Every artist has their story; some of us share the details
and others keep them quiet. I do both
because I find it’s the artist finished and unfinished work that tells the best story.
Knowing your subject, selecting a theme and using the right medium is also important.
When I was a lot younger my art was centered around pencil rendering in addition to pen and ink. They were my favorite mediums and later I dabbled in oils.
My style back then was a mix between realism and abstract.
Settled on Two Mediums
In 2019 I began to dabble in watercolors and took a few classes. It was a lot of fun, met some neat people and found a good fit. There was just something about water moving through color that grabbed my attention.
Currently I've chosen to use two mediums, the first being watercolor and the second pencil. It’s possible a little pen and ink might return because I like to mix mediums.
The pieces I’m sharing here are just some ideas I was playing with which brings me to style. I will be implementing impressionism.
I don't for see creating any realism because I'd rather spend my time looking at nature in the present and I sort of feel like photography captures realism best.
Many ideas have been swimming and for the first time in a very long time I am seeing things in an element that is inspirational. It’s difficult to explain and everything seems to catch my attention.
Selecting a Theme
Selecting mediums and style can be pretty easy but choosing an art theme
is a different story. My goal is to work towards selling my art one day and since that goal is pretty grand, beginning with a theme seems to make sense.
This brings me to my Jacob sheep painting of Granny. This
piece is just an example because I was curious if I could do an impression and still bring forward her personality.
She did surface and sometimes I think that I overthink the creative process and perhaps I should just let the "heart" lead the way.
Sometimes going backwards is not the best way to begin. So, I am going to continue exploring themes from our new environment and see what happens.
Encouraging goodness,
Carole West