“Venetian Pear 15”: acrylic on canvas, 20 x 20”

Phew!

Work in progress (completed grisaille), 20 x 20”

I tried to complete this yesterday as promised, but it was so fiendishly difficult (all those subtle shapes and variations in value in the pear) that I ran out of focus. It was closer than I thought, though, and I managed to finish it today. I’m looking forward to adding the colour; it’s going to be a green pear, for a change!

Slowly but...

Work in progress, 20 x 20”

This grisaille (underpainting in greys) is coming along slowly. This requires a lot of concentration, and I’m having trouble with that; I’m too excited about my upcoming move and have been a bit too preoccupied with furniture shopping on Kijiji and such. Tomorrow I will give this the refinement it needs and finish the grisaille… I promise!

And Then There Were Seven

Work in progress, 20 x 20”

I now have seven canvases with completed charcoal sketches on them ready for the grisaille-painting stage. Can’t put it off any longer! I know it’ll be fun once I get started. Tomorrow!

Work in progress, 12 x 12”

Pear Panic

Work in progress, 12 x 12”

I am delighted to report that I have been accepted into the Riverdale ArtWalk, ArtWalk in the Square, and, for the first time, the Toronto Outdoor Art Fair, all with my series of pear paintings. I need to add to my inventory, and fast! I have been so excited about my new house and my move in July that I have spent too many hours thinking, planning, browsing Kijiji, etc., and not enough painting.

I have been resisting getting started on the painting stage of the big Venetian Pear I started a few weeks ago, so I decided to do some simpler, smaller ones like this to get back in the groove.

Last night I did a doodle while watching the Raptors game, and today I added some collage. (It only occurred to me afterwards that purple is one of the Raptors’ team colours.)

At Last...

“113 River Street, Gananoque”: art journal, watercolour

The stars aligned, and I finally managed to purchase a new home last week. Here is a little sketch of it. My studio will be in the room above the garage. Hurray!

This Sketchbook Revival session focused on mark-making, paint consistency, and colour mixing in watercolours, with a wreath as a vehicle to practice these.

Rainbows

The Sketchbook Revival session I watched today was an invitation to play with collage, paint, and a rainbow motif. It didn’t really appeal to me, but I did it anyway… and it was fun. This is on the first page of a spanking new art journal sketchbook, and a good reminder not to be so darned precious about it.

Next Up

Venetian Pear in progress, 36 x 36”

I got started on another Venetian Pear. Today I did the charcoal drawing on the canvas, which is like a roadmap for painting the grisaille.

Play Time

“Waste Not Whatnot #8”: acrylic on canvas, 40 x 30”

Some of the Sketchbook Revival sessions I have been watching have emphasized the “play” aspect of art-making. Maybe that’s why I took a notion to add some paint to this “Waste Not” piece that has been on the go for a while. I mainly used the dregs of a bottle of fluid red acrylic that was no longer fluid; I sliced open the bottle and scraped it out with a palette knife and smeared it all over. (Hence the name of this series — it mostly uses paint that would otherwise be thrown out.)

Waste Not...

Tidying up after yesterday’s springtime tree collage, I started playing around with the scraps, and this autumn tree emerged.

“Suddenly Spring”: mixed media, art journal

A quick collage inspired by the Sketchbook Revival session I watched today, and also by my walks the past couple of days. (Notice the buds on the tree?)

Inching Back

There’s nothing like trying to buy a house to throw you off your stride. The agonizing over whether to make an offer and if so, how much; the discussions with the folks about it; then going for it; then furnishing and decorating in my mind’s eye, only to be outbid by thirty thousand dollars; then the “if only this and that…”; lots of hours lost to insomnia; productivity hampered by sleep deprivation. Blah blah blah. So my art endeavours have been quick and dirty at best the past few days.

Here, a note card based on last week’s toilet-paper-roll pears experiment. Tomorrow I will get back to the Sketchbook Revival stuff — before it expires on April 18!

Today I did the “Watercolour Summer Landscape” lesson from the Sketchbook Revival workshop. It taught techniques that I have learned before (but not practiced enough!). I was especially reminded of something that I always tell aspiring artists who ask for advice: the right materials make everything easier. “Student grade” art supplies are so called because they’re cheaper, but ironically they actually make it harder to learn. With watercolour, a high-quality paper makes all the difference. I was going to treat myself to a piece for this, but I couldn’t find my supply (maybe it’s in my storage locker?) so I had to settle for my art journal sketchbook, which is pretty good, but not good enough to make painting this as effortless as the instructor said it should be! (Also, I need more practice. Ahem.)

New Tricks

I didn’t have time today for a Sketchbook Revival session, but I combined some techniques from two previous ones — the toilet-paper-roll stamping and the loose watercolour sketching — to make this row of little pears!

“Stamped”: acrylic ink and watercolour, art journal

Today’s Sketchbook Revival session involved using the end of a cardboard tube (from toilet paper or paper towel) as a stamp. It can be bent and manipulated into interesting shapes. I did the stamping with acrylic ink and then played with mixing watercolours wet-into-wet.

Letting Loose

Today I did a Sketchbook Revival session called “Loose Florals in Watercolour and Ink.”

I am sometimes a little dubious about the value of imitating the instructor’s style in these lessons. But then I do learn things that will expand my artistic vocabulary and strengthen my creative muscles. That’s what it’s all about!

A Beautiful Young Man

“OG Anunoby”: graphite, art journal

I’m a fan of the Toronto Raptors (NBA basketball team), and especially of OG Anunoby. Not only is he a great player, but he’s also a real character, and I find his face to be so classically beautiful. I have long been meaning to draw his portrait.

The Raptors played last night against their former coach, Dwayne Casey, and his new team, the Detroit Pistons. (The Raptors lost, yet again; they’re having a dismal season.) In an interview before the game, Casey said of OG, “He’s such a beautiful young man.” I don’t think he was referring to his looks, but the comment nonetheless prompted me to finally get around to this drawing.

This is a departure from the Sketchbook Revival workshop, but I will give it credit for reminding me how much I enjoy rendering values in pencil.