Lunch Break Sketching

I call myself a part time artist because I paint and draw in my spare time.  I work fulltime as a graphic designer, which at least gives me a creative outlet. I spend my days creating email adverts, magazine ads, business cards, flyers and banners, etc.

From time to time I go through a phase where painting only when I'm at home is not enough and I find myself drawing or doodling on whatever piece of blank paper is on my desk.

For my lunchtime yesterday I went to the Mugg & Bean coffee shop not too far from my office, with my small sketchbook in hand.  It is amazing how fast that hour passes when you are drawing.  It was quite challenging to draw someone who is not posing, they move around and shift position all the time.  I really need to do this more often.

So as the coffee cup coaster says:- Do what you LOVE, LOVE what you do.

Virtual Paintout - Iceland

Reykjanesbær – Iceland

http://goo.gl/maps/g6f28

Acrylic on Mounting Board

12.5” x 9”

I've been following a blog called Virtual Paintout.  Every month a different country is selected and you use google streetview to have a look around for something to paint.  You save the link and you submit the link along with your artwork.

Some time back I did a sketch from one of the countries, but never submitted it.  This time I took the challenge more seriously and submitted my painting.

It is an awesome excercise and I found that I ended up painting something that I don't usually paint, a street scene.

Colour Pencil Portraits of my Children

  

Around 2006 I did the drawing of my youngest daughter and my son.  I chose the wrong paper for this project.  It was too rough and too much white kept coming through.  So it ended up in my folder of watercolour paintings, pastel sketches and other drawings that never see the light of day again.

 

Many years ago I did a colour pencil portrait of my little girls.  However, I never framed the piece and it also ended up in the folder of doomed works. 

I think that I am over critical of any work that I do for myself, and it is a bit of a shame.  I think I should sign and frame these pieces and show them off in my home.

Portait on Mounting Board

Deep in Thought

Acrylic on Mounting Board

28 x 28cm

A few months ago I went to my local picture framer and asked for some mounting board offcuts.  He was happy to sell me quite a bit for a good price.  These boards are lovely to paint on and because they are cheap, they are nice for practicing on or trying something new.  This way I save my canvasses for my more serious projects.  The nice thing though is that these cards are quite nice to work on and the completed paintings can be framed.

I did this portrait last night and it seemed to fall into place quite quickly.  I like the loose, sketchy feel of the shirt and background. It definitely pays to play around and have fun when you paint.

The face of joy

After many years I have decided to advertise my paintings on SouthAfricanArtists.com. You need to submit 3 examples of your work when you apply to sell on their website.  I have several paintings lying around, but nothing that I felt would be good enough to submit.  So I started working on some new paintings and finally finished my number 3.

I am very excited to now be listed with many other awesome South African artists.  Click here to view my page.

Joy

Acrylic on Canvas

24 x 28"