Art by Wendy: October 2023

Oct 9, 2023

What’s it like to do An Art Residency? - Painting and Drawing Tips

Just Arrived to our New Temporary Home

This past September I had an amazing Art Experience!!

I was on an Art Residency on Gabriola Island for a week. My sister and I stayed in a wonderful 1 bedroom house with a separate studio in a rustic farm setting.

It was Awesome! . .

As I shared my experience with friends and other artists, it became obvious that many do not really know what being ‘in a residency’ is all about. It is understandable, no two Art Residencies are the same.

Knowing more about Residencies can be a real boon for artist. Going on an Art Residency can really charge your Art Practice.

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*** STILL TIME TO Join me for Online Drawing Lessons, October 12, 19, & 26, 2023. Enhance Your Drawing Skills –Light, Line, & Shadows can make your work Come Alive. See below for Registration & Information.

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Ready for a Day Trip: A Sketching/Photo Shoot Hike

What is an Art Residency?

This is an opportunity for you, the artist, to move to the residency location for a specific period of time to work on your practice. The cost can range from subsidized living to being paid a salary. These are meant to support both the professional and emerging artist.

There are 2 main types of Residencies:

1. Work & Engage Residency: You are provided with housing, a work space and time to develop your own practice. You may be alone or sharing accommodations with several other artists. There may be a requirement to interact with the public in the form of lessons, demos or art talks. The Residency may also require you stage a show at the end. Usually you would receive your accommodations free, a stipend or moneys from your lessons and sales at your show.

On the Trail, Awesome ideas for sketching & painting

In August, 2014, I was in this type of Residency as an Artist in Residence at Mount Revelstoke National Park. I was with 2 other artists. We had a beautiful studio to work in and needed to be available for the public to view us “working” for several hours a day. We also needed to prepare for a show that was to occur approximately 2.5 months after our stay. You can read about my experience in a series of 3 blogs starting here: August 4, post "Look Out Bugs Here I Come"

2. Work Only Residency: This type does not involve any level of community engagement but is rather an opportunity for you to focus on your practice without interruptions. The accommodations may be free or subsidized. The Gabriola Art Residency was this type.

Sketching on the Beach

I have experienced both types of Residencies.

The Experience has really resulted in New Inspiration; New Contacts in the Art World; New Exposure for my work; New Ways for me to Challenge Myself and my Personal Growth; and most of all the Confidence and Impetus to pursue more in my work.

On Sept 7, my sister and I headed over to Gabriola Island. This was the second type of Art Residency. There was no obligation to interact with the community. (I was only there for a week, but if I was longer, I think I would have set up some public activities.)

My focus: to create Social Media content around my practice in Outdoor Sketching.

Gabriela Island is a small rural island off the east coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia. My sister, Sherry came with me to be my photographer.

I am sure It was the fastest 7 days I have ever experienced.

Lots of Awesome places to set up to Sketch & have a Photo Shoot

As a nature sketcher I was looking for shots depicting my process. We were able to get numerous photo shots as we:

-    Hiked the trails scouting out landscape references and sketching locations
-    Kayaked the little bays along the coastal waters scouting out waterscape references and sketching locations
-    Visited the museum and botanical gardens to see and learn about the foliage
-    Video taped and photographed me as I painted rocks, plants and trees
-    Posted daily on our progress on two social media sites
-    Talked with local farmers about the types of plants cultivated on the island

Who is not inspired to paint nature when days end like this!!

Yes, we were busy but we also really enjoyed ourselves. Exploring nature with my sketchbook is my passion. My sister loves the outdoors but is not a sketcher. She did however, find she learned a lot about conducting photo shoots in nature.

Got there great sketch of a Garry Oak Tree, a rare find on the coast

Many places that post Artist Calls also include Art Residencies in these Calls. One place I have found residencies in British Columbia is in The Artist Journal. Even if the call has closed you can learn more about it for the next year. Res Artis has Open Calls for places around the world.

Come Draw with Me

Enhance Your Drawing Skills -- Light, Line, & Shadows can make your work Come Alive

Date: Thursday, October 12, 19 & 26, 6:30-8:30pm PST.

Cost: Early Bird $60 Before Oct 8, $75 after

Registration: Wendy@artbywendy.com

Experience new ways to interpret your line; Explore the magic of playing with light and shadow with Wendy in this series of 3 Online Zoom Classes. Classes are 2 hr with access to recordings for limited time, individual discussion on weekly projects and limited class size. Beginners to Advanced Welcome

These are Live Group Classes including,

· A Fun, Relaxing Atmosphere for Making Your Mark

· When to Erase and when to Wait

· Making a A Setup Drawing that Works

· Understanding the Subtle Points that create Success in the Drawing

· Exploring how Light affects the Shadows in your subject

· How to Harness Your Inner Critique so he works with you

· Use your Line, Shapes and Shadows to Control the Eye Movement and keep your viewers in your space

Contact Wendy to Register
Gift Certificates Available
"Thank you for a great workshop! I have enjoyed myself and learned a lot and am loving my pencil!" Patricia, artist

Wendy

Oct 1, 2023

Is the Creative Process really just one BIG BUMPY ROAD??

Magnolias in the Sunshine - 16 x 20 Vanished Watercolour on Wood Canvas $850

I am sure you have heard that the Creative Process is a Joyful One. You’re Lost in the Moment. It's full of Excitement. The feeling of Success can sometimes be Overwhelming. I am here to tell you, The Creative Process is all that and more.

However, it does have its Dark side. . .

One that can take you deep into Despair.

That can’t be right, you are thinking. Excitement, Joy, Euphoria are just a few of the words that you hear from Creatives all the time. And yes, you will hear those words from me as well.

But remember, the Creative Process is a Journey. And like all Journey’s it has its ups and downs. The ‘Downs” can be setbacks or stoppers. How you react to those moments will certainly affect your outcome.
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*** Join me for Online Drawing Lessons, October 12, 19, & 26, 2023. Enhance Your Drawing Skills –Light, Line, & Shadows can make your work Come Alive. See below for Registration & Information.

***See my YouTube Video with further discussion: Magnolias, One Painting's Hard Fought Creative Journey.

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Let me explain as I take you on my Creative Journey to paint, Magnolias in the Sunshine.

See what I mean? Fun to create that light with Pencil.

Early spring finds me collecting and photographing the first colours of the season. The Magnolias are part of that group. I got some great pictures of the flowers and decided I wanted to draw them.

At first it was only sketchbook stuff. It was fun to try and create ‘white’ petals with a grey pencil. I found the more I drew them the more I wanted to do.

I decided to paint them.

There is a wonderful feeling of excitement, as plans are made for the ‘new project’. I was bursting with ideas. After all the practice drawings I had done, I felt confident and ready to roll.

Threw Down my colours and 'got-at-it'.

The work began in earnest. Size determined. Colours chosen. Composition decided. Type of paper chosen. Everything was a go!!

I love this part of the process. The decisions are all made. I can just paint.

But then disaster occurred. . . Everything came to a standstill.

Definitely the Background is not looking Good

My background wasn’t working. I added layer after layer of paint. But still it appeared blotchy. And certainly not as soft and satiny as I wanted. And worst of all, I had a BIG space in the bottom left corner that was just tooooooo empty.

See what I mean, That corner looks VERY empty😢

This could be a Stopper in my Journey. . .

And for a few days it was!

I have several strategies that use when these moments happen. First of all, I step away from the painting. Not a good idea to paint when your frustrated and disappointed.

I do a bit of research and practice. I experimented with my background colours on a separate piece of paper. I discovered:

-    I need to have a wet brush with a nice amount of pigment on it
-    I needed to do one wash over it. Not try to put thick paint on it and ‘instantly’ make it dark. Rather be happy with lighter and more even layers.
-    Not rework an area. You know, fiddle with it. That only disturbs the area below
-    Let it really dry between layers. Easy to be impatient.

My Second Strategy and certainly the most Important One is Look for ENCOURAGERS.

Yes, ways to keep myself encouraged (happy, successful, feeling good with the world). I decided to jump in and work on the flowers. That was my favourite part anyway. I love the process of glazing to bring the petals alive. I started with the right corner because I loved all the things happening there.

Definitely lots more fun than painting BLUE all day!!

That really made me HAPPY. I could see my flowers coming to life and best of all looking GOOD. In the meantime I kept adding another layer of blue to the background and even introduced a bit of purple. I liked the way the deeper purple-blue on the left moved into a deep blue on the right.

Isn't that Flower in the top right Looking Interesting?

Still working on the background as you can see. Started hinting at flowers and leaves in the background and even came up with ideas for the bottom corner. My big worry now was, they weren't going to be white. I tried and tried to left off the colour but . . .

You know with watercolour, you can never really go back to white!!!

I pressed on. I decided to ignore the bottom corner till more work was done. I was also hoping once I attached the painting to the wood canvas that some of it would be cut off!!!😆 Ok, I was feeling a little desperate!

Hey, maybe those bottom petals ARE going to be Okay??

I kept working.

Yeah!!Things are really coming together!!

Guess What? Things did work out!

The bottom petals did get cut off by quite a bit and the remaining petals had colours that tied in well with the rest of the piece. They did their job too. Fill the space and lead the eye into the picture. (notice that sneaky line with the bent petal that moves the eye along?! Neat eh?!) The background did really improve over time. Couldn't tell you how many layers it has. There were still a few light spots but I started to encourage them. I liked how they suggested more depth.

I have come to realization that if you want to Challenge Yourself in your Creative Process there will be Bumps on the Road. The bigger the Challenge, I think the BIGGER the Bumps. My advice is to Hang-In-There, keep practicing, and always build in ENCOURAGERS in the process.

***See my YouTube Video with further discussion: Magnolias, One Painting's Hard Fought Creative Journey.