April Project: Day 9

Hello, friends! Today I had some more fun with gouache. I decided to paint a little scene that would incorporate a lot of things I love, like hedgehogs, birds, mushrooms, inchworms, moss, berries, greenery and flowers. I'm really happy with how it turned out. I used a pretty small brush, but not my smallest brush, and I was able to get quite a bit of detail into it. The painting is just a wee bit over two inches in diameter, which somehow makes it seem even more precious to me.

Because my scanner is not working very well at the moment, and my nice camera is en route to Iceland after being fixed abroad, my phone's photos will have to suffice. :)

Tomorrow I will have something new to share, though I don't yet know what it will be, so check back soon. Thanks for stopping by! :)

April Project: Day 7

I worked for a while on making the green vessels into a wall-worthy piece, completing any of the vases that went off the edge of the scrap of paper I was painting on. I turned it into a repeating pattern, which I really like. The print is now available in my Society 6 shop, and there is free shipping right now on some items, including prints, so feel free to check it out. I'll make more color options available in time. 

To finish off these vases, I added a few to fill in the gaps. I drew a mermaid on a vase, and I fell in love with her.

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I decided to make her into her own piece. I didn't have much time to devote to her, but this is where she's at. I'd love to play with surrounding her with coral and fish...

Thanks for tuning in! I'll have something new to share tomorrow. :)

April Project: Day 6

So, yesterday I had fun painting and decorating a variety of vases and vessels. Today I played around with photoshop, changing colors and making various adjustments. Here are some of the resulting variations. Click on any image below to page through these variations on a theme. Which do you like best?

Tomorrow I think I will start fresh with something new. I don't yet know what, but it will be fun!

April Project: Day 5

After yesterdays painted portrait, I decided to loosen up and start painting without a plan. The result? This.

I must really love vases and vessels and teapots and footed bowls because those were the shapes I started to paint. I nested them into the negative spaces between the others, and the resulting painting looks like it wants to be a pattern.

I scanned the painting and added rough white linework digitally. This is how it turned out.

This Easter I painted and decorated vessels, not eggs. It was really fun to play and create without a plan. :) I hope you have a great day and I'll be back tomorrow to play and share more art with you. Perhaps I'll even branch out into different color palettes?

April Project: Day 4

Hello again! Happy Saturday! Because I posted something black and white for the past two days, I thought I would create something in color today. I wanted to paint something for my friends, Petra and Gunnar. It was Petra's birthday last weekend, so I wanted to make something to belatedly mark the occasion. I looked for a photo of them and then created a little painted portrait in gouache, and I made the background in Petra's favorite color, too. 

I know this is not the most playful, loose, or experimental piece, so I'll return to that playfulness tomorrow. It felt good, though, to create a piece from sketch to final in a relatively short period of time. Of course, in this relatively short period of time I went through every possible feeling about my work. At first I am either nervous or excited, but partway through working on a project I am certain everything I have done is terrible and I won't be able to do it. Then I'll think I am terrible and won't be able to do it. I will either step away for a time or I'll persist, cursing under my breath and audibly sighing until once again I like what I see in front of me, relieved. If you are an artist, I know you understand this pattern well, whether or not it matches yours. Loosening up and playing is actually a challenge, as funny as that sounds. It is a privilege, of course, but it is also a challenge. And this month long project is a great way for me to strengthen my playfulness and lighten the heavy burdens of high expectations I place upon myself before I ever begin.

Have a great day and a wonderful weekend, and check back to see what kind of playful mess I might unapologetically make tomorrow. :)

April Project: Day 3

I guess I really must have enjoyed drawing potted plants, because here I am, day three of my playful daily art posting project, still doodling potted plants! What can I say? I enjoy it.

Just for fun, I put yesterdays drawing together with todays drawing. I like it. I could just keep going and going, but to keep being playful this month, I will have to switch mediums and see what new things I can come up with, too.

Perhaps I will do something with colors tomorrow? I've really enjoyed the simplicity of pen and paper, though. I made me feel like I could just play and doodle without thinking too much. Well, have a great weekend and if you check back tomorrow, there will be something new for you to see! Don't know what, but something. I'm really enjoying this! See you soon!

April Project: Day 2

Hello! Day Two of this fun daily challenge! I found myself doodling happily at the nearby cafe this morning, and the resulting drawing is my playful piece for today. Here in Iceland, I don't own any plants, but in my previous life I surrounded myself with potted plants and hanging plants. I love plants, but for some reason, we have never purchased a plant here. Perhaps my drawing shows just how much I love and miss my plants in Minnesota, who are being cared for by many different friends and family members. And maybe it is about time we purchase a plant or two here, as well.

Feel free to click the image to see a larger version. Enjoy, and see you tomorrow! :)

April Project: Day 1

Happy Old New Year!

Yes, that's right! It's the New Year's Day of the Julian calendar! It's the day that makes people who are celebrating the new year look like fools, hence April Fool's Day is also today.

Because the old new year is starting, I am making an old new year's resolution. Every single day this month I will post a new piece of art. Please hold me accountable. Not every piece will be something amazing, but rather I am trying to loosen up and play this month. I will set aside some time to be playful and creative and experiment, and I will share it all right here on my blog and on my instagram. Feel free to follow along, friends!

Because of the French tradition of Poisson d'Avril, (April Fish), I have decided to post these watercolor fish I just made. I will likely develop this piece further another day, but to start the old new year right, I simply needed to post whatever I have to show you today! :)

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If you want a laugh, look through these... Happy April Fish!