What Do You Love?

 The best artworks we create are the ones that are made from inspiring subjects.  Drawing  the things you love to look at & that make you feel inspired, is the fast track to feeling energized when you draw.  As a result, you create drawings you love!

It's a worthy exercise to take a walk in nature and say to yourself, I love ... 

...the way the low autumn sunlight slants through the forest, lighting up the last of the colorful leaves.

...the way the rain makes tree trunks look dark, especially against the orange and golden leaves of oaks and hickories.

...the way I can see the burnt sienna tail feathers of the Red-Tailed Hawk when she soars in the bright sunshine.

...the way the wind catches wild cherry leaves and sends them sailing in the blue sky.

...tiny things like little mushrooms growing in a forest of moss.

Your list may vary wildly from mine, but it's worth it to take the time to make your list, even if you simply state it to yourself.

Your list may change over time, so it's worth your time to repeat this exercise.

I encourage you to make a list of the things you love, and then use that list to suggest ideas for artworks when you're looking for inspiration.

Happy Creating!

Inspiration from an Antique Photo

Recently, David and I toured the Photo Antiquities Museum of Photographic History, where I snapped this phone image of a stereoscope card. The museum has a remarkable collection of early photographs, and Bruce Klein, the owner of the museum, fascinated us with lively stories about the artifacts on our tour.  

The most amazing part was being able to hold daguerreotypes, ambrotypes, tintypes, & lantern slides -- original antique photos on glass. Holding a rare piece of history like this transported me back to the 1800's in a way that reading about the subject never could.

By the 1850's, stereoscopic images like the one above, became popular. Stereoscope cards were made by photographing a scene once, then moving the camera 3.5 inches to the right or left, and taking a second photo of the same scene. Viewed in a wooden holder like the one below, the pair of images would allow you to see the scene in 3D. 

photo by By Judson McCranie https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stereoscope#/media/File:U&U_Stereoscope_(02).jpg

If you hold an index card between your eyes and line it up with the yellow line between the two photos, you might be able to watch the two photos merge into a single, three-dimensional view of this old ruin in Shropshire, England.

 As artists, we take inspiration from our daily lives, and the Shropshire ruin photo caught my artist's eye.  Here's a pen & ink drawing I made.

I started with a pencil sketch on 140# watercolor paper.  I inked over the pencil lines with my Lamy fountain pen (EF tip).  Initially, I thought I'd add sepia watercolor washes, but I like it as is.

 Does the past fascinate you?  Why not find an old photo to use as a reference and make a sketch! The trick to making progress with your art skills is persistent practice.  It doesn't matter what you draw or paint as long as you keep it up!

Happy Creating!

Spring Cleaning & Inspiration

I've been spring cleaning of late, turning out boxes, baskets, even entire closets of stuff, and sorting out what no longer serves me.  It's a beautiful feeling to refresh our spaces just as the warmer weather arrives.

And my work turned up this little slip of wrapping paper from a gift someone gave me.  I loved the loose, playful watercolor design!

It inspired me to create a 5" x 7" card, just for fun.

May your next tidy up yield some inspiration for a creative project!

Happy Creating!

Planner Pages Inspired by 1919 Fairy Tales

I recently tuned up an old book my kids and I enjoyed when they were young, Friendly Fairies by Johnny Gruelle. Published in 1919, the book is chock-full of brightly painted scenes.

I love the pastel color palette, and the optimistic feeling of the illustrations.

Sometimes, simply a collection of colors can bring us inspiration.

Of course, the nature scenes and the charming little houses inspire me, too.

After flipping through Johnny Gruelle's artworks, I painted this weekly planner page, using his color palette.  A fun way to brighten winter-weary eyes!

 What colors inspire you?  Do you have a favorite palette of colors?  A weekly planner or a sketchbook can be great places to play & experiment with those colors.

Happy Creating!

Turning My Art into Stickers!

I have had the dream of owning an electric car for the last decade.  I pictured myself driving it out to the park, plugging it in, then hiking down a trail & painting while it charged.  I imagined road trips in an electric car, plugging in while dining or overnight, and taking my time to see America, & make art.

I finally achieved that dream at the end of October. I named her Bluebird for the bright, sunny way she makes me feel and her blue color.

  

The experience of driving Bluebird, plugging her in at home or at the local park, and living lighter on the earth buoys me up!  I feel grateful that my dream has come true!  

Just after buying her, I drove Bluebird to the park, plugged her in, and took my art supplies for a hike.  I painted in the mini-nature journal shared in recent posts.  

It felt so wonderful to live out my long-held dream that I came home inspired, and made this art of a bluebird in flight. I sketched the idea with a pencil, then inked it in with a Lamy fountain pen, and finally added color with Caran D'Ache watercolor crayons.

A quick internet search yielded a sticker company with a special offer, and I snapped a photo of my artwork and uploaded it to Sticker Mule.  They emailed a proof to me within an hour or two, and I completed my first order.

In about a week, I received a package of these stickers!

I've created a simple nature journaling kit that I leave in Bluebird, so that I can draw and paint while charging

Inside this box are watercolors, a few brushes, a pencil ...

...and this accordion-fold watercolor nature journal I made.  

Now bluebird has her own sticker and art kit.

I am grateful for my dream becoming reality.  

May you realize your art dreams, too.

Happy Creating!

A Quick Pencil Sketch

One of my favorite artists on YouTube is The Unexpected Gypsy.  I have taken so much inspiration from the honest way she talks about her life, her emotions, and her art-making, that I joined her Patreon, where she shares photos & videos from her life every weekday.

The sketch above was from a pic she shared of an artist's date with her partner to a romantic, old castle.  I felt swept away by her story and video, and inspired to see the art she was making from this scene of her dressed up & sashaying to the magic castle.

Do you have photos that sweep you away?  Do you follow other artists?  Why not use that inspiration for sketching practice?

Happy Creating!

Getting Back in the Groove

Sometimes, life takes us away from our art.  Busy schedules can interrupt your artistic flow.  How do you get back into creating?  I've been away from painting for a couple of weeks, and have found these methods helpful to restart my creative engine.

Tidy up

Cleaning up your creative space --whether it's a desk, a room, or simply a knapsack of materials you carry from one place to another -- puts you back in touch with your supplies in a friendly, no-pressure way.  As you sharpen your colored pencils, you see new ideas.  As you sift through old sketchbooks, you're reminded how much you enjoy painting outside.  Simply having a clean space to create is inspiring in itself!

Color Swatching

Are those lovely supplies you just tidied up appealing to you, but you don't know what to do with them?  Start with color swatching.  

Testing your supplies out feels low-pressure, and gets your hand moving again with a brush, a pencil or a pastel stick. Take a sheet of paper, write the name of each color, then add a dab of that color next to its name. You've just made a great reference for your next artwork.  When you are in the midst of a composition and not sure which blue to use, you can refer to your color swatches to make your decision.

Color Mixing Studies

Often, when I'm painting, I find myself looking for just the right green, or trying to find a mellow shadow color that doesn't overwhelm the composition.  Testing out your paints or colored pencils by mixing them together is an important study for any artist.  

You might even start a color diary with a page each dedicated to greens, blues, or shadow colors.  Here are some recent color studies I made with phthalo blue watercolor paint.

What if you used one page to mix all of your blues with all of your browns, one pair at a time?  

What if you mixed all the greens you could with phthalo blue?  I'll give you a hint:  you can create a deep pine green by mixing phthalo blue with burnt sienna. Try it!

Try mixing color opposites: green + red, blue + orange, purple + yellow.  

Testing Out Sample Packs

When you purchase art supplies, you can often get sample packs of paper-- watercolor paper in different weights and with different surfaces, a variety of card stocks for drawing, etc.  It's great to have these on hand to play with.

A sample pack is an invitation to create!  Make doodles. Play with mark making.  Your only "job" is exploring a new paper.  

Sketches & Studies

You can sketch anything that interests you, and there's no pressure to make it "good" or accurate or anything but experimental.  Try sketching things you love to look at.  Or even boring things like a pencil or a coffee cup.  Sketch anything.  It's a start and will lead to creative ideas & inspiration if you stick with it.  Pretty soon, you're back in your art groove.

Making New Goals

Write a list of creative projects you'd like to try -- from painting your cat to starting a nature journal, to trying a new medium. Here's a list I made last spring with my old Sears typewriter.

Place it where you can see it.  I found that I only completed one of these goals this summer, but that this list of goals led to more painting and to fresh ideas.

Take a Class

Start your creative engine with a class.  You'll have a set time each week to dedicate to your art, and guided instruction to help you develop new skills.  The routine of making art builds momentum and generates new ideas.

As a bonus, you get to meet other artists and make new friendships!

I hope these suggestions help you start your creativity rolling, or simply move it in a new direction.  

Happy Creating!

Campari Tomatoes in Watercolor

It's funny how inspiration & serendipity work together. You have dinner at a friend's home, and while enjoying the lively conversation and delicious food, her paintings catch your eye.  The way she captured the late summer in a watercolor of three small, homegrown apples makes you feel the September sunshine from the light reflecting off the apples.

The next day, a handful of salad tomatoes in the kitchen call out to be painted.  You pull out your paints and brushes, and while away a Sunday afternoon exploring, imagining summer, even though it's rainy and drab outside.

If you get swept away by a handful of ripe tomatoes, a good place to start is taking a reference photo of your still life.  In the hours ahead, while you paint, the lighting will change, & the tomatoes will eventually wilt. Having that reference photo captures the scene that sparked your painting.

A reference photo helps you decide on your composition.  You see your scene laid out inside a frame. You can see the negative space shape, the areas of high contrast in light and shadow, and the proportions of one object compared to another.

I began this painting with a pencil drawing of the scene, then lightened my pencil lines by rolling a kneaded eraser over the drawing to pick up some of the graphite.  Watercolor paints are transparent, and bold graphite lines will show through the finished painting.

I painted the tomatoes first. They were most important -- and most interesting -- to me.  I've learned to find the part of the scene that is most interesting and give that the most attention. It becomes the focal point of the painting.

After the tomatoes were complete, I painted the brown paper foreground, noticing the highlights and midtones, and the dark shadows under the tomatoes.  

I added the wooden box behind the fruits, and worked a little on the wood grain and old nails.  I had to be careful not to get too detailed. I love wood grain, but I don't want it to compete for attention with the tomatoes!

I decided that my shadows were too dense under the trio of tomatoes on the right, so I lightened them up, and unfortunately overdid it. That happens.

I fixed the shadows.  Here's the finished painting, 

with a few other minor tweaks to the tomato on the right.

My biggest challenge in this painting was to control the edges of areas I had painted.  Each time I laid down paint, I had to decide whether I wanted a hard edge or a soft edge.  Soft edges had to be feathered out quickly and gently with a damp, clean brush. Otherwise, defined lines, like the edge between the bottom of the tomato and its shadow, would show everywhere I touched with a wet brush.

I got so absorbed in this painting, I forgot to eat lunch!  That's the power of art to sweep you away.

I post this with gratitude to my friend Beth for a lovely dinner and the inspiration of her vibrant paintings.

Wishing you many happy art explorations that sweep you away!

Copyright Betsy Bangley 2023. All rights reserved.

Inspiration from a Bookshelf

Last week, I assisted with a photoshoot in The Space Upstairs, a vintage warehouse turned dance studio in the East End of Pittsburgh.  

The vast open spaces, burnished wood floors, & eclectic furnishings were curated by creative visionary Pearlann Porter, head of The Pillow Project dance company. 

I've never really felt inspired by interior furnishings as a watercolor subject, but The Space Upstairs enchanted me from the moment I walked up the creaky wooden stairs.

I felt like a kid in a magical playhouse.  And this bookshelf was the most spellbinding part of the scene.

I painted this sketch from the photo below.

I love the way that Pearlann Porter's creative expression sparked inspiration for me, 

and I'm sure countless others.

When we follow our own creative vision and push past the doubts, 

we lift others around us and shed light on their journey.

May you pursue your creative passions!

Poetic Inspiration Accordion Fold Book

My dear friend recently shared the poetry of Rupi Kaur from her book Home Body.  I wanted to make an artful copy of those lines to tuck into a gift basket for my friend, so she could turn to them for inspiration and self care.

I got the idea of creating a book of quotes from artist Joanne Sharpe's blog "Whimspirations."

I began with a 3" x 20" piece of 140# cold pressed watercolor paper. I folded it in half, then folded each half in half again, etc., until I had an accordion book of blank pages.  

I painted each page with contrasting or analogous colors, creating designs and patterns on the fly.  I did this to both sides of the paper.

When the watercolor paint was dry, I wrote the poetry quotes over the painted designs with a white Uniball pen and a black Micron pen.  

I found that slowly writing these wise words over the colorful pages was calming, and wonderful self care for me in the moment. 

Why not make your own accordion fold book of your favorite quotes?  You can keep it to meditate on, or make one for someone you care about.  A gift of your artwork is a unique and special treat!

The Importance of Playing with Squiggles

One of my aims in teaching art is to liberate people to create.  So many of us feel that we must make something of meaning or value, something pretty or even Perfect.  Of course, we all know that there is no such thing as perfect in any human endeavor, and saddling ourselves with these expectations before we even pick up a paintbrush or pen can turn our hands to lead.

I recommend giving yourself over to the experience of discovery as you draw or paint. Look at your subject and find the parts that fascinate you, then dive in and play with ways to represent those things. Removing any expectation of the finished result opens you up to create freely.

Another great way to play with your creativity is to focus merely on mark making.  I was inspired by Amy Maricle, of Mindful Art Studio, to take up a brush pen, loaded with India ink, and paint swoops, swirls, and squiggles on heavy paper I had cut to various sizes.



I set up outside on a picnic table and just let the painting happen.  By keeping my paper small, and having stacks of these little "canvases," I could create, explore designs and marks, then set the work aside and start fresh on a blank page.  I found myself drawn to thick and thin wavy lines, like the curve around a woman's hip.

As I created, I experienced the bliss of the present moment, the brush slipping over the paper, a Song Sparrow warbling nearby. The designs evolved, becoming trees, grasses, simple curves, then tadpoles swimming in a pond. Occasionally, I would dip back into familiar shapes and symbols, often used, and I noticed that these were not fulfilling to me.  I sought a fresh experience, and the explorative marks were the ones that felt exciting and refreshing.

I finished the experiment by cutting scrap pieces of white mat board to post card size, and making tadpole post cards.

Tadpole post card.

At the end of the experience, I laid out my favorite paintings on a board, and placed them where I would see the artworks as I walked by.  The joy of the creative experience lingered for days, and every time I passed by my little paintings, I felt a thrill.  I created that!

I hope you will try this technique, too.

At the end of my experiment, I added a Micron pen to my tool kit. Perhaps my next mark-making project will begin with bubbles & ovals!