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The Old Rooster, 12" x 9", watercolour study
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Blog 7
Since my fall down the stairs in December, I have only left the house for medical appointments. It has been only about two weeks since I started short walks outside. Being stuck at home, creating art saved me when I was frustrated by my limited mobility and the excruciating pain. Where did I find the inspiration for my art when nature looked like a vast space covered with a white blanket?
Luckily, we have a big yard with many trees and feathered friends. I created some drawings of the colourful birds by looking at the many photos I had taken and picking the postures and birds that I found the most appealing. If you want to capture animals on paper, quick sketches can help you. However, many people use reference photos for additional information.
If you look carefully, nature always offers inspiration for artworks. The rays from the sun create a fascinating play of shadow and light that is ever-changing. At the beginning of spring, areas of awakening nature with rests of snow and ice create appealing patterns. During the summer, you experience lots of brilliant colours. The fall landscape dazzles you with the fall foliage. Heavy snow on trees and brilliant sunsets capture my interest in winter.
Look at the collages I made of the
same scene to document the same view during the past week. Are all of
them exciting? Maybe, maybe not. It depends on the liberties you
take. Just because you use a reference photo does not mean you have
to stay close to what you see. It is the same way when you are
painting on location. The artist has the opportunity to change a
scene. Sometimes, the size of your canvas or paper makes it
necessary. Other times you want to enhance something to make the
composition more interesting.
There is inspiration all around us. Last week, during a week at the cottage, I got together with one of my painting friends. I had not painted in person with a friend since last fall. We know that we could not paint in nature because of my limitations. Therefore, we set up a still life on the veranda. We grabbed a couple of glasses and metal objects, a tea towel, a rooster and fake apples that were part of the kitchen decoration.
At the beginning of 2020, I taught a course,
Let’s Draw What’s in Our Fridge. It is astounding what you can
discover when you pick a couple of vegetables or fruits and really
look at them. We were all surprised at how colourful a simple sweet
potato was and admired the shiny peel of a red onion.
When
you want to create a still life, setting up a composition that looks
appealing can be the hardest part of the process. You want to make
sure that the objects overlap and that your eye travels around the
setting. However, you don’t need extraordinary things. Look at a
couple of masterpieces, and you will discover that fruits and
vegetables make great painting subjects. These paintings can also
offer you some inspiration for your own still life. Explore the use
of everyday objects from your house. Place simple items together that
you love. Experiment with things that have nothing in common and
those which share similar shapes or colours. Staying in a colour
family can be as exciting as using complementary colours.
What
you see and feel can also inspire your art. Some people create
stunning artworks from their imagination without any obvious
inspiration from their environment.
Expressing yourself
through art takes some courage to get started, but the more you
create, the more ideas you will get for new projects. Don’t create
art thinking about how others will see your art but for your
enjoyment. If you want to share it, absolutely do because you might
inspire others to create. I always compare creating art to writing a
journal. Some people feel the need to share their stories, while
other people write them down for themselves to remember or work
through experiences. There is no right or wrong. Pick up a medium you
enjoy and start somewhere.
If you need some help figuring
out where to start, send me a message to info@KerstinPeters.ca.
While I am concentrating on needle felting, I know many other
fantastic artists who offer courses in various mediums.
