Working in a Series

Artists commonly work in a series, choosing a theme and creating different iterations based on that theme.

In my series, I began with a photo taken during the polar vortex, when the temperature was about 10 degrees F. My first artwork was a colored pencil sketch done at the breakfast table in my nature journal.  That drawing showed me that I wanted to be able to blend the colors more than the colored pencil drawing. So I made a watercolor painting of the scene.

I was taken by the way the light sparkled off of the snow as the sun set in the west.  The shadows looked as blue as the sky, but I also saw hints of purple and magenta. Wet-in-wet applications of pink, purple and blue was the best way for me to express the sparkly colors I saw in real life.

Each step along the way, I made new discoveries, observed more details in the photograph, and found new ways to express the bitingly cold, fresh air.  

Often, I think, we want to create something "good" quickly. But spending time exploring different techniques and materials gives us more creating time, builds our skills and lets us get lost in the process.  If your only purpose is to experiment, play and make discoveries, there's no need to rush. And when you don't rush, you relax into the process, and that makes it easier to learn new things.

I like the way that the cool blues in both the drawing and the painting lent a feeling of extreme cold and wintriness.  The bare-limbed trees in the midground were delightful to draw/paint, and they created a feeling of deep winter, too.

What scene would you like to get lost in?  Why not try a series of artworks -- in different media, using different approaches, different color schemes, etc.?

Happy Creating!