I haven’t painted as much as I’d like this month. Uni started back at the end of July and I’m teaching again, as well as nearing the point where I’ll be starting to collect data for my research. Still, I did manage to sneak in a few paintings. I’ve mostly been painting in small format lately – business card or postcard size – as I find I can finish paintings this size within a few hours, and knowing I’ll have a polished piece to show at the end of it is a good motivator to paint.
Moo – Schmincke Watercolours
This was a small painting I did on a Strathmore watercolour ATC. I haven’t done a lot of animal drawings or paintings (mostly just birds), so it was a bit of a challenge, but it came out alright.
And One On Top – Hydrocryl Acrylics
I actually started this one some time in March or April but for some reason I abandoned it halfway through. I don’t know if it was because I got busy with other things and never got around to it or I just lost interest in it but it sat on top of my cupboard until I came home after uni one day and decided I was either going to finish it that night or throw it out. I got out my Hydrocryl acrylics (which are probably the least favourite acrylics I own; I just wanted to use them up) and did most of the background with a palette knife before slathering paint onto the cupcake and the cherries with a brush. I’m not really happy with it (I could have put more effort into the shadows and I should have made the surface the items are sitting on much lighter; as it stands it’s tonally the same as the background), but at least it’s done.
A Secret Bridge – Rembrandt Watercolours
Recently I dug out a Moleskine journal I bought many years ago but had never really used aside from a few crappy attempts at drawings on the first couple of pages. I bought it specifically for doing sketches, but somehow I got it into my head that if I was going to make art, it had to be ‘real’ art, not just a sketch, so the journal sat unloved in my cupboard for many years (I also felt the paper didn’t stand up well to heavy watercolour washes, which also affected its appeal). I am trying to cure myself of this mindset by doing more impressionist and loose artwork, as well as some ink and wash sketches, starting with this little Moleskine sketch of a secluded area at my university. For this one I used my Rembrandt watercolours and Sakura Pigma Micron pens.
And that’s all for August. I had hope to crank out a few more drawings or sketches at the end of August but unfortunately I got hit by a nasty bug that put me out of commission for several days, and by the time I recovered I had a lot of assignment marking to catch up on. Still, three new paintings are better than none.
artdragon86 