Whimsical Watercolour
I don't think it is possible to look at daffodils and not think of Wordsworth's poem. I was going to write it out for you, but luckily Jeremy Irons is going to read it to you, most beautifully, instead.
Explore more of the Flower Faces series or see the rest of the monthly series in the collection.
One of my endless fascinations is the illusion of depth on a flat piece of paper. Being able to perceive distance in an image on a page is what draws us into the world of the image's creator.
My analytical side is intrigued by the techniques we can learn to create the illusion of three dimensions. Ok, I have to admit I kind of love that even something as mystical as art boils down to maths in places.
The fact that drawing perspective does involve a step towards maths is probably what puts many of us off learning. I think the trick is to sidle up to it... surreptitiously. Ease gently in, nothing too scary. My introduction was really in Danielle Donaldson's class Creative Girls - a good beginning!
If you are starting out with drawing perspective, here are three things to think about that will help to offer the illusion of depth and distance.
This is a safe place to begin - all about colour. Warm colours (red, orange, yellow) appear to push forward from the paper, while cool colours (blues and greens) recede into the paper. How fascinating it is that this is the way the brain interprets these colours. So one of the easiest ways to suggest a sense of distance is to graduate colours you use from warm ones in the sections of the image closest through to cooler ones in the sections of the image intended to appear further away. Just like my row of little flower ladies...
The other thing that the brain does in interpreting information from the eye is to recognise smaller versions of similar items as being further away, relative to their larger counterparts. So even though all my little flower ladies are about the same size, the ones intended to appear close to the viewer are larger and further apart from each other. Their size and spacing diminish gradually to suggest to the viewer that they are more distant. If you were to draw a line across the tops of the heads of the flowers and extend it out beyond the tiny blue flower and another similar line across the bottom of their stalks, these lines would intersect at one point out beyond the right hand side of the image. Accordingly, this is referred to as one point perspective.
As amazing as our eyes are, we can only see the finest details close up. As we look further into the distance our ability to perceive small distinct details decreases. On a piece of paper, we can mimic this by reducing the level of fine detail progressively from the parts of the image intended to look like they are nearest to us to the parts of the image that are intended to appear further away. Compare the level of facial details on the little red flower at the front of the row to the blue one at the end of the row in Flower Faces no 18 to see what I mean.
Learning to solve puzzles like how to make a flat piece of paper seem three dimensional is an intriguing pastime. If you end up hooked like me then you will be wanting to know a bit more. I am reading a terrific book by Phil Metzger called The Art of Perspective which I am finding to be very helpful. It is not a dry collection of rules and is more like a series of annotated pictures. Phil has a sense of humour and offers step by step instructions of things to try out. Give it a go!
Explore more of the Flower Faces series or see the rest of the monthly series in the collection.
The lotus is a mystical, ancient flower. It is native to Asia and Australia, and it is no ordinary plant. It seems to have super powers most other plants do not.
For example, the lotus is able to regulate the temperature of its flowers much like warm blooded animals regulate their body temperature. The lotus plant can live for a thousand years. The seeds are also remarkable. A lotus seed that was approximately 1300 years old was successfully germinated in 1994.
It is small wonder that it is a significant spiritual symbol in multiple cultures. Hindusim, buddhism and the ancient Egyptian civilisation all associate the lotus with purity, beauty and enlightenment. While each draws a slightly varied meaning from the lotus there is much similarity in the fundamentals of the underlying association as Dean Ravenscroft explains in this article.
One of the fascinations of the lotus flower is that no matter how murky the pond in which it grows, it always emerges clean and beautiful. Some ancient scholars believed the lotus closed its petals and sank beneath the water at night to rise from the water in the morning. Accordingly, it is sometimes associated with rebirth. In reality, the bloom rises from beneath the surface over a period of three days and then blooms in the sunlight.
The roots of the plant are in the pond bed, the leaves float on the surface, and large strong stems raise the blooms several centimetres above the surface of the water. The plant can grow very large - from 1.5 to 5 metres tall and 3 metres wide. Some lotus flowers can be 20cm in diameter.
The lotus also has more practical uses beyond its symbolic, spiritual value. All of the plant is edible, leaves, flowers, stems, seeds. In traditional Chinese medicine, eight separate parts of the lotus flower are used for a variety of ailments, especially those relating to fevers, irritability and bleeding.
The lotus appears in different colours. In Buddhism, each colour carries a different symbolic meaning:
By now, you might be wanting to grow and care for a lotus flower of your own. If so, you will probably want to head over here for some helpful tips. But if that sounds like too much hard work.... you probably just want to look at some photos of beautiful lotus flowers... try this instead.
Explore more of the Flower Faces series or see the rest of the monthly series in the collection.
Today, two flower faces appeared on the page. They seem to understand each other. They remind me to pause and reflect on the value of those things that make our lives worthwhile. Always, these are things that are without price. Like friendship.
Because of these two little flowers I have been musing on friendship today. I would like to share 9 of my favourite quotations about friendship...
Explore the rest of the Flower Faces Series or see if you can find your favourite in the shop.
You know and I know that flowers just make us feel better. Actually, they make us perform better too. You can boost your creativity, productivity and memory by ensuring that your environment contains plants.
At the Chelsea Flower Show in 2013, the Identity Realisation research group at the University of Exeter carried out 90 experiments in association with Indoor Garden Design. Results from the 350 participants that took part in the study show that allowing staff to make design decisions in a workspace enhanced with office plants can increase well-being by 47%, increase creativity by 45% and increase productivity by 38%.
An earlier study by Robert Ulrich found that workers demonstrated more innovative thinking, generated more ideas and came up with more creative solutions to problems in an office environment that included flowers and plants, relative to those in an office with no flowers or plants. And of course, plants and flowers improve the quality of the air in the office which also contributes to the improved well being and productivity of the workers.
In this study by Ulrich, the men generated more ideas than the women when the work environment included flowers. However, the women exhibited greater creativity and contrived more flexible solutions to problems when flowers were present in the environment.
According to Sherry Burton Ways, the integration of plants in offices has been proven to reduce absenteeism and stress levels and lower blood pressure. Other proven benefits include lower noise levels, lower room temperature and reduced humidity.
It would be a mistake to think that design decisions are nothing more than superficial and that decorating your work environment with flowers is frivolous. Scientific studies have repeatedly shown improvement across measures of psychological comfort and business performance in spaces that incorporate natural elements such as plants and flowers.
So get yourself a cheery plant or fresh flowers for your work environment and raise your creativity and productivity. It has to be worth a try, surely?
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Flowers are designed to get attention. That's probably why we love them. Those bright colours certainly can lift our spirits but they serve a very specific purpose. The point of the flower is to attract pollinators.
Insects, birds and bats are all pollinators. Insect pollinators include ants, bees, beetles, butterflies and moths. Honeybees do more pollinating than any of the other insects. Purple is the bee's favourite colour. (It's mine too. Sensible bees.) Bees are attracted to purple flowers more than any other colour of flower.
The honey bee aims for purple flowers for an excellent reason. Purple flowers contain more nectar than other flowers. So it makes sense that if the bee is genetically primed to seek out purple flowers they have the best chance of survival. It is a symbiotic relationship. Likewise, the flower that has the showiest purple flowers increases its chance of pollination and also improves its chance of survival.
Butterflies prefer bright pink, red, orange and yellow flowers, while hummingbirds are attracted to red, fuschia, pink or purple blooms.
Flowers that bloom at night tend to have less vivid colours. These flowers tend to be pollinated by bats and moths, and there is little sense in their having beautiful colours that won't be seen in the dark. Instead, these flowers are heavily fragrant, using scent to attract their pollinators, rather than colour.
Interestingly, the honey bee doesn't actually see colours in the same way that we humans do. Bees see colours in ultraviolet. Primary colours to the human eye are red, green and blue. But to bees, primary colours are blue, green and ultraviolet. While the studies don't all agree on what the exact colour spectrum is through the eyes of a bee, they all agree that bees cannot see red. To a bee, red is seen as black.
We have been learning about the bee's view of the world from about the early 1900's and the work of Karl von Frisch. If you are looking for more recent investigations of the sensory perception of the bee you might want to start with Lars Chittka from Queen Mary University of London.
But on a more practical note... if you are wondering what colour to paint your hive..... go here!
Explore more of the Flower Faces Series or see the other monthly series in the collection.
Control of watercolour.... is it possible? Hmmm, debatable. But the right supplies certainly help. A few well chosen watercolour tools make life easier.
I started today with my Grown Up Watercolours ( the tube kind). Then I realised I had given myself lots of tiny details like the little hearts to fill in. I was using my much loved goat hair chinese paintbrush (this one if you are interested) which did make the task a little easier.
If you haven't tried a chinese paintbrush before I recommend it. It took me a little while to get the hang of it but it is lovely and springy. It holds its point beautifully and holds a huge amount of paint. If you hold it vertical to the paper you can get the finest point. The link above is to the set of three that I bought a few years ago. They are still doing really well for me. I seem to be using the little one rather a lot in this month's series.
I am not known for my patience. I was pleased with myself for making it through all the little ruffles round the petals. My goat hair brush did well. But then I remembered my beloved Tombow markers.... how could I forget?
I think Tombows are one of my favourite tools. Actually, I have a hard time choosing favourites. I love them all. But Tombow markers are something I keep coming back to. I love the flexible nib. Just like a paintbrush.... but better because it keeps its point, and is always juicy. The main attraction for me though, is those glorious colours. You can lay them down so precisely with the brush or bullet end of the marker (yes they are double sided) and then a little bit of water will get the marks moving and flowing in the way watercolour always does. The pigment is so vibrant and strong, I am always surprised at the coverage.
I used to feel like it was cheating - using a marker instead of paint and a brush. What nonsense is that? Fortunately I have come to my senses. There are no rules. So cheating is simply not possible. I believe art should be fun. Guilt should not apply. Use whatever tools feel joyful.
Explore the rest of the Flower Faces Series or see if you can find your favourite in the shop.
Is there anything more cheerful than a bowl of Gerbera daisies? Daisies can be something of a humble, understated little flower, but the Gerbera is not easily overlooked. In fact, I think they look a little bit fancy.
They come in a glorious range of bold colours and can be single, double, quilled or crested double. See....? Fancy!
Like me, the Gerbera comes from Africa. It was discovered by a Scotsman, Robert Jameson, near Barberton in South Africa in 1884. My grandmother used to call them Barberton daisies. Now I know why...
Gerberas come in an impressive range of vivid colours. With their beautifully large heads and thick, sturdy stems they are an excellent choice of cut flower, that lasts well in the vase. In the garden they are perennial only in the warmer climes - tough winters are too much for African beauties.
All daisies are associated with innocence and purity. Gerberas have the added association of cheerfulness. But their benefits go beyond brightening one's day. They are effective at removing some chemicals from the air like the tricholorethylene that is used in dry cleaning. They also filter out formaldehyde and the benzene that comes with inks. So not only are they merry and bold, but Gerbera daisies may actually be decreasing our risks of cancer, asthma, allergies and auto immune diseases.
We are probably all aware that most plants absorb carbon dioxide and give off oxygen during the day. However, unlike some other plants, Gerbera daisies continue to do so at night. This means that having a Gerbera daisy plant in your room at night can increase the level of oxygen in the room resulting in a better night's sleep.
Columbia and the Netherlands are currently the largest suppliers of cut Gerberas. The Gerbera daisy is the world's fifth most favoured cut flower. In case you are now wondering, the four most popular cut flowers in the world are rose, carnation, crysanthemum and tulip, in that order.
So go on, brighten your day, breathe a little easier - get yourself a Gerbera Daisy...
References:
http://www.sustainablebabysteps.com/types-of-houseplants.html
http://www.proflowers.com/blog/history-and-meaning-or-garbera-daisies
Explore more of the Flower Faces Series and the rest of the monthly series in the Collection.
You don't need to be large or loud to make a significant impact in the world. The world often feels to me like such a noisy, crowded place. It seems like you need to have a sizable 'presence' just to be heard. Those that seem to be capable of making a difference appear to be the enormous corporations, world renowned speakers, or 'celebrities' with gazillions of social media followers.
But that doesn't mean that the small, quiet ones are not doing important work, without pomp and ceremony. The best symbol of this is the ladybird.
Small, but beautiful. Clear of purpose. Not needing attention to do their good work in the world.
They are quite fascinating little creatures. Did you know...
But whatever you do, let every ladybird you see remind you that no matter how small you might feel sometimes, your contribution is important. Like the humble ladybird, persistently doing the work that you were put on earth to do does make a significant impact on the world.
Explore more of the Flower Faces Series here.
Yesterday I used up all the white space around my flower face with a textured background. Funny - it was only when I covered up the white space that I actually noticed that there was a lot of white space in most of the other pictures in this series.
I like that they don't have to share the page with anything else. I like the white space. It reminds me that I have made time in my life to make them, and that in turn has given me a little 'white space' around myself. Each flower face sitting in its clear space seems to be saying, "Make a little time for yourself."
It is so easy to have life take over and for there to be an endless stream of tasks to tick off the to do list. How often do you get to the end of a really busy day and find yourself wondering... what did I really do today?
If I am not careful, the day whizzes by in a flash. Before I know it the things I would like to do - the things that are important to me, have been squeezed out. Unless you prioritise them, and set aside a specific time for them, they will be neglected into oblivion.
We multi task whether we realise it or not - even if we have read many an article telling us that this is not the way to do things anymore. Our mobile devices beep and flash and vibrate with every little whimper from cyberspace. It is hard to ignore that flashing envelope icon with every new mail, or the persistence of our social media notifications. In the car at school pick up, we can be planning the evening meal, googling a recipe for it and placing an online order - all while chatting to the mum parked beside us. Whatever happened to staring calmly into space for a few moments?
No, I seem to have to allocate time to be still. I don't want to say this, but it is like scheduled 'me-time'. No you see... I really want to go back and delete that. It sounds so selfish, doesn't it? But really, if we don't reign in the frenetic pace at some point - find a little white space for ourselves, we become less capable of doing everything else that we need to do.
If you are wondering how to go about incorporating a little time for yourself, this article has some helpful suggestions. If you are looking for some more in depth information and guidance than an article, you might want to have a look at Cheryl Richardson's books.
Sitting down with my paintbrushes and pencils is my daily white space. What is yours?
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One of the things that plagues me regularly is wondering what to draw or paint. I worry that if I am not particularly inspired then perhaps I am not actually all that creative. But I am realising that inspiration is everywhere. And deep down I believe that every one of us is creative.
But doubt inevitably creeps in. I think it is part of the process. And it is not so much that I am not 'inspired'. I think it is more about a fear of not being able to make something lovely out of that inspiration.
So the plan is to 'feel the fear and do it anyway'. Let go of needing to make something lovely. Sometimes making something is enough in its own right. The process is often worth so much more than the final product.
The other day I found an enchanting photograph of a sunflower on Instagram. I have to be honest - sunflowers are not exactly my favourites because I often see them in their later stages of life and it is that picture that unfortunately sticks in my mind. Giant stalks with bedraggled leaves. Dry and brown, heavy with seed. I am so pleased to have found a far more hopeful image which will hopefully replace the one to which my mind has been defaulting!
The sunflower looked happy and hopeful and like it needed a face (currently every flower I look it seems to need a face drawn on it!). The other thing that the photo I saw inspired me to do was to use up the white space. As much as I have been enjoying the white space around my little flowers, I liked the change of dropping in a nice textured background. So much fun splashing in lots of lovely greens, extra clean water and even a bit of salt. Voila. Flower face Number 9.
So if you are having a spot of trouble feeling inspired (or scared to put pencil to paper - which I am thinking is basically the same thing) here are a few strategies to try:
Pick the first thing that comes to mind and draw lots and lots of them. Just doodle loads of cats/flowers/tea cups - whatever you think of first. The more of them you draw, the more variations you will think of because as I have found, ideas come from ideas
Take a class. If you don't know what to draw then let a teacher tell you. Allow yourself to be inspired by the teacher as well as your fellow class mates. One cautionary note, if I may - be inspired by these people, but do not compare yourself with them. Only misery can follow that...
Choose a masterpiece that you love and copy it. Leonardo da Vinci said, " If one knows how to copy, one knows how to do". Its ok. You have permission from da Vinci. Go ahead and copy.
Productively surf your social media faves.... visual cues bombard us - choose to notice which ones are speaking to your muse. You might just find a lovely picture of a sunflower to draw.
Looking for more inspiration? Check out the rest of the Flower Face Series.
Today, I had the urge to add doodles to the petals of my flower face. And one should never resist the urge to doodle.
I have been a doodling fan for quite some considerable time. I stumbled upon Zentangle very early on in my creative journey. I was drawn to it as a less intimidating form of artistic expression. Life drawing, perspective, proportions, value scales.... these are all pretty intimidating to a beginner. But lines and dots and repeated patterns? Everyone can have a go at that. Little did I realise how soothing it was. I concluded that it was like meditation for people who struggle to meditate.
Aside from Zentangle, I often feel drawn to including doodle patterns in my journal pages. (If you want to have a go at this you could hop over to Joanne Sharpe's website and take one of her doodle classes - she is a lot of fun and so are her classes.)
I realise I was originally prey to the invisible indoctrination of the 'doodling is the antithesis of intellectual thought movement'. Not for serious people.
It turns out that science came to the fore a few years ago and proved this to be false*. Doodling actually has been shown to enhance memory function, and stimulate creativity. Although we generally tend to believe that doodling signifies a loss of attention or concentration, it is in fact a preemptive measure that engages the brain and prevents it from losing focus.
In her terrific TED talk, Sunni Brown explains that we take in information in 4 ways:
In order for deep learning and engagement with this information, two of these forms must be simultaneously present, or one form plus an emotional experience. Doodling combines all four forms and the possibility of an emotional experience.
Well, I don't need any more convincing than that. But I have just added another book to my reading list. Sunni Brown's Doodle Revolution. I will tell you all about it in due course... Have you already read it? What did you think?
*Andrade, J. (2010). What does doodling do? Applied Cognitive Psychology, 24: 100–106. doi: 10.1002/acp.1561.
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If you set about drawing flowers, it isn't long before you hit upon a daisy. In fact, a daisy might be the very first flower that comes to mind.
The daisy has been appearing in artwork for quite some time - carvings dating back as far as 3000BC depict our beloved daisy. And the daisy predates us humans by quite a considerable period. Daisies appeared shortly after the demise of the dinosaurs about 50 to 60 million years ago.
I have to admit, I tend to only think of the yellow centred, white petaled variety as a daisy. That gave me pause today. I do love white flowers. But today I didn't really want to paint a white flower. I'm not sure why this troubled me at all - I am putting a face on the daisy.... Having made that leap from reality... surely the colour I choose for the petals seems neither here nor there!
However, I did some research and found to my delight that the daisy comes in so very many stunning forms and colours. There are over 4000 species of daisies. Daisies are found everywhere in the world except for Antarctica. They survive in both wet and dry habitats. Daisies have a biennial life cycle, meaning they last for two years. Some of their relatives include echinacea, arnica, artichokes and endives. If you want to see some wonderful photographs and learn more about the delightful daisy head over to this rather glorious website.
The daisy is said to have been Queen Victoria's favourite flower. Not only has it featured in artwork, it has inspired many a poet. Euripides, Chaucer, Shakespeare, Shelley, and Wordsworth to name just a very few.
It was Goethe's Marguerite who first pulled the petals from the daisy saying 'he loves me, he loves me not'. That cute, romantic notion has endured. In 1892, Harry Dacre wrote the song Daisy Bell which we all know....
Daisy, daisy, give me your answer do...
For a humble and commonly found flower, the daisy is certainly an impressively significant and enduring symbol.
Explore more of the Flower Face Series and the rest of the monthly series in this project.
When I started this series I worried about whether I would just create different colour versions of the same sort of doodley flower I started with. Would I come up with anything else? Enough to fill a month? It turns out that ideas come from ideas.
Committing to a series is like an extended brainstorming session. If you have ever been in a corporate style brainstorming session - first of all, sorry about that - and secondly, you may have noticed that they usually begin with awkward silence.
No ideas. Some one well versed in management speak will then usually say something like 'there's no such thing as a bad idea... don't be shy...'
Eventually a small voice pipes up. Hmm. Some thinking ensues. Perhaps a little smirking. Then another voice. It is often easier to criticise an existing idea than come up with a new one. But funnily enough, criticising an idea is the first step to making the idea better. Or coming up with a substitute.
Before long the brainstorming snowballs. From little or nothing in the beginning to multiple ideas. It's like our idea generating equipment needs warming up.
Initial idea sketch and final painting
When I first felt a twinge of doubt about having enough flower faces to fill a month I got out my sketchbook. Made a scratchy doodle of something that looked more like a dandelion than a flower. From there other flowers appeared in my sketchbook. Each idea a little easier to come by than the last.
Now the only thing I have to ask is - is a dandelion a flower?.... well for my purposes, yes. And she looks far too regal to be a weed. But then, as Ralph Waldo Emerson said...
"What is a weed? A plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered.”
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It is feeling increasingly wintry here in Melbourne. Lots of rain. Puddles my daughter can't resist.
I think that is why I started today with big splashy puddles of watercolour.
I love the willful nature of watercolour. The unpredictability that used to bother me is something I really enjoy now.
And I have learned to be patient enough to let the layers dry before continuing. Art is helping me learn to slow down. I take this sort of thing as a most excellent excuse to go and make another cup of tea. (You are right. One never should need an excuse to make a cup of tea.)
I added more layers of colour. Dropped in different reds and purples. Enjoyed watching what they became. Because you never really know what you are going to get with watercolour.
And what I ended up with is one of those oversized, generous blossoms like peonies or roses. I love all those layered petals and the sense of abundance they leave with me. I can't help but see little whimsical faces everywhere, even snuggled into the base of one of those blooms.
I couldn't resist taking out my Derwent Inktense pencils. I like drawing into the still wet layers with them. The inktense colours are so vibrant when they meet with the water. And of course, being pencils they make small, controllable, detailed marks possible.
Explore more of the Flower Faces Series and the other monthly series.
Oh coloured pencils... how do I love thee?... let me count the ways!
I may not be a poet, but a list maker? For sure. And I count 9 reasons to love coloured pencils.... thusly...
They return you to childhood. Nothing feels more delightfully child-like than clutching a coloured pencil. Picasso told us that all children are artists. What easier way is there to channel your inner child?
They are unassuming, low maintenance art supplies. Not messy like pastels, no brush clean up required, no waiting for paint to dry, not intimidating like oil paint, they are the friendliest tool in your kit.
The way they feel. Is there anything better than the waxy glide of coloured pencil over paper leaving a rainbow in its wake?
The range of colours. So many delightful colours to choose from, and infinite more nuanced variations appear when you blend them effortlessly together.
Effortless blending. Oh, did I not mention the blending already? On their own, because they are good natured enough to work together to give depth, volume and life. And with a colourless blender pencil or some sort of solvent they dissolve into a seamless paint-like sheen.
No smudging. Being a member of the anti-graphite pencil club I can't not talk about the fact that they won't smoosh all over the opposite page when the book is closed or move if you rub your finger over them. So both friendly and obedient, they are.
Control. I love tiny details. Sadly, I am a teeny bit clumsy, I fear. Tiny pupils and eyelashes and other fine details are quite beyond me with something like a paintbrush. In fact, I should probably just throw away my rigger brush. Pencils enable me. Hurrah.
Transportable. What could be easier than throwing a couple of coloured pencils in a cute pencil case? Add a sharpener and all you need is a bit of paper.
They play so nicely with other art supplies. Now, this is why I bring this up particularly today. I took out my coloured pencils and used them to add the final finishing touches. Coloured pencils work so well on top of watercolour and matte acrylic paint and over gesso.
I adore my coloured pencils (you might have guessed). And Prismacolours are my favourite brand. But we had better not be biased. There are some downsides. I count two.
Breakage. They do break quite easily when sharpening. You can try to improve this by baking them. No, really... I haven't completely taken leave of my senses. This melts the wax inside the pencil so that when it hardens again on cooling all the breaks inside the barrel fuse back together. I havent got around to testing this out yet for myself - will let you know when I do!
Time consuming on a large scale. If you are doing a large picture it can take a quite a long time to build up the colour to the desired intensity. However this is easily rectified by point number 9 in the above list. Start with a wash of colour provided by watercolour or acrylic paint, then bring out the coloured pencils.
That's what I did today. I started with my ink drawing... and I liked it... yay! An improvement on yesterday....
Flower face No 4 WIP ink drawing
Then I added watercolour...
Flower face no 4 WIP watercolour stage
And then I got out my coloured pencils to improve the shading and details. And yes. I do keep them in colour bundles with a coordinated colour hair elastic. Please don't judge me...
Flower face no 4 WIP coloured pencil
Final nerd tidbit... apparently both colour pencils and coloured pencils are acceptable names but coloured pencil came first. So I must be a purist. Or just old fashioned. (And since you read this all the way to the end (by the way, thank you) I can only assume that you would be interested in this sort of coloured pencil trivia...)
So tell me.... how much do you love your coloured pencils?
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Jane Davenport says ...
Not everything you create is a masterpiece - love it anyway.
Well, today I got a chance to try and do that.
Here she is Flower Face No 3...
One of the joys of mixed media is that you have unlimited options when it comes to 'improving' your painting. I think I used nearly everything today...
We put a lot of pressure on ourselves to be producing work we like. But the truth is that producing something you love every time you sit down is unrealistic. Ira Glass explained it for us - that it is the gap between what our good taste wants to see and what our hands are able to make as beginners. You know the one?... this one...
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Not working in a series is like sentencing yourself to an eternity of first days.
First days are hard. You remember them.... first day at school. First day of learning to drive. First day at a new job. Everything is unfamiliar. Awkward. A tinge of excitement for sure, but a bit uncomfortable. If you don't make art in a series then it is like giving yourself an endless stream of first days. You miss out on the chance of benefiting from the experience you gained in the last painting.
I resisted the idea of working in a series for a while. It felt restrictive, limiting opportunities to explore and discover different things. The problem is that there are so very many different things to discover. If you don't stick with something, at least for a little while, you actually make it very hard to learn from what you are doing. And extra hard to avoid feeling discouraged.
Its all because of the learning curve, I think. There is a theory that when you learn something new, you do the most learning at the beginning. That is the hard part. You have so much to learn that if you were to graph your learning over time it would begin with an enormously steep curve and then flatten out with experience. That steep curve is the initial up hill struggle when you are grappling with something different. When the learning curve starts to flatten out it is because you have tucked some of the basics under your belt. You have built up the necessary fundamental knowledge and skill. It was the absence of this when you started that made it feel so hard.
So be kind to yourself. Make art in a series!
A little while ago I started a new habit - I create something every day. I draw and paint a little character using limited supplies in my ten minute journal and post it on Instagram daily. I have found this small but consistent practice enormously helpful. Want to check it out? Here you go...
Then I came across Elle Luna’s 100 days project over at The Great Discontent. These words really spoke to me.
I had only been doing my daily journal page for a few weeks but already I knew this to be true. The muse doesn’t come and chase you down. You have to keep showing up consistently and then she can find you. Of course I signed up to #the100dayproject and today will be the 26th day out of 100 for my #100daysof10minutejournals.
The point of the exercise is process and discipline. I have realised that making time to sit down and create every day has helped me so much more than the counting of the art hours that I have been doing up until now. So I am changing tack. Actually it feels more like getting back on track. What I really want is to make art. The best way to do it is to do a little bit every day.
So the theme for this first month of May is flower faces.
This is Flower Faces No 1.
I have had a few challenges since the art bug bit me. Like the fact that I was a maths/science kid at school, and then a business graduate and professional who had never before considered painting or drawing. So knowing where to begin was rather tricky (not to mention entirely daunting!)
I started with books, then online courses. It’s all good. When you don’t know where to start the solution is simple…. Start anywhere! And then for the last year or two I have noticed that I only tended to do artwork from online classes - assigned tasks if you will. Now I want to do something that has nothing to do with anyone’s class. (I’m a classaholic, so I won't be giving that up) but I am challenging myself to make something every day, Monday to Friday and post it here. I am picking a different theme for each month.
Explore more of this series of Flower Faces.
Visit the shop to see if you can find your favourite from the series.
If you want to achieve your goals… don’t focus on them. This seemed like just the sort of counter intuitive advice I was looking for. You see, I have …