On the Endangered Species Act list, a unique breed of these Bighorn Sheep roam the Sierra Nevada mountains in California. I made this one very detailed with the finalizer, and then added washes of watercolor. The background is a very wet wash of watercolors lightly dotted with alcohol.
I spent most of yesterday in my back yard planting, weeding and gearing up for spring flowers. It's rare to find a rainless Saturday to tidy up the yard as spring is arriving. Today I am resting from all of the work done yesterday-and it's raining.
Flowers are the most amazing plants. How incredible it is for a plant to display such vibrant colors in the most beautiful shapes. Not only that, but they produce nectar for our pollinators. To celebrate flowers, I made a 'book' of some of my favorites. This has been a work in progress for several years and today I finally finished it. Please enjoy the short video of my first completed 'book'.
Growing up, I drew a lot but never thought of myself as any good by other's standards. This internal mindset killed my motivation eventually, and my creative drive lay dormant for many many years. It was that Wine and Paint class April of 2015 that revived it, and I started indulging in visual arts for my own pleasure. After a few years, people encouraged me to sell some of my art, but it appeals to me more to give it away. I've 'sold' a few pieces on commission only charging for supplies and postage to mail it. My time and energy toward the piece is a gift to the recipient and also to myself.
I'm linking a video that I hope inspires you to pick up a pen and sketch, even if you think you can't draw. This isn't about becoming an artist, but more about indulging in the creative process which is extremely healing. It describes how we can change our perceptions to our world with our eyes and mind. I really like how Ralph Ammer states in this video how his sketching stores memories in his mind and not in his camera. What a powerful concept in today's world of smart phones and social media.
 |
| Starting a new sketch with Cece |
Something about peering down a narrow Sicilian alleyway under the hot sun and spotting a bowl of citrus fruit invokes a nostalgic feeling within in. For this painting, I used M Graham gouache, which is by far my most favorite medium. This is on a good quality watercolor paper made by Carson.
Very pleased with how this one turned out. M Graham watercolor on paper. This sketchbook isn't 100% cotton watercolor paper as it began to ball up with heavier water usage. Still like how it turned out.
The inspiration behind this painting was a weird one to start, plus it didn't quite turn out exactly like what had given me the idea in the first place. My youngest plays Sims a lot, and I love watching her decorate her houses within the game. One house was very gothic, and one particular room had ornate wall paper with oval paintings of roses with gaudy gold frames.
This painting took on more character when I got the idea to put in eyeballs everywhere. I thought painting plain roses would be boring. This is gouache on 100% cotton paper. I painted an old picture frame dark wood to frame it, and it now sits on an end table in my eclectic studio office. My husband isn't a fan of it, but that's okay because art can disturb sometimes.
Recently, I discovered that I have ancestry from Scotland of the Campbell clan. The particular relative was from the Highlands and resided ...
