Floral Painting Update

Acrylic, Pastel and Acrylic Markers on Polyester Cotton Canvas

40 x 30 Inches

Hi there, I hope you are all having a good weekend.  It feels like summer is ending slowly here but that’s okay, I kind of look forward to shorter days.  I just wanted to post an update of my floral painting which I have been working on.  I am happy with how it is turning out but I worry about the amount of saturated colour I have used.  It wasn’t really my intention to make such a colourful painting but it has just turned out this way.  I think it is okay.  I don’t work with much of a plan.  The painting will be what she wants to be😊,  I don’t try to control what comes out too much.  I will be adding details with Acrylograph pens next, which, I am really looking forward to because it’s fun.  For now I will let the painting sit and I will do something else because I have been looking at it too much and I have lost perspective.  

Well I look forward to posting hopefully, a finished painting next time.

Look after yourselves and bye for now.

Art Canvas Stretching Problems

 Hi there, I hope your year is going okay so far.  My year hasn't been very eventful which is a good thing.  As you can see I have started a new painting which is bigger than my last painting.  It's 40 x 30 inches.  I am about half way through.  As with the previous painting I stretched this canvas myself.  I was worried after I made it that the canvas was not taut enough on the frame and it turned out that I was right.  You can probably see all the detail in the middle of the sunflower, I used Acrylograph pens for that.  This meant that I was pressing against the canvas a lot and consequently the canvas has loosened and become slightly slack.

I don't know if you can see but the bottom right of the canvas is slightly buckled, as is further up where the sunflower is. I know of tricks to tighten the canvas, like spraying the back with hot water; drying with a hair dryer and I read about a product you can buy to spray on the back of the canvas.  I also know to use wood keys in each corner which I have in the past.  

I have decided the best decision is, once I have finished the painting I will pull out some staples on maybe three sides and restretch the canvas.  I don't think it is necessary to pull the whole canvas off and stretch from scratch again because it is not very loose.  I am hoping this will work.  I had trouble stretching this canvas because it is so big and I couldn't tell very well if I was pulling the canvas tight enough.  Also because I am not experienced at canvas stretching I always worry about damaging the fabric.  I did do a canvas stretching workshop many years ago so I have a basic knowledge of canvas stretching but I just need more practice.

The canvas I am using is Fredrix Cherokee Polyester Cotton Canvas, which feels very good quality and thickness compared to cheaper, readymade canvases.  It is much nicer to work on.  The stretcher bars are Art Spectrum stretcher bars which are very solid and good quality, I think they are the heavy duty ones.

So that was my canvas drama!  I will post with an update when I have finished or at least once I have stretched the canvas again to show you.

Goodbye for now and have a great day!

Floral Canvas Painting

I have been practicing painting florals with acrylic paints on canvas for a couple of years now but have been reluctant to post them here because I wasn’t happy with my efforts.  I was finally happy with this one but part of me still isn’t sure about it.  I used acrylic paint, soft pastel, Acrylograph pens and Posca pens.  It was a lot of fun to make because it was a really intuitive process except for using my reference photos to help with accuracy.  

I went to the beach yesterday and I had to wear a windproof coat because the wind was so cold even though it is now summer.  We have a weather event called La Niña which means that we will have a wet, cool summer, which I don’t mind because I don’t feel in the mood for the scorching heat this summer for some reason.  I am just happy for the sun to be out now and then😊.  My health is slowly improving and I am grateful for the good hours in the day.  Thanks for reading and looking🙏   

Journaling

Hi there😊.  I have a hobby besides painting which is journaling and I have become a bit of a nerd about it.  I love art journals, junk journals, minimalist journals, just all journaling really.  I decided to paint a small portrait on this tag from Oeda Letterpress who make lovely stationery in Japan I think.  Unfortunately I did not paint the poppies but wish I did.  They are from a washi tape by Loi Design.  My mental energy levels are still low so painting small was a way of being able to still complete something even though I am not feeling great.  Also, when I paint in my everyday journal I don’t feel so much pressure.  Thanks for looking☺️

Sketching and Health Issues

Hi there again, another girl completed in my handmade sketchbook with handmade paper which I think could be Khadi paper but I am not sure.  It is A5 size.  I was really happy with this one, I used Diamine Shimmer Ink which is a fountain pen ink.  At night under a lamp the dress has a sparkly gold shimmer which can’t be seen in daylight unfortunately.

My health has been bad lately though it’s not Covid so that is something.  Making small paintings like this allows me to carve out a small piece of light and life that alleviates the darkness for a short time.  Deep down I know I will get better eventually with patience and persistence but it is still tough.

Next time hoping for a lighter post🙏

 

Portrait Illustration

Some art made with Watercolour and Gouache made mostly on A5 Arches Hot Press paper.  I hope you enjoy it.😊

Flowers

This artwork was made with Watercolour and gouache in an A5 Moleskine Watercolour Journal. 

Sketch

For this one I used a thick paper by Khadi who make handmade paper.  It has quite an uneven surface but was smooth at the same time(if that makes sense?).  I like how this paper feels and the deckled edges, also it doesn’t buckle so much when I use a lot of water.  I’ve had this paper for a long time and was a bit scared to use it but I think I will continue with it.  It really encourages me to be looser with my painting.

Hair

 This one was painted in my handmade journal with smooth, deckle edged, handmade paper.  I was thinking of 1980’s hair and celebrities for some reason.

 

Spring Inspiration

 

Both of these artworks are about 8” x 10” and were painted on Arches Watercolour paper 300gsm, using  Schmincke, Winsor & Newton Watercolour and Art Spectrum Gouache.

Emotions

Gouache and Watercolour in Moleskine Journal.

I wasn’t going to post these paintings but I thought I would just to show when things don’t go to plan. I wasn’t feeling great when I made these and it kind of shows.  Not everything can be pretty and happy all the time and I should value these more instead of seeing them as a reminder of how crap I was feeling at the time.  These paintings just tell a different story.

Time Out

I have been away from the blog awhile.  I have been a little under the weather physically and mentally and needed some time out.  I thought I would post these two small paintings(A5 size) that I really enjoyed making.  Whenever I make these portraits I never know what or who is going to come out and I kind of like that.

Mushrooms

Girl with Mushrooms

Gouache/Watercolour/Graphite Pencil in Moleskine Journal

So I don’t really know why I decided to draw mushrooms with this girl.  I think I was feeling a safe childhood place where there are fairytales, woods and yes, mushrooms. 

I hope everyone is doing okay.

Girl And Cat II

Girl and Cat II

Gouache/Watercolour/Graphite Pencil in Moleskine Journal

I’m slowly getting used to isolation, I’m trying to make different routines for myself.  When I do get out to go to the supermarket I feel all this anxiety about the wide open space around me and just want to go home again.  I am missing my favourite places though.

I really enjoyed making this picture.  The colour of this girls dress was a kind of happy accident which I was glad about.  I enjoyed drawing the cat too.  Stay safe everyone.

One Day At A Time

Girl In Green Dress

Watercolour/Gouache/Graphite Pencil in A5 Moleskine Journal

This week has felt so long when usually time feels so short.  I hope all those in isolation are going okay.  We are not isolated but have been asked to keep distance from others so I stay home a lot.  I’m trying not to watch the news today because yesterday it was too much and I wasn’t as sad for myself but for others and what they are going through.  It’s such a hard situation to get used to.  

I worked on this painting this week.  I feel like there are all these people inside me wanting to get out onto the paper and it’s like I have to get out the way and let them come through - I think Jackson Pollock said something like that and it is really true(not comparing myself to Jackson Pollock or anything:)).  It’s like the painting is already there and I just hope I am good enough to make it real on the paper.  I know I am trying to express something through these girls, I just don’t know what.  I think a state of being that I find myself in regularly and that I can’t define or describe adequately in words.   Goodbye till next time.

Solitary Life

Watercolour/Gouache/Graphite Pencil in A5 Moleskine Watercolour Sketchbook

So I am playing around with these girl paintings still and I have decided to add graphite Pencil illustrations to the painting.  I think I am getting somewhere.  The Coronavirus has become a really big deal everywhere as everyone knows and everything seems so uncertain and unstable.  I like the solitary life and my own company so isolation doesn’t really bother me but I mostly worry about some other people and how they will cope.  I think we can only take a day at a time really and I don’t know what else to say about it but I hope everyone can stay safe and not become too stressed out by this situation.  I will continue to make art and post it and try to be more regular about it.  I feel lucky I can somehow distract myself when I need to.

Being Quiet

‘The Quiet One’

Gouache/Watercolour

6 x 8 inches

I am mostly quiet so I thought I would paint it.  I was kind of subconsciously thinking about 1970’s fashion as well; well of my childhood anyway.  And I think it’s okay to be quiet now; I felt it was a weakness for a really long time but everyone approaches the world differently I guess.

Recharge

When I’m going through a rough patch I find mself living for the sunsets.  It was so beautiful 

at O’Sullivans Beach tonight.  I’m sorry, I am aware of the amount of sunsets I post, please forgive me if they are not interesting, I just love them so much😊

Mental Health Week

‘Take rest; a field that has rested gives a bountiful crop.’

- Ovid

This is one of my all time favourite quotes.  I’m a person who has way too much going on in her brain, usually at the most inopportune times so properly resting my brain has been a learning curve for me.  I always feel so refreshed after getting some real rest.  I thought I would post this painting for Mental Health Week.