New Dimensions

  Yesterday was Sunday and we were relaxing at home. I decided to do a quick sketch and paint it with watercolour paint. I didn't want to create a masterpiece or do something complex. I chose a picture on Pinterest because it looked easy to practise with. I also didn't want to use expensive paper either. The picture above is the result of my efforts. I first did the sketch in pencil and then added the blue and grey watercolour paint. Since it was just a little exercise I grabbed my Faber-Castell paints and added the colours. As I said, the aim was to practise and not to create a wonderful painting. I still get satisfaction from doing things like that. I have just watched a YouTube video on Atomic Habits by James Clear. Near the end he said that if you want to become a writer, you must not just write a book. That does not make you a writer. If you want to become a writer, you must write! Therefore, if you want to become a painter/artist, you must paint. You need to do that often...

  Gardening is a most rewarding endeavour. When you plant a herb or a flower or a vegetable, you are creating a living thing that grows. You have to take special care of it to ensure that the plant survives, gets sufficient water, sunshine, and plant food to enable it to thrive. If you have done your job well and are diligent, you will reap a reward and receive what the plant produces - flowers, herbs, or vegetables. We have successfully grown all sorts of fruit, vegetables, and herbs which we picked just before eating. That way we get the freshest fruits that keep us healthy. I am in the process of painting the picture above with watercolours. The same applies to life! Work is therefore necessary and is a good thing.

 I love Pinterest because that is where I find inspiration from very talented people. It's a place where everyone shares their work. Since I am still learning how to create art I feel very humble being in the presence of others with amazing talent. I salute you all. The topic of today's blog post is sketchbook art. Since this is my very first piece I am submitting it not as a work of art as such but an exercise that I performed to see if I could produce a double page spread item and paint it with watercolours. I primarily just wanted to see whether or not the paint would show on the other side of the paper. One thing you have to understand is that we can look at what other people are doing but only through trial and error will we learn what works and how they created their work of art and what materials they used. That sounds simple but in reality it is not simple at all. I go through a whole learning process trying to emulate other artists. Sometimes I succeed when I make the ...

 About a year ago I was faced with a problem. My children and grandchildren were showing off their prowess in drawing and painting on a WhatsApp group where all our family members were connected. All I could put up on the group were photographs that I had taken which I thought were showing off that I was a bit creative. But they kept on putting up very nice paintings and drawings and I had nothing to show. When I was at school I used to draw a lot but that was about sixty years ago. Since then I had no reason to practice my art or drawing skills. At that time I had tried painting with watercolour paints but found that medium to be too much of a challenge so I stopped trying to paint. Sometimes I came across senior people who were producing these wonderful paintings on Facebook and admired them. So, last year I decided to give it a go again. What did I have to loose? I mean, if I at least tried properly, maybe I could paint something that would interest my family. Believe me, I was ...

Watercolour painting involves a lot of learning and much practise and keeps me motivated to produce better results. The important word here is practise because just reading and watching and hoping doesn't produce the desired results, which is to improve over time. However, when I practise my skills just to keep being busy and relax and allow mistakes to happen, I find that I am still learning to improve my watercolour skills. I call my latest painting new wine because I did paint something similar a while ago and used it to create a simpler version. I didn't over plan what I was going to draw and paint, I just went with the flow and still managed produce something that I could work with. One thing that I have learned over time in my efforts to paint with watercolours is that I need to persevere while I am painting because it usually doesn't look so glamorous until I add the black lines which makes my painting stand out from the white paper. If you remove all the black from ...

The autobot above was my next project because I wanted to see what I could achieve with my new alcohol markers. As you can see it isn't finished yet - it is still a work in progress. I have made a few digital enhancements so that I could put it up on my blog. He is called AI Autobot and will be undergoing some changes to fit the description. Recently, everybody has been raving about AI Artificial Intelligence. I am steering clear of AI at the moment because my intelligence is okay for me. I don't want to lose my edge by relying on some computer program for now. After all, I got this far in life without it. After starting with watercolour painting and succeeding with that I have ventured into multi media to get some exposure to a new dimension in my art. Working with different mediums comes with its challenges because the ideal paper for markers is the opposite of what you need for watercolour painting. To successfully blend these two together on smooth paper is not the easiest ...

Today I practised some more in another way. I drew another picture and coloured it in with watercolour pencils and then used some water on a brush to add water to the flower. It didn't work like I expected it to so I used coloured markers to deepen the colours some more. The idea was to see if I could eliminate the watercolour paint. That somehow improved things but the original looks better than the photographed version. So I have now added it above. Here you can read about how I started watercolour painting . Sometimes it's nice to also practise something different and completely new to you. So, I decided to see what would happen if I painted something on newsprint. I was surprised to see that one could manage to paint on newsprint and that it handles the water from the paint pretty well. The result is above.  Recently, I bought painting journals. One was cheap and the other was more expensive. To test the cheaper one first I sketched a picture and proceeded to paint with wat...

  When the urge comes to paint and I don't have the time to create something elaborate, then I just allow the watercolours to flow wherever they want to. The results can look odd or a bit messy but it's just another practice session, nothing serious. The idea was never to create a masterpiece, only a result. Then I can learn from what I painted and judge what's good and what's not so good. I know the green wasn't such a good idea. But now it's there anyway. There is something very positive and rewarding from this effort. It is an escape from everyday life and the pressures that accompany it. So, it is food to the soul and healing to the mind and body. It is also a creative endeavour to fortify the mind.

  This painting of mine didn't take long to complete and it was part of a learning exercise I did whilst practising during a Domestika lecture. The exercise was to see how one could add two elements together in a way that creates perspective. The lady is in the foreground and the building in the background. It was suggested that it would be better to have a human figure in the picture which makes the image more natural and appealing to look at. I must say that she has a sort of Mona Lisa expression and I like that. I am not suggesting that my artwork matches up to the Mona Lisa. This painting project was fun to do and I relaxed and added my own style to the painting. I gave the lady rosy cheeks and made some other adjustments of my own. In the end the result is quite okay. This watercolour painting is an addition to my creative collection and a daring one because I successfully added a person to the painting which is new to me. I hope you like it.

Friday 6 October 2023 Last night I decided to paint a newer version of my first picture for this post - just for the fun of it because I wanted to update this post. The idea of using a house for this post is an apt one because in the New Testament Jesus (the Good Shepherd) said if you build your house on the rock (a proper foundation which is His Word) then, when adversity comes, your house will withstand all the storms of life and trouble. As a believer there are other things we can do. In Ephesians we are encouraged to put on the whole armour of God and in Proverbs we are told to guard our hearts because all the issues of life come from there. We can also speak the Word of God over circumstances and use our trust and faith in God to change circumstances. Lastly, we are encouraged in the book of James to exercise patience during the storms. So, the storms aren't gone yet and we are doing our part while we stand in faith for circumstances to improve. This is not the first time thes...