September 30 x 30 Collage

This month flew by. Time to show off with the collage and tell a little about the experience and what I have gained. First I have gained a whole month of productivity.  This summer has been a difficult time for various medical problems, nothing serious, but still restrictive. This creativity greatly improved my mood and confidence in myself.

I chose to focus the challenge using a small gray-papered sketchbook using charcoal and pastels in monochromatic sketches.  My references were my own photos taken in a small wooded area near my home. I used PS to edit the images into B&W. I also used topaz filters.

Click to Enlarge

One more very important thing that I learned during this challenge was to use my smartphone more efficiently. I use the app "opencamera", which allowed me to take the photo, crop, resize, rename and paste it into a blog post. This took about 5 minutes. In the computer, I added text,tags etc. My photos are automatically backed up in google photos so I could then download them to my computer. Now how COOL is that!!!

September 30 x 30 Day 30

Final day of the challenge. This month has really flown by. I really enjoyed my exploration of using charcoal and pastels in a fairly dark gray sketch book. This is another sketch of the wall with all its light patterns and foliage behind. Foliage and shadows mixing in together. At first it eluded me and luckily with a rag wiped down to an almost clean slate, but in the end I am fairly happy with the result. 

Click to enlarge

Charcoal and pastels

6 x 8"

Gray-paper

September 30 x 30 Day 29

Late afternoon the trees made some arch like shadows on the wall.

Click to enlarge

Charcoal and Pastels

6 x 8"

Gray-paper

September 30 x 30 Day 28

Another abstract of the ground patterns, almost like waves at sea. 

Click to enlarge

Charcoal and Pastels

6 x 8 "

Gray-paper

September 30 x 30 Day 27

Shadows on ground and wall. This time, I took the reference to extreme through Topaz filters, simplify and impression. The ground almost looks like a sea. Well, it might be because of the lights and shadows on the ground. 

Click to enlarge

Charcoal and Pastels

6 x 8"

Gray-paper

September 30 x 30 Day 26

Another view of the shelter cropped closer. Tree had foliage at the main branches. Tried mainly to block in main  shapes without too much detail.

Click to enlarge

Charcoal and pastels

6 x 8"

Gray-paper

September 30 x 30 Day 25

Trees, car, and invisible dog, Can't see her, Lilly sniffing around? Well tried as I  couldn't get her with the pastels. So my black eraser came in handy. May try again. 

Click to enlarge

Charcoal and Pastels

6 x 8"

gray-paper

September 30 x 30 Day 24

Eucalyptus tree near the shelter. Tried to simplify the shapes and tones. 

Click to enlarge

Charcoal and pastels

6 x 8"

Gray-paper

September 30 x 30 Day 23

Another corner looking out of the wooded area. This used to be a play area for children but they took down the swings and slides. Now it's mainly for dog walking. Wish they would close it all around and make it a proper dog area,

Click to enlarge

Charcoal and Pastels

6 x 8"

Gray-paper

September 30 x 30 Day 22

Bench with Palm, view to the street, This was a real quickie, Thought I would have time later to sketch at least 2 sketches. Always like to be ahead of the game. Life seems to get in the way sometimes. Dentist,physiotherapy, workshop, babysitting etc. Cropped the photo reference and used some topaz filters. Liked the way the curved palm contrast with the blocks of the area of the tree, bench, and background. Lots of light playing on the ground and bench.

Click to enlarge

Charcoal and pastels

6 x 8 "

Gray-paper

September 30 x 30 Day 19

I am definitely inspired by the varying patterns of light cast on a long concrete wall. I have taken many shots and each one different. Here the pattern looks like a passing cloud. I shot the original image trying the panning effect. A method that I still have to improve The shot did have that grass movement that I mimicked.

Click to enlarge

Charcoal and Pastels

6 x 8 " 

Gray-paper