Drawing Lessons

Way back in December 2009, I reinvented myself and became an artist. It has taken quite a bit of practice to be able to say that without giggling or feeling self-conscious. Some days I revert to describing myself as a painter or a graphic designer, but the good days find me happy to tell it like it is. I still remember discovering Danny Gregory’s book The Creative License: Giving yourself permission to be the artist you truly are ~ I bought a journal and a nice black ink pen and have never looked back. Well, obviously I’m looking back now… but you know what I mean.

A DECADE has now passed since that first illustrated journal and so I’ve decided to put together some quote+art images inspired by the rather good ‘All I Really Need to Know I Learned From Drawing’ list written by Danny Gregory. ✍🏼✍🏼✍🏼

P.S. The background image (minus Danny’s quote) is from this student project (2011).

Akaroa

A golden evening looking out over Akaroa Harbour

I was so happy with this scene that I decided to dust off the sketchbook…

A golden evening sketch

… and even though it’s not watercolour paper, it still handles the water from my little travel brush surprisingly well.

A bird’s-eye view of Akaroa

The other quick sketch from the weekend has been enhanced digitally using Affinity Photo.

Wednesday

“They didn’t want it good, they wanted it Wednesday.” Robert A. Heinlein

I tend to thrive on deadlines, creating them for myself even if I don’t have to because it makes me more productive, but this month I have no projects demanding urgent attention. And I’m still managing to get a few things done.

Here are three little drawings I’ve just finished:

Anna Cull The Return 1
The Return #1 — ink and watercolour, 90 x 90 mm, 2016. SOLD
Anna Cull The Return #2
The Return #2 — ink and watercolour, 90 x 90 mm, 2016. SOLD
Anna Cull Worth the Risk framed WP
Worth the Risk — ink and watercolour, 128 x 128 mm, 2016. SOLD

Elements

I’ve been getting reacquainted with working in pen and watercolour. It’s been ages. Too long, really. So I thought I’d ease back into it with a few abstract patterns. One thing led to another and the four mini (3″ x 3″) artworks below are now for sale have sold on Etsy.

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