Drawing a face or portrait in one line is a fun exercise. You have to keep the pen moving and connect all the lines, making some wonky scribbles. On a small piece of paper on my desk, I drew this portrait with a marker, and then added colour to it with pencil. A bit weird and funny, not realistic but still recognisable. Try it yourself!
My desk is a bit of a mess, filled with to do lists, administration, projects on the go, a sketchbook, a technique book and so on... and in between that messy area I sometimes paint. Just in between my computer work, which I am not really a fan of..., I grab some paint and water and paint or draw something.
A picture of this beach in Scotland drew my eye and I wanted to see what I could make of it. So this is the result. I used Neocolour II crayons to add details. I am practicing landscapes, to find my way in how I would like to paint them. So this was a good interruption. On to the next :).
It was that time again, I found some leaves of a beech and a grapevine which had an interesting shape. So I printed some cards with them to hold on to the autumn colours.
Last week the wind increased a lot which causes many leaves to fall down... so seize the moment.
It is mushroom season and the forest and trees hide them well. Look at these beauties, a whole tree was filled with them. The details of the rims, the soft colour and the tenderness of their stems, what a Creation...
With art you do not always know where you end up. One of my teachers encouraged the students with: just go, start! She was also the one who liked to fill pages with colour and then take a moment to see whether there is anything in the page which speaks to you. For example, this page in my sketchbook bothered me a bit and I decided to tackle it. So this is before:
I sort of saw the contours of a bird and decided to just paint and see where this will end up. And eventually it became this fantasy bird:
Who would have thought?
I think he is rather funny, and at least it was fun to make. When it can be fantasy, well just try and use your skills and creativity and be surprised of the end result.
Sometimes it is quite difficult to keep going and make art. All kinds of other jobs and questions ask your attention and energy... and then there is no energy left to really focus on making. Oh yes, a small drawing is possible but to get the brushes out, make a plan of what you want to paint and then start and focus and above all finish a new artpiece... it is difficult.
For me it helps to work in series. But at the moment it is quite unfocused, so I am accepting this and am putting my energy in the joy of drawing, of creating. The joy of making something new is what keeps me going! So I made this sign to remember myself and just because I liked the combination of blue and red.
Lately I have been trying a lot of different pencils and brands. One of my favourites is the Inktense pencil of the English brand DERWENT. This pencil has strong pigment and can be diluted with water. I bought a new colour: Mid Vermillion, and tried it in my sketchbook. Here you see an apple and a pear, the pear I blended with water which makes the colour stronger and more present. When you do not dilute, that is the apple, then it holds the softness of your drawing lines.
