Here we go again making all those lovely positive resolutions which I, for one, never seem to maintain.
Here are my creative resolutions for 2015. I hope some of my artist friends will join me. If you have any that you would like to share , please share them with me on my blog. You could be inspiring me or other readers too.
1. I will clean up my studio and with great courage attempt to get rid of some of the reference materials, photos and umpteen dried out paint tubes.
2. I will go through my discarded and disastrous paintings and attempt to do something with them. Perhaps I will try a new medium or brighten up all the colours - perhaps cut a section out of a painting that actually looks rather nice and develop it further. How about cutting some them up for collage and mixed media works. The possibilities are endless.
3. I will do a drawing or a painting a day. Miniatures count too. No, I am not copping out. Miniature paintings are a huge challenge in themselves.
4. I intend doing at least one or two paintings using a time restriction. Half an hour or one hour. This will help me to only paint what is necessary rather than getting bogged down with the details. This is going to be a hard one for me because I love painting all those little whiskers and hairs. Nothing wrong with that of course but I feel I need to relax more and get some nice juicy brush work going on my canvases.
5. I will try out a new medium. Who knows , it may be the beginning of a wonderful love relationship with for instance , oils or pastels. Worth a try!
It will be like an exciting , rather scary blind date.
6. I will get out in the fresh air (at the moment we have sleet - ughhh!) and paint more plein aire works.
7. I will not allow curious spectators to disturb me so that I shut my sketch book and rush off to the nearest café for a relaxing cup of coffee. I hate people watching me sketch or paint and this is a huge hurdle for me to overcome.
8. I will be more organised and lay out the paints I need for a particular work rather than rushing off to my drawers hunting for the necessary colour I need during the painting processs. Bad, bad, bad!!!
9. I will work on a series of paintings for exhibition with an interesting theme. I want to do a number of paintings of the Algäu which is the area of Bavaria, Germany in which I live. It is very beautiful here and certainly lends itself to wonderful landscapes and buildings.
10. If I manage all of these, I will be extremely delighted with myself and can only improve as an artist.
I WISH ALL THOSE WHO READ MY BLOG A WONDERFUL, HEALTHY, CREATIVE AND DISCIPLINED 2015. I WISH THIS FOR MYSELF TOO.
This is what is known as being the most positive of thinkers. He really believed he could get that stick through the front door.
I did this work with Polychromo Coloured Pencils on Bristol Board. These are my favourite coloured pencils with a great range of colours and really good coverage.
WHY? WHY? WHY? do people still wear animal fur collars, on their boots, hats, gloves etc. There are the most amazing artificial furs on the market . I admire one of our German designers Guido Maria Kretchmer who never uses animal fur in his beautiful creations. He is adamantly against the slaughter of animals for purely vanity purposes.
Here are one or two animals I have painted who deserve to keep their fur on!!!
These are acrylic paintings and here are a few tips for painting animals.
Try to do the background first and always integrate the hair into the
background so that the animal does not look cut out and pasted.
In my opinion I feel one should give the background at least a semblance
of the environment in which the animal lives.
The eyes are the most important of all. The reveal the soul and character
of the subject.
I WOULD APPEAL TO YOU TO PAINT FUR - DON'T WEAR IT.
A girl needs a gay friend. Most of my life since being a teenager, I have had a gay male friend. The first was when I was seventeen. His name was Lukas and he came from a very conservative background. He was an apprentice hairdresser. I remember when he 'came out', the despair and pain he suffered when his family completely rejected him. Today he has several salons and although he never reconciled with his Dad, he and his Mum and two siblings are a very close family unit.
A gay friend is one who is always there for you through disappoínting love affairs, shopping sprees (always honest) and someone with whom to share a good weepy romantic film.
I still have gay friends but they are far away. Well I now have several new ones. Who would have thought that I would enjoy their friendship in Luxembourg and Bavaria. Lucky me.
My husband and I are of the opinion that tolerance and acceptance are absolute criteria in a world so full of hatred and bias.
Keep smiling and don't forget to give someone a good hug today.
Today is misty and chilly and a good day for painting and drawing. I had just done this pen and wash in my sketchbook a day or two ago and thought it would give you a little giggle. I am enjoying thinking up captions for my sketches - always with some humour.
Our world is so full of brutality, hatred, racialism and everything that causes one to feel helpless and depressed. We cannot change the wider world but we can change the little world around us. The way I can change things is by buying fewer plastic bags. How about getting a cotton one and decorating it yourself with fabric paints. Nice way to get your artwork noticed too!!
I also feel that many elderly folk are lonely and neglected often by their own families. A visit of maybe half an hour a month could make all the difference to that loneliness.
We are such a 'throw-away' society. Do we really have to own the latest model of everything? My mobile phone is several years old and does the job just fine thank you!!
It saddens me to see young people with eyes glued to their tablets and i-phones etc, ears plugged and fingers constantly in motion. They are missing the sound of birds, the ocean, the wind through the trees, a glorious sunset, animals, plants and flowers and sometimes even the sound of each other's voices.
How can we as artists help. How about the possiblity of giving a few free lessons to the kids in your neighbourhood. Take them out into a park and dish out some free paper, a few markers or watercolours and let them enjoy a little of the nature to be found around them.
When I was a little girl, I was a total Enid Blyton fan. I lived vicariously all the adventures of the Famous Five and Secret Seven. The story of a mystery on Puffin Island was my favourite. The puffins were the most delightfully colourful and funny creatures. I longed to see one. Eventually I did. It was on a trip to the far north of Scotland. I was totally enamoured and still am. There was an interesting article about these birds in the National Geographic and I soaked up all the information with much interest. The puffins depart in winter and nobody knows where they go. They are excellent at flying with a large wingspan and are also extremely proficient at diving.
This diptych is my tribute to these birds. It is the second of two fairly large works. The first just did not work out and is now covered in a mix of teracotta and gesso giving it a nice soft pinky look as a base colour for my next painting.
A tip when painting these large works is, get the sky in first. It sets the scene for the light and ambience of the entire work.
Hope you enjoy it.
As you can see, I love doing sketches in pen and wash. This is the ideal medium for my journal and sketch book. A small watercolour travelling set, one or two waterproof pens in sepia and black and one or two watersoluble pens, a brushpen, watercolour brush and my sketchbook and there you go.
We often have challenges in the Animal and Wildlife forum and this month, this sleepy bear took my fancy. I was rather short of time as I am getting ready for an exhibition in early November. However, taking a break from my canvas and paints did me a lot of good. It was back to the old pen and wash and this was the result.
It is pouring with rain here in Bavaria and snow is falling on the mountains. There is no temptation to go out of doors and take a ride on my bicycle to visit the Chinese Running Ducks and the Highland cattle nearby. It is a good time to get down to good hard work on my easel.
I have just returned from a short holiday in France. Not far from Bordeaux lies the lovely Biscarrosse area. We were lucky enough to have charming bed and breakfast accommodation. Marie-Hélène and Eric were the wonderful owners . Nothing was too much trouble and breakfast was delicious - warm bread, home-made cakes and aromatic coffee. They were a mine of information and we walked many kilometres along pristine beaches, visited an enormous sand dune and enjoyed watching the sun set over the Atlantic Ocean.
The highlight was the Teich Bird Sanctuary. It was nature in its purist sense with hides tucked away amidst natural vegetation. We spent hours watching the birds - spoonbills, cormorants and stunning white herons, amongst others. This painting was inspired by my visit to this area.
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