Mini Abstract 6.

Another mini-abstract during lockdown.  This experiment was mainly an exercise using colours I love but haven't used in years.  This was done using gouache but would work much better with proper acrylics on board.

Mini Abstract 6.

Gouache on Paper - 10" x 10.5"

Another quick drawing this time with gouache.

Another quick drawing/sketch this afternoon. Same subject, different photo. I cannot replicate the sitter's face as I am so out of practice. Again the lighting for the photography defeated me. I do see some improvement over the last effort though, so that's something.

"Inspired by Anna (2)"

 Pencil, Watercolour & Gouache on Cartridge Paper - A5

"No-Show"

A whole month has gone by without any work being posted on this blog. The reason is obvious - I haven't finished any work worth posting. I have been so incredibly busy at the day job that coming home to paint was just too much for me, coupled with the fact that when I did try to get some work done last weekend, it just didn't work out because I am 'out of practice'. The gouaches I had started ended up in the trash.  It's absolutely amazing that for each challenge I intend to do and end up not finishing, I feel enormous guilt. I can only assume this is a hangover from school or university with their penalties and demerits for not meeting deadlines, to the extent that those memories are ingrained in my DNA. However, I do periodically forget that I am challenged for time and I walk into an art materials store and come out with a 'little something' - shown below. So weak! I had also hoped to paint an Advent Calendar - one Christmas-themed work for each of the 25 days of Christmas, but again, I couldn't manage it. Next year maybe? I hope to have three weeks' annual leave at the end of the year which will give me a long stretch with daylight and that might make up for this tiresome hiatus on my blog.

Anne's Bargain Brushes

Shopping & Rambling - But No Art

At work this afternoon all I was able to do was dream of painting and getting back home to the easel. Paintings were running around in my head and I found it hard to concentrate. The solution? I came home via the art materials store. If fiscal responsibility were my forté I would choose another route to come home because the ‘art shop’ is right underneath the station where I end my journey and I find it almost impossible to resist going in for a browse. However, tonight I really did need to buy some water colours, and I hoped to get in a ‘practice run’ with my new purchases once I got home. However, I hadn’t realised how incredibly tired my eyes were, so I decided not to do a thing other than sort out my new purchases like a child. I didn’t buy too much – seven tubes of gouache and some brushes, but these were ridiculously expensive and amounted to £51.00. Ouch!

I’ve decided to add water colour works to my small repertoire and as I have never tried gouache, I am aching to give it a go. I photographed the magnificent objects together with some ancient bottles of inks and pens I have had lying around and hopefully by the end of the weekend, I shall have at least one small work to post here. I shouldn’t tempt fate like that because I have other works on the go, but I think a foray into watercolours will free me up a little – I have hemmed myself in a little lately and I am sure things would be very different if I had a bespoke studio, but until that time comes, I am going to stretch myself in small ways. Now I'm off to rest my eyes in a dark room. Really.

Gorgeous New Tubes of Gouache and Brushes!

Old Pen and Ink Supplies - What could go wrong?

Determined to Draw

I am determined to draw a little, or a lot, each night this week. So determined was I when I arrived home tonight that I took out most of my charcoal and chalks, erasers, knives, and drawing pads and put them on the table so I would not be able to ignore them. This is a trick I have to play on myself. Although it is untidy and impractical to have all that material lying around, it makes life easier not having to unpack the material each night from my trusty toolbox.

I've decided for my next submission to the current Following the Masters challenge, I am not going to do a painting, I am going to do a charcoal sketch of the artist whose work we are paying homage to - Robert Henri. I have found a good photograph on the internet, so I'll work from that. I just don't know his work at all, and nor do I know the work of the Ashcan School. This makes me realise just how Eurocentric my art knowledge is at present, and even our libraries don't seem to have any decent monographs on his work or of his followers. I love to work from a good reproduction, but this time they are not available, so I'm going to use this challenge to practice my drawing. Not inventive, but totally practical. Some more clarity.

Off we go...