….day 4 of Sketchbook Revival
This lesson was brought to us by Angela Fehr. Her approach to painting is to let the paint take you to the next step. It’s a very zen like experience after you lay down the first color and then let your intuition guide your next step. I used watercolour on watercolour paper. The only thing I would do differently next time is do it on a larger piece of paper.
…Charlie O’Shields from Doodlewash calls colouring with paint child’s play
This is day three from Sketchbook Revival. Charlie O’Shield is trying to get us to tap into our inner child. First I sketched the flowers with my fountain pen and then I added watercolour. The goal was to use only three colours and vary the intensity with water to create a range of shades.
….more difficult than I thought
I’ve done two more painting of the cliffs at Howth and I’m trying to be less rigid and looser in my approach with shapes and lines. I’m not there yet but each painting is slightly different from the first one that I attempted a couple of days ago. I’ll keep trying.
….trying to be less rigid on days 174 and 175
The second assignment with Anita Lehmann was to do a series of landscapes using the same elements we used for our pears. Anita is trying to get us to pull out shapes to create an abstract painting. I chose a photo that I took when I was in Ireland. We took a hike along the cliffs of Howth and I took this photo overlooking the Irish Channel.
Here are my studies:
The following piece was my first motive painting. I realized as I was painting that I was being too finicky and that I needed to be more relaxed and loose. Some of the comments that I received were ‘You have made some great marks – i would try and go more abstract if that’s the direction you want to take in this class. Just a suggestion of rock, grass and sea..’ and ‘Your many studies become wonderful investigation of the next steps in a landscape and perhaps the mood or mark that becomes true to the concepts you wish to convey.
I don’t think I’m quite there yet. I’ve done two more of the same scene that I will share with you tomorrow.
….Days 172 and 173
In Anita Lehmanns’s class, Translating Landscapes, we had to take an object and draw and paint it eight different ways using different elements of design. We had to create a play field and create pleasing shapes while investigating the design elements shape, edges, line, texture, value, space and colour. For our eighth painting we could choose our favourite elements.
….day 171 of 365 Days of Art
Recently I showed you 6 prints that I made in a print making class using found objects to give the print texture. Some of the prints were ghost prints which means that a second piece of paper was put over the inked design and when it went through the press a lighter version of the first print appears.
Here is the ghost print of one of my designs.
I decided to brighten this print with some light blue watercolour to the rope at the top and on the bird where I also added a few details, like an eye. Some lines were incorporated to blend the body into the tail feathers and create a wing. I also added some gold geli pen on the grasses and around the beak. After darkening the border slightly I also added some gold detail on the bottom right corner and a little more in the upper left hand corner to balance it.
You may have noticed that I haven’t signed it yet. Your input would be greatly appreciated.
….days 141 to 143 of 365 Days of Art
Over the long weekend I was totally engrossed in creating these collage characters made from art papers. The first thing I had to do was create more art paper because I had left my collage papers at home. Out came the watercolour paper and my watercolour set and I went to town. 
Once they dried I cut out random shapes in different sizes and then I started to play. Here are three more ‘characters’ that I created from the cut out shapes.
