I hate being creatively blocked! Sometimes the trigger is obvious, sometimes it just hits out of the blue….like this last few weeks. So frustrating when that happens! It feels like I forget how to paint, or create anything, for that matter. It makes me grumpy, and sad… *sigh*
Finally, on this last Monday, it was gorgeous outside, and I had free time, so I decided to just sit down with my alcohol inks, bound and determined to end the stupid block… and I produced four alcohol ink pieces! Alcohol inks to the rescue this time, so it seems. 🙂 Because they are so free in their ways, they were a good kickstart. I just put on some groovy tunes, sat out on my sunny patio, threw some color on my substrates, used some stencils, and went where it wanted to take me.
The results….
“Woodland” 2017 alcohol inks on Yupo“Oceania” 2017 alcohol inks on Yupo“Jovia” 2017 alcohol inks on ceramic tile“Celebration” 2017 alcohol inks on Yupo
Because of this lovely start, I have another in mind. So my creative wheels are again turning! Yay! 😀
Watercolor painting is not what I would call my forte. I have never taken painting with them too seriously, but I love to dabble in that medium from time to time. For me, they are just intuitive and delicate little studies…in color, shape, & mark making. Relaxing, to say the least. I can get completely lost, like I do when I am in “the zone” with my acrylics, but it is a different feeling…more like floating on another plane of existence, I suppose. lol
There is some delicacy with acrylics, like when I do extreme detail, but it is also different. With watercolors, for me, it is a very dreamy-like delicacy. My colors(not always, however) tend to be softer. The water takes care of that, although they can be strong as well, and that is one of the things I love about it. Depending on the wetness of the paper, the color can be as strong as I want, or as barely there as I want, while all still maintaining a sort of softness, that I can’t get with acrylics. I also love to play with masking fluid, salt, and other effects, to take it to unexpected new places, whereby then I try to see shapes, or whatever. I never know where it will take me, and that is part of the appeal of doing abstracts in any medium! 🙂
masking fluid fluidity
I LOVE my “water brush”! Except for the smallest detail work, or when I need a separate clean brush for wetting the paper with clean water, as I go, I pretty much just use it alone. It is VERY convenient to have that water reservoir! No dipping in water required! It came with my particular watercolor set, and I had no idea it would be so wonderful! 😀 Also, it has held its tip point remarkably well for being almost 4 years old! Sometimes, like today, I hold it in my right hand to lay down the color, while in the other hand, I have a brush for keeping the paper wet, or to blend as I go. I was thinking today, as I did this, how it felt kind of like playing an instrument. I know…I’m a little weird. 😛
Two hands needed for this one!
I tend to like lots of delicate themes, as well…flowers, hearts, swirls, circles, and squiggles. My favourite tool for going back to add them, after the paint has dried, is a wonderful illustration pen with a double point. One end is a bendy, paintbrush like nib, and the other end is a very pointy, but stable nib. I can get super delicate black lines with it….perfect for doing dreamy little doodles, and the smallest of details! I learned early though, that it has to go on last, and can’t get wet(unless I want it to for whatever effect), or it just runs black all over the place!
I have a special table away from my other painting area, where I like to sit and play with my watercolors. I have my tea, and usually 60s “hippie music”, haha, or soft rock playing. Both inspire me….
It is also my sewing area, as once in a while I feel the urge to quilt. Yes…many interests, not enough time!! It is a clean area compared to my painting area, and the art desk where I make my jewelry. I don’t use my OTT light over there, just soft desk lamp lighting. The white, natural light of the OTT lights is a must for my acrylic painting, and I have two, since the room I paint in does not get enough natural light through its one window. For my watercolors, though, I am not as concerned with it. I like the softer , warmer feel of the “yellow” light, as it helps set the mood for the particular subject matter I like to do with the watercolors. Funny that they actually turn out! 😛
Anyway, I’ve been watercolor painting, here and there, over the last few weeks….late at night, sometimes in the afternoon…between trying to come up with inspiration to do another acrylic, and trying to just relax my sometimes chaotic mind! I bought a small watercolor sketchbook of sorts, and do it on a small scale, without ripping the pages out, or even sizing the paper. Maybe one day I will feel so inclined to take watercolors more seriously, and do larger pieces with a plan in mind, but for now, it is just a little side trip… a happy, delicate, and dreamy little escape….. 🙂
flower doodleflower doodles on background“Scribble Flower”“Vibrant Flower”“Three Flowers”“Marsh”
“Festival”. The name very much suits my newest little abstract. I switched to canvas for this one, so it has a nice natural texture to it, as well as being busy and fun, and… well….festive! 🙂
I started out with just the base colors. I was going for bright(what else is new? hahaha), sunny, and happy. So yellows, red, and magenta mixed with deep yellow to make a nice deep orange, fit that bill…
I had a sketch in mind, so was just going for an interesting background for the bottom layer…and a whimsical treed landscape for the final piece. I did fun stuff….like drips, different little brushstrokes with more bright colors, and scratching through layers to add visual interest….in about the spots where I was going to put the trees. Soaking acrylic down when it is wet, and just letting it sit, creates some interesting, often unexpected effects…especially on canvas, where it pools and blends, and the colors look “melted” together….mixing playfully with each other. Love that! 🙂
Anyway, as is my usual, I ended up with a pretty little abstract as my “background”, then had that seemingly endless debate with myself over whether or not I actually wanted to paint over it! haha Especially when I posted it, and it looked so good on a phone case and other stuff!
So, it sat there for a day…I was busy and had to stop for a while…which is ok, since it is usually good to let it dry really good in case I want to “fix” my top layers in any way. If the paint is not completely dry underneath, and I use water to “erase” any fresh marks or painted areas I want to change, the under paint will just come off with it, and completely ruin the bottom layer. Gotta love acrylics for this “erasure with water” ability, I must add!
Anyway…. I sat here staring at it, getting completely attached to it as it was. Having this “color joy” come over me whenever I looked at it. 🙂 Plus, I could not get my transfer paper to work on it with my sketch, and my other fallback transfer method….white chalk…was never going to show up in all that busyness! I then tried black conte, and covered the back of my vellum sketch with it, turned it over, and couldn’t see my sketch because I had only done it in pencil, and not ink. Nearly completely invisible, so I couldn’t see the lines to trace! Argh! Except then, I realized that maybe it was not meant to be…that maybe this was not the background I needed for this sketch. That this little painting was destined to just stay a happy little abstract, colouring my days! 🙂 Check out that cute little heart… 😉
“Festival”“Festival” iPhone case @society6 🙂 (click on pic for link)“Festival” on Flare Dress @Art of Where 🙂 (click on pic for link)
BTW…I had my energetic 60’s playlist at 8tracks playing while I worked on this one. Enjoy! 😀
At the outset, I will start by saying that this is going to be a long post…I am in a Ramblin’ Mood. 😀
I’m having an art day today. My fave kind of days! A little art a day keeps the doldrums away! 🙂
Sometimes I sit down to paint with a plan….at least a pre-sketch. With my large whimsical landscapes, that is often how it goes. Although doing the sketch in my idea book is often freeform thought as well.
Today, however, with one wooden coaster left…I just wanted to throw some paint on it, and see what I ended up with. No plan, no pre-planned effects, just intuitiveness(is that a word? :P). Follow the brush to faraway dimensions, so to speak. 🙂
Started out with blocks of my fave colors…blues, pinks, and purples, and deep turquoise. Then dripped(haha…dripped!…more like blobbed!) black paint on one end to have it drip down…letting gravity help me. Could not get the flipping paint runny enough (in an old tube of black) so I kind of globbed it on(yes, spellcheck, I made up a word! Deal with it! hahaha) then added more water to the globs, and banged it down on the table to get it moving. It kinda did, kinda just stayed globby(spellcheck is super suggesting now! lol). Then it fell over onto the piece of paper towel I had down to soak up the excess. Great, I thought. Until I turned it over and LOVED the effect it made! Channelling Bob Ross again…no mistakes, just happy little accidents! 😀
Whilst “playing” with all this black paint, I got a little on me. hahaha I really feel artsy girlish when I end up covered in paint! Is it really fun if you don’t get messy? I don’t think so!! 😛
Needed a chocolate break…. 😀
BTW…My most favourite 8tracks playlist, is one I made specifically with my painting in mind. It is my most popular one there, so I am not alone in loving it! It is long, and full of gems. 🙂
70s classic rock is my go-to jam. I don’t quite know why…but because it is so damn groovy, I can really get into my art zone. *grooves* I think because it channels the kid in me. I was super attached to my little FM radio, and spent nearly all of my allowance every week on records…then cassettes…then CDs….
Music, in general, is such an intrinsic part of my being, but music from my childhood…beats all of it to grab the best part of my heart. Oh boy…that chocolate was good…look at that poetic paragraph! hehehehe
Now for some periwinkle blue blobs. Again, not runny enough. Maybe spraying with water to loosen them up? Moved a little, but mostly just got really wet! Suddenly the imaginary lightbulb over my head lights up…artsy girl grabs chunk of watercolour paper….lets little painting do another face plant…this time with a slight, non-malicious push! mwahahaha! 😛
Voila! Cool little branches!! Loving this now. Starting to look like something….underwater. Also reminded me of a scene from the old Spiderman cartoon! Right up my little geek girl alley now! lol
Plus, now I have a little “print” on my watercolour paper for a future something. Bonus… a twofer! 😀
Since my hands were already considerably covered in paint, why not just go with it, and get in there with my fingers?! I love the interesting marks I can make with my hands. Like personalized little touches. Peace baby. 😀
Needs a fish, methinks. With a heart tail…’cause hearts are my thing. Not too many of my paintings don’t have one…be it hidden or out loud. 🙂
Holy Blurry Batman! Good thing this isn’t a photography contest! hahaha!
Then it was just adding dainty little brush strokes… some lines, a few dots, intuitively here and there…enhancing….making marks,making abstract somethings…
Needs flowers now…another hippy girl thing of mine. 🙂 And of course… a little luminosity in the form of sgraffito marks revealing all that glorious hidden color…a little floating medium, a scratching tool, and dainty little lines, swirls, and more hearts….
Done finally…only took me most of the day…but what a nice way to spend a day! Behold, “Under The Sea”! 😀 Happy Wednesday! It is Wednesday, isn’t it? hahahaha! 😛
Music is another of my passions. I don’t play any instruments…well a wee bit of guitar, but I am terrible at it!…but listening and digging for hidden musical jewels, old and new is a favourite pastime for me. Recently I discovered 8tracks.com, and started making playlists there just for fun. I like to play them, and others I have discovered there, when I paint…especially in the summer when I get to paint outside. Something about sunshine, good music, and color…. 😀
I am often inspired and get motivated by the music I am listening to while I paint. Every genre takes me in new directions, it seems. I love classic rock to paint to, and it often gives me the energy bursts, where my brush strokes become wilder, and very playful. Blues however, inspires more thoughtful considerations…deeper layering, more subtleness, more detail. It is a little weird when you think about it….but then again….maybe not so weird. Maybe music, being an art form in itself, is intrinsically tied to the creative process of painting…. I think so. I know so, because I feel it, and it is real. I paint far better and less distractedly when I listen to tunes, over, say a podcast, or a movie on Netflix, both of which I enjoy doing also while painting…especially watching Star Trek…which inspires me on whole other levels…but that is another story! lol
Anyway, I made playlists at 8tracks (and on my iPod of course, but I can’t embed those here :P) for my painting purposes, although they also work well when on the treadmill, or cleaning the house! lol
Today, as I delve into another mini painting, of which I am going to try a sideways approach to encaustic (painting with wax)for the first time…that is to say, not exactly encaustic painting, per se, but using the wax as an effect over acrylics (I shall write another post when I finish that, if it works out, and maybe even if not. haha), I think my blues/blues rock playlist at 8 tracks will work well with it, because I want a depth of feeling in this piece, even though it is just a mini, and sort of an experiment.
Every piece is special…and to quote Bob Ross, “We don’t make mistakes, just happy little accidents.”. 😀
Sunshyne Art & Design 
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