I do have a degree in art (2 year degree), which I basically couldn't use. Everything I thought of, I didn't want to do. I was also delving into writing, which I've done ever since (all of my adult life).
I struggled with writing. But I'm now self-published. I seem to have come to the end of the road with that. Oh, sure there will be a few more books coming out. I will have to finish my Sabrina Strong series, of course.
But I've become less and less interested, especially since the writing has gone full circle, and I'm not getting rich, nor am I making any amount of good money in the time I've invested. Writing is fun for me, don't get me wrong. I enjoy doing it. It's part of what/who I am.
But art was my first love, and has always been in me. I've taken a sketch book with me to certain places and drew what I saw--this type of art is called "Plein Air" (must be a French word), meaning you're on site and drawing or painting the subject.
Below is something I did while at Grand Teton Nat'l Park in 1992.
Plien Air can be interesting, and challenging. For instance, below is a sketch and painting of the sketch. What I did is, I've taken a drawing (left), and painted the horse (right). In this case the drawing was done while on the road. Since I've always been able to draw horses, it was easy for me to capture the scene in my mind and just do a quick sketch while we drove on.
The painting then is called "Mock Plien Air", since I've done it from a sketch.
Anything from a sketch, or photo is Mock Plien Air. Which is alright, especially if your photo is clear and large enough.
Earlier this week...
I've bought a better paper to paint on, 140 lbs cold press. It's still pulp paper, not 100% cotton, as most watercolorists advise you use. However, that's really expensive as much as twice or more for even less paper than in this pad I bought. So, until I begin SELLING my paintings, the paper will have to do. At any rate, I've never been an art snob (or a writing snob). It's mostly because a lot of watercolor uses WATER in order to get the paint to do certain things. Cotton is very absorbant and pulls in the color and you can throw a pail of water on the canvas (well, not quite a pail), and it won't buckle too much. Pulp paper will buckle, but this 140lb is thicker and I've been able to paint with watercolors and I find it has been working beautifully. I'm not frustrated at all.
Here is a good example of control of medium in this painting:
I made this one extra large so you can see the details. I love doing water droplets. You'd think they'd be hard, but they're not.
Whatever I do, I do it because it brings me pleasure. And it is an escape, but I live in my head, mostly. Just ask my husband if I heard what he just said. No. I'm sure I didn't.
Anyway. This is the beginning of my Art Gallery. I'm going to do virtual hangings of my art. I'm not going to do much in the way of blogging, (unless I feel the need). I've seen how people put things up on Etsy in order to sell. I have no idea how that works. I've a feeling you have to pay for the privilege of doing business through them. Thus, I'm going to sell my art to anyone who is interested. I'll have to figure out prices, as it would have to be shipped through the mail. At this time, I'm not sure how this will work. However I do have a PayPal account. But the buyer would have to have an account there as well. If anyone has any suggestions, I'd sure welcome them. I'm not sure if this will work.
My other alternative is get a booth at local art fests, or craft shows. But, I'm not there yet. I'd rather do one piece at a time, and these take me two days (about 2-3 hours a sitting), and it's a bit of strain on my back. But I think it's my age as well as my scoliosis. Time to get back to yoga!
Oh. I'm working on the Grand Teton picture. What do you think? I've actually found a photo on Pinterest that was close to what I'd drawn, but this had snow on the peek, and I felt was more dramatic.
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