Easter Post

Hi everyone. Hope you had a great Easter. Sorry this Easter themed post is a bit late - I've been too busy eating chocolate!

I had a nice Easter and was feeling quite creative. I painted a Crucifixion painting (above). Not really my usual sort of thing but it came out really all on its own so for that reason I like it. I love those moments when a painting just comes together fairly effortlessly and you really feel satisfied that you get across the emotion on the page.

A special arrival for us was out new kitten Harry. As you can see he is beautiful. He is now nine weeks old and is being very playful and naughty. I named him after Prince Harry who I also love but in a quite different way! :-p

Painting the Negative

White Plum Tree

White Plum Tree is a painting I did based on "Flowering Plum Tree" (left) by Van Gogh, which was in turn after Hiroshige. Little bit of art re-cycling there!

I've used it as inspiration for an exercise in the "Celebrate Your Creative Self" book by Mary Todd Beam. It is called painting around the white. You paint in the negative background shapes leaving the the subject of the painting white. I also flipped this plum tree one round just because it looked more interesting that way once it was finished.

Here is another painting I did using the same negative painting style.

Loose Loose Landscape

This is a painting I just finished. I am getting a bit uptight with my sketching. I think its my new portrait class (very stressful). So I just wanted to get it out of my system and do something free and more expressive. Plus a landscape too which I never do.
It is painted in acrylic with a little bit of ink and soft pastels.

I like it and I feel so much better now.

IMT - Kitchen

I'm obsessed with Cluedo this week. We had a Cluedo Saturday at my house last weekend and I won the sum total of five pounds. :-)

So when I saw the theme at IMT was kitchen I looked to my favourite (if slightly macabre) board game for inspiration.
So here it is ... murder in the kitchen!

I should be..

You Should Be an Artist

You are incredibly creative, spontaneous, and unique.

No one can guess what you're going to do next, but it's usually something amazing.

You can't deal with routine, rules, or structure. You're easily bored.

As long as you are able to innovate and break the rules, you are extremely successful.



You do best when you:



- Can work by yourself

- Can express your personality in your work



You would also be a good journalist or actor.

What Should You Be When You Grow Up?

Yey!

Lots of rules

I've had my eyes opened a bit this week at my new portrait class.

When I'd run out of time at the end of the session the man next to me looked at mine and said "Hmm has anyone actually ever taught you the rules of proportion?" Ouch (I didnt think it was that bad!)

Of course nobody had. I've studied art for years and nobody has ever actually taught me how to draw or paint in a technical sense. It just never happened so I've always made it up as I went along.

I did see them this week in the class holding up pencils and rulers and doing a lot of squinting. To be honest I didn't know what this is supposed to achieve but thanks to my friend next to me I am enlightened!

So I've got a book out from the library and can now learn the eyes are supposed to be exactly in the centre or the head (I always put them about two thirds up?!), three eyes across, four noses across, nose and ears same size etc etc.

Does anyone else actually do all this?

It might be a bit hap-hazard but I like the style Ive developed. Its mine and I developed it (blagged it) as I went along. When people "teach" you how to draw and paint aren't they just teaching you to draw like them? Its something I've been pondering.

Anyhow it can't do any harm to read up about all these rules so I've got homework to do now before my next class on Wednesday.

IMT - Leap

For Inspire Me Thursday "Leap"... Wait let me explain ...


I feel I've made a big leap forward this week. I've been feeling sorry for myself and not doing much (see last post). But I made myself go out on Wednesday and do something. Painting makes me happy so I decided to join a new art class. I've been wanting to for ages and was finally brave enough.

So this is the very unfinished painting I did there. Its a lady called Anne who was our model. Not great but its a move in the right direction.

Glad to be getting back on my creative feet (if you see what I mean)!