Some days the prompts are obscure, other days they are only a word or two. No matter whether simple or head-scratchingly odd, they do propel me through this challenge of creating art 100 days in a row.
Day 36
Teacup was the prompt, and so that’s what I painted. We only have a couple of teacups with saucers, tonnes of mugs. It’s not that we don’t drink tea. We had a habit for years of making tea at night then watching a movie downstairs, yet now the teacups sit in the back of the cupboard.
So, it was nice to get one out with its saucer and put it on display. How tiny and cold to the touch. There’s a teapot that goes with the set. It has a pattern of leaves on it, which I am convinced are from the marijuana plant, though I am told I am mistaken 😉
Tea, anyone?
Day 37
I suggested this prompt of “egg”. I think everyone gets to draw an egg in art school. Not having been to art school, I didn’t want to miss out.
My egg was boiled for the requisite 10 minutes then smashed, just a little, to add a bit of interest.
I am partial to the use of the blue/green, however, I have been told it looks like the egg is grotesquely beyond its best before date. The cracks were fun to do, and pretty easy once I realized they were mostly white and black thin lines.
Day 38
Music can influence how and what we paint. That was the prompt, to paint to our favourite music.
Although not totally my favourite music, I chose Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon album on Spotify. I wanted to try out the Zorn palette (red, black, white and ochre) to see how I could create the illusion of skin. The easiest thing to try it out with was my left hand.
If you subscribe to Spotify you will know that when your chosen music ends, something else will start to play. I had almost finished but needed to add some definition to lift the thumb away from my palm. The music changed to something distracting and I hit the black! Wrong colour, and yet, I left it. The music really had influenced my painting.
Throughout dinner, the hand looked up at me. I couldn’t look at it without feeling just a little squeamish. To me, it is more like something from a surgical illustration book.
Day 39
The prompt was Still Life. I chose one of my two most uncomfortable forms of footwear, my hiking boot.
I remember trying these boots on in the store. I felt like I was walking on the moon. It amazed me how quickly afterward that feeling changed to walking in agony. I am still searching for the right insole to add life back into each step.
I chose an angle that made the painting tricky. There was a lot of adjustment needed to get the proportions correct. I changed the laces to reflect one of my favourite blues, just to add something enjoyable to the subject matter.
Day 40
With Valentine’s Day coming up, the prompt was to create a heart. This was one of those days when I wanted to create something quickly. I poured out streaks of red, white and black, then used an artist wedge shaper and, starting in the middle, turned it around to create the heart.
The end result looked shiny and wet even when dry. I quite like it. I like the texture, making it look just a little bloody.
Perhaps this wasn’t the most romantic heart I have ever created … 😉
Day 41
It was Friday, so another indoor art day. Chance to try out those watercolours again.
This challenge is teaching me to know when to stop, and to resist going back in to fiddle. This was one of those occasions. There are legs missing from the table which is holding up the cloth, vase and flowers, lamp base and basket. I can’t help but see this as a floating magical carpet!
I had fun with painting in puddles of water, creating the background of complementary colours then working with each object.
Day 42
I often ride my e-bike, sometimes preferring it to the car. When the prompt was to create a vision of the future, I decided more cyclists wearing helmets.
Obviously, my bike is far larger than my helmet, so using artistic licence, I created the images the other way around. My helmet is not so multi-coloured; my bike does have spokes in the wheels. Sometimes it is just important to play.
And so, here we are at the end of Week 6. What would your vision of a future world look like? Are you challenging yourself with your art? Send me a comment and let me know. Till then, thanks for reading!
Janet and Janet 