Today I grabbed my sketchbook when my son and I left to visit my mom. I never would have thought to bring it, if I wasn’t trying to draw everyday for InkTober.
By the time we arrived at the beach the sky had cleared and it was beautiful out. We walked barefoot in the sand, put our feet in, collected shells, watched the surfers. What a beautiful, peaceful day.
I took several photos to draw from later and did a sketch before we left. 😀
The kids are back at school and the house is quiet. It’s the perfect time to get back to painting. Once I set up, I accomplished a lot in a short amount of time.
I took a unfinished painting – a wash of colors – and added a lighthouse. And I started a painting of a little girl at the beach. Looking forward to much more painting time this fall! 😀
There is inspiration everywhere you look at the beach – the sand, sea, and sky. Lately I’ve been noticing the endless supply of figures – in all shapes and sizes. Occasionally I’ll pull out a small sketchbook, but usually I take photos to draw later.
The female lifeguard caught my eye, because that was me 30 years ago! I’m trying to work fast and loose. This is the type of painting that paralyzes me. Afraid to ruin it, I take forever, and if I finish, it looks stiff and lifeless. So, my goal is to push through and finish today whatever the result.
https://instagram.com/p/BI8jgf6B8cs/
I was working in my sketchbook today, without any real plan, just thinking of the beach. It occurred to me that you can try to have a detailed plan but in the end you have to just start, do the work, and see what unfolds. I thought this was an epiphany for me until I thought about my creative resolution.
I started late Dec. 2013, with no real plan other than being creative on a regular basis. I thought I might end up refinishing furniture! Instead, after trying a few things, I ended up working steadily in watercolor.
Today’s “ephinany” felt like a big deal because, for awhile, I’ve wanted to work on a bigger project. Something that would tie things together. Instead of feeling like I work on individual pieces.
I have a theme. I have inspiration projects (by other artists). I have ideas, but I don’t 100% know what the style and form of the project will be, and it frustrates me. Doodling in my sketchbook today I realized I need to dive in and start. I’ll never know what the final product will be, until I work through it. Just like my creative resolution, it will be a journey of experimenting, working, and evolving.
After painting a few flowers, I wanted a new subject. The beach is my favorite place. I’m always trying to paint it but struggle to really capture it – the shadows and waves in the water, the changing color of the sand. When I put too much detail in the water it just doesn’t look right. When I work quicker and looser it looks better, but seems to be missing something. After a few attempts at painting the beach, I needed a new subject (again). Right in front of me were shells we collected at the beach. Ah! Still the beach, but now I’m zooming in on the details. This one was fun and I like how it came out.
Here is the final logo I wrote about 2 weeks ago in Part 1- Adding illustration to a logo design project. This is the logo project where I really put my years of illustration practice to work!
I was really excited about creating something for the city I was born and raised in. They wanted elements of both the City of Long Beach and the Fall Festival (which the logo was for). Who better than someone born and raised there?
I used the boardwalk, which Long Beach is know for, as well as the iconic City Hall building. And I had to include the bay, because after all, Long Beach is part of a barrier island. Our concept is to modify this logo for other events, by switching out the Fall Festival elements, but maintaining the City elements.
If you are interested in seeing more of my design work please visit my website: www.eileenmckenna.com
I’d love to squeeze in one more beach day, but other than that I’m ready for the hot and humid weather to end. I’m looking forward to those crisp Fall days, with blue skies and beautiful foliage all around. I’m excited about new seasonal things to inspire me – leaves, acorns, pumpkins. I’ve already started doodling and collecting them. Maybe it’s too soon, but it’s nice to have new “material” to work from! Are you ready for Fall?
I finished the four paintings that I working on in “assembly line” fashion. Click here to read more about how I approached working on these paintings.
Results: The results of the experiment are best described by this analogy: It’s like raising kids. You raise them in the same way – same environment, same food, activities, etc. but they all require different special attention and they all turn out different. And with each kid, you are a bit wiser (and more tired) so you do things differently each time – but maybe not better.
This is the inspiration painting:
The four painting above are numbered. Some of them were “worked” on more. For # 1-3 I used white gouache. As I worked I wasn’t sure what methods would be most successful – more details? more shadows? more white? more variation in color?
I’d love to hear what you have to say! Leave a comment and answer my poll below.
Conclusion: (Don’t all experiments have a conclusion?) Working this way, really allowed me to explore this type of painting and subject matter in more and more depth. If I had only painted one beach landscape, I wouldn’t have had the chance to try different techniques.
TRY IT! and let me know your results (and thoughts). Link to this post or if you’re on Instagram use #assemblylinepainting. Can’t wait to see! 🙂
mycreativeresolution.com 