Blogtoberfest 2013: Meet my first bottle

Here she is. My first bottle for the video course Barnstone Method I'm studying. She will go through a bit of a transformation and meet new friends soon as I progress through the program.

My first bottle for use with online drawing course, Barnstone Method

Right now I'm learning how to do quick sketches using circles, triangles and squares. Everything has a relationship!

Notes and initial sketches

I'm off to hunt down three more bottles to complete the set. Wish me luck.

Blogtoberfest 2013: Searching for new forms

There are times when I like to approach a blank sheet of paper with a paintbrush full of color and see what I can discover. A line here, a dab there and lots of drips lead to new possibilities for paintings.

What fun! Creating drippy shapes can lead to lovely discoveries. What do you do to find inspiration?

Circle series inspiration

Sometimes, it's just a matter of asking "what if?" I've been working on paintings with circles for a while now and I wanted to give myself a break. So I started playing with gouache on paper, looking for new forms to explore. In a flash the "what if?" question pops up. What if I tried the circles with gouache?

Exploration of Circles in gouache by Karen Phillips

This leads me to ask, "What if I tried this on canvas with some texture?" I must see what happens.

Circle Series, 12"x12"
Acrylic on canvas
by Karen Phillips

Oh! I just love what happens when I listen to that little whisper of inspiration. How do you find inspiration?

I'm so Excited!

I love color! I love watching it flow down a piece of paper, leaving traces of itself behind. While I've picked up tidbits from friends and books I've read, I don't feel that I have the mastery I would love to have. I marvel at Eva Macie's and Patricia Bohannon's knowledge of color.

Exploration of Circles in gouache by Karen Phillips

I'm so excited! Today I found some online courses that I believe will help me take my use of color and design to the next level. Myron Barnstone offers a several online classes (and DVDs) that are just what I have been looking for. I'll keep you posted as to my progress.

Blogtoberfest 2013

Today is the first day of Blogtoberfest and is being hosted by Michelle Reynolds on her blog Shells in the Bush. I'm so excited to participate in a group blog-a-thon. My intention for the next 31 days is to share with you exploration of ideas and observations I create using paint, paper, and whatever else I find to use in my art making.

Finding Ideas in a Frying Pan

The idea I'm playing around with now started a few days ago when I was sautéing some mushrooms that my husband had cut up. For some reason, he cut one of them differently and seeing one of these slices in the pan sparked an idea that I had to explore. I started off using gouache (opaque watercolor) and charcoal in Exploration #1 and ended up layering images of painted tracing paper onto a larger image in Exploration #4.

Sautéed Mushrooms Exploration #1 by Karen Phillips

Sautéed Mushrooms Exploration #4 by Karen Phillips

Letting the Cat Out of the Bag

Ok. This is an addiction that I have. I fully admit it. I love painting on this paper. And not just any kind of way. Oh no, this is a full-on, let-it flow kind of thing. No preplanning involved. It's about making a mark followed by another and following whatever my inner impulse (voice) says to do.

I've got lots of these sitting in a portfolio. I used gouache (think of it as opaque watercolor) on many of them. Often I do two and three at a time. While there are times when I use this a warm up exercise, the majority were done because I just love painting on this paper. 

The paper is very absorbent and not very forgiving. If I use a lot of water, I have to be careful not to scrub too hard with my brush because it will disintegrate.

More to come...here kitty, kitty!

Loosening Up!

Loosen Up Circles by Karen Phillips

Taking time to loosen up my imagination. I've been working on a series of paintings involving circles and wanted to explore incorporating making marks with various drawing materials. Lots of fun!