I allowed myself a leisurly two weeks to complete this image.  On the side I was able to complete some knitting and baby projects also.  I used a full sized A3 page with this one, figuring I needed  a bit more room to explore things with this one.  I Did enjoy the extra freedom this allowed.  I had fun playing with the reflections on the water and relaxing into it and not letting myself be tied to the reference photograph I had taken.   Overall I am rather pleased with the result.  It ended out being somewhat casual while still exploring a traditional realistic style.

The exercise gave me a change to explore glazing colours over the top of the image to play with foreground and background while also creating a depth and shadow to the buildings and water.

I have also been working on getting my journal properly organised and sorted.  I have a million things that need to be glued in and put in a proper place.  I need to make sure I keep this resource up to date rather then just being all over the place.

I have decided I am going to put my deadlines on hold until after the baby is born now.  Sitting in one position and leaning forward is become difficult.  Plus It is difficult to focus when I am thinking of all the other things I feel like I urgently need to do.  So I think I might get myself into those knitting projects and hopefully come up with a few cute x-mas gifts.

I think a New Years Resolution will be in order for my next lot of artistic adventures.

For this weeks painting I decided to rework another of the older images I had that I knew I could improve on.  It was an image I had painted probably four years ago as a gift.  It was probably half the size of the new one and on what I have now decided to be my less preferred paper.  The below image is also not of very good quality as it is a photograph of the image whilst it was behind glass in a frame.  It was more for my own records then to accurately represent the painting.

I have enjoyed using a more subtle process with this image.  The colours are softer and more blended into the image then they have been in recent paintings.  I was able to explore white open spaces in the image also.  Leaving the fence, parts of the gravel and sky bare paper was very valuable experience for me.  I have found myself over saturating an image with colour and not leaving myself much room to darken or lighten the image.  So this excercise was a good way for me to take a closer look at this.

I feel that this image is a good indication of where this challenge has taken my use of watercolour.  I have become more more confident and decisive while painting and follow the process relatively quickly.  I am feeling like I can now take on larger and more detailed images confidently.

I am also looking at using my last few pieces of paper on A3 sized images to complete the challenge. I have a few images in mind and I think it would be a good way to end the challenge. Then I think I will spend the rest of the time before baby to play with some illustrations and cute acrylic paintings.

So it was starting to bother me sitting there unfinished.  I managed to get back into it last night, build it up and then remove some of the layers to make it softer and a little more feathered.  It is far more appealing now and hopefully the parents are happy with it too. The scan is not the best, but I think its enough so you get the drift.

On the topic of portraits I thought I would put a post with a few examples of previous images. They span over a few years actually. But with nice paper and a few pencils I have managed to come up with a few images I am fairly happy with. And I get to explore the high contrast I have been rabbiting on about. I see this style as something that people might actually request for commissions of loved ones ect. It’s kind of lends itself to the portrait style tattoos you see with a little less permanent scarring.

For a long part of the process I thought this image was just going to be a scrap or study image.  But to my surprise it came together in the end in such a way that I consider it to be complete and another addition to my collection.

It was pretty loose and random by the end and I didn’t try to replicate much of anything except for what I thought was going to work on the paper.  I just knew I had the idea of silhouettes of trees in front of a setting sun and that pine trees always make me think of the Queensland coastline.

I think I may be ready for some larger sized images.  I’m thinking of trying some waterscapes and such and my confidence is greatly increasing with this medium.  And you know what If I waste a sheet of delicious paper I can always get some more..  remember that sister.

This is an image based on a photo a friend had taken during the recent dust storms that had covered several state on the East Coast of Australia.  While it was a complete pain and a horrible mess for everyone to try and clean up it was also quiet eerie and beautiful.

As you can see I am still very much on the catch up.  This pregnancy thing is starting to slow my progress as I am now really feeling the need to do some sewing.  Which I am not yet particularly good at, but for some reason that is what I really want to be working on.  So I am considering letting myself off the hook and loosening the reigns a little in the lvl of strictness of this challenge.  I do intend to keep working up until the point things really get out of hand, but I think I should let go of the guilt if things don’t really go to plan.  Anyway we shall see.

I enjoyed this image because the colours were simple and I got to focus on contrast and light areas.  I have always been a fan of high contrast.  This you can see in some of the pencil drawings I have posted in the gallery.

Obviously I have pregnancy stuff going on and sleep and life in general are getting more and more uncomfortable.  So I should go a little easy on myself.  But.. where possible I am going to keep the work coming.  So hopefully I can get a couple of images completed within the next couple of weeks and catch up.

Here is the latest one that I am going to put up for week 6.  It is an image taken from a landscape shot I took a couple of years ago.  I had some issues with the leaves at the front of the image becoming too solid and separate from the rest of the image so I had to town them down a bit and work on distance.

This image is based on a stock photo I had taken and tinkered with.  I have many farm based photos because I find the scenery interesting.  It represents childhood memories for me.  I’ve been thinking about a these based around these kinds of images where the farm scenes are washed out and fading and being replaced with new life and growing matter.  I’ll explain this in more detail as it develops and explain the idea behind it.

This image fell right into place on its own.. except for that one little cow that gave me grief and prevented me from letting myself complete the image.  But I made an executive decision and called it quits as I am very excited about this image and wont let that damned cow ruin it for me!

It was very much improvised and I ended out just going with what felt right.  I had very little obstacles until near the very end and have realised that I don’t need to over think these things, just get in there try it and cross those bridges as I get to them.

I was able to work fast and just edit bit’s and pieces over time as they dried.  I have found that allowing the image to dry, and the paper to return to its original texture greatly changes the look of the image.  So I get a chance to stand back and have a proper look at it before I continue.  This is convenient with my many interruptions during the day.

The scan does not do it much justice, but I will just have to live with that.  I am now determined to get together a good body of work that can be framed up and shown together in a small exhibition.  This challenge has been extremely helpful in keeping me on track and motivated.  Even the horrid rose image has been a part of a “journey” that is leading me towards a far better focus in the area and keeping my creative brain in action so it is not all lost to mush and baby gaga.

One last thing.  I love this paper!  (see the texture on the header at the top of the page)

This Image is actually something I have redone from a really basic painting that I referenced from a photo I had taken. It is quiet small and simple. In fact I am pretty sure the below image if my first ever attmept at using watercolour outside of high school.  I am happy with where I have taken the sky this time and managed to develop it i fair bit further.  I got to play with layering colours and transparency as well as opening up dark areas by taking back the layers of paint.

That is one thing I am learning to better control, leaving light spaces so that  don’t need to try to work backwards.

I would consider this a study for a larger painting.

I am so much happier using this paper.  The texture is so much nicer and you can work the paper much more.  The previous paper would get all fluffy and flat look when you put more then a couple of layers of pain on it.  and the texture was just awful.  So it is decided.  Nice paper all the way. None of this trying to be frugal and economical and use up crappy paper just for the sake of it.

This was a quick simple image which used reference from a photo I had taken years ago and kept with the intention of using one day.  I trialed different brushes for different patterns and kept the colours fairly minimal.

The good news is I am back in front with my challenge and an am eagre to get onto the next image.

I also have a good reason to go over some old stock and artwork and rework it and develop it further.