Cats

morning doodle

Birdy Sketch

ideas...

birds, a rough house & kitties

Three days ago I decided the birds were finished. There's always a part of me that struggles with the idea of a 'finished piece'. It's altogether likely that the abstract idea of perfectionism in art and the sometimes elusive, instinctual and altogether intimidating concept of THE FINISHED is what delayed me doing for such a time what I've longed to be doing.  I hesitate to use the "should" word. I really do believe that the "should" word is a very dangerous one, even inappropriate or *gasp* WRONG to use in relation to any creative endevour. The "should" word to me has long been a proverbial 4-letter word. If it passes my lips, so does a sharp suspicion of my intention. An excuse to do what others expect? An excuse to follow the status quo? An exuse NOT to be adventurous, take a risk, do something untrendy or expose yourself as vulnerable? "Should" is obligation. And to what or whom? ... So goes the inner dialogue. It wasn't so much a matter of "should" these birds be finished, as that question has no real answer in relation to remaining true to myself... but accepting that even though it looks rough, like a sketch or doodle-like, I simply didn't want to attempt to 'improve' it when I like how it is and for fear of the improvement losing its seemingly innate appeal. Philosophical? Yes. So what? 

 Years ago I might never had painted the Rough House Blue, let alone post in a public place to  be devoured, criticized or loved (not that any of this is happening at the moment, as I don't get much in the way of traffic around these parts!) -- and I CERTAINLY would not have listed it for sale as I did yesterday on Etsy! Rough it is, and love it I do.

Nor would I ever have dared to doodle freely and post the results for the world to see (if they cared to look). Kitties, kittens, cats. A new painting/drawing in the works.

Thoughts please! Happy Saturday! 

doggies etc. and brightness problems

With a few minutes to spare on Sunday I found myself sitting at my picnic table in the garden repeatedly doodling little doggie-shaped heads and liking the result (one of the sheets above). Some were more rabbit-like and some bunny and kitty-like, but it didn't matter. I bought some fluorescent paints earlier in the day in London and was eager to try them out, so I did a quick painting Monday morning. All good? 

Well, kind of. I took a pic with my camera Monday morning which showed the fluorescent pretty well (pic above), but when I scanned it this morning? ... not so nice or even remotely accurate (left, as if you couldn't tell). The last thing I'd want is a bright shiny painting to look massively dull! No idea how to get the fluorescent colour to come out with my scanner and playing around with levels, tones etc doesn't seem to do a stitch of good. For posting online it's no problem, but if I want to create prints of paintings with  fluorescent, this poses a massive problem.

Always a learning curve this creative stuff! 

Birdy Doodles

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Didn't get much done today as I was side-lined by an unhappy tummy, but I have been thinking about incorporating birds into some work again. Just a little peek of some mindless doodles which resulted in a new preferred bird shape.

ideas & plant back to life

I'm very much at the risk of having more than a week go by without doing a post here... so forgive me if this is utterly boring, but I've basically grabbed what was right in front of me and took a few snaps! Above is some detail of a little piece that I've had lying around for a while (the plant of fish/plant/book mini-post) and couldn't decide what to do with. Since I've been painting on watercolour blocks, (pads of of paper that are sealed on all sides), when I have a painting sitting there doing nothing it's not such a good thing because I can't get to the paper below it until it's finished! I do have several blocks available at one time, but having anything sitting for too long makes me feel stagnant and unproductive. 

If you have no idea why I'd want to use a block of paper if it restricts me this way, well,  for me it's as simple as this: the sealed block relieves impatient artists like me the hassle and time constraint of stretching the paper before using. They are more expensive for the convenience, but I tend to be much more prolific without the nuisance of stretching, therefor value for money.

So, while I was sitting in front of my computer needing something to do during the multiple time-outs and pauses while watching Syracuse University beat Kansas State in the NCAA tournament, I started filling in dead space around the little plant and berries with pen and ink. I quite like the effect, and I'm now just deciding whether to go at it with watercolour again.

Above are two little snippets from my BBE ideas book -- (the moleskine squared notebook that I carry around with me to jot things down wherever I am). I definitely want to do something with the bunny idea, because it still makes me smile to see that little doodle. The triangle ladies will need some more thinking about, but that was one of those things that came to me in the middle of the night so I wanted to get it on paper.

Haven't gotten quite as much as I wanted to get done this weekend, but there's still time in the day yet!