I have been enjoying doing some different painting, and Tiina’s Diary is a fun resource, and I feel I’m starting to develop some patience and commitment to these sketchbook pages, which is really nice as I normally err towards fast and gestural. Slowing down and taking my time is also to do with me having a nice long evening to work on something sustained, and I’m finding that process restful and restorative.
I tried an eagle image from my bird encyclopaedia that I stole borrowed from my friend, and although I had to stop myself pinching the page to zoom in (!) it was nice to work from a photo in a book rather than my iPad as it saved constant tapping on the screen.
I struggle a bit with how realistic I want it to look. Tiina’s work is beautifully photo-realistic and while I think it’s incredibly effective, I would end up never being happy with my work, so I’m trying to find a sort of toned down, 80:20 rule version as the self-imposed pressure of trying to make something really highly defined would take away the enjoyment for me. I have to rein in my perfectionist tendencies in all sorts of areas otherwise I would become intolerably hard on myself so I with these I’m working out what I like, and what is too much – in any direction – for me to feel happy with my pages.
Also bear in mind that these are simply for my own pleasure and practise; I’d like to feel more confident about tackling subjects in gouache other than the simplified illustrations for the books, or be able to work on larger poster-type artwork, and I feel this is encouraging me to try some new techniques and learn what I personally can do with the gouache.
Here are my latest sketchbook pages:
I like the overall feel of the first; I’m proud of myself for tackling the second; and I think the water worked well in the third–I’ve never tried painting water before so that was good.
Part of me can’t distance myself from the need for white space. I like the slightly abstract/surreal look of the landscapes. The eagle was a bit of an unadventurous reference image but filling the whole space was a new thing and I’m pleased I stuck with it, and I did capture a sense of depth.
I will be filming a sketchbook tour in a couple of weeks as I am getting towards the end of this Stillman & Birn Alpha Series sketchbook which I actually started in December 2021. I am hopefully getting some more sketchbooks for Christmas, and I’m toying with the idea of indulging a little in the Jackson’s Black Friday Sale but I have to pay for the logbooks, and I’ve also reordered a load of stickers and business cards from MOO. If you haven’t used their service before, I have a discount code for 25% off your first order – the quality of the products, and range of options is fantastic: https://refer.moo.com/s/jennifermoorejen
