painting

Self-portrait in progress

| Anna Cull

Anna Cull Work in progress

Here is a little something I’ve been experimenting with as a way of making use of an old (vintage 1970s), much loved and sadly threadbare tea towel.

Work in progress #1 – using gel medium as a glue, I covered a piece of artboard with the teatowel to make a linen canvas
Work in progress #1 – using gel medium as a glue, I made a linen canvas by covering an artboard with the tea towel (I have enough fabric left over to make another canvas)
Work in progress #2 – I began painting with acrylics thinned with polymer medium and used a photo of myself as a child for reference
Work in progress #2 – I began painting with acrylics thinned with polymer medium and used an old photo of myself as a reference
Work in progress#3 – I continued to build up the layers with thicker, more opaque acrylics to unify the different elements
Work in progress #3 – I continued to build up the layers with thicker, more opaque acrylics to unify the different elements

I’ll post the finished painting tomorrow.

Happy Annaversary

| Anna Cull

Today is my blog’s first anniversary. Yes, it’s been a whole year since my first post. A little retrospective seems in order.

Here are my top ten posts based on your likes and comments. It’s interesting to see what made the list and what didn’t.

#1 Room with a view
#1 Room with a view
#2 Windermere (ink & watercolour)
#2 Windermere (ink & watercolour)
#3 Windermere (acrylic)
#3 Windermere (acrylic)
#4 Little bear
#4 Little bear
#5 Uncharted waters
#5 Uncharted waters
#6 Paradise
#6 Paradise
#7 Black bird on a grey day
#7 Black bird on a grey day
#8 Leaf study
#8 Leaf study
#9 Red sky at night
#9 Red sky at night
#10 Over the line – two hundred followers!
#10 Over the line – two hundred followers!

Of all the things I’ve drawn, painted and designed over the last year, the little sparrow watercolour (below) — which didn’t make it into the top ten — is my personal favourite : )

On a good day...
On a good day…

Thank you all for your interest in this blog and for liking what I do.

Shoot it, Sketch it: Objet d’art

| Anna Cull
sketchbook journal ink watercolour sketch art objects photograph cabinet
Objet d’art, sketch and photo, 2013.

I enjoyed a little sketchbook time while away on holiday last month and thought I’d use one of the pages for this week’s Shoot it, Sketch it ― although it’s really a Sketch it, Shoot it. The drawing I originally planned to post today is still a long way from being finished. Why, oh why do I tackle such complicated illustrations? You’ll see what I mean next week.

Also taking part in Shoot it, Sketch it are Clouds of Colour, The Little Leaf, Lunch Sketch, Poppytump, Two Scamps, Baaps and 30 Minute Art.

Shoot it, Sketch it: Uncharted waters

| Anna Cull
Uncharted waters – acrylic, ink and digital, 2013.
Uncharted waters – acrylic, ink and digital, 2013.
Acrylic Islands, 2013 – there be treasure buried here...
The Acrylic Islands, 2013 – peeled acrylic paint

I ventured into unfamiliar territory to produce today’s Shoot it, Sketch it. Well, it’s really more of a Shoot it, Sketch it, Peel it, Shoot it, Sketch it!

My inspiration was the leftover paint from last week’s random texture. When I lifted the dry paint off the plate I use as a palette (it just seems a bit more environmentally friendly than rinsing it down the sink), I thought the blobs of acrylic paint (shown in the photograph) looked quite beautiful and wondered if they could be used in a kind of Rorschach inkblot kind of way to inspire a new painting. And the answer is yes. Yes, blobs of paint CAN be remote islands on an old map — if that’s what you want them to be.

Also taking part in the Shoot it, Sketch it experiment are Clouds of Colour, The Little Leaf, Lunch Sketch, Poppytump and Two Scamps.

Shoot it, Sketch it: Hello?

| Anna Cull
Random texture #2 – mixed media, 175 x 235 mm, 2013.
Random texture #2 – mixed media, 175 x 235 mm, 2013.
Random texture #2, original photo, 2011.
Random texture #2, original photo, 2011.

Here is a second random texture for Shoot it, Sketch it. The inspiration was my photo of a manual telephone exchange/switchboard we discovered at a machinery museum a couple of years ago. It was an odd museum too — a collection of old farm machinery and equipment that seemed abandoned and forgotten. There was no one around and yet it was unlocked and ‘open’. Donations welcome.

I’ve shown the final painting (above) as well as various stages (below).

Random texture #2a
Random texture #2a – the acrylic background
Random texture #2b
Random texture #2b – more paint, more details
Random texture #2c
Random texture #2c – more colour, more contrast

Also participating in Shoot it, Sketch it are Clouds of Colour, The Little Leaf, Lunch Sketch and Poppytump.