Getting back on the art horse

I’ve really missed creating art – drawing, painting, however it comes. However, for the last few years, every time I’ve found the time where I could create something, I’ve found the muse has deserted me. This evening, I decided it was time to get past that, and paint something – anything.

First stage: watercolour wash

It was quite liberating to get past the worries of my work being ‘good’ but realising I just wanted to paint something for my own enjoyment. I knew I wanted to finish it this evening, which I have managed to do. This stopped my being too hung up on the detail or the literal correctness of the work. When I used to draw a lot, I did ridiculously detailed biro drawings, usually of gardens or plants. They took days and days of continuous work, trying to represent every last leaf and flower. Moving away from this style gave me more spontaneity than I’ve had before.

I looked through my box of paints and selected watercolours, as the media that I’ve used the least. Finding some ink drawing pens inspired me for a style, and I decided to take Machu Picchu as my subject as one of the most inspirational places I’ve ever been.

The finished article

I used a number of light washes to create the background, then inked over the image, using cross hatching for shading. It made me laugh a bit when I decided to do this, as my dad used to do ink drawings a lot and cross hatching was sort of his signature style. Looks like that has influenced me profoundly. Anyway, here it is, what I produced this evening. Nothing special, not an accurate representation, but hopefully something of the sense of the place, or at least vaguely recognisable!