Shoot it Sketch it

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: Red sky at night

| Anna Cull
Red sky at night – mixed media, 187 x 297 mm, 2013.
Red Sky at Night – mixed media, 187 x 297 mm, 2013.
Red sky at night, original photo – Christchurch, 2012.
Red sky at night, original photo – Christchurch, 2012.

This is my second sketch based on photos I took on my way to LUXcity in Christchurch last year. It is the companion piece to City Lights. The end result is not quite what I had in mind when I started sketching. It’s full of unexpected outcomes — and I’m okay with that.

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

Shoot it, Sketch it: City lights

| Anna Cull
City Lights, original photo – Christchurch, 2012.
City Lights, original photo – Christchurch, 2012.

Today’s Shoot it, Sketch it offering is based on a photo I took on my way to LUXcity last year. For one night, Christchurch was illuminated by 16 light installations created by architecture and design students from across New Zealand. The event provided an opportunity to visit a part of the central city that many of us hadn’tseen since the earthquake in February 2011. An hour before the event, the Great Airbrush Artist in the Sky painted a breathtakingly beautiful sunset and stole the show.

City Lights – mixed media, 2013.
City Lights – mixed media, 2013.
City Lights – chalk pastel and tinted charcoal, 210 x 297 mm, 2013.
City Lights – chalk pastel and tinted charcoal, 210 x 297 mm, 2013.

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

Shoot it, Sketch it: Watching paint dry

| Anna Cull

Windermere Historic House acrylic painting
Windermere, Akaroa – acrylic, 315 x 420 mm, 2013.

This week’s Shoot it, Sketch it painting is based on the photo I used for last week’s post. When I decided to paint this beautiful little house, watercolour and ink seemed to be the obvious choice. Then my husband asked for an acrylic version. It turned out to be quite a challenge for me because I didn’t see it as an acrylic painting — at least not at first. But who am I to disappoint my biggest fan?

What a week I picked to use acrylics though! The weather in Christchurch has been rather warm and so the paint has been drying on the palette really quickly. It’s given a whole new meaning to the term ‘dry brush’! Click on the image(s) below to see more detail.

Windermere – dry brush acrylic details
Windermere – dry brush acrylic details

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

I’m going away on holiday in a couple of days (yay), so my next Shoot it, Sketch it will be 25th February.

Shoot it, Sketch it: Windermere

| Anna Cull

Windermere, Akaroa – ink and watercolour, 210 x 295 mm, 2013
Windermere, Akaroa – ink and watercolour, 210 x 295 mm, 2013

Windermere, Akaroa – ink on watercolour paper, 2013
Windermere, Akaroa – ink on watercolour paper, 2013

Windermere historic house, Rue Lavaud, Akaroa, 2012
Windermere historic house, Rue Lavaud, Akaroa, 2012

I drew a quick sketch of this historic Akaroa house a couple of years ago (see below) and thought it might be fun to revisit it — figuratively and literally. The photo was taken a few months ago with this Shoot it, Sketch it project in mind. Windermere was built as a boarding house in 1877.

Akaroa – sketches, 2010
Akaroa – sketches, 2010

Can you spot the subtle difference? The house no longer has a chimney (the earthquakes that have rattled the Canterbury region over the last couple of years are probably to blame — an awful lot of chimneys and brick buildings were damaged in 2011).

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

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.