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.

Reinventing myself (an annaversary post)

Today is my little blog’s fourth anniversary🎈🎈🎈🎈 and so I thought I would go back in time to the very beginning. Here is my first post from 13th March 2012. Have a creative day.

A couple of years ago, I started an illustrated journal. I was inspired by Danny Gregory and his book The Creative License and I wanted to see if I could draw.

One month and 19 sketches later, I drew Villa 10…

…and the road home (among other things).

I enjoyed sketching so much that I decided to take an art course at the Design & Arts College in Christchurch, New Zealand.

originally posted 13th March 2012

Get used to the idea

Kitten in a sunbeam – ink & watercolour sketch with digital colour added, 2016
Kitten in a sunbeam – ink & watercolour sketch with digital colour added, 2016
Grandkitten — original photograph, 2014
Grandkitten — original photograph, 2014

“Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea…” Robert A. Heinlein

Losing sight of the shore

Coastline – ink, watercolour and digital, 2016
Kaikoura coast panorama, New Zealand — original photograph, 2013
Kaikoura coast panorama, New Zealand — original photograph, 2013

“One does not discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of the shore for a very long time.” André Gide

Click on the images for a clearer view.

P.S. If the landscape looks a little familiar, that may be because I painted the same photograph last month (The View).