Author: Eileen McKenna {my creative resolution}

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

| Eileen McKenna {my creative resolution}


It amazes me how different the weather in NY can be on St. Patrick’s Day. One St. Patrick’s Day years ago, before kids, it was a warm, blue sky, beautiful day in New York City. I said to myself, “I will never work on St. Patrick’s Day again. I should be at the parade.” The next year, I took off, and as I headed to the parade it was snowing. This year there are blue skies – but it is very cold!

These illustrations are from the year I did a 17 day St. Patrick’s Day countdown. I created an illustration each day. These days I’m working on my beach painting project.

Hope you have a great day!
Eileen

P.S. – The second issue of my new newsletter My Creative Collection went out today. It’s a collection of what is inspiring me – in hopes of inspiring you! Learn more here. Sign up here.

Finished feels so good!

| Eileen McKenna {my creative resolution}

Watercolor beach painting

I’m thankful for today’s snow day and the break from everyday life. That and a few days of sketching figures gave me the push to finally finish this beach scene with the three girls playing in the surf. I’ve been afraid to finish this one – afraid of ruining it. As I sat down to work on it, I thought, “Done is better than unfinished, no matter what the result.” And the more I work on painting figures, and getting the shadows right, the more I’ll learn.

Stages:

I use watercolor pencils to draw the figures. Just wet the lines and it disappears!

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First posts and first creative goals

| Eileen McKenna {my creative resolution}

Sketchbook

Inspired by other bloggers I’m revisiting my earliest posts.

My first post 12/30/13: Happy New Year!

“This year I’m taking my New Year’s resolution to a new level. I’m holding myself accountable, by making a commitment to blog about my progress. In the past I’ve been great in the ideas department, not as good in the follow through! But this time, I hope to draw, paint and create my way through 2014! Join me on the journey so you can witness the successes (and failures) and maybe we’ll both learn a thing or two on the way!”

My second post and a goal: Filling the Sketchbook
Sketchbook

“I plan on filling this sketch book. Although it is a bit daunting! I like saving all my old sketchbooks and looking through them. I even keep drawings that I am embarrassed by. They show me how far I’ve come. I look at old sketches with a fresh perspective and know what is “off.” Sometimes I look at a sketch and proudly think, “I did that?” As I thumb through, I am reminded of projects I was interested in. I can add some of those  to my list for the coming year.”

Present day…
Working in that sketchbook became an important part of my weekly creative practice, and it was a turning point when I started painting in it. I remembered how much I love watercolor! Unfortunately the paper in this sketchbook wasn’t made for adding paint. So when I found the Canson Mix Media sketchbook – that I still use today – I was thrilled. Love the thick bright white pages! In three years I’ve filled at least 8 sketchbooks! Goal reached, and then some!

Did you read:
Does Your Astrological Sign Affect Your Creativity?

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Does your astrological sign affect your creativity?

| Eileen McKenna {my creative resolution}


A few years ago I had a bit of an epiphany while painting. I noticed a pattern where on Day One of a project, I was excited and enthusiastic. But on Day Two I was reluctant to work on it, and a bit intimidated. I really had to push myself to continue. Once I got started again, I figured out what I needed to do to finish the painting. It was the lack of a plan – the not knowing where to pick the project up – that intimidated me. The diving in on Day One without a plan didn’t scare me at all. It was fun! Why was this?

On a whim I googled “astrological sign traits” for Aries. I’m not that into astrology, but I couldn’t believe how dead on the description of Aries (on Huffington Post) was.

“Aries motto is “Ready, fire, aim!” It may be backwards for others, but you’d rather figure out what to do while you are doing it. Impulsive actions, however, can bring you your share of trouble. While others are gathering information to make informed decisions, you are already on your way. As such, you could suffer from false starts. In fact, you Aries are so good at starting things that you can be off onto your next project before completing the previous one. As you Aries mature, you learn to slow down your reaction time in order to think about the consequences of your actions.”

Wow! That totally describes me! Whenever I am assembling something and hit a snag, my husband will say, “Did you read the directions?” Of course I didn’t read the directions! Who needs those? (Obviously me, that’s why I’ve hit a snag.)

At the time my solution was to figure out a plan before stepping away from a project. Three years and many paintings later, I still don’t do much planning. I’ve embraced the “figure it out as I go,” at least in regards to my painting and general creativity. I still experience that Day Two reluctance, especially when I’m working on a subject that I’m less confident in, like painting figures. But, I have learned to force myself back into a project. Once I start I’m back in the zone and finishing a painting is so sweet!

Check out your sign’s traits on Huffington Post. Select your sign, and scroll down to “about the sign.” Let me know if anything rings true for you and your creativity.

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Read:
 19 Books for Creatives 11 Art Supplies I can't paint without

Tips and tools that prove invaluable

| Eileen McKenna {my creative resolution}

Watercolor beach painting
When I think about the progress I’ve made in the past two months, there are a few things that standout out to me. First watching videos of other artists painting waves gave me some great tips (which I wrote about here.)

Second, one of the artists was using a flat brush so I bought a couple to try. The smaller flat brush has become invaluable to me.

Lastly, when I started using white gouache for the foam of the waves it was a turning point.

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Prints of my watercolor beach paintings are now for sale at shop.eileenmckenna.com. Take a peek!
The Blue Collection by Eileen McKenna | watercolor beach ocean landscapes available as limited edition giclee art prints

Read:
14 tips on painting waves in watercolor Process for Painting the Beach in Watercolor

How to create a repeating pattern in Photoshop

| Eileen McKenna {my creative resolution}

How to create a repeating pattern in Photoshop. For fabric prints, gift wrap, wallpaper and more.
Nothing completes a day at the beach like a treat from the ice cream truck! I created this fabric print using illustrations from my sketchbook. Want to create a pattern from your illustrations? Follow the instructions below.

How to create a repeating pattern in Photoshop

  1. Scan your artwork (or draw your elements in Photoshop)
  2. Create a new file in Photoshop that is the size of your intended repeat size.
  3. Create a layer that is a solid color (will not be visible in the design – just for positioning. Mine is white.)
  4. Double the size of the file (for example repeat is 3 x 4, make file size 6 x 8)
  5. Use guides to Mark the repeat area (solid area)
  6. Import the scanned artwork into your file
  7. Separate the elements of your artwork into different layers
  8. Size the elements and arrange them mostly within this rectangle (the guides) – elements can go over the guidelines.
  9. Create a background color that is the entire file size – keep it out of all the groups we will be making (it needs to be positioned below all the other layers)
  10. When you are happy with the arrangement create a group with all the layers – except the background color
  11. Copy the group 2x, place one group to the left of the guide and one to the right using the color layer as a guide for positioning
  12. Create a group of the three groups – the original, the right and the left, make a copy
  13. Place the copy above the original group (above the guide)
  14. Create another copy and place it below.
  15. Turn off the color layer in each group that was for placement only
  16. Do you like the arrangement of all the elements now that the elements are repeating? (If elements go over the guidelines in your design, this is where you will see if things accidentally overlap, or are too close to one another.) If yes go to step 18. If no go to step 17.
  17. If not, delete all the groups except the original, adjust the position of the elements, and repeat the steps of copying the group and placing left and right and then making a group from the 3 groups and copying to place above and below.
  18. To save the final repeat, first go IMAGE, CANVAS SIZE and enter the original repeat size.
  19. Test your repeat – open the repeat, change background to layer, increase canvas size by double. Copy repeat layer and place to the right, left, above, below. Do the elements line up properly? If so yes…
  20. Upload the final repeat file, and order a test fabric swatch. I use Spoonflower.com.

How to create a repeating pattern in Photoshop How to create a repeating pattern in Photoshop
Want to see another example of designing a repeat? Read this blog post.
Another helpful post: Designing Patterns – important things to remember.

Want to order the Ice Cream Truck pattern as fabric, wallpaper, gift wrap? Visit my Spoonflower shop here.

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My newsletter is a collection of all the things that inspire me… “my creative collection.” It contains – artists and makers, places, crafts and art mediums, tutorials, podcasts, interesting articles, and more. All the things that inspire me, and will hopefully inspire you! Sign up here.

 

Modern Calligraphy

| Eileen McKenna {my creative resolution}

Modern calligraphy
I took a modern calligraphy workshop over the weekend. I’ve been interested in hand lettering for a while now. A few years ago I took an online lettering class where I used a brush marker – a Tombow, which is a flexible marker that can produce thin lines as well as thick lines when you apply pressure.
My brush marker practice sheets:
brush lettering with a Tombow marker

This weekend was the traditional route with a calligraphy pen with a nib, ink, and an ink well for dipping. It was interesting, in this day of online learning, to be sitting at a table, chatting with a group of strangers. It’s one of the elements you don’t get with learning online. The person on your left saying to you, “That looks great!” Although three hours seems long, the class flew by. The teacher, Christie Jones of Swell Anchor Studios, was really nice and thorough, demonstrating the steps to create each letter on a blackboard. Another benefit to learning in person, Christie and her sister, walked around answering questions, and offering help and suggestions as we worked – things like proper posture, holding the pen correctly, and the amount of pressure to apply.

The main takeaway was – as with anything – if you want to get good at it, you have to practice. The workshop included all the supplies and materials needed to practice at home, which is great. Christie also has a closed Facebook group for those that have taken the class. She encouraged us to share our work online and reach out to her whenever we hit a snag.

If you are interested in learning calligraphy and an “in person” workshop doesn’t work for you, Christie recommends the book Modern Calligraphy: Everything You Need to Know to Get Started in Script Calligraphy by Molly Super Thorpe.

Supplies you’ll need:

I want to incorporate lettering into my paintings. I’m hoping to use what I learned and apply it to lettering with a brush and watercolor. I’ll keep you posted on my progress!

 

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