Painting

Mom’s present has entered the ugly phase. Can it recover?

| Eileen McKenna {my creative resolution}

ugly

The picture below is what fear looks like. The pressure is on, as I mentioned in a recent post. I want to add ink, but I’m afraid I’ll ruin the painting. Once the ink is on, it can’t be erased. So I do a couple of practice benches and go for it. Immediately I regret it, but I keep working. I continue to add benches. Did I mention I hate working in perspective? The benches look more like Chinese characters, but I keep going. I add ink to the boards of the boardwalk. I was terrified to add the lightpost. It’s too tall – maybe I can use a mat to crop it out and lower it? I add more detail to the benches and they start to look less like Chinese and more like benches.

Fear:
scared
Where I started from:
start

Where I am now:
After I soften the water (by wetting the watercolor pencil) I start to think, maybe I can get this to work. I have to keep working at it. Mom’s Christmas present may be a little late! Next steps – add watercolor to the benches and shadows. Add the rail.

boardwalk4

 

 

Pressure and Painting

| Eileen McKenna {my creative resolution}

beachshot
For most of this year, I haven’t put pressure on myself to create “frame-able” pieces. I started the year working in my sketchbook because that really took the pressure off. Eventually, because I was using watercolor, I graduated to nicer paper, but I still approached each piece as playing and having fun – just seeing what I could make. The only “pressure” was to finish the painting and I like to think of that as the motivation that blogging has given me. With no pressure, I’d sit and play and often be surprised with the results. Sometimes I’d like the final painting so much, I’d frame it.

But now, I’ve started a project that I already bought a frame for. (My mother asked for a beach painting for Christmas.) It changes how I think as I work. Every step of the way I’m worried. In the past I worked around the “mistakes” because it didn’t really matter. I only had to please myself and I was happy just being creative and finishing. Now I’m stressing about the final product. Will she like it? Will other people like it?

Thankfully it’s for my mother! I can’t imagine the pressure if it was a commissioned piece! I remember as a kid, I drew the ugliest picture I could, and showed it to my mom. When she said it was beautiful and she loved it, I said, “I knew it! You always say that!”

She said, “Maybe I always think that. Just because you think it’s bad, doesn’t mean I do.” That got me thinking. Maybe to her, my “ugly” picture was beautiful – especially because I made it.

Feathers

| Eileen McKenna {my creative resolution}

feathersfinal
A while back, I painted a feather by accident. I was trying to paint a sunflower and the center bled into the background. I tossed that version to the side and finished a different one. Every time I looked at that “mistake,” I saw a feather. Eventually I used ink to turn it into a feather. Since then, I’ve realized how interesting feathers are. They’ve been “hip” for a years – I know I’m not onto something new!

The other day when I was running I saw feathers lying on the sidewalk. I snapped a photo and later started painting them. I had a lot of fun creating the texture of the background. After I added the ink, I almost wished I hadn’t. I thought I may have ruined it. But, I added more watercolor and a shadow to the feather and it started to pop.

My Steps:

First I did a light outline of the feathers in pencil.
Then I worked on the background. I splashed and splattered.
feathers1
feathers2feathers2b

After the background was completely dry, I painted the feather.
feathers3

Then, I added ink to the feather.
feathers4

I added more color to the feather and a shadow. See the final at the beginning of the post.

Winter

| Eileen McKenna {my creative resolution}

skitrail
I’m really happy with how the sky turned out – although the salt wasn’t working as well as last time. I had to try it several times – I think the painting wasn’t wet enough. Some of the salt is stuck on there for good. It adds a bit of sparkle! Maybe I let it dry too long?

My Steps:
The underpainting.
skitrail1
Adding ink.
skitrail3
One of the attempts with the salt.
skitrail4

Giving my artwork as a gift.

| Eileen McKenna {my creative resolution}

housesdoors
I’ve been playing around with the idea of giving whimsical house (or door) paintings as hostess gifts (either framed or made into ornaments). I’ve come a long way this year, in terms of my confidence as an artist, but there is something scary about giving my artwork as a gift! Regardless of whether or not I’ll get up the nerve – I’ve started painting. The house is my brother and sister-in-law’s. I definitely want to try another version!

Here are my steps:
brothers1brothers2
brothers3brothers4

 

Starting the day with creativity and a sunflower

| Eileen McKenna {my creative resolution}

bigsunflowerfinal
I love the days where I can start off being creative. When I say start off, I mean after the 2 hours of – waking up the kids, making lunches, and getting the 3 of them to 3 different schools! Now that I am working from home, on most days I start “work” as soon as I get back from the last drop off. Even if I try to be creative later in the day, it is not the same as starting the day that way. There is a different vibe to the day. When I start off painting or sketching I feel so much more inspired. And I love the light in the kitchen in the morning.

Below are my steps to creating my sunflower. You can see the final piece here on instagram – and by the way don’t you want to follow me on instagram too? I have a sad and lonely little account with only 11 followers!
bigsunflower1 bigsunflower2
 bigsunflower3 bigsunflower4