Water Colour Painting

Water colour painting is something that I've always admired but automatically put it in the 'too hard' basket. I just couldn't see how I would be able to use the medium well enough to be able to do it justice. However, as you all know I really enjoy learning and trying out new things creatively, even when it's a challenge. I don't want to end up stagnating with my art.

I layby'd four water colour books months ago (do you know how hard it was to wait for them?!!), and I was able to pay them off a couple of weeks ago ... I can't wait to start browsing through them and trying out some of the incredible techniques that are in them!

While waiting to pay off the layby, I painted my first landscape in water colour. I know it's definitely far from being perfect, and I know that the techniques I used can certainly be improved, but I am happy with it for my first attempt. I will frame it, despite it's errors, because I want to remember the small beginning that I made with this medium. 

Here's the piece that I painted ...

I can see the mistakes in this painting so clearly, but I'm keeping it anyway! We've got to start somewhere when it comes to starting something new. 

"Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes.

Art is knowing which ones to keep."

-Scott Adams.

I hope this week you work up the courage to try something that you've always wanted to do ... give it a go, I'm sure you'll enjoy it!

Good Morning Beautiful Country Town

I just love the country town where I live, especially when it's covered in delightful, thick, beautiful fog. It was like this again this morning and I took my iPhone camera on a little drive to capture some of the beauty.

So, let me say ... good morning to you! I hope you have a beautifully creative week! 

(Please do not copy in any way, 

all photos property of Embrace Create Enjoy, thanks)

A Fantastic Opportunity - Art With Cary McAulay (and a small giveaway!)

Last night I had a last minute, fantastic opportunity to be involved with my eldest Son's school youth group. Why is that so fantastic you ask? Well ... because it was an acrylic painting night! I went along, hopeful that there might have been one spot free, and there was!

The night was a proper art class, that was lead by famous Australian artist 'Cary McAulay'. If you've not heard of him before, or seen any of his incredible work, you can check out all of his artworks here.

“No Matter who you are today… if you call yourself an artist – you are at all times standing on the shoulders of the giants that walked the earth before you…. even Rubens, Giotto, Dali, Homer, Monet and yes even Picasso, also stood upon the shoulders of giants!”….originality? that’s when you manage to climb up over the ears and onto that shiny bald head and while slipping around to get a better footing, you realize that it is all about belief in yourself!! heh heh I only get there in my dreams ! that’s because in them – I CAN FLY!” - Cary McAulay.

Cary is a fantastic teacher, breaking down the process of the painting for the year 7 & 8's into 7 easy to remember steps. He is a genuine Aussie bloke who has a passion for art, and a gift for teaching it. He's very modest and ready to assist young artists (or artists of any age) and answer their questions. 

I was able to have a quick chat with Cary before the class began and I asked him the following questions ...

Q: "How long have you been painting for? 

A: "Oh I'd say, since kindergarten, but professionally since 1980"

Q: "Do you only use acrylics or other mediums as well?"

A: "No I use acrylics and oils"

Q: "Which one is your favourite medium to use?"

A: "Oh I couldn't pick, I like them both as much as the other"

Q: "Are you self-taught or have you had lessons"

A: "A bit of both really"

This is the painting that we were taught how to paint step by step by Cary ... 
Isn't it amazing?

The master artist Cary McAulay at work.

A very talented, genuine bloke.

Here's the photo's that I took at each of the seven stages of the painting ...

1.  Finding the horizon line and marking it out.

2.  Creating the sky starting from a darker blue then working to a lighter blue down to the horizon. This stage is also where we added clouds.

3.  Adding the greens and yellows of the ocean and defining the shape of the wave.
This layer is the 'background' of the water.

4.  This is the stage where we added the foam to the crest of the breaker, 
making it crisp white with 'swirling' texture to add to the foam effect.

5.  Blocking out the white in the sail boats and grouping them in an appealing composition.
The white block out is to ensure that when we painted over the top of the sails with the patterns and other colours, that they will stand out effectively.

6.  Adding the reflection from the sky into the water, the white reflections of the breaker wave and little glitters of white on the tops of the waves.

7.  This is my finished painting. In this step I added the patterns to the sails of the boats,
and fixed up places here and there. We added foam sprays to the edges of the wave and small little wave crests out a little bit further.

This is my eldest Son and I with our finished artworks! It was such a great night together!
My Son's piece turned out really well, he is a very talented artist!

While I am happy with my finished piece, like every artist, I can see the areas that I don't like. I would have done the waves smoother for sure. I think that's the one thing that really is bugging me! 

Cary told us all that our piece is not finished until we say it's finished, that we reserve the right to change our piece, go back to it and re-work it if we're wanting to ... maybe I will with the waves, I'm not sure yet.

My Son listening to the 'Introduction'.

I learnt so many new techniques that are able to be used when creating other artworks as well. I never knew how to paint water, and now I can practise what Cary taught until I have more of a grasp on this technique.

I have actually found one of my original photographs on my computer that I love, and I'm going to attempt to paint that one using the same advice and techniques learnt from Cary. 

His teaching is clear, inspiring and motivating. With the approach that he takes, it makes it easier to end up with a half decent artwork!

I'm so grateful for this opportunity and that my Son's school organised such a brilliant youth group activity! My Son learnt so many new things as well, and he's thinking of attempting the photo I've picked to paint next too! (I may even get my other three children involved too!)

It's not only original art and art prints that Cary sells, he has a great range of products like throw pillows (which I just love!) and Calendars. To purchase any of his range, go to his shop here.

So, now all that's left to do, is name my artwork. Cary has named his piece (can't quite remember the name though!) and I'm wanting to give mine it's own name ... I was thinking maybe 'The Race Is On', or 'Ocean Adventure'. What do you think? 

Leave a comment bellow if you have any suggestions for the name, and I'll pick the name I like best as the winner! The prize will be a colour copy print of my artwork! So get busy commenting! I'll announce the winner in a couple of weeks!

If you're wanting to contact Cary you can email him at McAulay1@hotmail.com.

Cary, thank you for the time and effort you put into teaching these young students your techniques. Your passion is obvious, your talent outstanding, and we had a great night. Thank you to my Son's school for arranging this great event for our children, and thank you Son for not being embarrassed to have mum come along!

Happy creating everyone!

Encouraging Your Children To Be Creative

One of the things that I love (and I mean really love!) seeing is my four children sitting quietly (Ha! did I say quietly?!) at the kitchen table, pen in hand, drawing pictures from their incredible imaginations! It thrills my heart!

 It's probably true that they have inherited a part of their creative genes from myself and therefore it does come somewhat naturally to them. But before you say, "I'm not creative so my kids aren't going to be either," there has been things that I've deliberately put into place in our home that has helped to encourage (not force) their creativity and give them easy access to the supplies they need. 

If you're wanting to encourage your kids in this way too, and you're not sure where to start, then the following suggestions could work for your family like they have mine.

Here's a list of the practical things that I've done:

• Created a designated 'art box' that is sitting in the dinning room, near the table. It's full of pencils, crayons, pens, rubbers, paints, glue sticks, safety scissors, etc. It is very easily accessible (during their free time) but it's also the responsibility of the children to keep it in order. They know I don't mind it getting untidy while they're busy creating, but they must be the ones to re-organise it, making sure that everything goes in there properly when they're done.

• I invested in some 'learn to draw books' for their birthdays when they were on special. These have been fantastic in teaching them about the techniques of drawing. They also help inspire them when they're a bit stuck with what to draw.

• I filled a cookie jar with good quality felt pens (good quality isn't essential ... I'm just fussy!!) and crayons so that they are in easy reach of little arty fingers!

• We brought them visual art diaries when they were in between four and five years old (previous to that it was just loose paper) so that firstly, it eliminated the paper everywhere which was beginning to drive me nuts!, and also because it gives them their own 'space' to let their imaginations run free! I also get to keep these journals to look back on (and sometimes giggle at) in years to come!

• I have hung them on the fridge or put them in my special 'mummy box' so they see their work is precious.

• Sending their artworks to family has served a two fold purpose; firstly they learn to bless others and give them something to please them, and they appreciate the simple, kind comments in return.

Here's what I do 'verbally' to encourage them:

• Talk them through some techniques and demonstrate how to achieve the result that they're after

• Remind them that it's o.k. to make mistakes 

• I make comments like, "You're such a great artist!" and "That's a great artwork!" and I find this encourages them a lot.

• When they ask, "Mummy does this look good?", if there's something that's not quite right, I'll gently suggest some changes they could make to improve (but not every time), but I always add positives to it. I want to be honest and give them some help, but I really desire them to also keep the uniqueness about their art and not attempt to change their styles either. I'm not wanting to crush their efforts.

• When they become discouraged by something not working like they want it to, I just remind them that it's fine to make mistakes and learn from them, they just need to keep going and not give up.

It may sound like art is something that's a 'must do' in our home, but it's not. My kids have seen me creating since their birth and it's something they've willingly wanted to be involved in themselves. It's at least every second day that there's something being created by one or all of them. Is that the same at your house too?!

I think the best thing that has helped to encourage my children to be creative is for me to enjoy their development. It's really wonderful seeing them go from creating people where the arms and legs stick out from the head itself (which are so cute!), to a person with a much more recognizable form! 

I have loved not pushing them to achieve, to change, to 'work harder' or 'be perfect' at it ... they are just kids! Me loving their creativity, acknowledging their 'masterpieces', and enjoying where they're individually at is priceless for them and for me too. 

When art is something that makes you relax, is fun, and is without in-achievable expectations, it becomes such a beautiful blessing and something that our kids will want to stick at (hopefully) all their lives.

What are some ways that you encourage your kids to be creative? Do you do any of the things I've mentioned above with your little ones? Are you wanting to try any of these for your children?

I hope you have a beautiful week, enjoying the creativity of your little ones ... I think I'll be buying my almost five year old his first art journal today!

(Linking up with the inspiring bloggers at CreateWithJoy)

The Art Of Self Teaching

There are many creative outlets that I enjoy, and for a while a few years ago, I was feeling restricted by a tight budget and not being able to attend 'professional classes' regularly. 

I remember my parents allowing and paying for me to go to after school art lessons where we were taught some techniques in chalk pastel drawings and a little in oil paintings. When we just had two children, I attended with a friend a pastel portrait class for a few weeks but (I can't even remember why) we never completed it. I took art in school, but a lot of the learning was 'learn as you go'.

So for the biggest part of my creative journey, I've been self taught. Pretty much everything I've learnt about photography I've taught myself. The same for acrylics and water colours (what I'm practicing now).

Why am I sharing this you ask?

Because you need to know that there's no hard and fast rule to learning. 

If you're wanting to learn something new, then just begin! There's absolutely no need to be limited if you can't have lessons. You're actually free-er to explore and develop your own style when you teach yourself. There's countless amounts of free resources available to teach you what you're wanting to know.

Here's some free resources that I use:

• You tube tutorials (there are tutorials for anything and everything these days ... help yourself!)
• The library (our library has old books they sell for gold coin donation, some of which are fantastic!)
• Other artists/musicians/writers work etc 
• DVD tutorial lessons
• Internet articles/websites/blogs
• Friends who are willing to give you some tips and advice
• practicing all these new ideas/techniques without the need to get it right straight away.

Don't get discouraged if your progress is slow, it would be even slower if you did nothing at all! Little by little you will begin to see an advancement in your skills and techniques. You will begin to define what your style is and what you love about your unique art! Enjoy the process along the way, it's all part of the experience!

Start small, no matter how small. This is where I find a practise journal is a priceless tool! You can explore anything and everything without the expectation of perfection.

Your creativity is important and the world needs what you've got to offer. 

Don't give up on who you've been made to be. 

Keep learning any way you can ... you'll be so glad you did!

(You can find me on Pinterest and also on FaceBook at InkJoy)