A Painting a Day

Being productive can be a challenge with all of the minutia of daily life. Then pile on events, responsibilities, unpredictable happenings, and just plain old being tired, creativity can go way down to the bottom of the list and those paints and pencils lie there collecting dust.

I few weeks ago I saw an interview on a great web site called Creative Insurgents. The hosts, Cory Huff and Melissa Dinwiddie interviewed Jolie Guillebeau, an artist out of Portland, Oregon. She told her story of struggling to be and feel like an artist.  By giving her self a special 100 day challenge, she began to overcome her self doubt. She committed publicly to paint a painting a day for 100 days. It really helped jump start her career.

I have experienced the struggle, not only to be productive, but to discover my identity as an artist.  When I began this blog it was all about being an illustrator. Now I realize I just want to embrace being an artist. Illustrating is all a part of a bigger picture for me. So, I am going to take up the challenge too.  Beginning September 1st, I am going to post a watercolor painting a day. I have picked animals as my theme, as I have done some pet portraits and really enjoyed it, plus it is a way for me to reconnect with what made me love art as a child.  Animals, horses in particular, where my favorite subjects. Seems like a good place to start.

The paintings will also be for sale, beginning at $1 for day 1, $2 for day 2, $3 for day 3, and so on.  You get the idea!.  If you see a painting you like, please send me an email at lauraparkhurstillustrator@gmail.com. I will provide this information with each painting. If you really like my work, please be sure to share it with your friends and family because they might enjoy an original piece of artwork too! You can also follow me on Facebook at this link. I will be posting there too.

Thanks for coming by.  I hope you will come again on the 1st of September and on the days following. And I hope you enjoy my work!  I would love to hear from you.

Illustration Friday - Skull

 I haven't done Illustration Friday is a VERY long time.  I thought about it last week and I thought about it the week before.  Then when I saw what today's topic was I decided to give it a try.  Once I decided on a subject, I kept refining and drawing and just got a bit obsessed!  So I chose the Prince of Denmark and his dear friend Yorrick.  Love the pencil drawing... not so sure about the watercolor but it was good practice!  Thanks for stopping by to check it out!  You can let me know what you think in the comments.

Mermaid Art Work

When a piece of art is finished, it is easy to forget what was happening to it along the way.  Here is a recent water color illustration I did. I photographed my progress to be able to look back and see how the painting evolved.











I started with a pencil sketch which I then put on my light table to trace onto watercolor paper.




Once it was taped down to a board ( this is a dry erase board), I began to apply the colors.

I love letting the colors surprise me as they move on the paper.  Watercolors have a life of their own!
















The last step was to put ink on the painting.  I used Reeves watercolors and Pigma Micron drawing pens for the inking.

Thanks for stopping by to check out my art work.  Hope you are creating something beautiful too!

A New Work Space

It's time to get back to blogging and making art.  And what better way to do this than to create a new work space?

Previously, I had carved out a corner in a spare bed room.  Then my kids decided they needed their own rooms again so I got evicted. I think I was ready to move out anyway because that space felt too far away from all the other responsibilities I have, like my kids and my husband and cooking.  I realize I need to be in the middle of my family space, even as I create and make art.  I thought hermitage was the way to my creative heart, but now I know creativity is where ever I am.  When the family is in the house, I want to be near them.  When they are out of the house, I love the quiet and I can be very productive then, but when they are home, I need to see them and be seen by them.

Now I have a corner in the living room in front of my sliding glass door.  I love all the light flooding in.  I love having plants on my desk and the light makes that possible.  I love that my desk is wood and not plastic!

I hope that by bringing my work space into the family living space I can integrate my art into the rest of my life and by doing that I hope to be more productive.  I know I have to squeeze it into the spaces between taking care of my family which is my greatest creative en devour.  By integrating them, perhaps I will not neglect either so much by having to choose.

Thanks for visiting my blog.  It has been ages since I wrote here.  I hope to be writing more, tracking my creative journey more intricately.  I'd love to know if you have a work space just for your creative projects.  I so, please tell me what it is like and how it helps.  I am always looking for ideas to improve!  Thanks!