want to enter an art show later in the month but I have to put my entries on line by November 6th. I’d better get busy. Here is my first attempt at mixed media ….mostly watercolour and ink.
I need a title for this painting. Any suggestions?
Darkness Into Light
This show is running until October 8th and if you’re in town this weekend it will be open to the public on Saturday, Sept 26 for Culture Days. Normally WAAC is only open from Monday to Thursday.
When I went to WAAC ten days ago I saw this show first hand. The participating artists are all members of the Women’s Art Assoc. of Canada. Earlier in the year at the beginning of COVID a call went out for artists to create a piece of work that spoke to them about coming out of the darkness of the pandemic and into the light of hope and new beginnings. Here are a few examples of what you will see when you attend the show.
Making Time for Art Has Been Difficult
….instead I’ve been encouraging my husband to start painting
My husband studied art when I first met him and his first job was as a graphic designer. Over the years he contemplated making art as a hobby but life always seemed to get in the way. In the last two weeks after years of encouragement from me he finally picked up a paint brush and started painting. He’s hooked and there’s no stopping him.
To facilitate his painting I made room for him on my art table in my studio. I gave him my acrylic paints and when he ran out of canvases I gave him mine. Right now I’m looking at a mess and am waiting for him to clean so I can work on my own art. He’s actually been pretty good about cleaning up after he finishes a painting but for some reason he’s forgotten this time.
Before his journey started I did manage to complete a couple of assignments from Carla Sonheim’s on-line class that featured six different artists.
Art for Winnie
….still trying to send mail to our granddaughter
Before Easter our daughter put out a request to the family to send snail mail to Winnie. She was missing her friends and family and getting mail addressed to her might cheer her up. To date we’ve sent four envelopes stuffed with art and ideas to make art, stickers and other little surprises. So far three of the envelopes have been delivered.
We knew that we had to make a trip to Hamilton this week so I started making a paper doll house that came with a doll, furniture, dishes, a rug and a kettle. I ordered it on-line from an artist who was giving the templates away for free. I had so much fun putting it together and before I knew it I started to add more features, like a tree, a pathway, a wall in the backyard, and a outdoor lounging chair.
If you check out the website for Dawning Collective you might still be able to get the doll house kit. Have fun!
Care Package for a Four Year Old
….every other day my husband and I have been making art for our granddaughter
Earlier in the week our daughter asked the family to send mail to her daughter because she was missing her family and friends. Kevin and I quickly pulled out our art supplies and started to make fun pictures and booklets. Winnie is very much looking forward to Easter so most of our projects have an Easter theme.
In our first package I made a video of what we put in the envelope but my storage space is full with WordPress so I can’t post it here. Those of you who follow me on Facebook may have seen that video. For the second envelope I made another video but I also made photographs.
Winnie and her Mom want to decorate the house for Easter so I made a bunch of hand painted Easter eggs on watercolour paper and Kevin drew her some more bunny pictures. So much fun. We hope she gets them soon. In the meantime I’ve been finding classic children’s stories on Youtube and have sent her the link so that she gets a story or two a day sent by her Oma (that’s me). She loved Strega Nona and The Emperor’s New Clothes.
Art on the Beach
….art installations on the rocky shores of Lake Ontario
Much of the beaches in Col. Sam Smith Park in Toronto are man made and made with landfill. Large of chunks of concrete and rebar and lovely old bricks line the shores of the park and the lake. Over the years people have lined up the bricks and laced them onto the rebar to create interesting sculptures. A couple of weeks ago during one of my walks along the beaches I noticed this interesting sculpture made with rebar and bricks.
Yesterday I took a similar path when I went for my daily walk and specifically looked for this same sculpture. As with most pieces of installation art in nature it was no longer there. I did see another piece that I think was mostly created by nature but it did seem to have some human involvement.
I was inspired to try my own hand at making a piece of sculpture with found objects. The rocks and bricks had such interesting colours and had been worn smooth from the crashing waves. In the second photo you can see that I used bits of wood, seashells, speckled stones and a piece of scrap metal. Can you see the face?
From This to That
…yesterday I showed you two blobs of colour that I would transform
Today I completed a cat that looks like it was crossed with a mouse and a leaf eating dragon. Here’s what I started with…..
….and this is what I ended up with
Starting With a Blob
….when you don’t know what to paint start with a blob of colour
Today was the first day of Sketchbook Revival, another on-line free series of classes to get your creative juices to flow. The program is hosted by Karen Abend and today’s guest artist is one of my favourite teachers, Carla Sonheim.
Carla started by encouraging all artists to journal daily with what she calls box journalling. Basically she draws a box in her journal and divides it into sections and writes and draws in the different spaces. She writes random thoughts, to do and idea lists and draws doodles in one of the smaller squares. All of these help give her inspiration for the rest of her day. She also finds it very meditative.
Blob drawings are a great way to start making art when you’re in a rut and don’t know what you want to paint. You literally lay down a blob of paint onto paper and smear it or spread it in a random fashion with a credit card or palette knife. Here are two examples of blobs that I have laid down on the pages of my sketchbook.
Later this evening I will probably turn then around and see what animal or creature I see and start adding detail with a black marker or with ink. For the one that I just finished I used a water based ink so that I could go back in with a wet brush and add shading by just going over the black lines.
In my first blob I clearly saw a bird flying through the air. Here is my finished piece.
Mama Cormier 