When Sleep is not Your Friend

Hello Friends!

Some nights sleep is just something you can only dream of in your waking hours. When insomnia strikes  there is nothing you can do. Well, actually, there is something you can do. On those long nights when Mr Sandman forgets to drop by and I cannot get a wink, I triy to do something constructive. When I was awake last night, and nothing closed my peepers, I just put the light on, pulled out my paints and caught up on one of my missed lessons.

Here is my lovely Lotus Flower. I am calling it Lotus of the Dawn. That seems an appropriate title given the ungodly hour of the day I was creating it.

I used my new Winsor and Newton watercolour paints and new Caran d'Ache Prismacolour II waterproof colour pencils.

I hope you like it.  

Until next time.

Stay safe. Stay well.

Debbie. xx

Ooops! I Almost Forgot . . .

Hello friends! 

I hadn't planned on posting another blog so quickly after the last one, however it suddenly dawned on me I had one major painting that I completed a few weeks ago that I haven't shared with you yet.  Also, I’m quite excited about the one I completed this earlier this week so I'm quite eager to share it with you. I mustn’t forget the eyes either!

First, the one that is called Aphrodite in Pisces. A month ago, in October, Ida Andersen Lang hosted a free, online, ten day long, in depth, art class called Wish Upon A Star.  I think she is starting to do a series of Zodiac portraits as she has done one previously and hinted that more will be following. I loosely followed guidelines for it, while I enjoy her in depth lessons, one problem I have is she is very specific with her materials. I don't have a lot of them, and there isn't much room for improvisation, so I did the best I could with what I've got to hand. This is the end result. First a close up of the face, followed by the finished final outcome.

I think I've come a long way since I started out back in June with the 61 days of index card art challenge and culminated with this which is an A3, so I've gone from small pieces of work to much larger! This one took several days to complete and is mixed media using watercolour pencils, waterproof pencils, gouache, and shimmer paints.

Do you remember I also did a project called the Magic Eye of Ceridwen?  Here's a little reminder

Well, I enjoyed doing it so much that I've divided and A4 journal page into eight sections and I've started doing smaller versions in different colorways experimenting a little bit. I've only done four because I took a break to do some other artwork, so this is something I must to return to

Finally this is the piece I'm most excited about. I think it's become clear I'm really settling down into doing these portraits and I do enjoy them immensely, And one thing I keep doing is trying to push myself out of my comfort zone. Well this one certainly did that! I decided I wanted to try some different skin tones and this is the result. It's a single media using my box of sakura koi watercolours. I can't begin to tell you how difficult it was, nor how much I learned about skin tones which is immense. 

I've learned some new techniques, and my next project is going to be simply worksheets of mixing skin tones and blending them in different ways. I've discovered that you can use almost every colour, even blue, blended in different ways to create different skin tones, and that the more you blend colours rather than use them straight out of the tube or pan, the more natural skin tones you achieve.  Following that, I'll be working on sheets of eyes, noses, lips, and hands!  This is going to take a lot of practise and dedication!

Until next time

Stay safe, stay well

Debbie xo

Two Goddesses of the Moon and Spring

Hello friends!

I'm excited to start out by telling you that everything in this blog is my own original artwork and not done or guided by any online lessons.

I promised one of my friends that I would share my process with photos. So here is the latest piece as yet untitled. I had my 4th Covid booster inoculation on Thursday and due to a serious underlying medical condition, I was advised to rest for Friday on Saturday even if I didn't feel poorly or have a reaction, which thankfully I haven't. So, I had to find something to do and decided that Friday I would paint another fantasy portrait.  I will be resting again today as it is Saturday and I'm still following doctor's orders. So quite possibly I will do another painting.  Or maybe bake a cake. That's not exactly strenuous, is it? Mind, I do need bread. Oh dear, this could get complicated.

As yet she's untitled, she is painted on and A4 journal 90lbs paper {which really should have been a lot heavier, see below***} and is in mixed media using Neocolours II, Sakura koi watercolours, gouache, shimmer paints, and Derwent waterproof pencils.

First I made an edge to the paper using low tack sellotape. You can see this more clearly on the second photo, where it is resisting the dark blue paint. Then I set in my image and used a compass to draw the circle which would later become the moon. Because I try and work intuitively at this point I hadn't finalised the design in my mind and was uncertain whether this was going to be the moon or a halo.

When I was in school, I was taught to paint the background layers first and work forward so that the top layer of paint is what is closest to you in your subject.  so I started with the background which I knew I wanted to be a night sky and I painted this in Neocolour II water soluble crayons.

Next I painted the eyes and lips using gouache. Normally I don't do the features until later but I'm finding that I'm losing the definition by leaving them until later, so this was an experiment painting them in early to see if I could help maintain definition.  We'll know soon if it worked or not.

She certainly looks fierce now, doesn't she?  I begin to question whether or not this this was the right thing to do. Have I ruined the painting at this very early stage? Only one way to find out. Onwards and upwards!

Next I started adding flesh tone in gouache.  Suddenly, her eyes seem a little less fierce.

I always build the colours up in thin layers so a couple more layers of flesh coloured paints and some more colour added to the eyes and lips and she's starting to look much better. That fierce look has now been muted and knocked back.

Sadly, I do feel I have lost some of the. Definition around the eyes, nose, and lips. They are not my strong point, and I must practise more.

 At this point I have to decide is that circle behind her going to be a silver moon or a golden halo.  So, working intuitively I roughly block in the colours for her hair and her dress.  I can tell immediately that gold is not going to work so silver it is and we have a moon in silver shimmer paint.

The final outcome, with which I am happy.  However, I may add some spatters of white paint on the dark areas of the sky.  Hopefully they will add a an extra. air of magic to the painting.

Here is another one I did last week, it's in the same journal {as the one above, and is also mixed media. I wanted to have a little play with my gouache and inktense paints just see how they interact and basically just to get a better feel for how to use them, so that is the mixed media for this one.  she started out life as a doodle I'm just kind of grew from there, organically and intuitively.  I didn't want to draw hands. It's not something I've done yet, and I didn't want to ruin the piece with ugly, badly drawn hands as it was developing well. Consequently, she's holding a bouquet of flowers!

Is something extremely wistful and maybe melancholy in her expression. I feel she has a story to tell, don't you?

A couple of people have asked me what is mixed media. Basically, it's anything where you use more than one type of medium. So for example if I paint a picture using my koi Sakura watercolours that is a single medium work. However if I introduced even just one more elements of medium, for example watercolour pencils, then it becomes mixed media because I have used more than one medium. Some mixed media projects are quite elaborate because people use all sorts of things in their work, not just flat work which is what I tend to do.  I hope the people who asked are reading this and I hope I've made sense.

*** I know I should be using better quality paper than 90lbs, mainly because of the amount of water that is used and the absorbency of the paper, but after all I am just learning and starting out on this painting journey and it's easier on the wallet to make mistakes on cheaper paper than it is on the 140lbs, or 300gsm weight paper that I should be using.

Until next time
Stay safe stay well
Debbie xoxo

Spot the Spider

Hello friends

No, not a game, that's its name, Spot the Spider.  LoL.

Those of you who know the size of the Sycamore seeds will appreciate the miniature size of Spot the Spider who appears in the first photo.

Both of these photos are very pleasing to me because they have that natural bokeh effect which I enjoy and it's all the more rewarding when it occurs naturally as it does in these two images.

My latest online art course is another one hosted by the brilliantly accomplished fine artist, Ida Andersen Lang, from Denmark, who specialises in using watercolour pencils in her art.

I think I'm going to be a little while longer before I finish this piece so I'm sharing a snap of it in progress today. I'll be doing a more detailed blog soon, when it's finished, showing more of the detail and obviously the finished piece. It's a real challenge for me and one of the reasons why it's taking me a lot longer is it's my first A3 piece. 

I have had some very positive feedback on this painting, not only from my peers but also from Ida herself!!! I confess when I read what she said I had a bit of a squee moment!!!

The weather here in the west continues to be abysmal. We are constantly getting winds now of 40 miles an hour and we have had torrential rain, sufficient to mean that a hose pipe ban was lifted on the 25th of October, mind I can't see anyone wanting to use a hose pipe to water their garden at the moment with all the rain we've been getting. It's gone from the sublime to the ridiculous.

To try and keep warm without turning up the thermostat, I have just bought myself one of those oversized hoodies in a teddy bear fleece. It seems to do the job. Last night I actually got warmer than I'd been in a long time. However, the downside is I do look rather like a pink version of Uncle Fester. Then, if you're keeping warm, do you really care what you look like if nobody else can see you? However, before anyone asks, I will take the jump on this and say no, there will not be any photographs.

This morning I had my flu injection so will be taking it easy for the rest of the day and sitting mostly at my painting desk.

Until next time
Stay safe stay well
Debbie xoxo

LifeBook Taster Sessions part 2

Hello friends!

This finishes up what I completed during Life Book 2023 taster sessions. It's been a while now, since I've not made art daily. I started on June the 1st with two months of index card art. That was followed with Artful August. Then there was Ida Lang Andersen's Artist Soul Gathering. And finally, Tamara Laporte's Life Book.  It's a lot of art!

I'm still making art. I've no plans to stop now until I can no longer hold a paint brush. October is my birth month, and I will be treating myself to some new art supplies for my birthday.  I am going to get, amongst other things, some professional quality watercolour paints. I haven't decided which brand yet. I think I'd like a set of half or quarter pans rather than tubes. Some of the brands I'm looking at are Daniel Smith, Schminke, Windsor and Newton, and Daler Rowney.  I already have cheaper watercolours, student grade as their known.  Basically, while they are still good quality, they're not as highly pigmented as the professional quality. And there's also the factor of being lightfast. Lightfast means if you hang your painting on the wall, the colour won't fade in a few years. Light affecting pigment is one of the reasons many galleries have subdued lighting.

Recently, someone asked if they could buy some of my work. Unfortunately, I had to refuse, because they have been made as the result of a lesson, and copyright of the images is not mine. However, this offer is why I have to seriously consider painting anything in the future using professional quality paints.  I would not feel comfortable selling something that wasn't made to professional standards.

I have also had someone offer me NFT's for artwork. But I have no idea what these are, and I have no intention of getting involved.

The next lesson I did was Tamara Laporte's "Butterfly Queen". It got a bit out of control with brightness, so I had to knock it back quite considerably to where I could look at it without wearing dark glasses!!!  I changed the symbolism to Christian by placing a Celtic cross design on the forehead instead of the more Pagan style used in the demonstration.  This lesson came at a time of year when I mark the anniversary of the passing of both my parents just three weeks apart. The fact that it includes butterflies seemed very appropriate at this time, because butterflies symbolise rebirth.

I used Neocolours, Derwent paint pens, and Brushos.

The next lesson I did was Mindfulness Mandala, hosted by Angela Murray, a superb class. I really enjoyed the freedom that this gave, taking me way outside my comfort zone of not being perfect. 

Mixed media.

I have struggled somewhat with the white lines but am working through it.  So, I did a second one to test my new ideas.  I gave this one as a birthday card/small gift. It was very well received. 

I'm not altogether sure I'm done with this one yet. I wanted to do one in autumnal colours. I do like the vintage feel that the colours have given.

The colours in this one didn't turn out as I'd hoped, but it's all a learning curve. I learned two new things making this one. It's all good in the end. Not as bright as I'd hoped it would turn out, though.  i am pleased with how well the free hand drawn circle turned out.  

So my friends, that pretty much sums up as far as I got this time. I didn't do as much as I'd hoped. But then I've been busy with other things. There are only so many hours in the day, and I'm struggling to get the garden ready for winter. And that has to take priority now. Next week I start another course. It's hosted by Ida Anderson Lang. It's a ten day long course, but we only produce one piece of work, so it'll be interesting to see how that goes. I'll let you know later.

I'm hoping to start sharing work and progress on the garden soon, but in the meantime. I'm taking measures to try and improve my fitness and hope in the near future that I will be starting to go out and about on short rambles again. Maybe a mile or two with the camera. I want to get us back to normal as I possibly can, while I'm still able to.

Until next time.

Stay safe. Stay well.

Debbie xo

Index Card Art Part Five

Hello friends!

Thank you to everyone for taking the time to look at my art, especially my previous blog. The work in that has been quite different for me. I'm taking a few days off from arts at the moment. I've done over 100 days straight now since June the 1st. I've made at least one small piece, sometimes a large piece of art everyday since then.  It's quite a lot, so like I say, I'm having a few days off before the taster session for Life Book 2023 begins on the 26th of September. Mind having invested so much time in doing art the house workers let slip so I won't be having any time off, I'll be cleaning house!!

Here's another roundup of index card art. I think I've just got one more weeks worth to put in, so that'll come sometime in the next few days.

These ones come in a variety of media. I was doodling on a card and somehow came up with a basic shape which you will see is repeated throughout every one of these cards. I've taken the basic shape and worked into it with adding bits or changing the media. After all, that's what index card art is all about. Experimenting. Oh, and of course having fun!

It's surprising how you can change the look of something just by changing how you colour it in or adding a few extra bits here and there.

Until next time.

Stay safe, stay well.

Debbie xo

Art Soul Gathering {Part Two}

Hello Friends!

Here are the rest of my pieces for Art Soul Gathering.  I knew I wouldn't complete all of the lessons as some are very time consuming, two a day for a week.  After ten days, all access is removed, so I do what I can whenever these free opportunities present themselves.  In a few weeks I shall begin Tamara Laporte's renowned LifeBook 2023 taster fortnight.

This piece is in the style of Ida Andersen Lang and is called the Dream of Nimuë. It went horribly wrong from the get go, for two reasons. First I need to work on larger card stock as her head is not much bigger than my thumb so when something goes amiss there's no room to manoeuvre to put it right, and second I wasn't paying attention and picked up my aquarelles instead of waterproof pencils, so as soon as I applied water everything bled instead of staying put.   Other than that, I'm happy with it.

Freehand drawn

In the style of Dawn Vander Stoep, "Inner Wisdom" lesson.
I don't have anything remotely like the pan pastels used in this lesson, so had to do some proper improvisation, not even in the right colours, using eye shadows and cotton buds. It wasn't particularly easy to get the finer details and I ended up using some dress making pencils.
Freehand drawn

In the style of Tamara Laporte "Mother Earth" mixed media.  I loved doing this one so much, I love the outcome and it's now my social media avatar.

in the style of Marie-Laure Delage-Carlson this is Dryad – Spirit of the Forest. I don't think I'm done with it yet but it's this closest I'm going to get for the time being because I'm still learning to manage the copious amounts of water needed, which have started the disintegration of the paper so time to put the brushes down and let it go. I wanted to honour the spirit of the Redwood Forests near Ferndale CA

This one isn't following a lesson per se, but it has wording written underneath the artwork as shown in several of the lessons, but it's too heavy and showing through in places.

I'm not sure if I'm going to do any more of the lessons, partly because they don't appeal to me so much, and partly because they call for materials that I don't have, and can't come up with an appropriate substitution.

At the end of the month I'm taking part in a two week online taster course for Life Book 2023, hosted by Tamara Laporte.  It's an annual event.  I bought lifetime access to the 2019 LB course, but Mum died and I didn't get into the course, so I'm planning to work on that soon.  I think my next entry will be sharing one of those light bulb moments, but I just realised I'm well behind with ICAD sharing too!

Until next time

Stay safe, stay well

Debbie xoxo