Shoot it, Sketch it: Southern Alps, Oxford

Southern Alps, Oxford – acrylic on canvas, 204 x 204 mm, 2014
Southern Alps, Oxford – acrylic on canvas, 204 x 204 mm, 2014  (SOLD)
Southern Alps, Oxford, original photo, 2012 — Cropped and Photoshopped photo, 2014
Southern Alps, Oxford, original photo, 2012 — Cropped and Photoshopped, 2014 (click to embiggen)

Question: when is a bad, low-res phone photo a good photo? Answer: when it’s the only one you’ve got. After opening my horribly pixelated image in Photoshop, I lightened it a little and messed around with artistic filters until I had something I didn’t object to looking at, printed it, and painted it. The details you would normally expect to see in a ‘good’ photo were slightly blurred and kind of painterly even before I started working on the canvas — which was an unexpected bonus because it meant not having to squint (a time-honoured technique for getting rid of unnecessary details). I really like not having to squint.

Everything is important

Anna Cull Sidetracked 2014
Bluescape – acrylic on canvas, 102 x 102 mm, 2014. Sold.

“The best reason to paint is that there is no reason to paint… I’d like to pretend that I’ve never seen anything, never read anything, never heard anything… and then make something… Every time I make something I think about the people who are going to see it and every time I see something, I think about the person who made it… Nothing is important… so everything is important.” Keith Haring

This mini abstract is now for sale has now sold. At 4 x 4 inches, it’s the smallest canvas I’ve ever painted!

I’m taking a little break…

Anna Cull Back soon 2014

…from posting. I’ve been blogging (planning, writing, drawing and/or painting something every week) since March 2012. I’ve chalked up 325 posts and have uploaded more than a thousand images. Yes, it really does seem time for a lie down and a little nap. Don’t worry… I’ll still visit : )

My Etsy shop will stay open and I’ll be back in September (or ‘spring’ as we like to think of it here in New Zealand). TTFN

Blue moon is now for sale

Blue moon 2014
Blue moon – acrylic on canvas, 230 x 305 mm, 2014, SOLD

I read somewhere that there are two definitions of ‘blue moon’ and apparently neither one will occur in 2014. I guess that makes this particular blue moon a rare event indeed! It is freshly varnished and now for sale on Etsy.

I have a question

Black bird, June 2014 — ink and watercolour, 240 x 180 mm, 2014
Black bird, June 2014 — ink and watercolour, 240 x 180 mm, 2014

I’m on a mission to add a few ink and watercolour drawings/paintings to my Etsy shop ― hence the reworking of old favourites such as this bird silhouette (which is now for sale). The original black bird appeared a couple of years ago (click here to see the post). He was my second Shoot it, Sketch it and he was also the subject of my first haiku.

And that brings me to my question. Which of the following would you like to see me draw again? Feel free to vote for more than one : )

Poll