How fun … my art on a tshirt!

August 3, 2015August 1, 2015 | Eileen McKenna {my creative resolution}

Recently someone reached out to me on Instagram and asked if I’d like to submit a piece of art to be put on a tshirt and sold through their site. Since I’ve never gotten around to uploading my designs to one of those other sites (that put your design on all kinds of things), I thought, “Why not?”

I decided to create a custom piece for the tshirt and sent it off to them to see what they thought. Next thing I know it’s up on the site. How funny to see the models wearing my design!

If you are interested – you can purchase a tshirt here. Or maybe you want to submit one of your designs? 🙂

A morning dedicated to painting outside :)

June 27, 2015June 26, 2015 | Eileen McKenna {my creative resolution}

It’s officially Summer and the kids are home, which totally throws off my routine. As I struggle to get a new schedule together, a priority is having time to paint and draw. The other morning I dedicated to painting, and because it was so nice out, I set up on my back patio.

It felt great! Everyone was still asleep and the weather was beautiful. I had tons of inspiration photos from days prior – a trip to the beach, a stop at a little lake, and an amazing sunset. When I looked down at the blank piece of paper I felt totally at peace. There was no stress about what I would do, I would just let it happen. And I quickly got into a groove. I even turned a test scrap into a feather! (See first pic in the post.)

Sometimes we can be so productive, if we just give ourselves the opportunity to do so.

I’m hoping to have more mornings like this one! 🙂

Creating fades (Gradations) with Watercolor

February 22, 2015 | Eileen McKenna {my creative resolution}

I’m looking forward to the warm days of Spring and Summer. The weather this weekend was a combination of extreme cold (4 degrees), followed by snow and rain. I’ve had enough! I tried to stay busy, which included painting. 🙂 First I painted some blobs, with the intention of adding ink and turning them into feathers.

Then I painted the sunset above. I was inspired by a watercolor heart I created a few weeks ago, where I blurred the edges of the heart so there was a soft edge. To blur the edges I let the paint mostly dry. With a wet brush, I pulled up some of the color at the edge of the shape. Then I soften the edge into the white area to create a fade.

I wanted the sun to have the same soft effect as the heart and I wanted to keep the sunset simple. I painted the sky part first and let it dry before painting the bottom. I didn’t want the bottom bleeding into the sky! In addition to softening the edge of the sun, I added water (to the water) to soften the blooms.* (This word was on the tip of my tongue, but I couldn’t remember what they are called. Thank you to this link for the definition below.)

*Blooms or blossoms – are cauliflower looking marks created when extra moisture creeps back into a damp or partially dry area of a painted. As the excess water levels out it will “push” the tiny pigments of paint to the outside edge of the watermark. A back run can totally ruin a smooth flat area of a painting, unless you add the excess water intentionally. (also known as back runs, back wash, and water blossoms)

I’m not sure what my next project will be, but that’s part of the fun, right?

Feathers

December 9, 2014 | Eileen McKenna {my creative resolution}

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.