The #CreativeLife 2021 A to Z Blog Challenge: O is for...

Oil Pastels

This is one medium that continues to challenge me, no matter how many times I work with it. So to limit the pressure I put on myself to get it perfect, I am now using it in my art journal purely to practice for fun.

Do you like oil pastels?

   Comments and sharing you art are most welcome on Twitter, thank you for visiting my blog today.

Until tomorrow!

💙 Linzé 

The #CreativeLife 2021 A to Z Blog Challenge: N is for...

Neutral Colours

Black, white, and all the shades of grey form the neutral colours of the artist's palette. Of these black is often the most interesting since it can either be a cool colour or a warm colour depending on the pigments used to mix the final colour.

I love black as a colour to wear, but Pane's grey is my favourite neutral colour on the dark end of the spectrum.

Five of the neutral colours in the
Faber-Castell polychromos pencil sets

  Comments are most welcome on Twitter, thank you for visiting my blog today.

Until tomorrow!

💙 Linzé 

The #CreativeLife 2021 A to Z Blog Challenge: M is for...

Medium 

The substances we use to create art is called a medium.

My favourite mediums are graphite, ink, and colour pencil. Today I am sharing a drawing I made as a group project with my art group. It is made with watercolour pencils.

The art group members don't like the medium, but this is one instance where a high quality pencil definitely makes a difference.

As always your comments are most welcome on Twitter. Thank you for visiting my blog today.

💚 Linzé 

The #CreativeLife 2021 A to Z Blog Challenge: L is for...

LINE

The basic mark in a drawing. Whether a dot, or a line, we all use this same basic structure to write and draw.

So here is to the humble tiny structure of ink that is the base of the way we communicate with words or pictures. Cheers! 🥂

Comments are most welcome on Twitter, thank you for visiting my blog today.

Until tomorrow!

❤️ Linzé 

 

The #CreativeLife 2021 A to Z Blog Challenge: K is for...

Knives

Knives are useful tools for various applications in art. Palette knives for painting and texture work are widely used. A palette knife is also handy for separating the pages in a watercolour paper block.

Other applications for using a sharp blade includes scratching lines for detail work in watercolour, colour pencil, and graphite.

An interesting technique for using a knife blade is the sgraffito method which I used in an oil pastel painting.

Which techniques do you use a knife for?

Comments are most welcome on Twitter, thank you for visiting my blog today.

Until tomorrow!

💚 Linzé 

 

The #CreativeLife 2021 A to Z Blog Challenge: J is for...

Journaling

A journal in any form, shape, or size is the best friend of the creative person. Whether you like to craft or do art, a journal is a space for thoughts, ideas, and experimentation to explore new ideas, or revisit old ideas.

Today I am sharing a book about journaling as a form of self-expression and growth. Ok, I wrote it, but it will be the only self promo post this month so I am entitled, yes? 😏

As always your comments are most welcome on Twitter. Thank you for visiting my blog today.

❤️ Linzé 

The #CreativeLife 2021 A to Z Blog Challenge: I is for...

Inktober

A daily challenge for October now also running as an annual weekly challenge. Ink drawing is the challenge, but many artists prefer mixed media too. Find out more at inktober.com

Here is a drawing from last year's challenge 😎

Comments are most welcome on Twitter, thank you for visiting my blog today.

Until Monday!

💙 Linzé 

 

The #CreativeLife 2021 A to Z Blog Challenge: H is for...

Hardness

Graphite pencils are graded for the hardness (H) or blackness (B) of the graphite. The harder the pencil (rated H to 9H) the lighter the marks on the page.

The softer the pencil the more dark or black the marks (B to 9B) will be.

HB is the "middle" pencil if you like, and the one we all used at school for writing and drawing.

Here is a graphite drawing made with a few of those pencils.

Comments are most welcome on Twitter, thank you for visiting my blog today.

Until tomorrow!

❤️ Linzé 

The #CreativeLife 2021 A to Z Blog Challenge: G is for...

Gouache

A painting medium popular with designers before computer software became the first choice. It is water based and opaque. It has the odd characteristic that it can be reactivated even after it's dry.

This makes is also highly useful for paints (tempera) for children since it can be washed out of clothing or from other surfaces.

Here is a monochrome gouache painting I did on gouache paper, of the Edinburgh train station.  I used a photograph taken by my husband as the reference.

Gouache painting on white gouache paper

Comments are most welcome on Twitter, thank you for visiting my blog today.

💙 Linzé 

The #CreativeLife 2021 A to Z Blog Challenge: F is for...

Fixative

Fixative is used to prevent changes to a painting after it is completed. But, there are fixatives that can be removed should you need it.

Using fixative is choice, because the colour and values of dry mediums like pastels and pencils can be affected by the application of fixatives.

Fixatives can be applied with a brush (typical for oil paintings) or as a  spray (airbrushing or spray can).

If you want to preserve a painting made with pencils or pastels, rather have it framed behind glass then it will remain beautiful for years.

Your comments are most welcome on Twitter, thank you for visiting my blog today.

💗 Linzé 

The #CreativeLife 2021 A to Z Blog Challenge: E is for...

 Encaustic painting

Encaustic is a wax medium applied after melting the wax. You can either use a brush or other tools, but it is not a medium suited for children because of the hot wax.

I have not used this medium but I love seeing what others have done, although it is not commonly used today. Check out these YouTube artists for more techniques and tips to use encaustic wax in mixed media projects.

Comments are most welcome on Twitter, and thank you for visiting my blog today!

Until tomorrow!

💜 Linzé 

The #CreativeLife 2021 A to Z Blog Challenge: D is for...

Drawing

The most basic skill needed for creating art is drawing. And anyone can learn how to draw. I am not going to jump on that soap box again, so I will just share a drawing I did for the first SA Drawing Guild challenge and a link to the website of an excellent online art teacher.

Enjoy!

Shells and ropes - a graphite drawing on white paper

Comments are most welcome on Twitter, thank you for visiting my blog today.

💗 Linzé