Art Archives - Page 8 of 12 - INESE'S ART STUDIO

February 15, 2015October 16, 2024

Enjoy art projects in pink

Illusions and visions

There is no “undo” command in our life. This makes everything we pursue, experience or achieve absolutely irreversible. Everything is a small moment, frozen in time. As I’m typing these words or you’re reading them, the past washes this moment away and puts it in the big folder of our lifetime’s history. The cold sun rays of the disappearing day are pouring over the nearby rooftops and the highest tree branches. This creates an illusion of warmth in the air. Yet, it is an illusion. As the quiet stream of twilight starts flowing across the sky, we will find ourselves in even colder conditions, minus thirty or so. That’s why we create art projects in sunny colors.

Uplifting colors for grey mood

How does this relate to pink projects? Very simple: when the environment is unfriendly, we should try doing something pleasant. For me, that is drawing and painting something which takes me far away from this cold winter day and places in surroundings where I’d love to be. This is an easy mental transformation into a feeling-better state. We actually did similar project in the classroom. The first project was all about yellow and orange, and the next one was painting flowers in pink. These projects can be done by absolutely everybody whether they have any experience or not. They are as basic as one, two, three.

Step 1

Choose the reference image and draw the main lines with pencil or do a drawing from memory.

Step 2

Draw over the most suitable lines with a black pen. Black ink can be used, as well, if somebody has it.

Step 3

Follow the reference image or your imagination and apply colors which seem to be most fitting the drawing. We apply color on one leaf or on one petal at a time. We start with light washes and go over some areas with more intense color. Wash out connection lines with pure water.

The result

Drawings which do not look perfect at all become extremely beautiful with this approach. We were applying washes and glazes of yellow, red, crimson red and dark red with blue. Any color was applied using various intensity. These projects took us about 3 hours in total. The rose was painted in a similar way. Since it is pure watercolor, I used only watercolor paint without black pen.

Start seeing

Just one more thing: everybody can draw and paint and, therefore, create for themselves a beautiful rescue place where to avoid troubles and hardships. However, we have to learn seeing things in an artistic way first. This feels almost like developing a much better perception of the surrounding world. We are used to see everything just walking by and running over. Now, it is time to start noticing lines, shapes, shadows, colors, contrast and features that make this particular subject attractive. That is the moment when we can put it on paper or canvas.

Drawing and painting with watercolor is fun. Such illustrations and paintings are beautiful and look fantastic in your art portfolio, on your wall and when published.

Get inspired; Ideas

Learn how to paint: Art classes

January 15, 2015October 16, 2024

Adding color to winter days

The warming color

Adding color to cool winter days feels right. Or a bit better than simply doing nothing. I was hoping to get done much more, but darkness is very restricting. Even though, I’m drawing and painting at electric light, that has impact also because color changes. Sensitive colors and shades change to a great extent in different light, and the only correct painting light for me is the daylight. I’m obviously experiencing shortage of it and using warm and bright colors to offset the shortage of natural light.

Floral watercolor paintings by Inese Poga

Colorful illusion of spring

As long as I remember myself, I never liked winter. I feel that I deserve way better than this freezing air and this wet snow or icy wind gusts from around the corner. I am not trying to get up when I should, and staying up much longer at night, that’s not helping. My productivity is down in winter and I find all kinds of excuses to justify the wasted time. It might be so that I’m completely dependent on seasonal cycles of the nature. I’m definitely a summer person, and darkness and cold are completely arguing with every living cell in my body. Well, I know, winter will pass, too, and painting in bright colors takes me to spring.

Watercolor painting, multicolor tulips — Spring tulips, 14.5 x 10.5 in or 36.5 x 26 cm

Art as a rescue medicine

My only rescue medicine is art. It’s impossible to imagine how I would survive these dark months without colors, paints, sketches, drawings, ideas and paintings! Thankfully, these things occupy my brain and mind completely taking into a meditative state of no reaction to surroundings, problems or issues. I believe art is the best way to fight these upsetting and lazy moods. The only times when I experience real flush of energy are before art classes, workshops and events. The opportunity to make canvas blossom gives me wings and I’m bursting with fresh ideas and suggestions. I’m very generous when it comes to sharing ideas and new knowledge.

Add color to your day

“Add color to your day” project is coming along, but not without a resistance. I will eventually figure out how to implement three 1.5 hour sessions during the week in order to use only watercolor paints, allowing them to flow, taking away bad emotions, and therefore these sessions will be providing people, who have similar winter moods, with positive energy and opportunity to overcome the situations they’ve stuck in. That might be health or relationships, or our own nature, it doesn’t matter what exactly. Color and art can cure everything, even people, who are unable to physically perform something difficult. New images for these sessions are on the way.

Yellow daffodils, watercolor painting by artist Inese Poga

A little bit of warmth

To share with everybody a little bit of warmth, I’m attaching a few watercolors. These are layered watercolors without using masking fluid. For some images, we created pen outline drawing at first.

Winter watercolors

January watercolor in warm colors: we just kept adding different layers and glazing, and adding more and more of them. I know we should have used something like masking fluid, but there was no time to wait until everything is dry.

Pen and watercolor sketch of poppies: it’s cold outside, but painting in warm colors brightens up any place, any mood and any day.

Original watercolor paintings for sale

December 4, 2014October 17, 2024

Nostalgia for old times and ability to create gifts is a gift, too

I’m probably getting old or older, but I am definitely having recently some nostalgia for these times which won’t ever return.

I believe, I am not taking too well the huge overload of commercials screaming at me from everywhere. Wherever I look, it’s just buy this and get this for free and hurry up because these discounts won’t last. Endlessly. It might be also because we never had a large family, and when I was young we were not that much about gifts.

My most memories are about preparations to celebrate Christmas or the New Year. This brings back some fantastic smells of pies and pastries in the oven, the fresh scent of fir-tree and aroma of candles. And real lights of real candles, so warm and so alive. We used to sing a lot, as well. These are sounds of old songs, partially forgotten, but I can still sing them in quite a few languages: my first foreign language was Russian, the next was German, I picked it up early and was able to use fluently by the time I was 12, the third was English quite a few years later. I am a native Latvian, and we have millions of folk songs, so many that every Latvian can call one his or her own. So, yes, we were following the very ancient Latvian traditions which are actually more ancient than English or German traditions since Latvian along with Lithuanian belong to the most ancient still alive languages and can be traced back to the ages of Sanskrit.

I can also remember how we were walking through the deep snow to the nearby forest to get the most beautiful tree. I was told I was only 4 years old. That’s amazing, but I can recall the walk, the snow and the forest. That’s how I’m painting my fir trees, they look exactly as those ones which I saw 52 years ago.

However, my intention was to share the idea about how kids and teens should rather create and make their gifts than try to buy something for money which they probably haven’t even earned yet. We were a lot about creativity, and that was all we were doing when not reading or working: sewing, drawing, painting, making toys, household items, and jewelry, things for our house and for our living space. There were so many ways to bring beauty into our home, and nobody was really worried about expenses because these self-made things did not cost anything or just a little in materials.

I maintained this ability to create everything from practically nothing all my life. I find it exciting, way more exciting than going to the store and buying stuff made in China. I find some of the decorations they sell absolutely tasteless. How much of attraction can actually plastic things have? Fake trees are still somehow OK, even artificial berries and fir and pine cones, but if you ask me, I’d say nothing compares to self-made decorations. However, I love glass balls and ornaments. We used to have some from 1912 and 1938. I asked my mom how that was possible to keep these ornaments not broken through all wars and troubles, and she said they were so small and so lovely, and they were associated with so many memories that everybody was taking an extremely good care about them.

So, finalizing the previously said, I was asking quite a few people:

Instead of buying your gift this holiday season, you could paint one, couldn’t you?

It takes only 3 hours which is such a tiny moment compared to the huge amount of positive energy residing in such a gift. It stays with one forever.

The other day we were painting some birds.

This is one more of small paintings I did for demonstration, it’s 12 x 16 in

November 13, 2014October 17, 2024

Poppies pop and red color to lift our moods

Red color is eye-catching and warm. Poppies is a much-loved subject in art classes, and since November is the month which many people in Canada associate with poppies and Remembrance day, we just couldn’t resist and painted some, too.

Red color must be fantastic for lifting up one’s mood because I cannot remember when else we were joking and laughing so much.

Flowers and easy flowers, such as poppies, are excellent painting subject for beginners. Also, while red color is supposed to be difficult to scale down and up, it still works very well as contrast. We have painted poppy fields, individual poppies, bunches and arrangements with poppies: every time these paintings come out nice and attractive.

The best part of being able to create is probably that we only depend on our intentions and goals. There are no limitations in subjects or ways to create something. It is almost an absolute freedom, and pretty much nothing but our personal situation can be a set-back. Freedom in creation means doing what one wants and prefers. If it is technique that doesn’t work for you yet, you will just have to practice more.

Work in progress adult painting class

Red is an attractive color. More so, if you want to explore all shades of red. Painting flowers is easier if you start on canvas which has already a layer of paint in medium dark color. It also saves time because you have to work on the dark and light colors without worrying white spots between some parts. Secondly, acrylic paint is applied easier also on a previous layer of paint.

Our classes are listed here: Art classes

A few of paintings for sale: Shop art

October 4, 2014October 17, 2024

The spectacular show of the fall: plenty to capture, plenty to paint

Art gallery and art studio of Inese Poga

Fall colors

Yellow, orange, rusty color and red: leaves say good-bye to their shelter tree and throw themselves into the swirling wind. It is the ancient show of the fall: the last waltz of leaves with the wind as they fall down, down, down …

While the fall is writing a summary about everything that was done during this year, the nature decorates outdoors with all its treasures: colorful leaves, acorns, rowan berries, chestnuts, wild mushrooms, rose hips, late fall blooms, vegetables in the garden and fruits on trees. This is the season of abundance, and this is the most genuine pleasure for our eyes and soul.

Soothing, relaxing and pleasurable

Well, the wind could slow down a bit, and showers could be not that freezing. However, they’re just doing their job whether we like it or not. What can be more soothing and relaxing than creating some paintings in the warm and welcoming fall colors? A cup of herbal tea perhaps, or flavor of chicken soup on the stove? These are useful things for nasty and chilly fall days, too, but they don’t replace the simple pleasure of creation.

Rewarding brushes

If there weren’t these fantastic colors out there, the pain of the summer disappearing behind a dark cloud would be unbearable! I hope everybody can enjoy some hot chicken broth or a cup of tea with homemade pastries at this chilly night in countries where it is getting cold. Other than that: we always have our brushes, pencils and paints. Let us keep painting and drawing, and creating as the fall makes us seek for a shelter indoors! Let us lighten up our inspiration so that we don’t have to blame the darkness and bad weather for our upset moods!

I have attached for illustration some of the autumn nature series paintings.

Category: Art

Enjoy art projects in pink

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Adding color to winter days

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Nostalgia for old times and ability to create gifts is a gift, too

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Poppies pop and red color to lift our moods

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The spectacular show of the fall: plenty to capture, plenty to paint

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