Pencil and paint become magic tools
Drawing and watercolor painting take time, and I was recently short of it. However, we created sketches from real fruits in our watercolor class. We did also a large-scale reference drawing for our still life painting, and we are about to finish the chickadees and birch painting in the evening class. Creating pencil sketches is the best you can do to make painting easier.
Drawing therapy
I paint and create drawings even when I cannot do anything else. I paint and do drawing when I feel desperate, disappointed with the reality of life and when I am having mood swings because of the strong medications. It can be a bit difficult to get started, bet when I overcome the resistance, it is a pleasure. I don’t always care how great the painting or drawing will be or how perfect the color combinations will come out. Art is so therapeutic that I cannot compare it with anything else.
Advantage of live classes
When we compare online, over-the-internet and live art classes, I must say nothing can replace the live interaction and face-to-face learning. Why? Because I can see right away what’s causing some problem: too much water, too dry paper, too less paint, too much paint, bad quality paper, brush or paint.
When it comes to watercolors, everything matters, yet, the quality of paper is the most important part. I always use the same paper that I give my students which is quite large size, approximately 16 x 18 in or 41 x 46 cm. This time it was 18 x 24 inches or 46 x 61 cm. Big practice painting is much more beneficial.
Process
First we create the drawing and value sketch with all shadows and halftones. You can do that in pencil, using pen or even pen and ink. We transfer the drawing onto watercolor paper using very light lines. Once paper is wet, we cannot erase anything. We do the first washes and add layers and more layers until our paintings looks completed.
Don’t go tiny, experiment with large sizes
I have seen over the years how tiny and small paper prevents one from creating good art. If paper is too small, it will be definitely too difficult to apply paint on it. If you are watching somebody paint online and you do not have a very thick, heavy and good quality paper, you can kill yourself, but you simply won’t achieve what they are showing you. Saving on paper is a mistake because thin paper won’t allow to use multiple washes. With bad paints, you won’t have great results and transparency also, so, it’s best to have the decent ones.
Drawing real things
I love drawing, therefore, I’m also teaching students to draw from real life, not photos whenever possible. I believe that drawing from real subjects results in the best art because it gives one absolute freedom of interpretation. I find drawing easy because I was learning drawing not from photos, but from real subjects and set-ups. I am simply good at it and it is very helpful not to have to use computer for editing.
Enjoy the benefits of creativity
I hope that more people will pick up pencils and brushes following my advice and get started with drawing and painting. There is simply nothing like it. It doesn’t demand one to be in good shape or to be dressed up or look perfect, it doesn’t even require being in a good mood. That comes as an additional benefit along the way. I’m also seeing art as a tool to cure addictions and prevent from falling back into them. Creativity is a powerful tool which we all can make use of.
Such lovely skilled work
I appreciate your comment so much! I thought nobody liked these paintings and drawings and they took so much time to get to the publishing stage. I believe, most people don’t have time, so they didn’t even look at images.
Well, you certainly have one here who likes your work..genuinely likes
john
Thanks John! It’s Monday morning, and something nice like that lifts my mood for sure. In fact, I wake up very slowly, it is good to just take my time and have some positive thoughts about what I am doing.
As always a beautiful post and lovely art. Inese I am so sorry you are unwell. However you are fortunate in the fact you can avoid some of your pain by escaping into your art. Hugs. 🙂
Thanks Susan! There hasn’t been any single day during the last 25 years without pain, and I sort of have learned to live with it. My other work is doing the medical stuff and it’s sitting at computer, so art is definitely the best way to escape the tough reality. I so much appreciate you read the article and stopped by! Have a great week!
You have a good week to and escape into art!
Thanks Susan! I certainly will!
I admire you and your students! My art skills are zero but I do appreciate and need art in my life. Yours has brightened up my Monday!
So happy to hear that! Your kind comment brightens up my Monday! Many thanks!
I really enjoy seeing the work as it progresses through to completion, as it’s such a mystery to me how it all comes together. Thanks for sharing. I know just what you mean about escaping in your art. Writing is my escape – don’t know what I’d do without it.
Thanks for your nice comment! It’s nice it feels like there’s some mystery involved. I wish I had more pure painting or drawing time, but it’s mostly rush. I agree so much that we all need a place to escape the reality, and creative things like writing or painting are really well suited for this purpose.
Your still lives are more alive than any real fruit. And your chickadees and birch trees are glorious!
Thanks Brenda! That really brought smile onto my face. I was trying to make chickadees friendly. One needed small adjustment. It’s so nice to hear something good!
Hugs (And I meant every word)
And that is even better! Have a beautiful, pleasant day!
I so agree with you. Saving art! People get so absorbed that they forget to worry. Happy an creative end o the week to you!
Thanks! That is sort of a place of escape. Trying to put together some ads. February is not a good month for me, but hopefully, the spring will bring some positive changes.
February is almost over. Hope for the better!
It’s good, definitely. I have had the same feelings as long as I live, I didn’t ever like February, I have even a poem in Latvian about how much I cannot stand it. So, that’s probably a small revenge. LOL. It’s just the confusion and insecurity, all that stuff because things usually fall apart, and the weather isn’t supportive either.
Yes, I too feel like February is a nuisance. I’d better add these weeks to the other months 🙂 I understand your feelings.
Especially, May, June, July could be even longer. Well, March is not that pleasant month here, as well, but at least, there’s that feeling it shouldn’t be too far from real spring. I haven’t had any vacations for many years, but I can see how much that helps and makes winter shorter. I mean, especially going away in February.
A friend of mine moved with her family to NZ. Her birthday is in January. Can you imagine her joy when she realised that she has got a summer birthday now 🙂 What a lovely bonus.
Definitely fantastic bonus! I would love any place, just not snow, winds, cold rains and ice. I’d be happy with a few weeks away from the cold.
Oh I so understand…
I just got a very good news from my daughter in Latvia, that certainly raised my mood a lot!
Good news from daughters are the best 🙂
No doubt about that. I feel new perspectives opening and new opportunities coming our way, very nice, really!
That’s wonderful!
It certainly is! Just compare how upset I was a few hours ago and how uplifted I feel right now. All it takes is good news from people who we love!
True.
Thanks! You are such a great support in tough times! Have a great weekend!
Your tough times are over, I reckon, since you got the good news 🙂
Well, that’s a positive thing for sure. However, my job is to ensure I can tell her some good news, as well. I will have to work on that.
That is very true. We cannot upset our children who live so far away. It is unfair.
We shouldn’t, but this time it’s more about me because my daughter takes things easy, she’s somebody who never gives up, I think we have this quality in common. She’s 36 and I’m 57, so I should generate more good news, shouldn’t I? It’s so that I’ve been so slow and I need to speed up everything.
Oh I know what you mean… good news are scarce these times. When my daughter asks me how I am, I answer – alive.
Right, so we have to take about this. The good thing is days are longer, I have more light. Whenever I want to do something whether painting, drawing, sewing or even taking photos from my paintings and still lives, I need real day light. I find that any artificial light changes the properties of paint color. Large watercolors are ok, their colors change not that much, but when it comes to acrylic, small watercolor and pastel, I cannot do anything without real daylight.
Are you living in the Arctic zone? I too feel very depressed without the sunlight – this winter was really tough. I understand well what you feel.
I’m in Ontario, at Ontario lake, Whitby, which is a small bit East from Toronto, and New York is just across the lake on the USA side. We are sometimes driving to Chicago or New York. I would never want to be in the arctic zone, not me. Latvia also had winters, but the weather has been rather mild during the recent years over there. I’m in Canada, my husband is here with me, but all the rest of family, including my daughter, grandsons (17 and 12), my mom and my sister with her family, everybody is in Latvia. I used to go to Germany frequently because it was close and I speak German at a native level, too.
At least, you have your husband. I will post some pictures from Latvia soon. I was there in 2013. I have some relatives left, but we are not super close. I am in touch with my Dad’s cousin who is 70-something herself. The life is shrinking fast.
Oh, I’m going to Latvia every fall, flights are not that much at that time, and I have to because my mom is almost 86. 2013 was my daughter’s wedding, 2014 I cannot remember why it was important to go and last year I was teaching a bit people with University education. I have lots of Master’s degrees, too, I’m just not able to get things moving here. Partially because I’m not feeling well most of the time and partially because I have accepted my inert state and I’m not that active as I always used to be. I regret health getting worse here and there, it is so limiting. Well, you have some relatives over there, so you must have found a good life abroad. Is it England? I sort of got that impression, but maybe I’m wrong.
Who else I have? I have my former students scattered all over the planet. Quite a few are in the UK, Ireland, Germany, Italy, Spain, and one is even in Australia. Some are in the USA, I don’t know any who are in Canada. It’s nice when guys who are in their 30s and 40s still send nice thank-you letters and notes. That is nice.
Latvian population is decreasing because of many things. Life’s become difficult, not enough work, not enough support for elderly, many medical facilities and schools are closing down since too few students. However, Latvia is an extremely beautiful place. I wrote in my blog posts about that stuff, it should be every fall and summer some time back. There are pics of Riga and Tukums and other places.
Loved your drawing Inese, and all of your painting talents.. And you are right drawing and sketching to me bring comfort on these damp days of winter just past..
I have not done as much as I should.. but I do have a pastel to do for my daughter’s partner soon.. of one of their cats.. She has asked me to surprise him for his birthday.. And she has sent me several poses of the cat to choose from..
Hope all is well with you and at least we now have Spring to look forward to.. Although we are set for snow for the next few days ..
Love and Blessings your way
Sue
Thank you Sue! It was almost like a nice letter!
Pastels are great for doing cat portraits, so, I have no doubt you will do just fine.
I’m slow today again. It’s very cold and very stormy, this place cannot be heated enough, therefore, I cannot do much with my hands frozen.
I agree, we can look forward to having spring soon. I hope it sets in straight after this snow and frost is over. It’s very disappointing to have such cold and nasty weather after a few great sunny days we had. They were soooo promising.
Well, I hope you get to creative things as soon as it feels right, and I will try, too!
Sending much love to you also, and I am grateful for such warming up comments!
I am being creative in other ways, but I am in the process of spinning out a tale of just how that came about with the Universe Speaks.. My next post is to be the Universe Listens.. with a follow up of the Universe Delivers 🙂 all very strange LOL…. Hope you get your hands warmed up soon.. The wind has picked up again here, so the snow if it sweeps across us tonight will blow in faster..
And yes I love drawing and doing pastels of Cats.. 🙂 Lots of Love returned Inese.. xxx
I see, that is great, too. I was just thinking the other day how my life is an example of totally unexpected turns. The Universe is pure energy and some of that gets directly to us. Everything can be expressed as energy whether minus, plus, alive or dead. The Universe is a serious matter and we have to pay more attention what we are sending out of ourselves. It’s tough to control this quite often. I know for sure that those things which I never thought about seriously really came true. When I was teaching at high school back in Latvia, I used to repeat quite often: Oh, I’d love so much to speak all day English. I loved English because my first University degree was in German, and I was sort of bored with speaking just German and Russian as foreign languages. That came true sooner than 2 year period. I was in Canada, although, I never even had been intending to come here. I got married within 4 months, although, I thought I’d never do that again. My life is a pure adventure and lots of terrible disasters. Fairy tale with elements of a horror movie. Isn’t that amazing? I have plenty of material which I am writing here and there. See, my native language is Latvian, and it took me long time to pick up thinking in English, as well. I’m still a bit short of vocabulary when I compare my native language skills with either German or English, but I’m getting better. Thanks again and have a wonderful evening!
You speak English like a native and no one would ever guess its your third language LOL.And yes we have to be careful what we wish for, for the Universal Energies are always listening and sometimes it delivers not always what we expect, and at other times we can be amazed at the magic it brings..
Thank you for sharing your adventure.. I so hope for more Fairy Tale endings and experiences for you though 😉
Well, thanks, that sounds very flattering to me! I also hope this has a very good ending like they lived happily ever after … Cheers!
Oh I so hope it is Everlasting Happy Ever After 🙂 <3 <3
I do, too! Thanks!
Thanks Bernard!