Stoking a more creative life
Today’s WP daily prompt is PINK, so it’s a good day to share some recent sketches of a day lily I photographed in my garden last June. A few weeks ago, using a combination of Tombow pens, watercolor paint and Inktense pencils, I created a satisfying range of pinks in these two versions:
Several weeks ago, I was itching to try some new art tools. I’d treated myself to a starter set of Inktense pencils and dozens of new Tombow markers. But I was stumped for subject matter.
Fortunately, I follow Susan Rushton’s blog. Her early February post and photos of seemingly ‘demure’ hellebores revealed stunningly complex and fascinating flower interiors normally hidden from view. Wow!
The hellebore’s downward-facing flowers had seemed, until then, uninteresting in the early spring garden. But Susan’s images and comments changed my mind and inspired me to visit my local nursery, where I found several varieties, capturing some reference photos for my test sketches.
Just yesterday, Susan posted again about hellebores, so the time seems right to thank her for her for giving me a new appreciation for these garden charmers.
Here’s how I’m seeing them in a few sketches using Inktense dye pencils, overlaid in some cases with watercolor, and with Tombow pens, which blend beautifully.
It’s cold and rainy this week in Seattle and I am housebound today with a wrenched back. Perhaps I was overconfident in my yoga classes last week. The extra backbends seemed like a good idea at the time.
However, I want to put a new header image on the blog so I went back to the well of my garden photos from last May and drew/painted a a series of small calla sketches, about 1.5 inches each, to get the right proportions for the wide, narrow header.
I’m happy so see that I’m loosening up with the watercolor pencils and paints. The small scale of these sketches also forced me to simplify. Applying what I learned today I will make a larger version of each little sketch later this week as I continue to explore these fascinatingly-shaped flowers.
Though these callas are white, they reveal so many other colors in their folds and shadows.
I first saw colorful shadows in Santa Fe, where the elevation and brilliant sunlight created the most amazing purple and green shadows in the corners of adobe walls and buildings. I had never seen this where I’d grown up, in Ohio.
On sunny winter days, look for colors in snow shadows; they are never just gray. There are so many colors in the icy crystals as the sun changes throughout the day.
Have you been to other places where you’ve seen this phenomenon of color in shadow?
…Two people, that is, to create an artwork. One to bring it into existence and another to say “STOP” when it’s finished.
Have you ever taken a good drawing or painting too far and ruined it?
I’ve blown up several sketches over the past couple of days, but I DID draw or paint each day so far this year. All five days of it. And I am not ashamed to share a couple of watercolor pencil drawings/paintings.
Working from photos I took in my garden last May, these made me happy today:
Reference photo from May, 2016:
My water color version, January 4, 2017:
I liked this but went further with it. Looking at the version below, I wish I’d listened to that voice that said, Stop!
Final Calla Lily, January 4, 2017:
I am not sure the addition of the small leaf at top right adds anything to the composition, though I do like the more atmospheric areas around the flower and leaves and the darker values add drama.
I’m glad to have photos of both stages so that I did not lose what I liked about the first version.
Today, I drew from a different reference photo, also from May 2016:
My January 5 interpretation, in watercolor:
Callas are dramatic flowers and interesting to draw.
Years ago, I made jewelry and created many cloisonne enameled pendants featuring this flower. I sold them all but wish I had kept one. My original design sketches and photos of some finished pieces are tucked away somewhere. It might be time to review them and see what I can learn from them this year. I sense the need for another round of closet cleaning to find them. Oy!
However, for now, I am excited that new callas will emerge in my garden in a few months.
The days are already lengthening and I know that Spring is coming.
Something is always blooming in Seattle and my small garden offers a constant parade of subjects for drawing and painting. Much more fun than weeding!
This photo taken in late fall, looking down from above a large ceramic planter, shows fading heuchera and Japanese forest grass leaves above a cascade of flowering rosemary. I liked the composition enough to use as the basis for a watercolor sketch.
I’d recently found some dusty art supplies that had been tucked away for years in various parts of the house. Among them was a set of watercolor pencils that I don’t recall buying and didn’t really know how to use. The colors were not impressive to draw with, but when I brushed water over the pigments, they became more vibrant as they melted and blended together. These could be interesting.
I used a grid system to transfer the design from the photo to a larger sheet of paper. Treating each square of the grid as a small abstract on its own, lets me concentrate on each section’s shapes, values, colors and textures. The grid marks can be erased, painted over or treated as design elements, as I did in this color sketch.
I parked my art-making skills for many years while I focused on a business career. It was exciting to use a different kind of creativity in my many ‘jobs,’ and I’m proud to have made a positive impact throughout my worklife. My work was rewarding and I am grateful for all the adventures and knowledge I gained along the way.
Art was not absent from my life during these years. Collecting art, including items for our home and wearables, supports other artists and gives us joy as we live every day among their art. We’ve also become creative cooks and gardeners, artful endeavors which involve even more senses.
Since I retired in the Spring, my summer was focused on my garden and I began to document the beauty which unfolded throughout the season, with photographs.
I will continue to garden but I’ve discovered my broader purpose in retirement is to try to live more artfully in everything I do.
With the benefit of Julia Cameron’s book for retirees, (and other creative souls) writing my memoire helps me to recall many creative pursuits I explored at different times of my life. Starting in childhood, sewing, designing, metal arts, jewelry design, sculpture, drawing and painting all brought me joy and could be artforms to explore again.
I’m now working to revive my painting and drawing skills to see whether I can make art again. My local Senior Center offers a weekly watercolor class that is both affordable and encouraging. I’ve just discovered Urban Sketchers and am eager to see if I could try this artform. Through a book about the discipline of daily painting by Carol Marine, I find inspriation at Daily Paintworks every day!
I am again in love with art supply stores and find Daniel Smith to be a tremendous resource here in Seattle.
Revisting artists whose work speaks to me, prompts me to analyze why. And exploring other artists’ work in visual arts, music, drama and writing, sparks ideas for my own future work.
Exercising both mind and body will be essential to sustaining a creative life, so I’m walking, observantly, most days, seeking subjects to draw or paint. And, thanks to Humana’s Silver Sneakers program, several times a week I’m taking active classes at a local gym, in a variety of strength-building activities.
My days are beginning to feel more structured and I’m gaining a new sense of positive outlook about this new chapter of my life. If you have insights to share about your creative retirement, please share them!
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