A Sporadic Inktober

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Watercolor and Ink

Watercolor and Ink

I am doing a miserable job of keeping up with #inktober. But, I am inspired to do as many ink drawings as I can. This year I am not feeling so bound by rules…so while ink is the main ingredient, I feel fine adding color with other mediums.

While I was in Frisco, NC I stopped in to the Indian Town Gallery and they were gearing up for their Tiny Art Fundraiser. I decided it would be fun to donate a piece of art for this. Everyone that participates gets a 5×5 canvas to paint on, at the show all works are $20 donated to a good cause. I am only sorry that I can’t be there for the show! Tiny Art Show

Sardine Surprise: Tiny Art Donation

Sardine Surprise: Tiny Art Donation

Feeling a little unsettled about subject matter right now. Not so much for sketching and experimenting, that comes pretty easy. But, I still feel a little overwhelmed by my goal of completing a body of work. I am not very disciplined…or maybe I am just easily distracted. Maybe I should make a list of what I want to paint, settle on a size for all, and just dig in to that. If I could get 2 oil bar paintings and two watercolor/ink pieces done I would be happy with that. That is two less than I hoped for.

Puffy Fish: ArtSnack materials

Puffy Fish: ArtSnack materials

Can’t stop experimenting!

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Oil Pigment stick and encaustic on wood panel.

Oil Pigment stick and encaustic on wood panel.

I don’t remember where I saw these oil paint sticks…oh, yep I do, one showed up in my Pigment and Palette box awhile back. Just white, and I picked it up to use it on the urchin painting….and it worked great! Then I did a little research and they looked like a lot of fun. One thing led to another and before you know it I have a starter set of colors.

Well, they are fun, but boy are they messy! My first attempt was more mess than anything. After a little more research I became a little more disciplined and set up my space so that I could keep the mess to a minimum. I decided to try them with the encaustic this time. I really like how they work. I added the first layer with my fingers (protecting my skin with gloves) and then fused the layers and used a brush to apply the pigment after that (a tiny brush, as I was working small). This set came from R&F–they are very nice. R&F Pigment Sticks Website

I think I will try a larger painting next. The great thing about this medium is, no solvents needed, no concerns of fat over lean (like oil paint) and quicker drying time. Mixes well with oil paint as well.

New Materials

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In progress: acrylic paint and acrylic markers

In progress: acrylic paint and acrylic markers

I never thought I would really like acrylic paint. And, I never really expected that traditional art supplies would really evolve…but they have! After doing the mermaid painting, I realized that painting can be fun…it may not be my media in the end, but it is fun. Somehow I stumbled onto Acrylic markers. These things are super cool, they allow you to “draw” on canvas or wood panels. It’s just a little more comfortable for me, as painting does not come naturally. I am looking forward to learning how to use these and combining them with a brush. I am going to to work on a bug series.

Second in a series

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Single Daffodil. 5x7 cradled panel.

Single Daffodil. 5×7 cradled panel.

Sketch to painting. Imaginary color. Water-soluble crayon over absorbent ground–not sure about that choice. The background laid down very nice, but this is a difficult choice of medium. I think that I will try this one again with Casein. I like the softer background of the tulip, I think prefer a little less chaotic. But, all in all, an interesting experiment. I am working on achieving a series of paintings that will all work together–regardless of the medium chosen.

Fountain pen sketch for painting

Fountain pen sketch for painting

First in a series

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Orange Tulip

Orange Tulip

Sketch to painting. Imaginary color. Experimental background. Sometimes I wonder…what in the world am I doing? I just launch into a painting using materials that I have either never used or have limited use in…I feel like I should be using materials that I am really adept at. However, I don’t even know what that would be. Painting doesn’t really come naturally to me, so I am approaching it like a drawing.

I had a lot of fun deciding on the colors to use for this piece. I really enjoyed doing the ink only sketch and then re-interpreting that into a small painting. This is 5″x7″ on a cradled birch panel. I really like opaque watercolor and water-soluble crayon, but I wanted to work on something other than paper. So, I found some absorbent gesso ground and made that my first layer, (purposely painted on in several layers with some nice texture) then I did an abstract opaque watercolor background and added some salt. Then I painted my image right on top. I am happy with the translucency almost tissue paper look to it. I am like that some of the background comes through in the flower. Opaque watercolor is a challenge though and some areas seem muddy to me.

I think that I will try inktense or maybe casein next.

Tulip Study: fountain pen, black ink

Tulip Study: fountain pen, black ink

Finishing up

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Casein & colored pencil: 5" x 7"

Casein & colored pencil: 5″ x 7″

Some work does get abandoned….but not always forgotten. I have been looking at this in an unfinished state since August! I carry it around, and keep thinking I will get back to it. I did a pencil sketch that I actually like better…but, I wasn’t ready to relegate this to a permanently unfinished piece. So, without too much extra time involved I completed it today. I love the richness of the background against the white. This white iris was blooming in front of my very red japanese maple. Nice memory.

Working the background

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water-soluble crayon and colored pencil

water-soluble crayon and colored pencil

Doing these little detail drawings is a lot of fun. I am working on incorporating some movement and activity in the background. This background was inspired by the pattern on the topside of a scallop shell that I picked up a long with this broken shell. The broken shell reminded me of Georgia O’Keefe shell paintings, so I thought I would try to do one with that as inspiration.

I like the texture and movement in the background, I am going to work on these combinations for a few more pieces. I need to work on doing a better job of creating a motion feeling…but it’s starting.

This was drawn in my moleskin sketchbook.

Dandelions!

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Encaustic, oil pastel on cradled birch panel. 6" x 6"

Encaustic, oil pastel on cradled birch panel. 6″ x 6″

The week is going by so fast! I have so much that I still want to do, but there is plenty of time. I am pretty happy with this piece…I decided to limit myself (working on the discipline) to only using the brush. No drawing! No guidelines, just throwing it down. Trying to keep the spontaneity going. It was a good learning experience. I really like the encaustic and the oil pastel together. Oil pastel is great to work with this way, it melts beautifully on my griddle palate and with just a little beeswax medium added has a nice fluidity going on. The other nice thing about the oil pastel as opposed to the wax pigment is that it doesn’t “dry” as quickly and has some opacity. I like the way the brush stroke can be maintained.

I think that I need to get a few more brushes. The encaustic/oil pastel combination can get muddy if one isn’t careful. Mixing colors is something I would like to get better at. However, keeping the color pure and simple is forcing me to make serious decisions when putting the color down…so that is good.

On to the next project! And, I still need to get to the inktober work!

Art, Art and more Art!

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Encaustic & oil pastel: 5" x 7"

Encaustic & oil pastel: 5″ x 7″

This is my week to devote just about every day to my Art Projects. This makes me so happy. I am going to have to counsel myself not to be disappointed that I can’t get everything done that I want to. Today started slow…it’s amazing how quickly the morning gets away from you. I took some photos and decided to just play around a little–the result is this little encaustic painting of a dandelion. This afternoon I am going to work on some ink drawings for inktober (I am behind on this) and do some planning for the week. I need to get organized so I can make good use of my time. And, I need to remember to eat and walk the Big dog!

amandbig1014

Realistic, but abstract

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Bird of Paradise: water soluble crayon and graphite

Bird of Paradise: water soluble crayon and graphite

This turned out pretty much the way I wanted it to. That doesn’t happen often. It was planned…but yet loose. I made myself put the color in loosely knowing that once the color was down, that was it, no going back in color. Just over drawn in graphite. I will try to do more of these, some in graphite some in ink. My goal is for the over drawing to simply have beautiful lines, even if that means changing what is in front of me. I am not exactly happy with the lower right corner, but the rest of it I am pleased with.