#cjs20 day 23

The artist for day 23 of #cjs20 was John DuVal, a painter who specialises in watercolour. He captured the light and the feel, more than the details, and that appeals to me. Initially I wasn’t going to try it, even though I do landscape painting. Tony asked why not and I didn’t have a good reason! I’m pleased I did because actually his approach suits me.

I visited Pukakaiki, on the West Coast of the South Island,  in December with Alan and was fascinated by the rock formations. This small watercolour is based on one of the photos I took.

#cjs20 day 4

Today’s artist is Andrea Gomoll, whose work I often check out on YouTube – so, as with Jane LaFazio yesterday,  it was great to see her name pop up as the featured artist on #cjs20. Her video was about colour theory essentially.

I don’t have watercolours any more so used watered down fluid acrylics on Bristol paper that I’d taped down with washi tape. The washi tape had black dots on it and some of them transferred to the paper, which was odd. My favourite is the red and green, Tony’s favourite is the blue (possibly because it’s the most realistic).

#cjs20 day 3

Today’s #cjs20 artist is Jane LaFazio. I have followed Jane  for a few years, and have some of her Stencil Girl stencils, so was excited to see her name pop up. But, oh boy, did today’s lesson push my skillset. And yeah, ok, that’s half the point of signing up.

Here’s my attempt at drawing part of my Pandora bracelet. I never draw realistically, so I’m pleased with this. The paper I used didn’t cope well with the watercolours and they bled, but that’s ok.

Add to your toolbox

Every week I do a couple of challenges. This week’s was to use watercolours and dashes, in combination with a Mother Theresa quote. As I usually do, I showed Tony the finished page and asked what he thought. “Hmm, it’s not really you.” 

Yes! The challenge was a success because it got me using a medium I don’t normally – watercolor – and some mark making that felt unfamiliar. I have a set of marks that are “mine” and dashes are not part of my normal repertoire.

I like see the hand of the artist in my work, and have my own style even when influenced by amazing artists such as Tim Holtz and Dyan Reaveley. But that doesn’t mean I can’t learn new skills, try new things, and add to my toolbox.  I’m grateful to artists like Theresa Miers who give their time and talent to inspire and encourage other artists.

 This week I used Pebeo watercolours, Dylusions black paint, Nuvo Mousse in copper, Tim Holtz dashes stencil, Dylusions heart mask and Distress ink to edge the quote.

 

cjs18 day 24 Gina Lee Kim

Today’s artist, Gina Lee Kim, had a fun recipe for us, with multiple steps. Some of my forward planning wasn’t so good, so my glasses are sitting in front of the shelf suppoprts – but I had a great time anyway!

cjs18 day 9 Andrea Gomoll

Today’s artist is Andrea Gomoll who does the most glorious mixed media; her recipe was largely about how to make gorgeous backgrounds. My first attempt didn’t work because I used too much water and ended up with muddy colours; I’ll work over the top of it and it’ll be fine eventually. I’m so pleased with the second attempt, which is on Tim Holtz Distress Watercolour Cardstock.

cjs18 day 8 Diana Trout

Today’s artist was Diana Trout; the technique involved an initial medium on the paper, drawing into it and watercolours. The medium I chose didn’t cope with all the water I used, so I ended up with some odd patches but that’s ok. Although not a good painting by any stretch of the imagination, I had fun with this and will try the technique again. Incidentally, the painting is based on a photo I took of relics in the grounds of Monte Cassino Abbey in Italy in 2010 when I was part of the Legato exhibition.

CJS17 with Diana Trout

I’d seen Diana Trout’s work before so was thrilled to see her name pop up yesterday. This is gesso including through stencils, then watercolour followed by copper paint (which has not scanned well and looks sort of brown). In real life, it has metallic glow.

I forgot to use watercolour paper and just worked in my journal, so it’s quite buckled. I’ve cut it out and will spritz the back to flatten then glue back into my journal.

CJS17 day 15

Today we learned along with Gina Rossi Armfield, who does artwork in her daily planner. I worked in my art journal as usual but followed along. I used W&N watercolours and a Posca pen for the white highlight. Not my favourite piece ever, but that’s just because it is so different to how I normally work.

CJS17 day 8

Today’s video with Andrea Gomoll was about using watercolours in mixed media. I used pan watercolours and Neocolour crayons, with light modelling paste underneath and copper paint stencilled on top.