Whenever i hear the word 'graphic' on the news, my mind goes to art rather than the abrupt visual they feel needs a warning [Which i guess is a courtesy for some folks who just might not be able to handle such a site & prefer to look away.] Well, luckily, I'm not Pollyanna about this... As a creative, it is nearly impossible to hear that word 'graphic' & not flex my creative muscle & treat it w an alternative visual thot... 24/6! [I take Sundays off.] I was never fortunate enuf to attend college or to study graphic arts. But I actually think that this is a skill & craft of immense talent. To create aesthetic colors & shapes & beauty & what seems like using the most simplistic of techniques yet w the greatest of impact is simply mesmerizing to me. Why that color? Why that shape? & yet... it works!!!! So here is my attempt to simulate such a masterful profession but w a bit of humor.
My first art of 2021, and the first in about 7 months after feeling blocked since last year. Reference was some random photo of a house on a country lane from when I used to go for long walks in Sussex. I decided to push myself into doing some form of artwork every day. This was the result from day three.
My favorite projects r when i get the freedom to doodle & illustrate raw unfettered thot. To me this not only makes me chortle but actually makes sense... while to others they look for meaning & probably don't realize that as long as they r looking forward i am pleased no matter what their discovery or personal meaning. Just the notion they r intrigued makes me happy,
This little acrylic was inspired by the autumn morning skies over Penrhos. My partner and I lived with her parents for a time while we renovated our first house. I used to hang out the 3rd floor window in the mornings to take reference shots of the skies.
When I was a child, whenever I was alone or lonely, I would fantasize about having super powers and being able to fly out into the universe and do anything. In my own world, I will always be the protagonist in my own story, guarding the lights of thousands of homes, world peace.
I know it looks a little sunny, but the reference photo for this one was a winter shot. It's the countryside in the hills surrounding Carreg Cennen castle, Carmarthenshire, Wales
I passed this old workshop numerous times going from Carmarthen to Drefach-Felindre. Eventually I parked up and took a photo so I could sketch it. I love old buildings like this which seem to be everywhere here in Wales.
Class assignment: draw a crowd with layers and overlapping. I took this class because it is my artist heart's desire to capture people in real life action. We did learn a technique for that, but we did it from video. It was so stressful, and I'm considering practicing that 10 min a day for Lent. This one was a compilation from photos my teacher provided. What are your tips for capturing people in action? For me, the challenge was deciding what the action was. I kept changing the action as I saw it because it is SO FAST. I felt like I couldn't "see" fast enough.
This was drawn in Spiralty (a free Windows program) and colored in Photoshop. Great fun and very relaxing. I am definitely going to be making more mandalas during the rest of the pandemic.
Sketch from lunch break in between work-hours (poor quality sketch/photo). unrelated: I walk home from work 3/5 days every week, and I have leveled up a social link with a kind old stranger I frequently see /occasionally talk with on the walks home. This will unlock the good ending later, though I'm not sure what that ending is. Just hope it happens soon.
A cartographic representation of the experience of moving to a new city in a foreign land. This work, dubbed as 'Introspectionism', provides the viewer with a snapshot over time of the inner workings of the process of the strange becoming slowly more familiar and the foreign becoming Home.
