Artful Tuesday

Well, I gave up on the Zen samplers this week because they're just not...pretty enough. Sure, they're great practice, I suppose, so maybe I should continue in that regard..Something to think about--but I'd rather be making something PRETTY!! So...I did an actual Zentangle--copied from a design I found online--that's the kind of practice I'd rather be doing. Still learning technique, just in a much prettier, more aesthetically pleasing way...So here is that pic--and I have a couple more I want to try my hand at--maybe this week...maybe later...

Because I am adventuring more with watercolor pencils. I believe you can learn to do just about anything by watching tutorial videos on YouTube! And then get caught up in completely unrelated video content, wasting endless amounts of time...Have you ever watched speed painting? It's amazing!! But, anyway, below are a couple demo samples I tried from YouTube...simple!

Then I got so excited about the possibilities of what could be done with watercolor pencils, I thought I'd try my hand at recreating a painting I love by one of my favorite local artists, Marcia Furman, just to play around...Of course, hers was done in oils, which is completely on the other end of the media spectrum and being such a beginner as it is, I guess I expected more of myself...Below is my shot at Marcia's Defiant Beauty...a sad representation of the actual work you can see by clicking here. Still, it was totally fun to try and a good learning experience. I want to try doing a house portrait this week, well, a barn portrait actually from our friend's farm...I used to do tons of house portraits-in acrylic...so we'll see how I do with the pencils...

Defiant Beauty