Discover Shapes in Paint Doodles

Flight

Good morning everyone. This is a fun exercise I did in the tutorial by Charlie O’Shields in the Sketchbook Revival course by Karen Abend. And I tried to discover shapes in simple paint doodles, following the method described by Charlie. To be honest, it was easy to follow. First, scribble some marks with clean water on your brush, on watercolour paper. Most importantly, leave some blank spaces and don’t cover all the sheet. Next, quickly drop in some very wet paint and allow it to mingle. As you can probably tell, my paint blotches did start to dry a little. So I added more and ‘grew’ a few cauliflowers! But, it didn’t matter and just added to the design. When it’s thoroughly dry, take a bit of time to study it. Then pick out the outlines of anything you see in pen or fine marker. Just let your imagination go wild!

Actually, I did enjoy this playing with paint and ideas, and I felt it was a good antidote to worrying about all the sad things I hear on the news. So, if you want a little chuckle, have a look at the other daft doodles I produced.

In the Depths of the Sea
Night Time
Puppy

Finally, here’s an example of a ten minute doodle (done last night). And this shows my usual method of doodling abstracts and how to discover shapes. In fact, I draw or paint colours and shapes at random and then develop it from there. In this case, first, chop courgettes for the dinner, then sit down with marker pens, oil pastels, a biro and tiny notebook!

Courgettes for Dinner

Three Mixed Media Abstracts from my Artjournal

A jumble of sharp, jagged shapes and urgent flashes of red - a mixed media abstract showing anxiety and fear.
Jagged

Hello everyone. Today I’d like to show you the work I’ve been doing in my art journal – some mixed media abstracts. Actually, I’ve continued using this journal since last March, when our first period of lockdown began. To be honest, I turn to it when I’m feeling a bit overwhelmed. As you can see in the image above, this intuitive abstract composition is quite dark and sombre looking. And there are some spiky shapes and touches of bright red to indicate danger. In fact, I used gouache paint, pencil and pen, and afterwards I felt much better!

An Experimental Mixed Media Abstract

Yellow and Grey

This drawing above is a good example of how I also use my journal to experiment with different techniques. As you can see, here I limited myself to lemon yellow and medium grey. Because I wanted to create a piece for a challenge in the Triwing Challenge group on Mewe. In truth, I would probably never have chosen this combination of colours. But it was very enjoyable and concentrated my mind on texture. You see, I had seen some fab work online with really densely applied layers. And, I used pencil, marker and oil pastel in this drawing. There’s a great freedom in scribbling in a journal. In addition, it’s therapeutic too!

A compact,crowded abstract composition of organic shapes in orange, yellow and dark green.
New Style Abstract

Finally, I’m quite proud of this little painting/ drawing. For, I tried a new style – a composition centred in the middle of the paper, with lots of white paper showing. Obviously, it’s quite different to my usual style which completely covers the space on the paper. And I tried adding graphic marks on top of acrylic paint with markers and biros. Watch out, I feel a series of mixed media abstracts coming on!

If you would like to see more Lockdown Artjournal experiments, see here and here.

Autumn Colours- a Gouache Painting

A beautiful old tree in autumn colours,  next to St. Mary's church in churchyard.
St. Mary’s

Hello everyone. Don’t you think the autumn colours have been beautiful this year ? Happily, this charming church in its tranquil garden churchyard is about five minutes walk from my house. To be honest, you wouldn’t think it was right in the middle of a busy town . Yes, I know it isn’t as busy as usual right now. But even when there are no restrictions, it still has that air of peace and quiet.

In fact, there are some glorious trees in the garden , each with its own unique character and shape . Of course, I can enjoy the sight of them all year round, in every season. However, the trees in their autumn colours have to be the most impressive sight of all.

The Dancing Leaves in Autumn Colours

The Dancing Leaves

So, in this closeup of my gouache painting, I really tried to show how the subtle yellow green leaves flickered and gleamed in the autumn sunshine. Well, I tried but it was an impossible task really.

More Autumn Colours

A basket of ripe, red apples in a basket - autumn colours in the harvest.
The Apple Harvest

As it happens, this is an oil pastel drawing of last year’s harvest. But the tree is very reliable and we usually get to eat these delicious fruits all winter ! Actually, this painting was on display for a few months in the Rotherham Art Cafe here .

A bright, impressionistic sketch of a tree in a beautiful garden, full of autumn colours.
View from the Glasshouse Window

Finally, something completely different. To explain , I went to a printing workshop in the elegant Victorian conservatory at Wentworth Castle Gardens last year . It was part of our Inktober 2019 activities. And, this is my impressionistic painting of the show of autumn colours in the garden, through the window. And, if I remember correctly, I used some acrylic inks to do a quick sketch, while my print was drying !

In my opinion, this time of year is truly beautiful. And, the display doesn’t last so long. So, get out and enjoy it while you can !