Art From the Past

I was just sorting through my photos and came upon these. Thought you might like to have a look.  The gorilla painting was done as a gift for a friend around 5 years ago. I think I used a card as my reference image. Not sure of the source. Tthe flowers were inspired by my garden and I was experimenting with painting with a sponge brush, also done about 5 years ago.

'Soul Searcher'

Evolution of an art work. Part 1

I've decided to be brave and share the progress of my final art piece for my course.  It's a bit intimidating but will be good for me to look back on in the future.  We are required for our final piece to submit an original landscape, still life or interior in acrylic, on canvas.  Our work must be in either the hard edge semi-abstract style (like the butterfly I posted previously), realism or impressionism.

So, how does one make a start?  You start by drawing thumbnails. In my case lots of them.  A thumbnail is a small sketch around 7cm x 10cm.  At first I just drew willy nilly and eventually some ideas started to stick.  My mind became stuck on a window scene.  A pot of orchids, a mug of tea and some bits and bobs on the window sill with a landscape scene in the distance.

This is the initial idea as a thumbnail. With further consideration and feedback from my teacher I started to rethink my composition.  In this composition the mountain fights the pot of orchids for the focal point and I have no clear direction lines within the painting to keep the viewers eye moving around within the canvas. I also didn't have enough repetition eg. repeated shapes or textures.

Onto yet another thumbnail.  I swapped out the dominant form of Coonowrin Mountain for the Coochin Twins (both local to my area) and think this has worked quite well.  I've introduced repetitive shapes in the form of an orange near the mug (copies circles from pot), circular trees and bushes and a sun catcher at the top of the window.  I've introduced directional lines with the banana, ferns, the lines of mountains and farm paddocks in the background.  The orange bothers me and the banana isn't quite working.  I'm really not sure about the sun catcher as it could compete with the pot for interest even if I use subtle colours.

Here is a second option in the same theme. I've  replaced the orange with a cupcake and the cherry on top repeats the circle pattern on the pot.  I've maintained the circular trees to continue this theme. I added a bird purely because I like birds and I rather fancied the idea of calling the painting "Benjamin Bird comes to Tea". Very Enid Blyton or Beatrix Potter.  I've included directional lines with broad leaves with strong lines in the veins as I think these will be much quicker to paint than ferns and I just wondered what they'd look like. I've replaced the suncatcher with a terrible cloud and sun combination which does nothing for me at all.

Sorry this is so hard to see.  This is the final piece that I've come up with. I've drawn it onto watercolour paper primed with undercoat and will use it as a practice piece before starting on my canvas. I'll work out my colours etc here.  Before I started playing with paints I came up with the oh.so.brilliant. idea of having a play with the Brushes programme on Jeff's iPad.  Here are the results....

How cool is this!  I got to try composition ideas in colour! The drawing is pretty poor as I'm not used to this programme and it was done 'fingerpaint style'.  Gives me an idea though. I've introduced an orchid flower at bottom left to draw the eye in (replaced the rock).  I've overlapped the banana over the pot and widow sill to create depth and to create a line for the eye to follow from the pot, up to the fern, along the fern and back to the focal point which is the pot.  The repetition of red draws the eye around the picture.  not sure about the orange cupcake wrapper though and need something above the cupcake and mug to draw the eye.

 Here I've introduced some of our local red earth above the mug and I think it works ok. It creates repetition with the cupcake wrapper but I'm still not sure about the orange of the cupcake.  What do you think?  Does it compete too much with the pot? I've included some birds way in the distance to add some interest to the empty bit of sky and to move the eye along.

Here's the final doodle I've come up with.  I think I prefer the blue cupcake wrapper as it makes the arrangement of cake and mug more subtle.  It goes against the rule of using warm colours in the foreground of the composition to bring the subjects forward.  I've varied the tonal values of the mountains and included a smidge of banana yellow in the orchids and the poorly drawn flowers on the mug.  I think I'm getting close to what I want the final piece to look like. I love the orchids in the pot. The greens against the red and the flowers in the blue of the sky. Remember if you want to see the images more clearly just click on them and they enlarge.  Any feedback is welcome. Thank you for reading and I hope you are enjoying a glimpse into the process.

Progress

A couple of days ago I posted about how disorganised and behind I felt so I thought I'd give you a bit of an update.  I received a lovely comment from Sandie providing me with some reassurance and as Sandie comments, it doesn't matter if everything doesn't get done. I totally agree. I think some of the anxiety I'm feeling can be attributed to my final art piece looming over my head.  The rest of the anxiety stems from the fact that in order for me to have a 'normal life' I have learned that I need to be super organised.  If I don't organise myself it becomes extremely challenged to have the energy to participate in things like Christmas festivities, shopping for gifts etc.  Although I am much improved I still struggle and the requirements of my art course have really pushed me to my limits and sometimes beyond.  For example I've been pretty unwell again this week and that's after a week in Fiji relaxing!  The flights, which weren't long, a visit to friends in Sydney with time spent at the beach (always difficult for me but enjoyed) and just the change in routine, have seen me really quite fatigued, on an ECG at the doctors twice because  my heart electrics went crazy and struggling big time with day to day tasks like making the bed, preparing food etc.  The simple task of doing the groceries sent me to bed for a deep exhausted sleep for two hours and unpacking the groceries took me two days.

By being organised I use my energy more efficiently and this means the difference between being able to catch  up with friends or not, being able to be impulsive e.g. going to visit a friend or attending a local event.  Although Christmas is and always has been a relaxed affair with everyone contributing food etc, I still need to start storing up my energy so I can enjoy the day and I'm also starting to conserve energy so that I will be able to enjoy time with our visitors in January.  I'm sure this all seems odd and difficult to understand for most of you. Those who live with me everyday probably have a better picture of what I'm talking about.  Basically if I don't organise my time I get really tired, ill, sore and life becomes a real struggle.  I've learned over these past 12 years or so that by being super organised I can live a far more normal life and that's brilliant.

So, with that in mind.....

• I dug out an old Christmas plan (who brings what food, recipes and grocery lists) and so all I have to do is pass it on and shop for what's on my list. No thinking or effort other than that. Whew! 
• I got started on my art homework and put some thought in to my final piece and what I'll write to support my decisions regarding colour choices and compostition
• Thanks to Flylady I've done little bits each day to start catching up on undone housework as I've fallen way behind here. I had piles of dog hair floating around the floor, baskets full of ironing and washing etc. Am slowly making progress here.
• Menu plan is done so I minimise waste, use what's I've got on hand and don't have to think at night if I'm tired.
• For the first time in 4 years I have done our Christmas newpaper and just need to pop these in cards and post (this is the only contact we have with some people as they are not online).  I rather enjoy looking back over the year or in this case years and seeing what we've done too. Don't have many cards to write so this won't take long.
• I raided the gift cupboard and found a few gifts that have been gathered throughout the year and now just need to work out what to do for the remaining gifts.  Perhaps a big cook up. I did that one year when both my sister and sister-in-law had newborns. I made a heap of meals and froze them ready for them to reheat.  Very well received gift.  Easy to do with slow cookers and rice cooker.  Mmmm. Might be on to something there.  Just close your eyes when reading this Susan!

So even though I'm tired and feel a bit gross I've made some progress and feel better for it.  I am doing a bit of art today but won't get all of my homework done. I'll rest this afternoon so I can go to art class tomorrow and have rests planned all week so I can deal with 'Tree day' on the weekend.  My niece and nephews come over every year, first weekend in December, and help me put the Christmas tree up and decorate the house. It is CHAOTIC.  We usually do some Christmas cooking, dancing etc too.  Each year since their birth I've bought them a new decoration for the tree and they get to open this little present on 'Tree Day'.  Looking forward to it.

If I get any art completed I'll post it tonight.  The post seems a bit rambling and jumbled but I'm tired and that's where my brain is today.  Hope you can get some sense out of it.  I think  a sleep before lunch is on the cards today.

Bobble-eye Bob the green frog.

I made good progress with the frog exercise today.  I finished around 6pm and can't help but think I am taking far too long to complete these exercises.  As I become more proficient at colour mixing I'll no doubt be much faster but in the meantime.....plod, plod, plod.  I also need to set an alarm for myself when doing art as I tend to lose track of time. I stopped for lunch today at just after 2 so I'd gone past my usual meal time by around 2 hours.  An alarm would also make me get up and move around as I am quite sore and tired by the end of a day of art.  Time for show and tell. 

Here is the almost completed frog done in the hard-edge semi abstract style.  I probably need to do another coat and I'll be done.

I then took some time to play around with developing a colour swatch for Cleo the owl.  Her photograph is peeking out at the left of the image and a rudimentary swatch shows colours I've developed for her eyes, warm feather colours and the dark around her eyes.  To help draw attention to her eyes I've blued the black by adding ultramarine blue.  The blue and orange together intensify each other and will help draw the eye. I've also had a play with colours for the background and have come up with a red-purple or a dark blue-gray.  I thing the blue-gray will be the best choice.

 

I wasn't chained to the table all day.  It was very humid and  34.7degrees celcius, so when I finally broke for lunch I headed out to dip in the pool first.  This is what I found....

The girls in the pool with Jeff.  It's a tough life don't you think?  They actually stayed like this for quite awhile before getting fidgety and wanting to move.

At the drawing board

For art homework this week I have to complete three small paintings in three different styles  using techniques covered in our course to date.  I'm also letting my mind work quietly in the background on ideas for my final piece. I have two options really and am thinking about both of them.  This morning I have made a start on a line drawing for the semi-abstract hard edge style used for the butterfly picture I've shown previously.  Our subject was a green tree frog and we worked from a photograph provided in our notes. 

 

I have scanned in the image that I've done but it hasn't come out particularly well.  Now I need to mix my paints and add them to the swatch I've included at the bottom of the page. Finally I get to paint.  It's been an interesting exercise as I usually shade and shape as I paint whereas this makes you define shadows, colours and other defining features prior to painting and with 'hard edges'.  I'll show you the finished product this afternoon.  Hope you are all having  a lovely Sunday.

The best laid plans

When I left you earlier today I was off to get myself organized. I did make some progress, beginning to plan my time over coming weeks, digging up previous Christmas lists and menus and I started to write our Christmas newspaper. Then.....Jeff started the chainsaw. I grabbed the opportunity and spent a bit of time pointing and dragging. Pointing at what needed cutting and dragging trees etc into piles around the yard. I am SO HAPPY! things that have been waiting to be cut out for years are now gone. Woohoo!!










Now we just have to take it all to the garden waste centre as we have a total fire ban here at present.

Falling behind

At present I feel as though I'm running in circles and getting nowhere. I'm not DOING much but my mind is going crazy. It's as though I've just woken up and realised that impending deadlines - final art piece, a couple of birthdays and Christmas are looming large in my face.  How did Christmas suddenly get so close and more importantly how did I reach the end of November in such a disorganised state?  My Christmas shopping and gift making is usually completed by the end of October. I usually have a nice little stockpile of groceries and Christmas extras in the cupboard by now, purchased bit by bit each week to keep expenses down.  I usually have an idea about WHAT ON EARTH IS GOING ON with Christmas, birthdays etc but I have NO CLUE.  Not only have I not done any Christmas shopping, I don't even know what to get for anyone.  I don't even know if Christmas is going to be at our place or what the plans of the rest of the family are. 

I think I'll spend this stinking hot Saturday

• going through the present cupboard to see if I have presents I've forgotten about
• making a list of who I exchange gifts with and work out what on earth I am going to give people
• make plans to purchase/make any gifts
• TALK to the family and work out who is doing what for Christmas so I know whether or not we are having our usual Christmas here by the pool and in the air-conditioning or if other plans need to be made.
• plan my time for the next few weeks to get me efficiently through 'Tree Day' (where the kids come and help me decorate my house and put up the tree), birthdays, final art assessment, Christmas, a visit from friends and their kids in January.
• Menu plan so I don't have to think about meals each night
• Oh God - write my Christmas newspaper and send out cards (have been too sick to do this the past 2 or 3 years so really feel I should make an effort this year).
• Oh crap - post gifts to UK. I'm late, I'm late......
• I also need to buy/make a calendar for next year as I already have medical appointments booked through until November 2012 and they are floating around the kitchen on appointment cards and post it notes.  NEED TO GET ORGANISED.

Being a somewhat organised person I know that those of you our there who know me will be wondering how I managed to find myself in the state I'm in (which all things considered isn't tragic).  It is starting to cause me  some anxiety and I know that if I put some time into organising my time and my thinking I'll get everything done and done easily.  I think my art course, trip to UK (which drained my spirit and my brain), and then a trip to Fiji at such a busy time of year combined with me not being fantastically well again of late have all combined to see me as disorganised and behind as I am.

Does this happen to anyone else?  How do you deal with life when you get behind or feel as though you are behind? How do you cope with being busy?  I'm off to sort myself out.  Will keep you up to date on how I'm going.  Stay well and if you're feeling stressed and overwhelmed, make a cuppa, sit down with me and take half an hour or so to sort out your life on paper, then roll up your sleeves and get to it.