Getting Back Into Art
In 2023, I tried my hand at watercolor painting and sketching in general. Then, in 2024 I just...stopped. No real reason why other than I didn't make time to continue the habit. I would pick up a pencil here and there, but I didn't commit to making the practice a habit.
Earlier this year, my kids asked me to take a walk out into the woods and do some sketching. I relized that I had set art up as this escape where I had to be alone and couldn't have people around. That's true sometimes - I might want to do something quietly by myself - but it can't be all the time. Keeping it for those alone time moments meant that I just didn't create anything.
So, in an effort to get back on the horse, here is some of my recent arting.
I really like watercolor, so I'm pushing myself to use them more. I sketched two bluebirds from photos on the Internet and then painted. I'm trying to be loose with my brush, but I am very much out of practice. That said, the one on the left came out pretty good.
Keeping on the bird theme, I tried a couple of robins. I need to work on controlling the paints as they come off the brush. I think I tend to use too much water, so I'm left trying to mop up the runs, which causes paint to reactivate a slosh around...it's an area to improve on.
I switched to landscapes for a little bit. Julia Bausenhardt is a German artist who has a wonderful blog on nature sketching and journaling. She wrote a post about sketching all in blues recently that I wanted to give a try. This helped me think about how to mix different values to convey depth.
Kristie DeGaris is a Scottish drystone waller, author, and photographer I follow on the socials. She shared some photos back in February which included a striking image of this building on a bright green hillside.
I went back to birds and did some sketches from photos. I should have taken more time to warm up - I tend to dive right into the painting without due preparation. I'm disappointed in how the top left painting came out because I knew as I was painting that I could've done better had I just slowed down.
The top right cardinal was better, but my washes were uneven and I went back to try and fix them which caused the paint to run...oh well. I was happy with the sketches before I began, so that's a win.
I will not be discussing the bottom bird in this post.
This is probably my favorite so far. The washes are more even, you can tell that they're cardinals, and they even have the right proportions and perspective. It actually looks like one is looking at you, which is progress.
I don't know that I've defined my own style yet. I like Julia's nature sketching and the artistic realism she's able to capture. I also really like Liron Yankonsky's YouTube channel which is much more loose and interpretive rather than illustrative. I've been trying to emulate his approach a little more in my form, but my water and paint control isn't quite there yet, which leads to mixed results.
It really boils down to doing more painting regularly and being willing to just go for it. I do see improvement and I know what I want to work on...I don't feel like I'm floundering. I'm enjoying the process even though I'm scared to paint sometimes. It's kind of like this blog...I'm doing the art for me, not for an audience, so it is what I want it to be.
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