I made a bit of progress on the "July" tapestry today. I haven't been at the loom for about a week, so it took some time for me to remember where I was going!
Yesterday I worked for awhile on this little Kansas painting. It is small, just 5x7". It is from a photo I took of a copse of trees the morning we left Kansas. There was a setting full moon; I believe it was one of the Super Moons to be in 2015. I just liked the colors of the mostly bare trees and the bits of snow on the ground. Trees in Kansas are always a rare and beautiful thing! I don't know if I'm done with this painting or not. It can sit and dry while I 'contemplate it's level of completion.' Right now, I kind of like it's sparseness. It says Kansas to me. A place where the moon can be the center of attention in a landscape.
I have been struggling with my 2015 sketchbook. I like to keep a sketchbook, almost like a journal, as a collection of images from my daily life over the course of a year. But Moleskine (which has been my sketchbook of choice for the past 4 years) has changed their paper. I searched the Internet and discovered that I am not the only former Moleskine fan who is unhappy with the change! I emailed Moleskine a few weeks ago, and have not received any response. I hate to lose the first two months of my year's sketches by starting a new sketchbook. So I decided to try using other media than the watercolor and ink I have used in the past. There are several illustrators whose work I truly admire who use cheap acrylic on cheap paper, with great results. So I got some cheap acrylics and put them in these little sealable pots (they remind me of the paints that come with Paint by Number sets.) I did a few pages, and am discovering that it works pretty well. It doesn't work if I try use the paint watered down, transparently. It is then just like watercolor, and the paper absorbs most of it. But if I use it thickly, it it very bright, like a child's painting, and I think I like it! So I'll keep going, and I may end up with a totally new sketch style! New style = new way of looking and seeing, usually, so maybe this will be a Good Thing. I hope so, at any rate.
1 comment:
The Kansas painting is gorgeous Kathy and Miss P is looking good. It seems you have found a good solution for your 2015 sketchbook. Isn't it frustrating when they change things that are already just the way you like them? I recently read that a change has been made in the paper for the Handbook journal which has been a favorite of mine.
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