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| I miss my plein air group from last summer 2015 |
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| And I miss my "Alley Project" crew |
It's June and I have to admit that I am really missing my plein air group from summer 2015
as well as last summer's "Ottawa Alley Project" sketching crew. |
| Bike-n-sketch study: Patterson Creek, Glebe, Ottawa (two pages of Starthmore art journal; 100% cotton paper; watercolour and gouache) |
It's well known that I love organized sketching (i.e. Ottawa Urban Sketchers which developed organically following the "Ottawa Alley Project" group) and group painting (i.e David Jones plein air group) events. So far, this summer, I have had to decline participating in group activities like these for various reasons beyond my control.
To compensate, I have created some different types of solo activities for myself to keep my creative juices flowing., The two main activities that I have engaged in for inspiration are:
- One hour solo bike-n-sketch outings
- Painting from photos
One hour Bike-n-sketch
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| Bike-n-sketch - my one hour sketch June 22 |
NO matter how filled my day is, I can almost always carve out one hour for myself to sit outside and sketch. This, I find, is a lot more challenging than the luxury of spending over eight hours at a lavender farm like last summer, because I must really get down to business quickly in one hour and quit (finished or not) and jump back on my bike to head home!
So far I have done the Mill on the Ottawa River; the tulips in Major Hill Park; the Rideau locks beside the Chateau Laurier and, most recently, the Patterson Creek in the Glebe.
Painting from photos
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| "Fox on the rocks" acrylic (6x6) on Strathmore canvas paper |
The small "Fox on the rocks" study (above) that I did came quite naturally after being inspired by Ottawa artist/writer Andrew King on twitter (https://twitter.com/twitandrewking).
Andrew was recently tweeting about his "Solstice Serpent" adventures (Secret of the Snake: Ancient Ontario Serpent Mound Could Be Summer Solstice Monument) and posted a photo of a fox that was watching him while he was on his adventure. I loved the photo and did a quick 6x6 study.
I was so, SO delighted when Andrew saw my small acrylic study on twitter and posted this:
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| This tweet from artist Andrew King made my day! |
And, of course, I always do a #DailySketch, like this recent one of my dear Lexie sitting in my chair. My daily sketches are quick (maximum two hours) activities that I usually do first thing in the morning while waiting for laundry to wash and dry!
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| "Dog Days Of Summer" a daily sketch using three colours: 🖌Quinacridone gold 🖌 Burnt umber 🖌Winsor blue |
Even though this summer means less opportunities for beloved group art outings, I continue to find visual inspiration everywhere and I manage to carve out at least two hours each day to do what I love most - create and share my art.
