Day 30 January 30 x 30 2017

What's hiding in the shadows?  This is the second section of #25  for the start. Tried to simplify but not too successfully, Added veiling to make this section more unified   Think this needs more work. Maybe destroy and build again.  

Hiding

17.5 x 12  cm

Brown Paper

Crayons Acrylics

Start

17.5 x 12  cm

Brown Paper

Crayons Acrylics

Day 29 January 30 x 30 2017

Cutting #25 into two pieces I will be using these as starts. For this piece, I used the top section as my start rotating it. Added acrylic paints and added crayon work. Felt it had a pastoral feel hence the title.

Pastoral

17.5 x 12 cm

Brown paper

Crayons and Acrylic

The Start

17.5 x 12 cm

Brown paper

Crayons and Markers

Day 28 January 30 x 30 2017

For my starting image, I took the top of Day 26  and also turned it on its side. I toned down the image with grays but kept the bold black marker structure. Did some crayon work and some collage work using a picture from my art alumni magazine, rows of colored pastels.

I am finding it very difficult working in such a small format,

Dreams of Spring

17.5 x 12

Brown paper

Crayons and Markers

The Start

17.5 x 12

Brown paper

Crayons and Markers

Day 27 January 30 x 30 2017

So I cut Day 26 into two smaller pieces and turned it on its side. This is a very strong piece and I had no idea how I was going to proceed. I had to go for babysitting duty and wouldn't be back until the next day, but I did want to make a start before leaving. I sort of veiled it with watercolor crayons, adding a bit of water and then blotting. Left it to dry. It was quite difficult to completely cover the strong black marker.

Taking this later today I had no idea what I was going to do. I just started playing, working with my watercolor crayons, dipping them into water. Letting them drip in places and soon the image started to emerge.

It is quite busy for its size, I want simple and keep getting complex. Thought maybe to add som fine lines but that would make it more complex. I was quite limited in how many layers this piece could endure.

I named this piece celebration. All is well in the "Apartment to Let" and all the residents had a nice party to celebrate!!

Celebration

12 x 17.5 cm

Brown Paper

Crayons and Markers

After cutting and turning this is the piece I started with this.

12 x 17.5 cm

Brown Paper

Crayons and Markers

Day 26 January 30 x 30 2017

Already the 26th. Four more after today. Some say just four more as if in another few days they can rest. I feel now towards the end that I am really just getting started. Have tried many different ways, media the underlying theme was that these are without references or anything preconceived idea. I have made many more than I can post on the challenge. Some I will post in the following month.

Back to my WIP. Here are
 the start and finish before they get the scissors.

WIP # 4

18 x 25

Brown paper

Crayons and Markers

WIP # 5

18 x 25

Brown paper

Crayons and Markers

Here I didn't add wet paints but went boldly with my crayons. Then following the "Apartment to Let" theme put a few of the residents,  Now I can cut in peace!

See you !!!

Day 25 January 30 x 30 2017

OK, I have cut yesterday's study. Posting the first half as a reminder of the start.

WIP  #2

18 x 25

Brown paper

Crayons and Markers

I got out my acrylics, at last, and added color by putting the paint on a piece of paper and blotting it on the work. Blotted excess paint with clean paper. When it dried added more crayon work. Dotty said that yesterday's piece reminded her of an apartment building. I agree, What better apartment than Lea Goldberg's Apartment for rent, Dira L'Hazkir.   So below see the new version, before it also gets cut into two smaller pieces. I can see a small kitten in one of the windows!

WIP # 3

18 x 25

Brown paper

Crayons and Markers

The Start

I just may go along with that theme in this second half. 

See you!!!

Day 24 January 30 x 30 2017

This is what became of Day 23 after I got out my black marker. Also added a white gel marker,  Really went to town on this. Looked at and said, "What have I done?" Put it away and worked on some others with the black marker. 

This morning looked again, maybe there is something there, who can tell. Maybe a bit of color. Scanned it and cut it half.

WIP # 1

25 x 35

Brown Paper

17.5 x 15

New Start for Day 25

See you!!

Day 23 January 30 x 30 2017

This is WIP and was done with watercolor crayons and ink intense watercolor pencils on brown paper and will be my start for my first exploration in changing, cutting. re-doing. I have been fascinated this whole month with this process shown by the work of Dotty Seiter. Some of my reasons are: not to get to attached, to explore more options, and to be looser in my work. I hope this exercise will help me get out of brick walls, where I freeze and don't know how to continue, although I know the work is not finished.  This piece has areas that I love, so normally I wouldn't touch it. But today I am going to dive in. It's just a piece of brown paper and crayon marks.

Work In Progress

25 x 35 cm

Watercolor crayons and watercolor pencils

This was started with the pencils which I blotted with a little water. Then I did crayon and pencil work, then some brush work that was also blotted, like a dry brush. 

I will start with my dread of a marker, black or any other color. I only have a F and M markers but will purchase a wider one. So wish me luck and see you tomorrow!

Day 22 January 30 x 30 2017

I think I did this sketch the same evening as #21. It also has a feeling of Morocco, at least for me. 

Drawn with a charcoal pencil and conte stick. Seems I always come back to the same type of amorpheos shapes and vertical and horizontal scratchy lines. 

25 x 25 cm

Charcoal Pencil + Conte Stick

White Bristol

Day 21 January 30 x 30 2017

Day 21, 3 weeks into the challenge, has passed by in a flicker of an eye.  This months challenge is one of a journey to new places and new ideas, and not about producing a perfect sketch or painting, so the stress is off and a new calm has taken its place. If there is some stress it's about choosing the works to photograph and write a post.

This small sketch was almost put aside. The next day looking at it I felt a small ping, a remembrance of my trip to Morroco. All during that trip, I was bombarded with images, colors, cultures, and shapes that I wanted to capture somehow. I hardly had time to digest each day and moment. Have to paint this, have to sketch that. I did do some works on the Morocco theme, but really not enough, and suddenly this sketch came up. There are some links to photographs I took, Sadly I didn't continue, maybe someday!

Moroccan Memories

25 x 25 cm

Charcoal and conte stick

White Bristol 

Day 20 January 30 x 30 2017

I guess I must miss the snowy winters of my childhood. Sometimes we get snow in the Jerusalem area. Small brown paper, I rubbed white on the whole sheet and used water on a brush, almost dry. Didn't want too much of a wash, wanted to keep some of the strokes. Then kept adding the white marks and the blue-gray. 

17 x 26 cm

Brown Paper

Watercolor crayons

Day 19 January 30 x 30 2017

This was done mainly with Derwent ink intense pencils. Started off with circles and scribbles and out came a fantasy flower. 

24 x 24 cm

White Bristol Paper

Ink Intense Watercolor Pencils

Day 18 January 30 x 30 2017

Found a small piece of heavy brownish red paper. Stiffer than the usual brown paper, more like card stock. Made some dancing lines and then just scribbled away. Lot's of fun. Seems I made some dancing trees. 

15 x 20 cm

Heavy Paper 

Oil/wax crayons

Click to enlarge

Day 17 January 30 x 30 2017

I often ask myself what is urging me on with painting, drawing, and creating. I know I am not going to famous, have my work in galleries; something more primitive is working here. Making my mark. Making something that will say  "here I am" "I was here". I am exploring, traveling paths I haven't been. Trying new ways to express whatever seems to come through. What is there, is what is there, nothing more and nothing less.

30 x 23 cm

Brown Paper

Mixed crayons + mechanical pencil

Click to enlarge 

Day 16 January 30 x 30 2017

Small mixed crayons, mostly my oil/wax crayons, neo-color I, caran d'ache. Looking at this on the screen I am thinking what if... so I may tweak this. Think it could be warmed a bit... 

15 x 25 cm

Mixed crayons + charcoal

Cheap drawing paper

Click to enlarge

Day 15 January 30 x 30 2017

When I posted day 13 I mentioned that I might tweak the image after watching Nicholas Wilton's video about control and spontaneity.  He is a marvelous teacher and generous. Control and spontaneity don't have to opposites, but can work together and compliment one to the other.  Just added areas of a sort of veil in controlled rectangular fashion. I have decided that if figures or any other images try to sneak into my abstract I am going to let them come and welcome them.

25 x 18 cm

Charcoal & Chalks

Brown Paper

Click to enlarge

Day 14 January 30 x 30 2017

More circles in the sky, charcoal and chalks on brown paper. Somehow my scanner doesn't quite pick up the correct tone of the brown paper. Knowing that everyone sees this differently on their monitors or tablets etc I am leaving it alone. Looks a little too dark!

Each evening I sit in bed, my new studio, ha ha, and try to let myself go and see what new marks I will be making. Certain materials I react differently than with others. I usually have several going at the same time, sometimes changing, adding or discarding. 

18 x 26 cm

Charcoal & chalks

Brown Paper

Click to enlarge

Day 13 January 30 x 30 2017

This is another in the amorphous series. Charcoal, white and gray chalks on brown paper. Thinking of doing more work on this. Just saw a small clip by the artist Nicholas Wilton about control and spontaneity. This seems a bit out of the control. Thinking in what if.....?

25 x 18 cm

Charcoal & Chalks

Brown Paper

Click to enlarge

Day 12 January 30 x 30 2017

Small graphite sketch on plain white paper. Just a bunch of circles! Added a touch crayons.

26 x 15 cm

Graphite Pencil + crayons

Plain Paper

Twighlight of Life

I named this Twilight of Life after I found this small clipping in my pile of newsprint. I left it upside down on purpose, because it just looked better that way. This is collage on cut canvas, cuttings of tissue paper with blotted oil paints from another painting, newsprint with left over paints spread on them, and the clipping.  Background painted in oils and after the collaged pieces were pasted more oils added with palette knife and rags. Kinda happy with this!

22 x 30 cm

collage with oil paints

Day11 January 30 x 30 2017

A monster has invaded my sketch. I don't usually associate abstracts with subjects but sometimes they come out without you're asking.

21 x 15

Mixed Crayons 

Plain paper

Day 10 January 30 x 30 2017

Another mixed crayon sketch on a piece of brown paper with gesso.  The gesso gives a nice texture background to the crayons. Used a bit of water on the water soluble crayon, almost a dry brush. This did not effect the wax crayon marks.

25 x 18 cm

Gessoed Brown Paper

Mixed Crayons

Click to see in lightroom

Day 9 January 30 x 30 2017

This was also done in the same fashion as Day # 8 , lots of crayons and colored pencils. Hey maybe I'll cut this on up into quarters? Love working on the brown paper, and this is usually the stage that I find hard to move on, Have to learn not to get too attached. But on the other hand, if I  think it's working leave it!

30 x 22 cm

Brown Paper

Mixed crayons and colored Pencils

Red Abstract Finished

Finished this finally. See #4. I did add some faint pink oil pastels. Click images to enlarge.

37 x 28 cm

Oils and Cold Wax on Cardboard

This is the start!

Day 8 January 30 x 30 2017

I am really getting excited about the challenge.  At first I had a fear, I always, most always used a reference, either photo or real life to start my creative journey. I never really succeeded just intuitively so when I see that I CAN do some and see some successes whether accidental or conscious, it stirs an excitement.

This is a crayon sketch using mostly watercolor crayons, a mix of Caran d'ache neo-color II and  Lyra crayons. I also used my wax/oil crayons, also by Caran d'ache along with some Ink Intense watercolor pencils by Derwent.

The process as I remember was first sketching with the watercolor crayons and added some water with a sponge very lighting with not much water. When that was dry added oil wax crayons and pencils. I really should jot down my process more. I prefer the rough crayons marks then then the wash that comes from water.

30 x 23 cm

Brown Paper

Mixed Crayons and Pencils

This may be a WIP. Thinking of cutting in halves and added more elements like Dotty Seiter.

Day 7 January 30 x 30 2017

Another amorphous sketch. Started to look like mountains, then rocks.. maybe a shell. Brown heavy paper charcoal and chalks.

25 x 18

Brown Paper

Charcoal & Chalks

Day 6 January 30 x 30 2017

Amorphous, getting out of the square and rectangle mode. Charcoal and chalks on brown paper

25 x 18

Brown Paper

Charcoals & Chalks

Day 5 January 30 x 30 2017

Another on brown paper with crayons. Should go stronger with the crayons... hey it's just a small piece of paper, what's the problem!!! May tweak this!!!

26 x 18 cm

Brown Paper

Graphite Mechanical Pencil Crayons

Day 4 January 30 x 30 2017

Love working on gray paper, somehow the quite tone speaks to me. Graphite stick caught some of the textures from the corrugated board I was using to draw on. Still scratching with the mechanical pencil. Like the addition of color, although very timidly

I am still finding it hard to work in a void especially since I have so many stimuli.  I just have to open a new tab on the browser and up comes a gorgeous  HD image from Unsplash. 

26 x 18 cm

Brown Paper

Graphite Stick Mechanical Pencil Crayons

Day 3 January 30 x 30 2017

Here we are on Day 3 of the challenge. A small sketch done with graphite stick, mechanical pencil, smudging, and eraser eliminating. Very hard to erase graphite! Learning curve! The scan did pick up more smudges than seen with the eye!

21 x 15 cm

Sketch Book

Graphite Stick and Mechanical Pencil

Day 2 January 30 x 30 2017

Another cross motif. Still playing with graphite mechanical pencil 2B.  Such a wide variety of marks you can get from one pencil.

21 x 15

 Sketch Book

Mechanical Pencil

Day 1 January 30 x 30 2017

This is going to be a double challenge for me. First to paint/draw every day, and second to do this intuitively without and outside reference. Recently I signed up for an online e-course by Janie Davies which I hope will help loosen my art and move into new directions. I really don't know how these new directions will affect my art or that I will always continue in an abstract way.

Generally, my format will be paper varying sizes. Mediums will mostly be dry but with the option of using some mediums on the dry marks or acrylic paint. May do collage as well. We'll see where all this takes me.

To let myself go is a very scaring journey... I am trying to overcome my fear with excitement.

30 x 21 cm paper

graphite stick + mechanical pencil 2B

I was using a piece corrugated carton and like the texture that it made on the paper. Pencil smudging. 

Don't know why I keep coming back to the "cross" motif.