Gentle storm #664

Daily painting #664 5"x7" oil on primed canvas panel

Last night we had a gentle storm and some much needed relief from the extreme heat of the day. With it came some desperately needed rain, an absolute delight to the senses of sight, smell and hearing!

I had to wake up really early this morning, my son had pre-season hockey training at school and I had to prepare his lunch and some breakfast for him to eat 'on the go' before classes start. So I set my alarm for 4.30 and had some quiet time before waking the 'sleepy head'. The sky was dull and grey with the slightest hint of a sun that was desperate to show itself again today. Quite frankly I will be delighted to see the end of Summer this year...roll on our beautiful Autumn and Winter months!

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Last sketchbook share #663

From my personal sketchbook

Thanks for the response to yesterday's blog post. In the hopes that I can inspire you to open up that sketchbook, I am sharing one more page from my personal sketchbook.

I am wanting to experiment with some yellow roses painted in inks and acrylics so I have been 'playing' with colours in my sketchbook. I spoke about acrylic colours a few posts back and wrote  about how artificial and bright I found them to be by comparison to working with my oils. This of course is just a personal observation and so I have been experimenting a lot in my sketchbook. When working with oils I would never just use a range of yellows if I was painting yellow...I always have at least one of each primary colour on my palette. To create the more neutral shadowed tones on the yellow rose I used yellow's complementary colour purple (essentially blue + red), but was lazy to mix my own and simply reached for an already mixed purple in my acrylic paintbox. The rose is still too bright and I am still struggling with the colours and not yet achieving the beautiful softness that I want, but I will continue to play in between finishing off a large protea painting commission. Some yellow inky/acrylic daily paintings will definitely be happening soon so watch this space...

I hope you have pulled out that sketchbook and engaging for just a few minutes (hopefully more) each day!

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Sketchbook rose #662

Shared from my personal sketchbook

I have had a lot of questions lately about my daily painting, so I thought I would answer a few of them in a blog post. Firstly daily painting is not the only painting I do. I work on private commissions and am currently exploring a much larger body of work which will hopefully result in an exhibition in the future. I do not only paint on little postcard size surfaces....as a matter of fact I LOVE a large big canvas! Surprising considering the size of the daily paintings. My daily paintings take me no longer than 45 minutes maximum and they are like little warm-up activities to get my eye tuned and my head in the right space. Imagine an athlete doing a warm-up before running the race. With my daily paintings I am less concerned about 'getting it right' and more concerned about engaging with my brush, my paint, my surface and the object I am painting. I share the images regardless of whether I feel I 'got it right' or not. It is a wonderful way to spend time with myself and my own thoughts and I often solve the worlds problems in this short time alone with my own headspace. I enjoy not having the pressure to 'get it right'. Again it can only be likened to an athlete that trains religiously everyday....over time your muscles get stronger and over time my painting evolves and ideas change and my ability to 'see' (the artists most precious skill) gets stronger too. The value of engaging daily with whatever it is that you are passionate about is immeasurable.

I get asked regularly about my sketchbooks and whether I have neglected them since I started daily painting. So today I decided to share with you a little rose study from my sketchbook. I work regularly in my sketchbook but very rarely share what I do there. They are my personal space to explore, write ideas, quotes, notes, experiments, observations and yes draw and paint as much as I can! The best advice I can give anyone is to get a sketchbook and engage daily with that book....draw, paint or even write something down that is important to you. It is often out of the subconscious thought that our best ideas evolve so engage daily ....get yourself a sketchbook and start today!

If you have any questions about my daily painting, please feel free to message me and I will try to answer or help you as best I can.... 

This sketchbook rose took just 10 minutes...10 minutes of your day is not a lot to give up to something you are passionate about!

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Basil #661

Daily painting #661 8"x8" ink and acrylic on primed panel 

I have a bunch of basil planted just outside my studio and it wasn't planted so long ago. But it has been so hot that it is already wilting and going to seed, despite me watering it daily. I guess it's time to pick all the leaves and make basil pesto...but not before I paint it!

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Inky strawberries #660

Daily painting #660 4"x6" ink and acrylic on primed panel

I have loved experimenting with the loose inky florals so decided to use some of the delicious fruit in my house at the moment to try a little inky still life. My little still life daily paintings tend to border on realism so to try use the unpredictable, often messy inks was a great challenge today. I also found it so hard that the intensity of the colour looks almost false and I am more familiar with working realistic hues and values. So today was quite a stressful experience...I very nearly threw in the towel and reached for my trusty oils...but I persevered! 

I would love to know what you think....

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Strawberry hearts #659

Daily painting #659. 5"x5" oil on primed canvas panel

Cut in half....bounty from my organic fruit and vegetable box yesterday.

Delicious, juicy and sweet!

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End of pink bunch #658

Daily painting #658 8"x8" ink and acrylic on primed panel

This beautiful pink bunch has served me well in my studio this week. Despite adding a touch of feminine beauty to my studio (I really am a floral, flowery kind of girl), they have been wonderful full bodied blooms to paint from! But they are nearing the end...petals are starting to fall like leaves in autumn and the leaves are starting to turn brown, shriveled and dry. The beauty of painting from such a bunch is that the blooms get to live on a little longer...even if it is in the painted image!

Hope you all have a fabulous weekend. We are going into our second weekend (two more to go) without Andrew (my husband) around, but the good news is that the Gemini Arabians won their first game in the Masters Cricket League last night in Dubai! We are SO delighted for him!
A happy Friday indeed!

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