An old interest that has reawakened
For as long as I can remember I have drawn and painted. It’s an interest that’s just been there, but I’ve never really taken it seriously. It’s been more like relaxation or if someone wanted me to draw/paint a specific thing. Maybe there were some greeting cards or an occasional tattoo.
It was sometime in my 20s that I decided to try drawing cartoon characters (not tracing). It was the cartoon character Don Martin that was the character that best suited the way I draw, so it turned out to be a lot like that.
For a few years I drew advertisements and flyers for a public park. When it was more like stickman drawing, it was simple and fun, while it was relatively quick to put together.
When I had my first son, I had a lot of time to sit and draw with him. Then when the family grew, the interest of drawing disappeared and became something I only did when someone asked for it. Now the children are grown and I have more time for crafts/creation, so now the desire has slowly crept in.
It started with me making a mural that was lit from behind for one of my son’s hockey teams. It was so much fun so I made some similar ones on canvas with names and numbers for different players in the club.
I was given a fun little assignment to draw a commemorative plaque from trips that some had made together. When I still had all the colors ready, I took the opportunity to make some children’s paintings with names as a present.
After watching a webinar with tips on abstract backgrounds, I tried to move away from the ”cartoon characters”. It is very difficult to know how to start your journey by starting to paint. I thought I’ll do like when I practiced drawing and find a picture to draw from. It ended up being a tree branch with butterflies, I found a picture that I translated freely, you could say. What I learned from these two paintings was how to build a background in layers and with texture. The pictures below show how it started and then through the different steps that then became the background.
When the background was dry, I sketched the motifs in pencil. I do it a bit half-heartedly and just outlines, the rest I want to figure out while holding the brush in my hand. I have a very limited surface to be on at home, so I paint with acrylic so that it dries quickly and can be put away. A long time ago I took a course in oil painting and it feels strange with acrylics because they don’t behave the same. My goal is to paint with oil again but acrylic will do for now.
At least this is how my paintings turned out when they were finished. Now I have to challenge myself and try to develop… it will be exciting!
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