Blog

EDM 9 - Draw a bit of "organized chaos" - your messy desk, your table stacked with books, etc.

2008-05-06T15:05:54Z

This bit of organised chaos lives in a little alcove in my dining room. Once we get proper shelves and these books, cds, records and empty boxes go elsewhere, then I'm sure I can find some more choas to store here. This is a pencil drawing on 230 gsm watercolour paper.

EDM 8 - Watercolour Painting of a Gold Ring

2008-05-03T17:56:09Z

I'm on a roll this week! Already I've finished EDM 8 (Draw your watch or other piece of jewelry) for which I painted one of my rings.

EDM7 - Vanilla Flavouring Watercolour Painting

2008-05-02T17:28:03Z

Here is EDM 7 - Draw a bottle, jar or tin from the kitchen. I tried drawing a jar of Tropical Sun Mollasses because of the colourful label but it wasn't very good. Then I tried Dunn's River Tropical Seasoning using watercolour pencils and wasn't too impressed with that either because I couldn't do the ellipticals properly. I think I was both bored and tired when doing these. See horrendous failed results below:

Really bad aren't they?

In the end I chose a tiny bottle of Vanilla Flavouring and this time I did a quick sketch and painted it using my trusted watercolours. It felt right using watercolours because I'm more comfortable with them and I love to use Vanilla flavouring when I'm making pancakes at home. It turned out not bad. I think the combination of using a media I love and an item I love worked well for me. Maybe art turns out better when you're depicting something or someone you have a connection to. Here is the Vanilla Bottle:

EDM 6 - Draw Your Favourite Well Loved Object .... or a childhood toy

2008-04-23T19:16:02Z

I found this EDM challenge difficult because it was hard for me to categorize an object as 'well loved' rather than a person. I have no childhood toys with me still so I couldn't use that option. I know I was being too pedantic so I just chose something and am now throwing it out into the universe regardless. I was obviously thinking too deeply about this challenge when I should just be having fun with the drawing. So here it is: my Mac Mini. It's one of my favourite objects because it's small, compact and allows me to access the internet where I can meet lots of interesting people from around the world. It's my little gateway to a world that is much more diverse than my own little cozy, happy one.

Watercolour Paintings - Abstract and Portrait

2008-04-17T21:32:22Z

Here are two I've recently completed. One is an idea about hope being a point of quiet in the storm and the other is just me experimenting with painting faces again. Enjoy and thanks for looking!

Woman's Face in Pencil

2008-04-16T12:26:31Z

Here is another face I drew and shaded recently on 230 gsm watercolour paper. I think it is on this type of paper because I was actually going to paint her but then I got carried away with my pencil. She looks a bit feisty does she not? Maybe because one eye looks different from the other.

EDM 5 - Draw Your Bed

2008-04-03T14:35:40Z

I decided to just draw this in a quick and loose style and I really enjoyed it! Must try it again.

Watercolour Painting of a Woman's Face

2008-03-31T09:53:52Z

I'm still practising faces and with all this practise I'm sure to keep getting better at it. I do so enjoy it. Here is my latest completed painting of a woman's face. The only thing I'm really not happy with are the eyes. They are not alive enough. But overall I am quite happy with her because she looks pleasant, open and friendly and I love her hairstyle!

I read once in a watercolour painting book that covered everything from landscapes to portraiture, that they eyes are the best place to start when doing portraits and if they are not right then you might as well start over again from the beginning. I will persevere! Thanks for looking.

EDM 4 - Draw Your Mug or Cup

2008-03-25T20:12:19Z

At last!! I've finally done the next EDM challenge and I'm proud of myself for keeping at it. I'm not completely happy with this cup because it's supposed to be white and I just couldn't do it properly because I kept finding shadows and reflections. But then when I tried to represent the shadows and relfections it just looked messy and even less like a white cup (see stylized version). Very frustrating. In the end I just put my own shading on it (final drawing).

Here are some sketches, a stylized version and the final drawing. I'm not sure which of the bottom two to post on flickr though. Any suggestions please?

My First Attempt at ATCs

2008-03-24T20:39:51Z

As I mentioned in this previous post, I've recently bought an ATC starter pack which I have only now got around to trying out. It was very liberating to paint in such small sizes and this article helped me to see that there are many reasons to create and trade ATCs. Now I just have to find a nice friendly online ATC group to join. So here are my first ones.