Shabby Situation

"No walk, no art." — Hamish Fulton

I keep getting inspired by the topics here over and over again ... This time, I dedicated myself to the current lesson "Shabby Situation".


The situation was so spontaneous that I quickly strapped my mobile phone with a simple cord and decided to skip using a body easel, like the one I could possibly put together after Chris Carter's class "DIY Body Easel for Sketching and Painting", and it was actually extremely "shabby". There was also rain ..., checked ;)

I am thrilled that everything worked out so smoothly right off the bat. Just a bit sad that my camera didn't capture the jogger who came along at just the right moment and was immediately sketched here. I colored it roughly at home afterwards with some colored pencils, just for fun.

 

Have an Affair

Actually, I had something else in mind, but now this has come up. :) Does that count here? Probably not, I guess. But still, a warm spring greeting to all of you nonetheless!

 

Spring is here
**************

Spring is floating its blue banner
On the breezes again;
Sweet, well-remembered scents
Drift portentously across the land.

Violets, already dreaming,
Will soon begin to bloom.
Listen, the sound of a harp!
Spring, that must be you!
It’s you I’ve heard!

(Eduard Mörike "Frühling lässt sein blaues Band"; English translation: Richard Stokes)

 

A New Voice in Your Head

[Update March 18, 2024]

A more elaborate sketch with irises, daisies, and oak leaves, all symbolizing trust. And text, although not set in stone, but like the sketch with a valuable and almost forgotten realization: the most essential thing is already achieved in the enjoyment, and fully awareness in the so-called here and now.
The creative execution will take a little more time. However, it was important for me to give myself a push. Things tend to remain unfinished too quickly. Thanks to my agreement with Friedhelm, I've learned that writing it down seems to give it more importance and helps make it happen.

I am the light of my soul. Beautiful, bountiful, blessed. — I only do what brings me joy; things I love and that make my heart laugh. I do them in my own way and at my own pace. — There will always be people who may not believe in me and see the world different. That's totally fine, but that's why it's even more important for me to stay on my own path and keep going undeterred. The more I choose to do so, the more I will attract the right allies who will accompany and support me on this journey. — I am brave enough to embrace who I truly am. I don't need to be perfect. — I am the light of my soul. Beautiful, bountiful, blessed.

 

Your Little Nephew

The first thing that popped into my head was the documentary series "The Secret of the Masters" (which is still available on YouTube, but apparently only in German). In the episode "Appel", they also explored the provocative statement: "Any small child can do that ...". Yet, neither the expert team nor the children, who were specifically chosen to imitate the artwork of the Dutch artist Karel Appel in this special episode, were able to reconstruct it.

In a nutshell, my thoughts took an unexpected turn and ended up merging Appel's "Le Dompteur et la rose" (1978) with one "Sam" of Andy Warhol's Cat Series (1954), see below.

With a loving shaking of my head, I have to realize once more that I use too much water and still try to defy the laws of physics yet again. :D

Following that, I set out to paint a small series of paintings simultaneously, as suggested by many experts, to avoid the temptation of overworking a single piece. It was a highly educational experience with all the benefits. Plus, the knowledge acquired in Chris Carter‘s „Pulling the Puddle“ class series finally came into play, making it all the more rewarding.

The result was also beautiful, with intense colors. But for me, it felt like batch processing, and the excitement had faded away. 

In the absence of a child, my partner volunteered for the second part of the task. He jokingly remarked that it was the same. — How could I disagree? ;)

In no time, he presented me with an overwhelmingly beautiful and quirky piece. Its simplicity and surreal depth of meaning still blow me away! — Of course, I am not unbiased, who is when it comes to loved ones, whether it's a dog—cat—mouse, child, or spouse.

To complete the task, I decided to take a completely different approach: I sketched on a layer of kitchen paper with charcoal, soaked it with inks for a print on the underlying paper, and thanks to Elaine's note in her project, I used additional, for me unusual and previously unused water-soluble crayons and pastels for the finishing — after drying, yay!



I'm extremely pleased with the result.

What was there for me to gain this time?
a) The simplest things often bring us the greatest joy.
b) Typically, every creative project is accompanied by the uplifting energy of peace and joy, earning our admiration and respect.

 

Jars

That's really awesome! And definitely a huge fun. I love rolling dice and drawing lots. And I have a feeling that this can turn into something really great. Besides the labeling according to the given categories, which I think is super cool, I want to use colored paper for the idea-lots to differentiate them even better. Just like Barbara does. For me, green would be for the projects that come easily to me, blue for the soul food (so beautiful, thank you Barbara!), and red for the more elaborate projects. A big candy jar is ready to catch all the ideas (no need for further labeling here), the other two jars just need to be labeled with the prepared tags. I'm so excited!

Shabby Tools

[Update April 6, 2024]

I recently transferred my pizza portrait to Ulrike's class "Procreate Illustration: Let's Draw and Streamline Your Workflow". If you're curious, take a look here: https://www.skillshare.com/projects/609747

[Update February 25, 2024]

After seeing Marjon's Flammkuchen creation — yummy! — and being in the middle of making pizza myself, I immediately thought, "I'm joining in on this."

Marjon, if you happen to be reading this, I really appreciate the inspiration! It was a blast and tasted even a tad better than usual, which is saying something.

People say you shouldn't mess around with food, and honestly, I don't think I'm doing justice to the portrait above either ;)) but sometimes you just have to go for it *sigh* and embrace the experience without any regrets ... :)

--

While I was watching the video, I immediately grabbed a ballpoint pen and sketched my hand on my notes. Surprisingly, I went for the "Mano cornuta" style. But okay, that makes sense, this class really rocks.

Even though it was getting late, I decided to give it another go using charcoal powder and my bare hands, and it only took me a minute again. This time, with the Peace, or Victory sign — whichever you prefer.

Conclusion: I need more practice drawing with my fingernail. *lol* Maybe I'll give it another shot. But who knows, maybe I'll even try something completely different. I've been bursting with ideas in the past few days.

Overall, it was a blast. And if you take a step back... without glasses... and with a nice glass of red wine... it doesn't look too shabby.

Oh, and intrestlingly both pieces represent a big part of who I am. As an Aries, it's a blessing and a curse at the same time, I'm always starting new projects and sketches are scattered everywhere. Plus, I find hands absolutely fascinating.

What did we learn from this?
a) You don't have to be perfect at something to enjoy it :)
b) Everything is a matter of perspective ;)

 

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Thank you for taking the time and joining me on my creative journey of self-discovery and exploration. Feel free to let me know what you think.