“A drawing is simply a line going for a walk.” ~ Paul Klee
The chronic arthritis in my arms and hands can complicate the making of art. On days when it is particularly problematic, I often draw on my iPad Pro in apps such as Procreate, Adobe Fresco and other dedicated painting apps. Lately, however, I have been enjoying the simplicity of the Apple Notes app drawing tools as a vehicle for creativity. I generally use the Apple Pencil for navigating around the tablet to cause less stress on my hands. If the sleeping iPad screen is awakened with an Apple Pencil, it will open Apple Notes with a drawing page open with the tools available (I also open a Quick Note by using a gesture from the bottom right into the centre. See more info here). In this drawing I primarily used the watercolour and ink pen brushes. Give it a try and post a link to your drawing in the comments.
“I think in circles; I speak in circles. I unravel my thoughts that way.” ~ Nathan Englander, Author
I am a creative writer as well as a painter/illustrator. Sometimes an idea for a story comes from a sketch, sometimes it’s the other way around, an idea for a sketch comes from a written passage. This is what I jotted down after creating the combination analogue watercolour and digital illustration:
“The green sphere raced through the atmosphere, flying in the wind through the cosmos, hurtling towards a who-knew-where destination. Arriving on an ordinary day in the imaginative life of the artist-writer, the work had only been in existence since the day before when It flowed off the pen of the ‘creator’. A character is tasked with unravelling the ‘squiggles’ to reveal what, if anything, is concealed by the quagmire. The painting’s occupant wondered aloud “who the hell does she think she is, anyway? Building worlds and creating inhabitants only to abandon them to the whims of time, wallowing in the ‘legions of forgotten ideas’. We deserve to know what happens to us! Finish the story, dammit!.”
What I like about writing is getting lost in these worlds of imagination. Who would have thought that a little squiggle drawing could spawn creatures with human-like abilities? These stories stretch the concepts of reality. Creating something in another dimension or space. The human brain is a miraculous thing. Our stories can take us to the moon and back, as well as to the outer regions of the universe. They can even take us inside a little scribble drawing, with a scribble hero who wants to free the world from its network of confining scribbled lines. I wonder if, at the end of it all, the hero finds out that the scribbled lines are all that there is, and that in trying to free the world, he or she actually destroys it.
“The apple cannot be stuck back on the Tree of Knowledge; once we begin to see, we are doomed and challenged to seek the strength to see more, not less.” ~ Arthur Miller, American Playwright
It has been a long, frustrating period for my creative practice. Chronic pain in my right hand, wrist and shoulder have been a challenge. After performing the regular tasks of living, there is often little dexterity left to make art.
That being said, after a lengthy sojourn away from daily sketching, I am back trying to re-establish this daily habit. Right now it’s in a tiny 3.5” x 4.5” notebook beside my bed where I scribble something in each day. I try for morning but sometimes the deed gets done in the evening. This is a small coloured pencil drawing of an imagined apple to add to my large collection of apple art. Do any of you have a daily creative practice? How do you motivate yourself?
“Every great artist has a closet full of bad paintings” ~David Young
As the saying implies, every seasoned artist has a closet-full of also-ran works, partially-finished paintings (I have a TON of these) and various sketches, splatters, colour studies, etc. to draw on for inspiration. Years ago I signed up for a creative play course at a local art school. At that time I was operating a busy design and advertising studio and had been pounding it hard for months, even years, deciding I needed to have some fun to recapture my spontaneous creativity. During that time I started making collages out of some of the painted works I made in class. Ripping them up, adding to them with fresh paint marks and splashes—even some snippets from my creative writing journals—resulting in a couple of my all-time favourite pieces (will post them another time).
Now, some 20 years later, with arthritis plaguing my hands and arms, back problems and one ‘iffy’ foot, large works are a challenge. Historically, I worked on many pieces at a time, propping them up in my studio so I could ponder them as I walked by, making a mark here or there. At times scrubbing out an entire area. Now, I only do one or two larger pieces at the same time, with the rest of my time spent on smaller works to satisfy the necessity to create something—anything.
A couple years ago I started a daily drawing/painting habit that satisfied the creative urge. Last winter, till this day, I have parlayed that into collage work. I generally do not use magazine or other printed materials (tho I won’t rule out anything in future) but rather use my own failed (in my estimation) or damaged paintings as fodder to make something new. The ULTIMATE RECYCLING activity for creating ART. See more Art Recycling ideas here. I like the ecological aspects of repurposing material that may add to the landfill for new creative art.
Pictured here are two pieces that are on my college table at present. They are still at the placing element design stage. Gluing only happens when I’m happy with an area. I walk by and shift or add a piece of paper, a dried leaf, a piece of thin fabric or paint a brushstroke here and there till my mind yells “STOP” and I call it finished. These two have been hanging about since Spring and I’m just getting back to working on them. Each started with paint on paper, discarded works, pieces of larger works. The theme is nature clothed in its many landscape and seascape outfits.
Famous artists who worked in collage include: Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Kurt Schwitters, Hannah Höck, et al. Link.
Post a comment.
Do YOU enjoy working in collage? What are your challenges or pre-conceived notions about collage as an art form?
“The face is the mirror of the mind, and eyes without speaking confess the secrets of the heart.” ~ St. Jerome
Today I combined my DAILY SKETCH with a bit of CREATIVE WRITING, a paragraph I jotted down for a story I’m writing.
SCENE: Madeleine is taking a walk up the main street of her town, trying to come to grips with the fact that her best friend, has just died under mysterious circumstances.
Madeleine was looking at her reflection in a store window, and momentarily wondered who that old woman staring back at her might be. “Oh, dear” she murmured. “I almost didn’t recognize myself” she thought. “Then again”, she realized “there’s something about the eyes”. Madeleine was right. There was a world of hurt in those eyes. An untold story of pain and loneliness, betrayal and despair; a lifetime of dreams put on the shelf for another day. A day that never came.” Multiple mediums were used to draw this sketch. It was then scanned and enhanced digitally.
“It took me quite a long time to develop a voice, and now that I have it, I am not going to be silent.” ~ Madeleine Albright
March 8, 2023: – ‘I’M STILL HERE’, an illustration. A woman, seemingly cobbled together from disparate parts, to become a whole person, seems appropriate to recognize INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY, a global day to celebrate women’s social, economic, cultural and political achievements.
While there is some way to go, today marks a time to raise awareness of the progress made toward achieving true gender equality and the work still to be done.
The beginnings of International Women’s Day can be traced back to the early twentieth century. Emerging from the labour movements in Europe and North America, reflecting a call for women’s equal participation in society. International Women’s Day first took place on March 19, 1911, in Austria, Denmark, Germany, and Switzerland, when over a million women and men attended public events to show their support.
Other countries began to celebrate this day, with the United Nations recognizing 1975 as International Women’s Year; celebrating March 8 as International Women’s Day—a day of unity, celebration, reflection, advocacy, and action and is celebrated in many countries worldwide. https:// www.un.org/en/observances/womens-day
“The important thing is to do, and nothing else; be what it may.” ~ Pablo Picasso
Thinking about Picasso’s statement, I felt an easing of the grip of creative block that’s been haunting me for months. It’s not what I make that is the most important consideration. It is the action of creating, even something I might consider sub-par, that is at the heart of any habit we want to establish.
As Andy Warhol said, “Don’t think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it’s good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art.”
“Painting is just another way of keeping a diary.” ~ Pablo Picasso
This is a quick watercolour sketch of a seascape, painted with a small travel set of Cotman Winsor & Newton watercolour half cakes. Testing a new watercolour paper to see how the paint flows, absorption, etc. I found the 90 lb. cold press stock too thin to stand up to the reasonably light wet-in-wet application in the sky area but handled the flowing liner brush strokes on slightly damp paper on the bottom half of the painting quite well. The paper was quite absorbent, grabbing the paint in some areas before edges could be softened.
These quick watercolour sketches, using a familiar subject I paint regularly, help me concentrate on the materials rather than the subject. I find that doing quick smaller sketches helps embed a sort of painting ‘muscle memory’ that gets easier the more often we ‘exercise’ it. While the travel set is great for tucking in your pocket for small on-the-road sketches, I still prefer using tube paint in studio.
Trisha’s Daily Painting 