Getting Caught Up With All My 52 for 52s

 Over the past several weeks I have made a lot of progress in catching up with all of my various 52 for 52 challenges. So much so that last week I discovered that I was actually ahead with my blogging challenge and was able to take a week (Fri-Thurs) off. Now I can return to a once-a-week schedule, which I prefer to do on Fridays, so see me here then, assuming I can manage the consistency.

This past week I also got caught up on my 52 creations challenge. I finished a page in my sketchbook, which came out... okay. I do not love the butterflies and I had intended for a far more abstract look.

I also put together this piece from my Alice Tea Shoppe miniature set and that brings the total number of pieces completed to two. Pretty sure I've had it for more than two years now. I swear I will finish this thing some day.

And then, I also did this Procreate illustration for one of the 'tober art challenges. Prompt: blackbird.

I like it quite a lot, but one of the things about me and Procreate is that I always use the same brushes, and the same techniques and the only reason for that is that I don't really know how to do otherwise. I think I should try out some tutorials because I'd really like to explore other ways of using the app.

So, here's what I've learned from all of my catching up with my challenges: first, that the absence of schoolwork really does make a difference in my ability to find creative time. Seems like the biggest "duh" of all time, but for some reason my brain really expected to be able to handle all of the assignments, studying, writing, reading, exams, and projects and still squeeze in all of these other things. Now that I'm done with school, I am miraculously able to catch up with all of my creative input and output goals. Who knew? 

The second thing I have been learning is that I really like having challenges like this. Lists, goals, plans, prompts, themes--I love it all. There's a little dark and cynical voice inside of me that wants to devalue this tendency, to call it "cringe," "meaningless," or "stupid," or to say "why bother when you'll never follow through?" I am learning to ignore that voice (in this and many other instances). My brain likes to organize things in this way. It feels like playing. It feels like curiosity. It's fun. The trick is to not take it too seriously. I need to be flexible. I need to know my own limitations. I need to be able to get up and try again a different way if I don't meet the mark the first time instead of giving up completely. Or change the rules. I love changing the rules. There's a lot of power in saying, "Actually, I don't like it that way, so I'm going to try it this way." 

Peach and Teal

 I have been laying down blobs of leftover paint into my sketchbook after each of my painting sessions because I feel bad wasting paint. The other day I took a black Posca marker to one of those pages and added some linework and doodles and ended up with these flowers that I really loved. They reminded me of my teenage obsession with the color combination of peach and turquoise or teal.

I decided to make a few recreations on watercolor paper and I think they turned out pretty good too.

Although, part of what I liked about the sketchbook version was the unfinished look of the peach-colored background, so maybe I'll try it again later.

Here is my Ordinary Beauty photo for the week.

Pink

A Couple of Finished Projects

 This week has felt pretty productive. I started and finished a painting. It's not amazing by any means, but it taught me a lot about using acrylics that you can't really learn without actually sitting down to paint. The more I try, the more I learn (sometimes just subconsciously) how to control the viscosity and color of the paint and how to get closer to having an end result that approaches what I imagined when I started setting paint to canvas. In other words, the more I do it, the more I know how to make the paint do what I want it to do.

This painting is very much inspired by the mini embroidery I also finished this week.

I wanted to finish two things this week and I figured the best way to do that would be to not overthink things. Plus I really liked the combination of colors on the swirl on this sun, so I wanted to use similar ones with paint.

Also, here are two Ordinary Beauty photos to catch me up in sharing them.

butterflies

KEA

I know the IKEA one is very corporate, but I enjoyed the colors and the framing.

A Slow Week

 I've had a lull in creativity since I last posted. It's important to me to work at being at peace with my creative rhythms, so I'm not going to get down on myself for it. I did finish the embellished embroidery mini that I showed in my last post and I got started on the next one. 

I'm going to just go ahead and cover the entire face on that sun because... I don't know, I just don't like it.

Back to Embroidery (but just for myself)

 A few years ago I made a little 3-inch embroidery that was just some pretty fabric that I embellished with stitching and beads. I made it for myself, not to sell. Now there's a space on my wall that needs... something, and I think three hoops of that size will fill it very well. So, I need two more. I didn't have any 3-inch hoops, so I deconstructed a couple of hoop art pieces I had made long, long ago (it's fine, they weren't very good), wrapped them in ribbon, and picked out a couple of pieces of fabric with interesting designs in the right size. 

The one on top is the one I made a few years ago. The raccoon is from a piece of fabric my oldest gifted me and has lots of other cute animals with flower crowns, but the raccoon is the only one that would fit neatly in a 3-inch hoop. Here's a couple closer-up progress photos.

Embroidery art through embellishment is very relaxing. A lot of the hardest decision-making is taken care of, because the image already exists. But there's still plenty to think about. Which stitch to use, whether to use the color that's been printed or choose something else, whether to cover the whole area or just part of it, deciding where a little bit of bead/sequin bling might look good.

My hiatus from making embroidery art for the purpose of selling it continues as these ones are for me.

Trying to be smart by slowing down

 So, after my initial difficulties with my early attempts at acrylic painting, I decided to try to be smarter. I know I have a real problem with impatience and expecting any new endeavor to go smoothly right from the start. I can't help it! It always comes out great in my imagination! Somehow I never can get reality to match and that's when the paints and brushes go back on the shelf and gather dust for a few more months. Or years.

So that was when I came up with the brilliant idea that surely no one has ever thought of before to make a test/swatch card. 

I tested each color straight from the tube, with a little water, with a little white, then that with a little water, a little more white, then that also with water. I didn't try to do any mixing between the colors; just with white so far. This has helped me (and hopefully will continue to be a good reference) to better understand not just how the colors work in each of these configurations, but how they look when they are dry. This swatch card is still missing the browns though. Also, with some of these colors there is more variation in the irl view than my camera's phone could capture (especially with yellow).

I did watch a video that talked about color mixing and I learned a few things. There were a lot of concepts that I think I knew on an intellectual level, but had never really used in a practical way. But, that felt a bit too much like a higher level than I'm ready for. I want to put what I've learned from doing these particular swatches into practice before I try that. I really shouldn't have gone bananas with that previous painting.

Ugly Bananas

 I tried out my new paints. I took a reference pic of some just-purchased bananas. I sketched out the shapes with a Posca marker and then started laying down areas of color. It's pretty bad.

But! It's not terrible-horrible-awful bad. You can tell what it's supposed to be. If you look at it kind of sideways or through squinty eyes it almost looks good!

Notes: Yes, you can see the marks from the previous painting showing through. I'm re-using old canvases because it helps me be less precious about things. Yes, the pink background is very patchy. I was running out of paint and didn't want to mix any more pink at that point. I figure I can return to this and add another layer later if I feel like it.

Learning Notes: I need to learn how to mix colors better. I need to learn what the colors are going to look like next to each other. I need to learn what they'll look like when they dry. 

Also, I hate to say it, but I think I'm going to need more paint. The set I got has 12 colors, but the tubes are pretty small. And it goes so fast. It seems so expensive though.

Anyway, may or may not try to improve this later. 

Here's a couple of Ordinary Beauty photos, both taken in fast food restaurants.

Open

Crazy Chicken