Our place

I love coming home to our place on a sunny morning, the sun and shadows do lovely things and make it easy to ignore the rampant weeds, punctured footballs, scrappy grass and dog dug holes. Even though this is literally my own back yard, I still didn't  do this from life. Shock horror.  I have watercolour sketched it a number of times in the past, but even then the shadows move too fast for me; the sun would have moved around to the other side of the house by the time I had even squirted out the oils.

Sketching it helped though, as it meant I had looked at and thought about the whole shadow/bounced light/tone thing going on under the porch a number of times. Instead of the usual and usually frustrating attempt to use a big brush and simplify , I used a smaller brush this time and held it far back on the handle and tried to be a bit looser that way. Not unhappy with the result, may explore that approach  a bit further.
Within the next two weeks all the kids will have moved out, and it will just be me and P here - wierd and sad.

Pifco motorist's lamp

L found this little lamp in a charity shop and gave it to P for his birthday - it's ever so cute though I keep thinking he ( yes, it feels like  a he) is a  little bit sad or dejected.

I should have simplified things a bit more  and probably gone a it darker in places, but it's okay. We got a battery and a bulb for it and lo and behold - it works! the light on top even flashes. I thought about painting it with the little front beam shining out, but actually , it took me so long to draw/redraw/undo/rub out etc etc , his poor  battery would have died a slow pointless death. Ellipses and shiny things - yuk.

And again

This will probably be the last time these poor flowers will pose, but I have found doing the same subject again and again to be very helpful. I think these flowers are much closer to what I've been trying to do, they were done more quickly, a bit more surely and required a lot less redoing. Consequently, even though they are older and more tired,  I think they are a bit fresher looking.

The jars are a different story. It wasn't bright to try and do three identical items, especially as accurate drawing isn't my strongest point.  I sort of avoided some of the issues around the tops, and I know the shoulders differ a bit, but not horrendously. I did feel I was learning a lot today as I went along, so very happy with that.

My set up is professionalism in action, I'm thinking of patenting my lamp on top of box on top of book on top of table on top of desk system, there's bound to be a market for it.

And again

The flowers are getting shorter, I keep cropping bits off, they are still holding up, mainly.  I think my course materials arrive next week, once study starts again, painting will probably stop, so I'm trying to squeeze a few more attempts in.

Same intention re simplicity, flawed, but possibly a bit of progress, slightly, in some areas.

Meh

Another attempt at the flowers, poor loves, they are being very patient. Though I approached this fully intending to do only three tones, I started at dark, then mid, but by the time I got to light, the mid was too light, so adjust, then adjust the dark, then the light, then the mid, then lose the plot, then wonder how you got from the idea of simplicity to such faffing and smudging.

I have a feeling that who ever came up with the 'practice makes perfect' notion, missed out some vital information. No matter, still loving trying, it is like trying to get all the pieces of a puzzle together, but always losing a few pieces. Or something like that. 

Sunday morning

I rarely get the paints out on a Sunday, as I hate painting when people are around, but we were around all day with no great plans and I felt like painting, so I  just shouted at anyone who came near me. 

My vase is a bit wonky and my poor flowers just barely fit in the picture, but both are because it is an attempt to look down on a long vase and therefore all sorts of weird foreshortening was at play which was darned tricky.  I was trying like mad to just see darks and lights, and not see individual petals, which works in places, not in others. I'd like to be able to simplify more.

 I think these flowers should last a couple more days, hopefully I can give them another shot. It was P's birthday yesterday - I very thoughtfully, and not at all with an ulterior motive, and not thinking about painting at all at all, and regardless of the fact he doesn't really care about flowers, bought him some for the occasion. 

Not so pretty in pink

Sort of an embarrassing effort, but unfortunately  I took a photo before washing this off so it has to go in. I gave up half way through, scrappy attempt at a set up, don't like pink, flower wilted in heat, lost the shape of the glass, got unsure about ellipses when looking down on things, sunny outside, good book on the go, paint on my face - i.e , more than the usual amount of excellent excuses.

Perhaps I need a new hobby. Or just to read books.

Happy out

What a lovely day. It's been sunny and divine, I got lots sorted, bank crap dealt with, correspondence caught up with, calls made, emails written,  I managed to read ( if not understand) a nasty chapter of one of next year's set study books, and,  at the end of the day, I squeezed in a quick little painting session. And I didn't use photos. The painting and it's merits/defects are of little/no consequence - it has been washed off  and the board is ready for another day- but I was happy out with the whole experience. 

There is lots to be done at the mo, both daughters are leaving for uni next month, and while I'm absolutely loving spending these days with them ,  it is also so nice to just have a bit of quiet time to give this sort of thing a go.

No mannequin heads

Then, feeling bad about only painting from photos and about trying silly subjects, I decided I'd dedicate myself to the mannequin head in the kitchen. I'd sketch her, paint her, change her accessories, adjust lighting and poses  and make it a proper summer painting project. Well I sketched her , a number of times, in a variety of head gear - and then I attempted to paint her.  Five unbelievably disastrous, bad, lousy, embarrassing, smudgy, misshapen attempts have been binned/torn up/scraped off. The project is finished. She is back in the kitchen looking serene and smug after her ordeal. I shall not be painting her again.

Found the paints again

The paints finally came out and as usual I hadn't a notion what to paint. I know I should practice with still lives and things actually in front of me, but when you only paint ever so rarely, of course the temptation is to give something bigger a go. We were in Venice last October, so I dragged out the photos and attempted things way way beyond me. Trying stuff and faffing about are surprisingly enjoyable, even when the results are dodgy.

I would like to be able to do things more simply, but as usual, I muddle about a lot. I didn't like (among many many other things) the sort of brownish old edges from drawing with brown paint. So I tried it again with a colouring pencil! Well, it was there and I'm lazy.

It seems cleaner to me. Stoopidly I utterly forgot to draw in the top bits of the lamp shade at the start, so when I shoved them in later and ( again) lazily, so they are rottenly done, all wrong. I quite the top of the left hand boat, it kind of has a bit of that shine those gorgeous wooden boats have. 

One more attempt, which even if it had worked well, was a weird photo to choose as there is no focal point whatsoever. In fact, there is a big gap where something interesting ought to be! I also shrank the poor gondolier. Some bits on the right work a bit I think. I cannot imagine for the life of me how people go there and do this from life -bobbing boats, changing light, moving sparkling water, and the crowds!  I have utter respect for anyone who does it , I'd freak out! 

Sigh, not even a yearly painter

Annual guilt time when the study books have been packed away and the gummy unused paints and hardened dusty brushes sit there looking at me. Doing an MA turns out to be a whole heap of work - who knew?  I kept up a small bit of sketching, but even that was sporadic. I brought w/colours etc on hols and thoroughly enjoyed my attempts there. No study books, no housework, much wine, bliss.

I did this sitting in a loggia in a little square in Visnjan ( Croatia) one quiet evening. I was ridiculously delighted with myself for being all brave and arty, but actually I was only doing it as I knew there wasn't going to be a soul around

The next ones were done in the garden. Nice memories to have, both of the place and of sitting there warm relaxed and thoroughly enjoying myself.

Lovely lovely place, no great results sketching wise, but v. nice memories.