#4: a new love for mixed media and starting a drawing challenge
October is here which brings with it inspiration, ideas and so much excitement. I am massively an autumn and winter person, as soon as this time of year comes around it creates a huge sense of peace for me. I purchased a basic flat bed scanner recently which has been pleasantly surprising with how much it has sparked my creativity. My fully digital pieces felt very flat to me; I couldn’t create the texture I was looking for with Procreate brushes. I decided to experiment with making my own textures traditionally and scanning those in to manipulate them digitally.
Here I’ve used gouache for the backgrounds, focussing on using the brush strokes to create texture and looseness. I loved having the freedom to paint with gouache without having to think about the small details. This helped me get started and overcome the immense fear of a blank white canvas. It gave me some depth to work with digitally and helped me feel unstuck.
It is also the first time I’ve decided to take part in a month long drawing challenge. ‘Inktober’ is a challenge created by Jake Parker with a list of drawing prompts to visit everyday, albeit there is some controversy surrounding the original idea. Since then, many artists have created their own month of prompts for others to participate in. I’ve decided to follow @clarasupersuper’s list of prompts as they immediately inspired me. I also really appreciated this is not a daily challenge and instead it is every few days. I know this will help me build consistency and I will still produce more art than I would do any other month. The challenge needs drive to complete but comes without the overwhelm of having create something every day.
The first prompt - ‘hot’ - gave me the idea to show the feeling of an intensely hot, vibrant summer day. I had the best time creating this and experimenting further with mixed media.
Scanning the gouache painting allows the brush strokes and textures to really come alive. I achieved the vision I had and would not be able to do so solely digitally. I refined the scan on Procreate, drawing over details that may have been washed out by the paint. I love the imperfections that are created through this process. When drawing on digital mediums, it’s easy to get carried away with perfectionism of straight lines and block filled shapes. These smaller details, that happen naturally while making art traditionally, are what create a visual depth that was previously missing for me.
