food illustration

30 Days of Food In Watercolor

| Eileen McKenna {my creative resolution}

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Pomegranates – Day 30. Thank you to Charlie of World Watercolor Group for the food November prompts. I didn’t think about it when I started, but painting food everyday is out of my comfort zone. I would never have painted a turkey or a plate of mushrooms or leeks! But I was often happy with my results. It’s good to have a push in a different direction sometimes.

Here are my favorites from the month:

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I’m excited to really get into the spirit of Christmas and created my own prompt list to follow in December. Everyone and all mediums are welcome to join in. Use the hashtag #adventmcr when posting.

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Of course Charlie is inspiring everyone with a December list of prompts. Click here to see it. I’ll definitely be painting a Christmas sweater from his list!

BTW if you haven’t read it, I had the pleasure of interviewing Charlie, founder of the World Watercolor Group. You can read the interview here.

Happy Thanksgiving!

| Eileen McKenna {my creative resolution}

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I don’t think I’ve ever painting so much food, as this month. Following along with the World Watercolor Group’s prompts, I’ve painting a 3 course meal, plus dessert!

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Except for fruit and some sweets, food is not something I normally draw and paint. It wouldn’t occur to me to paint a turkey! I’m only painting one this year. I’m not the one responsible for cooking the turkey. I’m making the sweet potatoes and baking pumpkin bread and a dessert.

I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving!

Success and failure

| Eileen McKenna {my creative resolution}

img_0712You win some you lose some. I guess that’s just how it goes. When you are painting everyday, you’ll love some of the results and some not so much. And when you are painting and posting everyday, you end up sharing both the successes and the failures.

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If I was the Ref I’d call my bundt cake a win and my Coke can a loss. I usually try not to share too much about what I think about my final results. Early on in my blog, I got a comment that said stop whining and putting yourself down. I was initially very hurt by the comment. But I tried to see the message behind it. I was being very hard on myself and was often presenting my work with my own negative commentary.

I’m often hardest on a project right when I finish it. After a little time passes I see it differently. To post a project and list all the things wrong with it, was selling myself short. After that infamous comment I stopped doing that. It was an internal shift for me as well because I started focusing more on my achievements, instead of apologizing for my shortcomings. The Coke can isn’t my best but it is the 19th painting on the heels of 31 days of ink drawings, so I’m patting myself on the back for that and getting to work on today’s painting. 😀

To add ink or not to add ink? That is the question.

| Eileen McKenna {my creative resolution}

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I have to admit, I sometimes don’t know the right answer to this question. Most often my style is to work in watercolor and add details in ink. But sometimes I hesitate to add the ink details.

When I think about, the occasions where I question adding ink, are when I’ve added a lot of details in watercolor – a lot of layers. Sometimes the decision is easy. The painting looks finished, like these donuts. Other times I’m not sure – like the cupcake above.

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Adding the ink is definitely a different look. Just watercolor is softer and sometimes more realistic looking. Adding ink looks more illustrated, more whimsical. Like this cup of cappuccino and this ice cream sundae.

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One thing is for sure – once a line of ink is added, there’s no turning back. I often think of scanning and printing a painting and adding ink details to the printout. This way I can make sure I like it before touching the original painting.

The story behind a painting

| Eileen McKenna {my creative resolution}

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I’m participating in World Watercolor Group’s November daily painting prompts. I worked in my sketchbook all through October for InkTober, so I thought the prompts would motivate me to continue.

As I posted my “croissants” on November 1st, I thought about Charlie O’Shields’ (the founder of World Watercolor Group) posts. Charlie seems to always tell a story about his “doodlewashes.” They often make me laugh and make me think of stories of my own. Here’s what I posted on the 1st:

“In the spirit of Charlie the founder of the World Watercolor Group, here’s a story to go with my croissant. In my early 20s my friend and I were backpacking in Europe and went to a small town in the south of France. At an outdoor cafe I ordered a croissant. With my New York accent it sounded more like “crescent.” The waiter insisted we pronounce it correctly before he would bring them. If I remember correctly croissant is pronounce more like qua-sant. It wasn’t a bad lesson for me. At the time I honestly thought everyone must speak some English. By the way the waiter in Czechoslovakia didn’t speak any. We had no idea what we were ordering when we pointed to the menu. Imagine how happy we were when we found the McDonalds!”

Today as I was catching up on yesterday’s painting, I was sneaking some of my son’s Halloween candy. It was totally ironic that today’s prompt is sugar candies.

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I recently interviewed Charlie O’Shields. Check it our here.

If you want to particpate in the World Watercolor Group’s November prompts you can see them here. Be sure to tell the story. 😉

Spaghetti & Meatballs

| Eileen McKenna {my creative resolution}

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On Friday, after posting my limes, Charlie at doodlewash.com reminded me that I was “invited” to dinner. Here is an excerpt of Charlie’s original invitation:

“I’m inviting all of you over for dinner, because seriously, how cool would that be? During the month, if at any time you’d like to come to the party, just “bring over” a lovely doodlewash of something delicious to eat or drink by using the hashtag – #DoodlewashDinner.”

But how could I bring limes to dinner?! I couldn’t, so instead I made a favorite in our house – spaghetti and meatballs. Grab a fork and enjoy. And a big thank you to our host Charlie!