November challenges

Well, November is here and I am doing:

NanoWrimo and Art Every Day Month... they're related... and I won't necessarily do art each day but...
And I may start on a Cowichan inspired jacket for NaKniSweMo... I've got a baby sweater, beret (for me) & scarf (attempting a copycat of something I can't find a pattern for)  ni progress..

No photos at the moment, maybe next time!

Patchwork Girl Paints! part I

I thought I would try blogging here as well as (instead of??) on my home blog. 

Hopefully today I'll have started a new trend with myself: I got out of my sketchbook today & did a painting. Granted it was one of those Creatology Canvas paint kits that you find in Michaels craft store (maybe other places as well, not sure?), with the design outlined & 4 or 5 tiny tubes of dried out colors. I ended up pulling out my Liquitex Acrylic paints & did this:

The angle is weird, but that is because it was hung on the wall by the foot of the bed.. and there were a couple of laundry baskets in the way & I wanted to get close to the picture. Someday I'll learn to take good pictures, OR I'll get someone else to take them for me.

I think of this as a warm-up for familiarization with the materials.
Yes, I used the design that was imprinted onto the canvas.
Yes this is a child's version of paint by numbers.
SO WHAT!!! It was fun!

I don't see how people paint on easels! I used a small folding table & kept turning the painting around to work on it from different angles. I mostly used a painting knife & a couple of small brushes. This piece was on the small side & I think I may enjoy painting on a larger scale... and knowing me, I'll still want to turn the painting around and around as I work on it.

I put it up on the wall, out of reach of the cats, so it can dry overnight & tomorrow I'll see if I want to do any touching up on the colors & maybe put a coat of varnish on it, but may need to wait until Wednesday for that. Need to read the instructions on the varnish bottle first... I think it's 24 hours before you put varnish on.

I figure, if I can keep this up and paint regularly, the 100th painting will be a lot better than this one.

I have several masonite boards (or whatever they are called these days) in different sizes, and I'm not sure how we're going to put them up on the wall; perhaps some type of hooks or sawtooth hangers or similar or come up with some way to store the paintings while they are drying... they can be put in frames later on, but need to find some way to hang them to dry, especially with the cats around... plus having them on the wall is a good way to analyze them & also see progress...

Will just have to keep trying, that's all! And maybe in a few weeks, I'll be able to sell some paintings. I really enjoyed playing with the paint & the texture with the knife and brush. I don't need to have a sharp/clear edge...

If I do work larger (or even a LOT larger), I've got materials to make a ladder like easel, something that I can prop up against the wall.