Rotten
Posted: November 6, 2024 Filed under: Uncategorized 41 CommentsSometimes you just have to pick a subject that describes your day or how you are feeling, or both.
I needed a little change of tools to shake things up today. I grabbed a pad of Stillman & Birn toned paper, some black chalk pencils, a white chalk pencil and a few coloured pencils. I wasn’t sure if this would work but I layered the yellow pencil both underneath and on top of the chalk. I was hoping to convey a bit of the afternoon sun on the bruised fruit. I like the layered effect on the beige paper, and I appreciated the distraction of the time spent drawing.
That’s lovely Shari!
Sorry you had a rotten day, but the rotten fruit work isn’t rotten.😁👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 hope tomorrow will be better for you.
Thanks Theresa! I forgot how much I love drawing on toned paper. I’ll be doing more of this!!
I can imagine a reason why yesterday felt rotten. 💙
Frieda, thank you.
I am glad to be reminded that art is therapeutic. I love how you creatively combined methods not usually used together to make something beautiful.
Thanks Gracie. It was an odd combo to use together but like I said, good to shake things up!!
I really like your bananas. Very different from your other works!
Gretta
Thanks Gretta. I needed to do something different today!
Thank you Shari. I got outside to a nature preserve and did some sketching. Art helped my day too.
Lynn, I’m glad you did that too.
Very appealing drawing, especially the play of light! My own feeling of discouragement is because of the U.S. election result. Art is indeed therapeutic!
Jean, that is the general feeling today from most people I know. Hope you got some sketching in today too.
Glad you turned a bad day into something positive-and it’s positively inspiring!
Denise, thank you!!
Love it! Simple subject, but such a real life moment. Inspiring.
Hi Shari
I kept myself busy today too. When I look at this, I feel that even though the fruit seems edgy, and moody, it has interesting flow – especially where the banana stems attach. It is skillful, determined, finishing with great optimism – Many thanks 🙂
Perfect for how I am feeling today!
Thanks for having a look Brenda. Hope you are feeling better today.
If I painted today it would be a page covered in black.
That’s why I used a dark black pencil…
Very interesting combination. I am surprised that the coloured pencil worked so well on top of the chalk (conté?) I just finished watching two documentaries featuring Kathe Köllwitz and her harrowing expressionist images of the suffering of the victims of war and greed. Timely. Her charcoal images are particularly powerful to me.
Marion, I am a huge fan of Kathe Kollwitz’s work. I was fortunate to see a show of her work in NYC last year. It was a thrill to see, finally, in person, these works that I knew so well in reproductions. There was so my subtleties that were not at all apparent in books. Her etching in particular, were incredible.
Would it be possible to send me the link for the docs?
Hi, Shari, My grandmother emigrated from Quebec to the US of A. Do you think I have a shot at re-emigrating back to Canada?
Laura Kate, we are very welcoming here : )
I get it totally! I was happy to have some black tomatillos to paint today and thankful 🙏for your course tips on sketchbook layouts to get lost in the page.
Now I’m curious. Where do you get black tomatillos around here??
I also did a lot of distracting things today too.. Pilates, golf, art……anything but how Politics:(. What a mess!!!!!!
You had a busy day!! Good for you.
Amen! I too needed distraction and found it in dyeing yarn and fabric with the marigolds I cut from my withering raised beds. Although I find your watercolors glorious, I also love it when you throw in some mixed media. This combination on toned paper is lovely. Thank you!
Mary, I’m glad you found a way to distract yourself too. And I love that you used your marigolds.
That’s just fantastic!
Shari, You made me smile with your subject. Inspiring us to just draw and make art without overthinking about finding a perfect subject.
Thank you 😊
Donna, thanks for having a look.
What is wrong with it?
I use colored pencils a lot and they are not that easy if you are used to painting. As I am getting so old and eyes are bad, I can show you really “rotten” works. Tho maybe I can’t cuz I toss them.
Which brings up another question. Do you keep all your art if you like it or not? I have to admit I get rid of them. I don’t think I have a sketchbook without some pages torn out.
Judy
Hi Judy,
I don’t think the result is rotten. It was just conveying how I felt.
I am actually quite happy with the drawing.
In answer to your question about keeping things that I am not happy with:
If they are watercolours, I tear them up.
If they are drawings in sketchbooks, I just turn the page. I don’t rip pages out of books.
Shari
Hope you feel better soon..This election is not good for Canada either:(
Think of how very talented you are..hope that cheers you up.
Thanks Monique. I do feel much better today… Sun always helps.
Therapy sketching a lot the last eight years. Sigh.
Thanks for sharing this one.
Thanks for having a look…
I think many of us down here feel bruised and battered like the bananas in your still life. This has not been a good week for a few reasons. Luckily sketching and painting can provide a distraction for a little while. Thanks for sharing this!
Joan, I know it’s been a particularly hard week for you because of your brother. Sending you big hugs.
Shari
Your rotten bananas are a perfect metaphor for the stunning election news. I like your interesting combination of media and the toned paper. I haven’t used that since your gouache workshop. Thanks for sharing. Carol
P.S. I appreciated that Anne included your lovely quote in the Watercolor Artist review of our Art Sparks deck. Thanks again for your support.