painting

Shoot it, Sketch it: Little bear

| Anna Cull
Little bear in a pretty cabinet – ink and watercolour, 150 x 180 mm, 2012.

I will admit to getting a bit carried away with this week’s Shoot it, Sketch it. I like all the lost edges in this drawing — I wanted to make it look really old and a bit mysterious…

This little bear sits inside a tall wooden cabinet full of treasures and family heirlooms. The original image (below) is another one of my phone photos. It was taken through the glass of the cabinet door. I cropped the image to remove the elements I didn’t want (namely my reflection and that of the heat pump on the wall). I could’ve solved the reflection problem by taking the photo again with the door open but I really like the bookcase and the globe in the ‘background’.

original photo

Check out what Bec from Clouds of Colour and Alana from The Little Leaf have done for Shoot it, Sketch it this week too.

Shoot it, Sketch it: Blue door

| Anna Cull
Blue door – ink and watercolour, 220 x 205 mm, 2012.

Bec from Clouds of Colour and Alana from The Little Leaf started a new feature on their blogs this week. It’s called Shoot it, Sketch it. The idea is that you take a photo of something and then you sketch, draw or paint it. Just for fun. And I’m joining in…

Here’s my first offering. The reference photo (below) is not great quality — it was taken on my nothing-special Nokia phone which I carry everywhere mainly so that I can collect images for drawing and painting (such as this door) when I don’t have my camera with me. It’s quite handy as a phone too ; )

Out of the blue

| Anna Cull
Seagull #1 – acrylic on card, 210 x 297 mm, 2012.

I’ve been spending a bit of time on digital illustrations lately and felt the need to get back to something altogether more analogue. So I spent an hour messing about with acrylics…

Whether it’s good, bad or mediocre — if I don’t create it, nobody else will.

Mole in New Zealand

| Anna Cull
Mole in NZ – ink and watercolour on paper, 290 x 410 mm, 2012.

MOLE THE WORLD — international art project

Mole the World is a global connection of artists from many countries through photos, drawings, graffiti, graphics and any other creative use of the project symbol: Mole. The goal of the project is to spread the idea of ‘moling’ — using the symbol in artistic ways.

Feeling creative? Visit the website: Mole the World.

My thanks to Katya for her post about the Mole the World project.

Shower rose

| Anna Cull
Shower Rose #2 – ink and watercolour on paper, 245 x 185 mm, 2012.

Something just for fun.

I came up with the idea for the shower rose a couple of years ago. It was a student project where we had to make a picture by combining a man-made object and something from the natural world. I wasn’t happy with the drawing I submitted (done in pastel, see below) but I’ve always liked the concept. I had another go at it a couple of weeks ago, this time using watercolour (Shower Rose #2).

Shower Rose #1 – pastel on paper, 350 x 280 mm, 2010.

This was my first attempt to draw with pastels. It’s not a medium I’m drawn to (no pun intended) but perhaps I should give it another chance. After all, I had fun with charcoal — eventually.

And this is the photo I used as a reference. The rose, for anyone who may be interested, is French Lace and is one of the few plants (other than weeds) that has managed to thrive in our garden.

On a good day…

| Anna Cull
‘On a good day, the soul within sings’ – ink and watercolour on paper, 280 x 185 mm, 2012.

Here is my completed entry for the Chronic Pain Awareness Month (New Zealand) charity auction/competition. As mentioned in my last post, this year’s theme is ‘the soul within’.

The competition is open to anyone who has a relationship with chronic pain and I suffered from monster migraines when I was a child. Doctors and specialists told me that I would ‘grow out of them’ and I have to admit they were right. It took more than twenty years (!!!) but they did eventually, slowly, bit by bit, diminish over time. The headaches I get now simply don’t compare. I’ve also had RSI/OOS in my hands. With rest, therapy, and a complete change of lifestyle, the condition is now under control. I still have bad days but it’s something I can live with. And I am very, VERY thankful.