gettin’ a groove

It started with a Facebook message. Skipper wanted to know if I’d been painting. My studio was on the way to being clean. So out came the paints, and to ease myself into the process, I printed off a couple of photos to work from.

My watercolour book lay in front of me. Tubes of paint fanned across the desk. Paintbrushes lay beside me. My palette lay empty and ready for colour. Slowly, I sifted and found the pencil I’d been searching for, and sketched out the image to be painted. Pencil down, and I stare at the page, my eyes flicking between the inspiration image and the blank paper before me. I scan the tubes, picking out two or three, the base colours I’ll use. I take a deep breath, uncap the first tube, and squeeze it onto the palette. Slowly, I start with the base coat, and soon find myself lost as I find my rhythm. One painting down, and the results not overly spectacular, but I’m enjoying myself too much to care. I flick over the page, sketch out the next image, and begin laying in the colours, concentrating on creating more depth and interest. A shadow here, a blown highlight there. Slowly, the image comes alive, and with a final flick of my brush to add a last shadow, I find myself much happier with this attempt.

So, dedicated to Skip for helping me find my groove again, I present to whatever small readership may remain, The Babushka Brownie.

And…of course it’s sideways. But I can’t be bothered fighting with wordpress right now, so try not to crink your neck until I can come back and fix it!

xx