process notes

Why can’t my first attempts be perfect?

I watched a YouTube about water coloring a meadow. She used a masking marker (I didn’t know these were a thing!) for the flowers. She wet the entire surface before brush stroking the blues, then a variety of greens. She tapped her brush with reds for a splatter. She didn’t even have a liner brush for the stems, but she made do. She explained her leaf making technique and how to add shadows with burnt umber.

The end result here looks nothing like hers.

I compared. And the result was disappointment.

I remind myself she used a quality watercolor paper. Mine’s on an index card. She has probably done this painting more than a few times. This is my first attempt.

With this gentle reminder, I look at this card with fresh eyes. It’s not so bad. And I *learned* some things.

I’m excited to try another now. The more I practice, the better I’ll like the results, I do believe.

Until next time! xox

Don’t live down to expectations. Go out there and do something remarkable.”

— Wendy Wasserstein

Early morning, October 5, 2019 we converged on the Cumberland River at the Big South Fork Recreation area for a kayak race.

I didn’t win. I didn’t even finish. I was not prepared, but it was a remarkable time.

Big South Fork National Recreation Area, Cumberland River, Kentucky, USA.

P R O C E S S N O T E S

Just like I wasn’t ready to compete in a kayak race, I wasn’t ready for painting with new (to me) tube watercolors for this series of kayaking adventure cards. But like the race, I tried.

Unlike the race, I finished the cards.

Both experiences brought new skills and deeper appreciation for practice and preparation.

I now know one way to create a faux verdigris finish on paper

Day 5: verdigris

Pencil sketch—>craft paint, masking fluid—>pen—>watercolors.

P R O C E S S   N O T E S

I went in search of something as a reference image for verdigris. Google gave me the Statue of Liberty, some skeleton keys, and lots of door hardware. I then flipped through my old photos and found The Thing To Draw. 

An old garden marker poked in the dirt of a spent flower box covered in what some consider to be weeds: morning glories.

The marker had a fine patina of verdigris and to replicate this on paper, I experimented with metallic copper craft paint, masking fluid for the letters, with a film of paint dabbed on then wiped off.

Dark turquoise was the winner out of five possible shades for the overcoat. I dabbed some white watercolor over the dried paint and that seemed to give it a more realistic verdigris finish.

Finished it with watercolors and a photo of the card nestled in some weeds. 

Done. Until next time, may your paint flow freely, your brush bristles have no strays, and your blank canvas beckon you to create.

Youtube tutorials and experimentation help

Today’s prompt is “snow globe” for the Index Card A Day art challenge. Day 4.

If art is the bridge between what you see in your mind and what the world sees, then skill is how you build that bridge.”

—Twyla Tharp

P R O C E S S   N O T E S

I saw this scene but had no idea how to create the glass globe or an ambience in the room from the fireplace glow. I *still* don’t know how exactly, but I’m closer than I was before I experimented.

This prompt had me digging out my pencil box. I spent time getting reacquainted by making a sample card with the assortment on hand.

I tried different whites for the snow and I like Dr. Ph. Martin’s Bleed Proof White for the task.

As far as the reason for an oversized girl stuck within a snow globe filled with little pink houses, your guess is as good as mine. This was another image I “saw” in my mind’s eye, so I did my best to translate that onto an index card.

Next time I’m called to create a glass globe or make some snow fly, my muscles will remember what worked and what didn’t. 

And maybe the next one will look a little more how I’d like it to look. xox

Today is where your book begins

I am unwritten, can’t read my mind, I’m undefined

I’m just beginning, the pen’s in my hand, ending unplanned

Drench yourself in words unspoken

Live your life with arms wide open

Today is where your book begins

The rest is still unwritten

One of my all time favorite inspirational songs and it played while I sketched this.

Pencil—>ink—>watercolor pencils, 3/61

P R O C E S S N O T E S

This is the first year of ICAD where I pictured something in my mind and put it to paper. In the past I primarily searched online, found something that appealed, and then used it as inspiration. I struggled to create something of my own.

I spent a great deal of time worrying about whether others would (A) like what I had created, (B) consider me a horrible artist, or (C) think I thought whatever I had created was “good.”

Think about all that energy and how instead it could have been used to create.

It took some time, lots of practice, and a heckuva great deal of courage to let all that go. Like the song lyrics tell us: “We’ve been conditioned to not make mistakes, but I can’t live that way.”

There’s a delicious freedom at your disposal to let your intuition guide you. To listen and tell your inner critic to hit the road.

Create for the sake of creating. You’ll understand what I’m talking about when you do.

Pick up that pencil, that brush, that pen, whatever — get to it.

XOX