Watercolor Study: Studio Desk

Watercolor Study

15" x 11"

Glassware and Clouds

Glassware

8" x 10"

Pencil on paper

 

I'm Sick of . . . 

5" x 5"

Thread, pen, and acrylic on canvas

I'm trying to draw more and to observe more. Taking a photo of the piece (Glassware) made me see the problems in the drawing, where I didn't see them very clearly while actually working. Stylistically I'm all over the place. I'm enjoying the idea of familiarizing myself with a few objects via still life drawing, and then depicting them in a painting. I do like the idea of working from a drawing (rather than the actual objects) to create a painting. I'm not particularly happy with either of these pieces, but I keep reminding myself that the purpose is practice and to  work each day on art. 

(Imaginary) Watercolor Studies

(Imaginary) Watercolor Studies

Watercolor on Paper

Both are 5" x 7"

Something Flower

Something Flower

8" x 10"

Watercolor on Paper

Something to Tell You

8" x 10"

Watercolor on Paper

I'm enjoying watercolors and am fairly happy with the leaf painting. I'm working towards simplicity and letting the natural object's own characteristics stand out. I'm not happy with the above image-- too stiff, the petals of the flower lack something (dynamism). I like the idea of a natural object on a plain white background, but here it doesn't seem to work. 

Berries and Fern

Caper Berries

10" x 8"

Graphite on Paper

Air Fern

11" x 8"

Watercolor on Paper

Yesterday, I was reflecting on the pains and pleasures of making art. And  I thought, why does art often feel like such hard work, and does it necessarily have to feel so arduous. I started to think about times in my life when making art was about enjoyment, about a happy challenge, engaging my mind in a process of discovery. Presently, I want to feel eager to improve and willing to work, not head-achy and defeated by my process (like I have been feeling). 

After looking at a colleague's work (very realistic oil paintings, both still life and urban landscapes) I realized that if my goal is to improve my skill and to regain my appreciation and love of art-making, I need to draw from life and paint things that I like, things that visually interest me. Having moved to NY in September (just in time for winter), I have become ever more appreciative of plants and greenery. What's so great in this city is that when it's snowy out and the trees are bare, plants and flowers feel all the more like art, like  special and rare objects to be appreciated and admired. 

Birds Backyard

Birds Backyard

12" x 12"

Acrylic on Cardboard

Dandelion

Dandelion

14" x 14"

Acrylic, Watercolor, Graphite on Cardboard

Painting on corrugated cardboard is frustrating. I enjoyed some aspects of the board's texture, but I needed a smoother surface for the details of the drawing and for depth of color. I like the idea of working on less formal surfaces (cardboard vs. canvas) while I'm exploring my preferences in medium and ground.

Negative Space

I Feel Like Negative Space

10.5" x 13"

Watercolor and Graphite

Daily Wallspace is my effort to make more art, simply, to have a daily routine by which I paint and draw. In doing so, I hope to improve my artistic skills and  gain a sense of direction in my painting. I'm reading a light theoretical book called Art & Fear: Observations On The Perils (and Rewards) or Artmaking in which the authors emphasize the importance of plain hard work in pursuing one's art. They (Bayles and Orland) write, "Artists get better by by sharpening their skills or by acquiring new ones; they get better by learning to work, and by learning from their work. They commit themselves to the work of their heart, and act upon that commitment" (28). This seems obvious, but the strength in their argument for me, is that only with a body of work do you gain a sense of your own strengths and weaknesses, your habitual gestures, your mistakes, your thought processes, and only with a body of work do you learn to be objective about your art, to view it without self-judgement and emotion.