We are making a few changes in our lives.  It’s all good news and hopefully I will be able to share more very soon.  In the meantime, I came across these photos of WIP paintings I have not shared here before.  I was experimenting with photographing cropped views of paintings.  While I shared the finished paintings before, I rather like the WIPs too, and I hope you do as well.  

I will also share a few of my habits with these photos.

Purchase Old York Pub

This one is a painting of the a street light in the old city of York.  You have probably guessed by now that I love painting weathered stone structures and walls.  On these kinds of paintings, I typically draw every single stone before I start painting.  It tends to give me a lot better overview of the perspective.

Remember the Steampunk Fleur de Lis?  I love the challenge of figuring out how a steampunk mechanism might work. This was my planning sketch.  I use old scrap pieces of paper for the planning phase.  I should really use a drawing sketchbook, but I like using paper that would otherwise end up in the recycling bin.

Once I was satisfied with the steampunk mechanism, I drew and painted on my good sketchbook paper.

Ink and markers are my favourite quick painting tools.  The days I don’t feel like dragging out paint, brush, water, rag, etc., I fall back on markers.  Painting is quite therapeutic as is, but markers bring out the child in me.

I am a stickler for straight lines even when I am drawing rocks.  During my college years, I fell in love with my husband’s Rotring set-square and I promptly wanted one for my classes too. He obliged, and it is still my favourite tool.  Unfortunately it has since been discontinued by Rotring, so I better take care of mine!

Sea stacks and star trails

I love rain. I love to be outside when it rains, specially when it is a rain storm.  I love to hear the sound of rain on the hood of my rain jacket or on my umbrella.  If I am not outside and if I am not reading while it’s raining, I paint.  This was one of those paintings.

A lot of people draw out quick sketch with very little detail, and add those details while painting.  I really stink at that.  I like to draw in quite a lot of detail before I feel comfortable enough to add paint.  Sometimes I paint over some of the details, while other times I let the pencil marks show through the painting.

Unlike the first painting, I didn’t paint it stone by stone from my drawing, but used them as a general guide. In retrospect, I didn’t need to draw that many stones.  Hopefully I will remember that next time.

I have never actively thought of developing creative idiosyncrasies, but now I realise I have formed quite a few.  Do you feel the same way too, while creating?

Until next time,
-Soma

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