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Lots of art, lots of rocks, lots of dragoon

6/21/2017

Sneak peek all the way to Sunday's video! I'm using wooden plaques from Michaels because they are so very affordable and so nicely "framed". I don't know why I didn't try this sooner. It's just a little bit different from what I normally do, and there's a vague clue in the hazy whiteness next to that magpie.

Some pretty rocks showed up in the mail after the first batch went missing over the ocean. Now I really wonder what the first batch looked like. Were they a different size? Different shapes? Different markings? The pale green one (is it serpentine?) was a bonus stone and a surprise, which is why I'm only guessing as to what it might be. I appreciate it!

None of them are of personal importance to me, I just really wanted a blue goldstone and didn't want to buy one without also inviting some of his friends. They are neat looking!

Blue goldstone, synthetic cats eye, serpentine (?), pink howlite, & opalite. I just know someone (OTHER THAN LINDSAY) is just tugging at the bit to analyze the meanings and uses and powers and elements and what have you of this little grouping. And I'm sure they correlate with each other and to my personality with such alarming poetry despite being totally unaware and unintentional because that's always how these things play out.

I am not drawing in my "garden" nearly as much as I did that one year that I worked part time and enjoyed the hell out of that. And the garden is being very lovely this year too. Hmm. I think it's entirely because I feel like I need to be doing more "useful" things, which means every dang thing I paint NEEDS to be filmed or livestreamed as to not be wasted. And that's a strictly desk thing.

Clearly I should just be painting SO MUCH that filming every bit of it would be impossible. Or I should do all of my internetting outdoors. Both completely impractical suggestions, thanks me.

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Chill Painting Week

6/16/2017

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The more free time I have, the more I waste.

My fellow has been conferencing so I've been home alone for the week! Of course, I had all of these expectations to be super productive but that never quite works out! I still only livestreamed a few hours this week (thursday?), even though I had all of these evenings with the apartment to myself.

Truth is, I've been more focused on cramming vegetables into my face, especially the kinds that only I appreciate :) Been cooking a lot. Above is a detail of a commission I painted too slowly (alone in the apartment means I watch ALL THE MOVIES). Turns out, movies are way too distracting and can turn a 2 hour painting into an all day Event.

But that's okay, it's a very special painting for a friend. Video on Sunday!

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So An Art Supply Gift Card Doesn't Go Too Far...

6/8/2017

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I suddenly got a little antsy and decided that a month was long enough to wait to use my Opus gift card that I won. Partially because I suddenly decided that the other Finetec mica set is something I wanted. Even though I don't need it.

And that's what I was going for with this gift card! I have a horrible guilt complex, and buyer's guilt is one of the tiers. Everything I buy, other than food, has to be utterly practical and well thought out. This was free money, so I said nuts to all that, I was going to use it on something completely impractical and unnecessary.

I was so excited and ready to have fun, but it was SO HARD to go against my own grain. It was all very anti-climactic after I realized that $100 gift card doesn't go very far in an art supply shop! :O Yep, that little pile is what I walked away with. For the heck of it, I'll share as many superfluous details as I can think.

Finetec Pearl watercolour (CAD$43.25): Ouch! So this took up pretty much half of the gift card's value. What am I going to do with these?? How many versions of "shimmery white" do I really need? Even one? I don't know. The red tones are what really sparkled for me, and that blue-green is a mermaid's dream. Someone on Etsy is selling their own collections, and I am dying to know how on earth they are getting those. Full sized pans of such royal violets and reds... oh my.

Jacquard Pinata Ink (CAD$4.90 each): I played with something like this at Nolwenn's house before, and they were neato. I really didn't know how to choose useful colours (the selection is lacking) so I ended up with some primaries and an "extender" in case I can dilute them or mix colours or something. I have no idea what I'm doing.

Liquitex "Muted" Acrylic Ink (CAD$8.90 each): I got "Neutral Grey" and "Neutral Pink" because I couldn't choose one over the other. I'm surprised by how beautiful they are. It was really hard to talk myself into buying the grey one because I thought "can't I just dilute my black ink?" Nah. I haven't even used them for anything beyond this ONE STREAK on the page and I already want to go back for the rest of the set. Oh, it's happening.

Frixion Pen (CAD $3.50): It's a black pen. Yeah. Um... I mean, it's kinda cool, because the ink disappears when you heat it up (and reappears if you freeze it). Considering how often my workplace recklessly mucks up my whole dang schedule, I thought this would be nice for my planner. Boring.

After all this and taxes, I still have $5 left on the card. I will probably go back for that muted turquoise ink though... hmm.

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Making Use of a Child's Watercolour Palette

5/31/2017

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Heyyyyyyyy, I'm home. I saw a lot of interesting plants and animals and things, though I didn't do a whole lot of artsy stuff. When I am on the move, I usually take my Cotman paints, because it comes in a perfect little travel-sized palette. My Qor are a bit inconvenient in that way, as I'm just using the tin lid as a palette, and I don't really want to carry an uncovered lid anywhere.

Would you believe how tricky it is to find a little travel palette that snaps closed? I fell in love with some rather expensive brass ones. My next step would have been to order a metal palette and spray-paint it, but I don't have as much luck with ordering things from China, unfortunately.

I may still give that a shot, but as a personal back up, I ran into these little (Handmade Charlotte) watercolour sets on clearance at Michaels for $2. It was a great size, it snapped closed, and it had water wells in the lid. It was similar to what I'm used to with the Cotman set. I took the lid off, gessoed the outside of it, and then used the same blue spray paint that I had for my bicycle (which is still holding up, btw).

These cheap little watercolour sets are usually round cakes slipped into the plastic circles and held down with some glue. It wasn't super easy to get them out. I soaked them in a bowl of water for a bit and then pried them out with a tiny knife. Some popped out in a couple of pieces, most of them I ended up destroying though. It was a bit of a melty mess! But now I've got 12 spots for my Qor tube paints and I think I already have enough colours to fill every one. Uh oh! No more fun paint shopping for a while!

I mixed a bit of pink glitter embossing powder with some gloss gel medium, and pushed it through a stencil to add a ginkgo to the front. It will take some time to dry up. The only thing I would have done differently is use a spray on primer instead of the gesso, because I wanted a smoother surface.

My little palette is ready for paints! I'm going to hold off for a little bit because I'm nearly ready to use my gift card and do some self-indulgent art supply shopping. What if I find a perfect palette regardless? The plastic bottom on this one feels really delicate and easily breakable. But sometimes if you can't find the perfect thing, you gotta use what you have and make it yourself!

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Message About the next few Weeks

5/12/2017

So I'm surprised about how much of a boost of confidence I got from the outdoor painting challenge last weekend. I sat, with a friend, in a random spot and was able to take a couple of details from my surroundings that struck me as interesting, and turn it into a satisfying piece of art. No photographs needed, I didn't take it home and work on it later, it was done in one sitting and it was a great day.

Maybe it's because I didn't have as good an experience at the beach last week, attempting the same except on my own. Is it the camaraderie that makes a difference? Or were we just lucky to find inspiration around us that day?

Regardless, it's weird to be that surprised because I finish most of my paintings in one go on the regular. I work quickly. Maybe I was just doubtful that morning. The point is, I'm feeling more confident to follow ALL of my ideas, which is great because I'm on a video-making binge right now. Despite the complete lack of planning on behalf of my employer, I'm leaving them very high and dry for a couple of weeks while I do family stuff. Hopefully fun stuff. I'm on a good track to have preloaded enough videos to youtube in advance that you'll hardly realize I'm gone. No laptops are coming with me! I'm going it alone.

Except for a Tuesday vlog (May 23rd) because I won't be able to compile one.

The image above is a peek at one such future video, in which I struggle terribly to paint opals. Dang. My methods and thoughts on them, to come!

Had the Best Day at the Opus Art Challenge

5/7/2017

In no particular order:

1. Today, I attended the Opus Painting Challenge (for the 2nd year) and it was a perfect weather kind of day. My friend Lindsay came with, and we spent the whole day painting in the sunshine!

2. When I opened the event booklet, I saw that they used a photo of my cousin and I laughing during last year's event! It's a great photo.

3. We made a beeline to the Opus (it's an art supply store) after registration because they had a sale on Qor watercolours for 20% off. Even more exciting, it was Buy Two, get a pack of three 5ml tubes for FREE! :O What's even MORE EXCITING, I got their very last box!! :O :O :O Watch the May 16th vlog to find out which colours I got ;)

4. I found the most beautiful moss I've ever seen. The little stems on this moss were COPPER. Shiny, metallic copper. How can such a thing exist? I am in love.

5. The moss and an old cottage inspired today's painting. I'm so happy and proud of it.

6. I saw a few new bugs and birds that I am unfamiliar with. Oh, and a heron!

7. At the end of the Opus Challenge, there is usually a random prize draw. All sorts of companies donate prizes to this thing, and I'm talking full size bundles of supplies. I'm talking entire sets of prismacolour markers. I'm talking light tables. I'm talking Pan Pastels. Sketchbook sets. Paintbrushes. Last year, my cousin and I, we neither placed in judging nor won a prize draw. But Lindsay won a set of Stabilo markers and a set of Stabilo pastel pencils! :O

8. And then I won a $100 gift card! :O WHAT SHOULD I GET OMG

9. I went home and had ice cream.

10. And the whole day started by waking up a bit too early, in the squishy middle part of the bed, in freshly washed sheets, and flanked on both sides by warm rumbly kitties.

A great day.

A Lamp Post done in Posca

5/5/2017

Yesterday was the first warm day of the year (it's so late!!) and boy was it ever. I had to dig around for a pair of presentable short pants and quickly discovered that my sandals are significantly less comfortable than I thought they were. Seriously, I have callouses now and plan to never wear them again.

I knew that when the weather warmed up, I wanted to do a sketchbook-to-painting series in which I wander around town and sketch things, the way a tourist would photograph everything. In fact, the photo I used to practice with these Posca pens, I took with a toy camera when I was taking a walk around the neighbourhood one day after pastry class.

(The camera is a plastic Vivitar imitation that lets in less light and exaggerates colours. The vignette is intense!)

I suppose there are plenty of things to notice around a town you spend your whole life in, and it kind of goes with the theme of how much of our childhood wonder is lost. How many things become mundane and unappreciated on our way to work every morning?

So yesterday, it was 20C (right after a rainy day of 12C) and it was uncomfortably warm and humid as hell. So I took a bus down to the beach to give my sketch wandering a little practice. Well, it wasn't great! I forgot to bring a paintbrush, and even then all I did was do a quick sketch of the pier. It was nice to sit in relative silence for a bit (very peaceful), but no real art was done. Was it the bright sun? Was it the slippery metal bench I was sitting on? Was it the constant flow of strangers passing behind me? Was it the open expanse of the ocean with not much in it?

I don't know. But there is a big difference between wandering alone with a camera, and sitting alone in one spot with a sketchbook. Going to the beach alone is not very much fun.

Planner or Improviser?

4/27/2017

Planning out a painting by doing sketches and studies in the sketchbook has some serious pros and cons:

Pro:
- you fill up your sketchbook with fun things!
- you learn different ways to paint a subject
- you can practice different angles and choose the best ones
- you can take bits from every reference to create a new version
- you can try out different colour schemes before committing
- you can try out different compositions (thumbnails) before committing

Con:
- It takes longer
- It can be a form of procrastination
- It doesn't guarantee all of this work will pay off in the finished painting
- You may lose interest in the painting altogether because what you originally wanted to express is done now

I'm still searching for that perfect balance.

Fishteria

4/21/2017

A sneak peek of this weekend's video! It makes no sense, I guess I just felt like doing wisteria on a golden background. That background doe. The colour gives me a 70s carpet vibe. But in a good way.

In other news, everything is angsty and annoying as usual. I'm considering a new career of becoming a swamp hermit. Hold up, I'm having a Goosebumps flashback. I used to wake up at 2am to read those books over and over! I'd like to say it was a simpler time, but I was just as anxious back then.

Found Poetry Journal - Should I Go

4/18/2017

I have this weird hangover from yesterday's adventure. It involved walking through a huge garden on very little fuel, and then resting a moment at Peaceful Restaurant, which had some pretty delectable foods. I knew I was going to get some kind of headache from letting myself be hungry for too long, but it was a pretty lousy headache and some pretty stiff neck/shoulder/back muscles. I went to bed early.

I did not feel better this morning.

So it's been a little bit since the last time I did anything creative. Memory is failing me. I sit here, doing a really leisurely acrylic paint play in this found poetry journal. Artists who are not amateurs are doing stuff all the time. They're getting into shows, painting multiple hours a day, writing materials, sketching ideas.

I'm at a complete standstill. I go through long blocks of time either sleeping off and on through the night, or working at the day job where I don't have time to think about art stuff. So It's really hard to keep track of what I'm doing! I can't remember what I wanted to make, or what day it is, or what inspired me the other day.

I have a day off and I know that there were a bajillion things I wanted to do and I can't remember a single one of them.

*Sits, stares out the window*

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