Over the weekend, I string-pieced some more of the blue and grey blocks. I think I only need four more—if I stick with the original plan. I’m not sure I will. I might go with a different sashing, which could mean I might need more blocks. We’ll see… No new photos, yet.
Day 19: Earth-Tone Mish-Mash
The prompt for yesterday was “What’s On Your Table?”, but nothing came to mind. I didn’t want to draw what was actually on any of my tables, nor did I feel like drawing food.
I decided to go back to the Endless Art Challenge cards, because I enjoyed that so much the day before.
The three cards were “Botanical”, “Earthy”, and “Make it Abstract”. On a whim, I pulled a card from my own handmade set of inspiration cards, which I wrote about on this blog entry (and possibly others). Any guesses what the card symbolizes? (It’s written on the reverse side.)
According to my note on the other side of the card, the directions are to “go mid-century modern” (or whatever I think that means).
I also decided to look at the reverse sides of the Endless Art Challenge cards. Each one has a different inspiration artwork that you can choose to “draw in your style”. I liked the frog, so chose to add that into my daily challenge, as well.
So, for those following along at home, that means I needed to make something that had an earth color palette, with a subject that included something botanical and a version of the frog—and ideally it should also be somewhat abstract and include at least some elements of “mid-century modern” style art.
Keep in mind that all of this is open to interpretation. My idea of “abstract” may not be as abstract as what most people think it should be, but it doesn’t matter. It’s just meant to spark an idea and get you over that roadblock of deciding how to start.
Something actually popped into my head immediately, so I was able to just grab a pencil and make a quick sketch.
Here’s my sketch. I didn’t worry about trying to keep the pencil super faint or erasing it to make it softer. I don’t really mind a little pencil under the paint, to be honest.
I chose four or five of what I considered “earthy” colors. One was a reddish berry color that tints up to pale pink, but it’s still fairly earthy.
I painted the base layer, then added a few darker touches for texture and left it to dry overnight. I do that a lot for this challenge: The first half happens on the “right day”, but I add the finishing details the day after. That’s just how I like to do it, and when you tend to start these things in the evening, sometimes there’s not enough time to do it all that day—especially if you want to let it dry naturally.
This afternoon, I added some details in white gouache and acrylic paint pen, then linework in dip pen and burnt sienna acrylic ink.
It’s a little messy, but I think that actually goes well with this style of art. I’m pretty happy with it, for something that came out of a handful of random prompts.
I think I hit most of my targets. It’s earthy. It includes botanical themes. The frog is there. Some of it is abstract-ish… And some elements, such as the stack of shapes on the left, were inspired by the mid-century modern aesthetic.
It’s oddly satisfying to have a checklist of targets to meet, and it really does make it easier to get started!
