illustration Archives - Page 5 of 5

Still life has it all

Still life has been my most favorite subject ever since I can remember myself. I love setting up some fruit and arrange some leaves, flowers and jars, so that it looks exactly as I like. Still life allows capturing everything that is important in a painting: proportions, values, direction of light and shadows and contrast. Still life is essence of art.

Time constraints

Time is rushing us so badly that it sometimes feels I just wake up and go back to sleep. At least, I got this feeling recently. Along with doctor’s appointments, household stuff, daily meals, cleaning, laundry, classes, preparation of new images and painting steps, preparation of hand-out materials, advertising, social media posts, two huge medical writing jobs: that meant there was no time to paint. Although, my show is coming up and this is a gift season for which I should have been preparing. Well, I am trying to do my best.

I put up a few decorations yesterday, and I had to give a class later, and that was it. The day just disappeared again. Anyway, I’m posting a watercolor still life which was done about 3 weeks ago,

Daily duties and art

I hope my duties will somewhat balance out during the upcoming weeks and I can get to things which I really want to do: i simply would love to paint more. I love just setting up a still life, drawing and painting it.

Starting painting for a class is not quite the same: I have to take into account all distinctive levels of skill, and we often have absolute beginners, so that painting is just an illustration for what I am saying while teaching.

Showing is definitely better than only telling about it. It is very helpful also that I can see and correct things which are usually problematic for students: very little paint, too much water, completely dry brush, dirty brush, putting too much pressure on brush and similar basic issues which frequently arise when starting to paint.

Common beginners’ mistakes

One thing which is always wrong when painting in any medium and using any subject is trying to paint with tiny bits of paint or not having paint on a brush. We have to be generous!

I think, generous people also have much better results when creating art, they simply are not that much afraid of wasting anything. That certainly helps!

About this particular painting

I had started it while traveling to Latvia. I had two apples and some beautiful leaves. I created a composition which felt like I needed to add something more to it. Since I didn’t have pears and grapes, I simply drew them in. I just got the first layer, and didn’t get back to this painting until I arrived back in Canada. It looked quite terrible as first rough layers only.

So, Thought what can I do about this painting because it looked promising and I loved the composition. I added background, quite a few layers, but don’t have any pictures, and after a few layers of extra washes, it came to life and started looking great.

Autumn fruit still life, 16 x 12 in or 41 x 30.5 cm

Feel your subject

For me, painting a still life means to become my subject and to feel its energy. I feel like the apple in this still life, or like the pear, or even the leaf. I love soothing and warm colors. That is best achieved when using not a photo, but real things. I will also not stop painting until the still life feels right to me.

Painting takes time. You should be ready to spend on a painting at least a few hours here and there, so that disturbances, interruptions or other activities are not a problem. I just didn’t get this chance recently, but I’m looking hopefully to the future.

Closer look at the central part

Reasons to paint still life

I intend to draw and paint more still life paintings. Why? I cannot frequently get out into the nature, but things to use in a still life setting are always easily available. I believe drawing still life is as good practice as drawing faces or scenes with figures. The main thing is: we teach our eyes and brain to see and perceive.

Art prints and other artistic products are available from Fine Art America

Art collections by Inese Poga.

There is so much to like, purchase, enjoy and decorate with!

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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

Category: illustration

Fall still life: time just flew by

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Adding color to winter days

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