painting

Happy 2nd Annaversary

| Anna Cull

My little blog turned two today. Wow ― has it really been two years since I started blogging? I thought I’d mark the occasion by making a list of my top ten arty milestones (my personal favourites) from the last year. Click on the images to view the original posts…

Getting seriously out of my comfort zone with wacky colours and peculiar perspectives
Getting seriously out of my comfort zone with wacky colours and peculiar perspectives
Creating my first abstract painting
Creating my first abstract painting
Photographing some of my favourite sketches in situ
Photographing some of my favourite sketches in situ
Appreciating the generosity of other bloggers (my thanks to Poppy for providing the reference photo for this sketch)
Appreciating the generosity of other bloggers (my thanks to Poppy for providing the reference photo for this sketch)
Tackling a favourite subject of one of my art heroes
Tackling a favourite subject of one of my art heroes
Upcycling an unusual family heirloom (a threadbare tea towel), a very personal project
Upcycling an unusual family heirloom (a threadbare tea towel), a very personal project
Anna Cull Tram
Being inspired by other artists…
...to see the world with fresh eyes
…to see the world with fresh eyes
Realising that thick paint and black outlines can make a subject look more realistic (it still seems counterintuitive to me... but it reallly does work)
Discovering the magic of bold outlines
Painting on a stretched canvas for the first time
Painting on a stretched canvas for the first time

So there you are… all in all, I’d call that a very productive year. Thanks for reading.

Shoot it, Sketch it revisited: Black bird

| Anna Cull

Anna Cull Black bird haiku

This week’s Shoot it, Sketch it revisited is a little different. Rather than painting Black bird on a grey day again (which I was just about to do), I’ve used it as the inspiration for a haiku (prompted by blogger Digital Granny who thought the image would make a nice background for a poem). It’s my first ever haiku. It’s such a fascinating art form — I’ve been meaning to write one for ages. Thanks, DG.

Unexpected outcomes, part four

| Anna Cull
Black bird sketch – ink on paper, 2012
Black bird sketch – ink on paper, 2012

Am I the only one who finds it impossible to predict what people are going to like?
I certainly didn’t think anyone would like Black bird on a grey day. I was wrong.

The sketch is based on a photograph. I thought I would create a pattern out of the branches (something much less organic than what you see here)… but my idea didn’t make it onto the page. Instead, the sketch took off in a different direction (as they sometimes do) and when I stood back and looked at it, I didn’t think it was good enough to put on the blog. The only reason I decided to post it was because my very encouraging husband liked it a lot.

And the reaction to it… the reaction was a gift. It received lots of likes and lots of positive feedback. Family, friends, complete strangers ― everyone seemed to like it! I did not see that coming.

That was back in November 2012. Since then, and largely because of that one little black bird, all my paintings and drawings get posted on this blog whether I’m happy with them or not. Dunedin, my most recent painting, also took off in an unexpected direction (and I wasn’t sure I liked the end result) and it’s another one that has been surprisingly well received. So I’m still no closer to figuring out what other people are going to like… and I’m okay with that. More than okay. It’s one of the things I really enjoy about blogging — it’s all part of the big art experiment that is my life.

Thanks for reading. And thanks for letting me know what you like (even when I don’t understand why).

P.S. I quite like the black bird now but I’m still undecided about Dunedin…