Little Garden Nymph

Little Garden Nymph

8x10 inch

Oils on Gessobord

Well since my last post, I'm sad to say I think the Claybord got the better of me after two more pieces ended up in the bin. So I moved onto the Gessobord and dusted off the water mixable oils, which have been sitting idol for quite a while now, to see how I fared with this board. I have to say I'm a bit more comfortable with this board than the Claybord, and so have ordered a whole heap more from the US. Within Australia, an 8x10 inch Gessobord retails for over $11 each, whereas in the States the average price is $4.50 USD. I've also ordered some of the Mona Lisa Gesso boards by Speedball which are only $1.70 for the same size and wondered if anyone has had experience with this board.

Little Mouse Lost Miniature Watercolour Painting

Little Mouse Lost

7cm x 9.5cm

Watercolours on Arches Paper

It has been a while since I picked up a paintbrush, particularly to paint with watercolours, and I had forgotten what a joy this wonderful medium can be. A lot of my artwork tends to be very tight and realistic, and it is nice to branch out and be a little more creative and loose, which is easier with watercolours. I think because so much of my work tends to be based on realism, I am also enjoying a bit of experimentations with the world of whimsy - it always takes me back to childhood.

Latest Digital Art - Faery Pond

I'm sure followers of my Blog must be completely confused sometimes as I flit from one medium and subject matter to another. I am always fascinated (and a bit envious) by artists who find a medium and genre that they are completely comfortable in, and then go on to produce a body of work that shows consistency and a signature style. I love to discover new mediums and explore a range of subjects. Last week, I downloaded Daz Studio, a free software for creating 3D artworks and animations. After an extremely frustrating weekend, I printed off the 500 page manual and started to go through it methodically. Finally things started to fall into place. This artwork was done using a combination of Daz Studio, Paint.net and Corel Painter.

ACEO - Sunkissed

Sunkissed

2.5 x 3.5 inches

Graphite and coloured pencil on drafting film.

One of the things I admire most in other artists is a wonderful imagination and the ability to create beautiful artworks without relying heavily on reference photos. This is an area, I feel I need a lot of development, particularly for illustration work. The Flower Folk and this ACEO are some of my early efforts which I hope will vastly improve over time. Whilst I still used some reference photos in these cases, I tried to avoid referring to photos too much. Commissions often require an artist to do a very close copy of one or several reference photos, and this is an area I find relatively easy. I believe to be truly artistic, it is necessary to extend beyond this, and whilst I'm not truly happy with any of my attempts over the last couple of weeks, I'm hoping with practice, to eventually produce work that is both creative and also to a standard I am happy with.