I wasn’t sure how to start my painting – detailed or loose? I tried different ways and moved forward with the more detailed one. [See the final painting here.] I took this photo at a farmers’ market.
Each time I added paint, I added more details to tighten it up. I wanted the center flower to be the focal point and the rest to blur away.
I decided to mount today’s practice watercolor and ink onto pretty paper. I was inspired by artwork in the background of the Pottery Barn catalog. I think it looks cute. 🙂
I was a little under the weather today and spent the day on the couch. I’m usually running around – between the kids, errands, and work. It’s not often that I just sit. Today I put my feet up, flipped through magazines and catalogs, found inspiration, drew in my sketchbook, and watched TV. It was great! Today recharged my battery. Just in time for the weekend. 🙂
Lately I’ve been warming up by painting vegetables. I’m playing around with adding loose ink lines, like I did with the swim goggles. I had a fruit phase, now it’s veggies, probably because I need to eat more of them! I wish I could say I painted from actual vegetables, but I used photos I googled for reference. I’ve been working alphabetically, so next I’ll try cucumbers. Those I have on hand! I’m not committing to the whole alphabet, but it’s something to paint when I sit down and don’t know what to start with.
Finally, I’m tackling a wood project! I’ve been interested in painting on wood, and creating handmade signs. It was surprisingly easy to walk in to Ace, pick out wood and ask them to cut it. And cheap!
I pulled out the hand sander, which made me feel like a pro, and gave the wood a light sanding. Then I added streaks of different colors and blended them, sometimes adding water to dilute a color. I wanted to create a bleached, weathered look.
I’m happy with how they came out. See how I added lettering to them here.
I’m looking forward to the kids going back to school (lol!) and having more time to paint – especially with acrylics! This week I got a jump start and worked on my painting “Little Girl Digging.” It’s been almost 2 months since I worked on this! If I let too much time pass I lose momentum and then it’s really hard to get back into a painting.
Although I haven’t worked with acrylics all summer, I’ve been creative – sketching, painting with watercolor, etc. I’m proud of all I’ve done during these busy months. It will make September, when the house is quiet again, all the more productive.
Here is where I started from:
First I worked on the sand and added some definition to the ocean. Then (above) I added color to the ocean.
I started this blog anonymously to feel free and uninhibited. Now I’m ready to share who I am. In the beginning, I told only 3 people and worried what they’d think. My biggest fear was criticism. I think growing up as the “teased” little sister fostered this fear in me. And it has prevented me from pursuing art. Those nagging thoughts – What if I’m not any good? What if someone makes fun of me?
The book, “An Enemy Called Average,” by John Mason really resonated with me. Mason says – if you are going to put yourself out there, expect criticism. I found that very freeing. In the 9 months since I started my creative resolution, I’ve shared the good, the bad, and the ugly. There were times I wondered, “Should I really share this? It’s terrible.” And I shared it, because I want to be honest about my process of learning and striving to be better. I’m not trying to be someone I’m not. I’m just being me. 🙂
While I’m sad that vacation is over, it is nice to have some quiet time to paint. What amazes me about these three paintings, is that I had no preconceived ideas until I sat down to paint – I just went with it. All three were done yesterday and they are all so different!
The first one I painted was the flowers in the container. I looked around my patio and picked the container just as I started painting.
The second painting was the hearts. I started painting the background, decided to leave the dry areas dry and filled one of them with a heart. Then I started adding more hearts and the word love. It is my favorite of the day – and I have no idea where it came from!
The third painting is the watercolor background with the ink flowers. I decided as I was painting – to make a colorful background and add ink to it. As I chatted with an old friend on the phone – I added the flower doodles. I looked around my yard for inspiration.
I am excited for another quiet day and more painting!
Summer swim team is coming to an end! I made these cards for the swim coaches. In the past, I would have never followed through on my idea. I lacked the confidence to show others my work. But now that I have shown you – the good, the bad and the ugly, I followed through with my idea and am happy to give these cards to the coaches.
mycreativeresolution.com 
