Pain vs Pane.... I do know the difference ;)

"Window Pain" ~ Graphite

Someone recently pointed out to me that they thought this drawing was labeled incorrectly. The drawing is of a window pane and I used the the wrong spelling. Here's the background story.

Unfortunately this was one of my pieces destroyed. It photographed really well but you can see where it's torn on the right hand side. The tear starts on the right side of the window pane and cuts down across the pipe.

This is one of my favorite drawings. I love the angles, the contrast, the details of the pipe. I'll admit it's not the greatest but it's still my fav.

Until recently I never named my artwork. Once I started creating a website and blog I went through each piece trying to decide on names.

Since this was one of my favorite pieces it kills me each time I look at the artwork and see the tear. So that was why I decided to name the piece Window Pain. It's a play on words. ;)

Artwork for any Skill Level

The dilemma I’ve always had with selling my artwork stems somewhat from low self-confidence about my artistic ability but mainly because of the one thought that passes through my mind when I see artwork in a store. Why would I spend $50, $100, or more for a piece of artwork when “I could do that myself.”? Well, I’ve come to find that many people do not have that same thought. Either their self-confidence about their talent is lower than mine or they don’t have the time and the materials needed (paints, brushes, etc.) like I do. If you’re that person, this blog is for you. 

"Ah Nuts" ~ Watercolor & Ink

 

The first piece of artwork I sold was “Ah Nuts”. And along with the flowers from the “Ménage á Trois” trilogy I found this style could be completed easily and quickly. “Ah Nuts” was created for a friend and fellow artist to give to her but she insisted on purchasing the piece. I told her she was crazy to buy it, anyone could do this style… and now I’m going to prove it to her. ;)

Materials:
~ Paper – watercolor paper can be expensive, so for your first time you may not want to spend that kind of money at the art store. But you also don’t want to grab plain old copy paper, it’s too thin. Bristol board or if you have a sketch pad will work, even some card stock will do.
 ~ Watercolors –no need to go out and buy expensive watercolors. Borrow your kids Crayola watercolors for school.
~ Brushes – If you’re borrowing your kids Crayola watercolors, chances are there’s a brush included. If not buy something cheap, there’s no need for a $20 brush at this point. You can typically find a package of brushes for $4-$6 in craft stores.
~ Outline –there are all kinds of pens, markers, and paints out there that will give you the same effect. I prefer using Pilot’s Precise rolling ball pen (Extra fine) and found it works great.
~ Cup of water – for dipping. Make sure when working you keep your actual drinking glass separated from the dipping cup so you don’t drink it by accident. :/
~ And most importantly, some kind of design. If you don’t feel comfortable drawing your own design the internet can be a wonderful thing. I’m sure you can find a line drawing out there that you like. Or again, you can steal from your kids. Take a picture out of their coloring book if you want to practice. I found the butterfly below online. It may be a little detailed for a beginner but you can find something with a little less.

 

1.  Tracing: Trace the design to your watercolor paper. Now there are several methods for transferring. I have 2 ways which I find fast and easy. If it’s daytime and you can easily reach a window you’re comfortable standing at for a while, tape your design to the window. Grab your watercolor paper and lay it over the design, trace away. You may want to lightly tape your watercolor paper to the window too.

If you don’t have a window then flip over your design and with a pencil shade the backside of the page covering all of the design area. Next place your paper design side up (shaded side down) on top of your watercolor paper and trace on top of the design. When tracing on top of the design the graphite on the backside will transfer onto your watercolor paper.

2.  Retrace: The outline on your watercolor paper may be light so go back through and retrace the outline lightly in pencil.

3. Paint!: Get out those watercolors and start painting. Biggest tip I can give you about watercolors, if you want light, fluffy colors keep more water on your brush. For darker, vibrant colors use just enough water to keep your brush wet. The pigment won’t be as diluted and more will transfer to your paper. If you want a combination of the two; start with a lighter touch and more water. As your page dries go back and add more pigment to the areas you want. You can go back over and add layers. 

Half way there!

 

4.  Drying Time (aka Cocktail Time): When you feel like the colors are to your liking, let the painting sit at least a few hours to make sure the paper’s dry. The last thing you want to do is rip through your work because the papers still wet. (For all the mom's out there, check out this blog. She's hilarious! bringmommythevodka.com )

5.  Retrace… again: Depending on how much pigment you used or how light your original pencil marks were you may want to retrace the design on top of the watercolor. Very lightly though, you don’t want to see the pencil marks after the ink outline has been added.

6.  Ink Outline: Now grab your pen and retrace the design.

You’re done!

There are so many ways to stylize this and make it your own. Maybe you don’t want to be detailed, just throw some colors in the background and trace over it. 

Or you could offset the ink outline from the actual watercolors. 

Don’t limit your creativity to just the painting itself. For “Ah Nuts” and “Menage a Trois” I used my wood burning tools to burn the edge of the paper for a rougher, earthy element. With this butterfly painting you could easily add a colorful frame and mat board to tie it all together.  

Now get started and let me know how yours turns out!

Quotes to live by

“The world is round and the place which may seem like the end may also be only the beginning.” – Ivy Baker Priest

I found this quote shortly after I started throwing around the idea of creating a website and blogging about my newest artwork. It seemed fitting considering the past year and how I decided to start creating new work and even try to sell some. As an artist your life should be your inspiration but at the same time that life can get in the way.

Rewind to a year ago and you’ll find me working my typical Monday – Friday, 8-5 job. Having recently purchased my first home my afternoons and weekends were filled with cleaning, painting, decorating and trying to figure out the basics of lawn care. :/ I learned the only green thumb I’ll ever have is one I’ve accidentally painted. I led a normal life for a late twenty-year-old, in my opinion. 

Needless to say, art was on the back-burner. Who would have time to create artwork when tasked with everyday cleaning, painting, ripping out a moldy bathroom, trying to install a French drain in the backyard? Well, looking back now… the ‘who would have time’ should have been ‘I could have made time’. Doing artwork is my meditation and during all of those tasks I needed to take the time to relax. (A shameless tag, check out my bio page at www.wix.com/beccacreative/homepage for more on my ‘meditation’.)

Skip to 9 months ago and all hell had broken loose in my life. Up seemed like down, left was usually right. If I had read the quote above back then… well let’s just say you would have either found me laughing hysterically or found me curled up under my desk bawling my eyes out in the fetal position. What can I say, I’m a woman and in stressful situations my emotions run amuck.

“The world is round and the place which may seem like the end” was definitely feeling like just that. The End. That’s where the quote stops. Period. The rest of my life I would be stuck in that one spot. What happened, you may ask? For the purpose of this blog, the Who, What, When, Where and Why don’t really matter anymore. The more precise question should be ‘What was destroyed?’ and the answer…. almost my entire art portfolio. I had the majority of my work literally ripped to pieces. 

So where do you go from there? Do you recreate them? Nope, we all know there’s no way to exactly recreate a piece of work and knowing myself all too well I’d always look at the new piece and wish I had the original. Do you throw the ruined pieces out? Nope, too painful to even think about! They’re still sitting in the back of my guestroom closet. I can’t even keep it out in the open. My stomach lurches every time I catch a glimpse of the portfolio and think about my poor, helpless art sitting inside of it. All the pride, the hours, the money, the aches and pains from sitting so long to complete them, Gone! So, what do you do? Well, if you’re lucky enough like me, you have a few amazing people in your life who pick you up… from under the desk, wipe your tears away and inspire you to create more. 

I’ve always told myself everything in life happens for a reason. Ivy Baker Priest's quote fits right in with my philosophy. And while I’d rather my portfolio had not been ruined, it was a kick in the butt to get my creative juices flowing again and start rebuilding my portfolio. So the place I’m in now that once seemed like the end is “only the beginning” ….