From the Paint Box

Yes, I have been painting a bit! I decided I need to finally fill my practice book, and since I had done Sketchbook Revival and then a few things during Workshop Week, I'd just keep at it. Soon I'll pull out the good paper and get back to animal portraits and other images but for now, this has been fine! 

Creativity In Quarantine

With all the stress of Staying Home, anxiety about contracting Covid-19 and both collected grief for the changes in our world and individual grief for the loss of those close, finding ways to reduce that stress is critical. It may be reading, cooking, gardening or finding calm in creativity.

Two articles I recently discovered are well worth one's time: "The Therapeutic Power of Making Art" and "Finding Inspiration During Quarantine."

I've been doing both. For me, painting both calms and puts me in a Zen zone and also brings back a few memories, like visiting Martha's Vineyard and the charming cottages at the Oak Bluff's Campground.

Sometimes it reminds me of my walks at the Ditch.

Or it may recall memories of a fun visit several years ago to Rick's brother and sister-in-law in Massachusetts, where this barred owl took up residence in the tree for hours.

And other times, it puts onto paper experiences that our Toddler Twosome have enjoyed, even if I wasn't there to enjoy it with them.

If you want Zen, you can't beat the repetitive action of needle felting! I have done a fair amount of lambs this year.

But I also had fun with my French bear! He took forever. I'm not sure I can sell him!

The bigger part of my creative outlets has been my Quarantine Journal. It begins with my time in Canada just as things were breaking out and tightening up. The sketches are relatively quick ones and it's a change from my larger and more labored watercolors. I'm using a 90# Hahnemuhle sketch book, about 6x8.

I log the things that have been part of these many weeks, things like the numerous closings...

...the nervousness of going into the doctor's office...

...celebrating Easter (an unfinished spread)...

...my lifelines, the phone and the computer....

...the frustration of cold weather and yes, snow...

... the frustrations of online grocery shopping and the pleasures in cooking.

I've chronicled the events we see on the never-ending news and the fun of Zooming with friends.

And finally, a few honest thoughts about what this new life is.

There are more pages to come -- I have a feeling I'll be working on this journal for a very long time.

July Is World Watercolor Month!

July is World World Watercolor Month -- a worldwide event featuring the ultimate challenge of 31 Watercolors is 31 Days!

The idea is to paint every day (or as many as you can) and post your work on various platforms to bring awareness for arts education to get art supplies for kids who need them via The Dreaming Zebra Foundation.

So join me! Grab your art supplies and paint often, post often! Use the hashtag #WorldWatercolorMonth when posting your art and use it to meet other watercolor artists around the globe!

Since I just arrived at the lake this week for the first time, I thought I'd share one from last year that might never have made it to the blog! Once there, I plan to paint every day! (I may not POST every day -- that makes me a little crazy! But I will share all I do, the good, bad and ugly!)

Picking Up Pencil and Brush

Somehow, despite the chaos of the past few days,  I've managed to get my act together enough to enjoy some art time! (OK, let's be real -- much of this was done before the great ER visit!)

Out came the watercolors and some photos of some of my favorite scenes. I love this fabulous pink house in Martha's Vineyard, especially the wonderful chair on the porch.

I can do better. But I have to say that adding a mat to it really "tidies things up" and makes even my failures look a little better! (This is a great tip if you look at your painting and think, "What was I thinking?)

Ever since I took my "pet painting" class, I've been trying to perfect the intricacies of animals. Pickles, the cat of Randy and Elaine (Randy is Rick's brother) and Daisy both make great subjects!

And here's the one I'm most pleased with.



I also did this yin yang version. Here's the photo.

I need to redo the watercolor on that -- it just isn't quite right, but I'm on the right track.

(By the way, I'm getting ready to add notecards of the yin yang cat and several other images to the Gypsy Caravan link at the top of this page soon!)

Pickles' "sister" Daisy was a challenge too and I didn't like the way I did her first. So, I did it again. But now I think I like the first one better.

                                

Which do you think is best? Left or right version? (I kind of like the first layer of color, below! Unfinished but interesting.

Then there was my first version of a scene from Giverny. I started out with a sketch.

And then went on to add color.

I need to add here that I was so inspired by Vivian Swift's Giverny painting that I had to try one of my own. And I really wasn't happy with it (though it did look better with the mat!) So, again and again if need be. (That's another great lesson I've learned from Vivian -- do it till it's right.)

We may be doing a little experiment with this one, so stay tuned!

I've also been doing some sketching. My main focus is two-fold. Working on cats and working on drawing from life. I was pretty happy with this one!

And this works, too. Simple. Not great. But it looks like what it is!

So, stay tuned! More to come!

Sharing this week with Share Your Cup and Pink Saturday!

Trying to Make Practice Make Perfect

It has come to my attention -- by me, in fact, though I'm sure others may have noticed it -- that I have a tendency to creative laziness! And I don't mean just procrastinating. I mean "not going for the gold star."

I've often told Rick, who diligently practices his classical guitar every night, "I love hearing you play. I just hate listening to practice."

Malcolm Gladwell, in his book "Outliers," speaks of how those who "make it" tend to have about 10,000 hours of prep work, writing and rewriting, painting and repainting, coding and recoding computer software.

I may take my time with a project -- or not -- but then it's done and on to the next one. A new canvas, arrangement, crafty bit. Creative ADD. There was a time in the 1980s during the peak of my knitting period that I was turning out a sweater a week, some reasonably complicated. I can't say all of those were made to gauge, that they all fit or that there weren't a million flaws. Off the needles, on to the next! (But I did use good yarn -- it takes just as much time to knit good yarn as cheap and it lasts much longer and holds up better.)

And yes, I proudly wore every single one of those sweaters. (And I still do, a couple of them.) But most? They were just OK. Not good, not great, not spectacular. Only a few things, like handwarmers and purses, really felt like they were done to the max. And I wonder -- if I saw them now would I feel the same? Probably not.

Now, I'm not saying everything I turn out is junk or that I don't agonize over some things and do them till I get them right. I do. (Rick's book is an example.) I have tons of photos of Harry the Heron because some are better than others -- sometimes because of me, sometimes because of camera or conditions. I can rewrite till I'm crazy.

But I've been a lazy painter.

A week or two ago I was reading Vivian Swift's inspiring blog. She is one of my favorites, partly for her wonderful humor and equally because almost every post includes a painting lesson of sorts, as we paint along with Vivian. (By this I don't mean I get out my paints while she is painting but her readers watch her through photos. Step by step.) Vivian's newest book, Gardens of Awe and Folly, will be released March 1 (my copy is on backorder!), and now she is at work on her next, featuring the gardens at Giverny, one of my favorite spots in the world.

As Vivian was working through a painting she repeatedly said, "That's not it."And did it again. And again. Four times.

And I thought, "Gee, if Vivian Swift has to start over four times, who am I to think I can just finish and go on to the next thing!"

I thought of my friend Kate, whose remarkable "Birdiferous" calendar has only 12 pages, yet she spends countless hours on each one. I realized with more than a bit of shamefaced humiliation, that I can turn out things fast and maybe just fine. But not necessarily perfect. And yes, I still am learning but then, isn't that when practice is most essential?

My realization took me on a journey back through my photos where, like Vivian, I found one of Giverny, though in my case, the town, not Monet's home. I started with a color pencil sketch. (Size: approximately 4x4.) The photo is blurry -- old camera -- but it isn't much better clear!

A little blobby. Not a lot of detail here. Maybe not the the right medium for the subject. So it was on to gouache. (I'm working on watercolor postcards, 4x6, for size comparison)

Round one, so-so. The trees need work and it's simply a little flat. (And that gate was driving me crazy.)

Round two, better. I started with a partially done sketch This time I did the gate first -- get the bad thing out of the way. I'm not all that happy but it's better than round one. The trees and flowers are a bit better too, I think. I kept trying to remember some of Vivian's methods and incorporate them. Safe to say she has no competition from me, but I am learning, getting the feel of the paint.

Round three. I began with my initial light sketch and some gentle color blocks.

Then I started putting in the trees, the garden, the detail on the walls. And back to that damn gate. Finally I realized I probably need steadier hands or a smaller brush to do the gate and pulled out the white gel pen and black Pitt markers.

It looks better. Actually a lot better, as I found myself adding more details. It has a bit more depth, I think and the flowers and leaves have improved, though the gate is still impossible. (But Rick liked the wall better in an earlier version!)

Maybe it's on to number four -- although I have to admit, a couple other subjects are calling my name!