Late night doodles

So last night I grabbed a pencil and started to draw a picture I had my eye on painting for a while.  I took the picture of the teapot, jug and cup when Jim and I were in a tea room in the lovely St Ives and last night I decided to get it down on paper ready for some paint.

Then I saw my sketchbook, opened it and found half a doodle I started some time ago.  It was just three houses and that was it.  And before I knew it I had drawn lots of lines, opened up my paintbox and started applying paint.  It was late when I took these pictures so the light isn't good, but I want to post them more as a reminder to me that when I am being creative I really am at my happiest.

And right now I am itching to carry on......

Happy Thursday to you all.

Helen xx

Sunday Sketches

It may be a bit late in the day but I'm here for another Sunday Sketches.  Today's sketch is a little fishy.  Just doodles really and allowing my pen to follow my imagination.

I hope you are all well and please join me to look at the other entries, I just know they will be fab!

Happy Sunday to you all.

Helen xx

Sweet Magnolias

I had a lovely weekend. It included; family, children, sketching, sunshine, relaxing, Kew Gardens, photography, magnolias and best of all, no renovating a cottage. It was lovely.

The magnolias smelt lovely and they were out in full bloom, attracting tourists, keen gardeners and also students using them as backgrounds in their photoshoots. Mind you these trees are so beautiful it's no wonder they attracted such interest.

I hope you all had a good weekend. I can't believe it's all over and it's Monday again.

Have a great week!

Sunday Sketches

Hello and can you believe I've made it to another Sunday Sketches this week. It's only a little doodle I did using my new gouache paints (can you tell I am in love) and pen. A bit of fun. Also a bit ironic as we are having gorgeous spring weather here (no rain in sight) and I am posting this just before we head out to Kew Gardens for the afternoon.

I have had a lovely weekend so far and wishes for this weather to continue. It sure makes everyone happy and the world a brighter place.

Please head over to Sophia's blog to check out the other entries....I promise to as soon as I'm back from the afternoon outing.

Happy HAPPY Sunday and Happy Sunday Sketches.

Helen x

Pip's journey continues

Last night I did some more to my Pirate Pip sketch, It's still a work in progress - I left it to dry and need to go back to add some lines to it.

I've enjoyed doing something different and not worrying too much about the outcome. That's one of the joys of a sketchbook.

Happy Wednesday - I hope you all have a wonderful day!

Pirate Pip

First of all, apologies for the rubbish photograph......not having natural light or having my normal camera meant a bit of a poor picture. But hopefully you can make it out.

Remember this post from a while ago.....well Sunday evening I dug out my sketchbook and started doodling. It began with a pirate ship and before I knew it, Pip emerged on the boat smiling at me. So I thought she would have a Pirate adventure!

Time to put some paint on her and see what happens.....I quite fancy bright colours myself.

Have a fab Tuesday.

Helen xx

Alan Oliver

I've been going through old issues of my painting magazines so that I can add the pictures I find inspirational into my scrapbook and then discard the magazine. I used to keep them.....all of them, every single one......and all I ended up with was a pile gathering dust that I never looked at again. So the scrapbook is a much better idea. It's also really interesting to look at the pattern that emerges.....it really helps define your style.

Anyway I digress. In the October 2010 issue of The Leisure Painter magazine there was an article on Alan Oliver and his use of gouache. Perfect timing to go through this magazine as I have just received a lovely gouache paint box. So I read on in earnest.

I must say I really liked Alan's style. I loved his loose expressive brush strokes and his use of colour. He paints mainly on mount board and he suggested for anyone who would like to try this to visit their local framers to see if they could purchase any scrap mount board - some even give it for free.


The colours in the painting above are wonderful - I just love the lilacs and blues against the white.

I am struggling to find a favourite painting and the one above and below are on par with each other. I love the abstract look to the above snowscape, how Alan scraped the paint on and off the board to get the desired effect. Again I love the lilacs....but then again for some reason I am always drawn to paintings with this colour in it.

The painting below is called Thatched Cottage and Alan has used Indian Ink to draw in the dark shapes. I love the way the paint has merged into each other to create this beautiful soft effect. I am seriously in awe of these two paintings.

I will definitely be adding these to my scrapbook and I really couldn't recommend creating one of these for yourself. Very inspiring.

If you want to find out more about Alan, then please check out his website.

Hope you are all having a good Tuesday :o) xx

Sunday Sketches

This weeks Sunday Sketch is another whimsical piece......maybe the older more serene sister of last weeks.

I used too much water as the paper in my sketchbook crinkled up a bit, so I am thinking of applying gesso to the page first and then using acrylics to paint my next piece, whatever that might be.
Please check out the other sketches done, everyone is just so talented.

Have a great Sunday xx

Sunday Sketches

I haven't had that much time to be creative this week......actually lets rephrase that, I've been feeling so tired and a bit sick, that I haven't wanted to be creative, but instead I've taken myself to bed quite early most nights. Sleep has been what I have needed this week.

However, I made this little whimsical sketch in the hope to try out some new ideas and see what happens. It's halfway through as a sketch and I will put some colour on it, have a play about and may even use it as a basis for a painting at a later date.

Just putting pencil to paper, letting the pencil find it's own way and enjoying the process gratifies my soul.

Please join me in checking out the other Sunday Sketches hosted by Sophia as it's a great community of talented artists.

Have a sunshine Sunday xx

8/52 - Sketchbook

Still no time to paint so my creative picture this week is of my new best friend....my sketchbook with water brush. At the moment I am using this more than ever...which I am pleased about as I need lots of drawing practice
Happy Friday to you!

Sketchbook and journal heaven

One of the things I wanted to achieve this year was to keep a sketchbook. I have loads of these in various shapes and sizes but most of them remain blank. I just can’t resist buying them....I also love notebooks and look at the one my lovely Jim bought for me. For those who love Moleskins, the paper in this Rhodia apparently doesn't seep as much as a Moleskin - can't wait to try it so I will let you know.


I should really get outside more and sketch and I do have a little portable watercolour set in my desk at work for such occasions, but I don’t do as much as I should.

But at the moment a sketchbook is my new friend as with lots of things to sort out right now I haven’t had time to dig out a canvas and paint. So little sketches and doodles are really keeping my hand in and helping me work through different ideas to use when I do have time to paint. Here’s a busy one I did last night before heading to bed.....well I was on the way to bed, walked past my studio, went inside and switched the light on and before I knew what was happening Jim walked in some time later smiling, knowing that my art had called me. Could be why I overslept this morning.




I love peeking into other people’s sketchbooks, so if you have any links to any, please do share them.

Sorry for not commenting on as many blogs as I normally do...I hope to get back into the groove soon.

Enjoy your evening....I'm off to relax with a bath and a book.

xxx

Sunday Sketches

I have so much going on at the moment that I haven't had as much time to be creative....but that's ok. I am still doing some which is the main thing. This is a sketch of a design on Daisy's hat....just a little sketch in a little book, but it's still playing with colour, my pencils and my water brush.

These really are great brushes to use and I know some of you wanted to know about them from my post last week, so here's a link to a UK seller which has more information about them.
Please check out the other Sunday Sketches as hosted by Sophia.....they really are wonderful.

Have a fun and happy Sunday xxx

6/52 - Sketchbook

Another quiet week for creativity although I did attempt a quick sketch which I didn't have a chance to finish!
Here's to a lovely weekend!

Helen xx

5/52 - A quick sketch

As it's not been much of a creative week, I decided to take a photo of a sketch in my sketch book. I did this a while ago, but I just love the fact that when I did this, I wasn't worrying about the outcome, as it was after all, just a sketch.

I have just finished reading 'The Painter of Shanghai' which is based on a true story of the painter Pan Yuliang and how she transformed her life from being a prostitute to becoming a painter and how she challenged the culture of that era with her nude self portraits.

It was a fascinating read and at the end of the book there was a quote by Henri Matisse which I completely understood. The quote is:

Another word for creativity is courage

I completely agree.

Have a wonderful weekend and enjoy every precious moment xx

Colourful cottages

Last night I decided to play about with a drawing I did in my sketchbook a while ago and have a bit of fun.

I am loving trying out different techniques and materials and creating stuff which is not my normal type of painting. So here is a picture where I had a little play about with quirky shaped buildings and used inktense pencils.

There is something refreshing and invigorating not worrying about the end result and just thinking 'if it doesn't work out it's only a piece of paper'. I have heard those words many times in the past, but for some reason now, I truly get it.

It's great to be back being creative again.

My sketch challenge

I have started the sketch challenge set up by Kelly Berkey and I chose the picture I liked the most – the one of her back. For me these poses are heaven as I love drawing the back....don’t know why, I just love the contours and shapes. When I attended my life drawing classes I always tried to move my easel so that I had this view...mainly because I struggle with faces. So here’s my first one in the challenge: I really enjoyed this and used a pencil I bought years ago called black beauty. It’s a thicker pencil and is made of bonded lead, which gives a thicker and darker line without having to press too hard.

I was going to draw this picture (and any others) on big pastel paper as when I draw a person, this is how I like to work, preferably using pastels, oils or charcoal. But this time I thought I would use my A4 sketchbook as not only will it keep all the drawings in one place and I can see my progress, but also it means that I can sit on the sofa and draw or take it to work.

I haven’t drawn in ages (I usually paint) so this is really good to do especially as art teachers have told me that as an artist, you should draw every day. Anyway, here’s what I learnt when starting this challenge:

~ If you are due to go out, then don’t pick up the sketch and carry on as it will make you late! :o)
~ This has already sharpened my observation skills
~ When I started this I wanted it to be perfect especially as I will be posting it online, but I then started worrying about it....so I took a deep breath and relaxed and worried less about the end result and enjoyed the process more
~ It’s all about the journey

I really enjoyed this and I had forgotten how much I enjoy drawing as well as painting.

Have a great day!

A sketching challenge...

Through this wonderful blogosphere I have come across the amazing work of Kelly Berkey. Her jewellery is so lovely and unique – I love it! She is also part of a community of other female artists and Kelly decided to set up a weekly sketching challenge. So she asked her partner to photograph her and she posts up one picture a week for people to draw or paint. A few people have joined in, and I have decided to dip my toe in the water and have a go.

As quite a few paintings have already been done, I decided to pick a few of the previous challenges and give it a bash. I am really hopeless at drawing faces....I never put them in my paintings if I can help it. When I did a life drawing class a few years ago, I always drew anything BUT the face....so some of these will be a real challenge for me. But I am looking forward to it and will post my offerings whether I like them or not.

On another painting note, Willowing's art class started yesterday and I am looking forward to getting stuck in :o)

Hope you are having a good day!

Helen

A creative day...

I had a super creative day yesterday. In the afternoon I spent some time doing a sketch of a lock on a cemetery gate. It was from a photo I took when Jim and I went to Cornwall. I really want to do more sketching as it improves drawing skills so much, so this is just the start of filling my little sketchbook.

Then in the evening I wanted to carry on with a mixed media collage painting I had started quite a while ago, but I couldn’t find it.....I did however find a painting of a flower that I had started some time ago which I wasn’t pleased with. So I decided to give that a bash and see how it came out. Still not totally pleased with it.

Before: After:

I then carried on working on my latest project. I have been looking at the work of Escher and am creating a series of paintings based on his work. I recently finished my version of Goriano Sicoli, Abruzzi and I am currently working on Town in Southern Italy.

My version of Goriano Sicoli, Abruzzi:

Here are the first stages of the second painting in the series (Town in Southern Italy). Not sure where I am going with this as I have left a lot out of the original picture but I wanted to get some colour on it before I made a decision.

Have a creative week!!!