This being the 1st of Jan, I want to share with you my one and only resolution for 2012.

Each day, I am going to create one drawing, painting or ATC.

It doesn’t matter what I create, so long as I complete something new and artsy each day.

I’m looking forward to seeing what changes and improvements happen to my art over the next year…

I’ll update here at least a couple of times a week with my progress, and you can check out my Flickr photostream, too.

Wren is planning to finish one piece each week.

Wonderhubby plans to complete his diploma in logistics.

Mr Bump has all sorts of plans.

What’s your New Year’s resolution?

Tags: create art daily

I painted this here little ACEO of a cat & bird a few months ago with my watercolours & sold it on ebay.

Since then, it’s kept popping into my head at odd moments and over the weekend I realised that it would make a really cute painting.

I started sketching and came up with a number of designs for different shaped canvases, and this one is going to be a present for Wren at Christmas.

She loves blue, she loves cats, and she’s into zentangle…

So I’ve finished my second painting, and I have to say I’m kind of pleased.

Love the texture of the fishy body and face.

Love the shading of the tailfins.

What I’ve learnt from this effort is to make sure I use the same technique for the whole of a creature.

The tail has great shading and a smooth texture, because I painted it first.

Then, when my yellow paint was kind of dry and I needed to smooth it on by finger for the body, I liked the texture but it didn’t match what I’d already painted.

Anyhoo, I’m looking at it as a study of techniques to refer back to.

Next time I want to paint with shading I’ll look at the tail, and if I want to give something real texture I’ll refer to the body.

And like my Mum always says, when you stop learning, you’re dead. 

Just wanted to share with you my first completed painting on canvas.

Of course, it’s a whirly bird!

And I learnt a lot from the process…

The main thing being to make sure I don’t spray on the varnish too thickly, as it makes the acrylic paint crinkle.

And while it might not show in a photo, the body of the bird now has a rough, wrinkley surface. Yuk!

Anyhow, apart from that I’m really happy with my first ever effort at painting with acrylics.

Mr Bump has claimed it for his own, and it’s going to be one of his Chrissy presents this year.

I just need to get fixings for the back so I can hang it for him.

I’ve been busy for the last few weeks, creating some lovely new cards and trying some new techniques with acrylics.

This week, I’m lucky enough to have Wonderhubby at home for a much-deserved break and the kids are also around because it’s school holidays!

You’d think that I’d be feeling a bit swamped, but things have been going pretty well (no major brawls or breakages), and I’ve actually begun work on a few new paintings.

Yesterday, I began preparing a canvases for mixed media paintings – see above right. Covering them with pages from a local hindi language magazine and sketching in what goes where.

You might have seen my (very) rough sketch for Land Ho on Flickr, in which some owls pilot their ship through a storm, and that’s going to go onto the square canvas.

It’s not a great quality image, but this is where I start from; a foggy idea that gradually reveals itself as I work.

My brain has also been brewing up a few other ideas to be working on at the same time, so I should have more progress to share soon…

And by the way, next Friday is Wren’s 11th birthday, so happy birthday sweets!