Easter Egg Plant
©Jacqueline Hurd
While painting Easter eggs my son, Miles asked me to draw him a picture of an Easter egg plant. I loved this concept so here it is... an Easter egg plant or three with a cute little bunny.
Garden Bird
Garden Bird ©Jacqueline Hurd 2016
Lately I've been obsessing over gouache paint. I love that it's similar to watercolor in the way it can be rewet to be used again after it dries and that it's semi to completely opaque depending on the color and water to paint ratio used.
So here I am writing about gouache paint and how much I love it so it would seem that this painting I'm presenting in this blog post is gouache but it's not. I have to be honest, it's a digital painting. However, I did download a set of gouache paint brushes that can be purchased on creativemarket.com. These $7.00 brushes were created by an artist named Kyle Webster and were recommended to me by one of my digital illustration instructors. At first I was skeptical because I've purchased plenty of digital brushes in the past only to be disappointed by the low quality or digital look of them, these brushes however have none of that. They actually behave a lot like real gouache, the quality is AMAZING and once I got the hang of them I really enjoyed creating this painting with them. While my digital painting skills are not exactly where they need to be (yet), I think it is a good reflection of how well the brushes work.
This painting is available for sale on Society 6 an art print, pillow, tote bag and more.
*post contains affiliate links to products I love and use in my creative process.
Angel on the Other Side
From way back in the day: Auntie Diane on the left & my mother on the right.
I wrote this for my cousins who lost their mother a few days ago. And for my uncle who lost his partner in life, his wife.
Angel on the Other Side
They say you’re on the other side.
Where is that? A place so far away.
A place I can’t see.
If you’re on the other side,
why is it that when I close my eyes,
I’m met with memories so vivid and real.
I can smell your skin and hear your laugh.
This other side, it just can’t be.
These memories are like roads
Twisting and turning
They are fast and slow
I fear I am lost.
No matter how hard I try,
I just can’t find the other side.
Suddenly you appear, hand on my chest.
And then you say:
Relax my love. I’m resting in your heart.
Beating with you and for you.
I’ll be your music and we’ll travel on together.
Love always, your angel on the other side.
I'm All Over the Place
I'm all over the place! Or at least I feel like I am. These past few weeks have been a bit crazy for me. In an effort to get school over with faster I increased my course load. Simultaneously, my work load also increased... and so did the ballet practices for my girls! When it rains it pours right? Regardless, I know this is only temporary and this period of being uncomfortably busy is actually forcing me to be a little more decisive in my creative process. And when I'm decisive, I find I'm more productive :) Perhaps I should just stay busy for the sake of making good art.
Anyway, here are two little illustrations I did this week for one of my classes.
An illustrated "set design" for school
Characters
Saturday Flowers
I used to avoid drawing from life. I found it limiting when in reality everywhere I look I see limitless inspiration. My eyes must have been closed. The beauty is in life
This week's bouquet (August 15). I couldn't stop myself and ended up going overboard with ink.
At the beginning of the Summer we took a family trip back to North Carolina and stayed the week with our friends, Justin and Mary. When we arrived I noticed there was a cute bouquet of nice, but expired flowers in a mason jar. The next morning the flowers were gone, replaced with fresh new flowers from the local farmer's market. Turned out that was their routine, fresh flowers every Saturday. My husband liked this idea and implemented the routine in our house the week we returned from our vacation. It's a great way to bring something new but not permanent into the house every week. Another added and unexpected bonus is that the flowers provide me with a load of creative inspiration. The past few weeks I have felt compelled to illustrate Saturday's flowers. It's my way of keeping them around past their expiration.
I've also been using these bouquets as an opportunity to explore two things I have a tendency to avoid mostly out of laziness; watercolors and still life. Here's a line I recently scribbled into my sketchbook while reflecting on the topic:
"I used to avoid drawing from life. I found it limiting when in reality everywhere I look I see limitless inspiration. My eyes must have been closed. The beauty is in life."
A simple bouquet of carnations and daisies got me started.
My illustration of early August's sunflower bouquet. These were so pretty!
My Photography Hiatus
When I moved to Kentucky my camera went in the closet. I took a seven month break. Here's why.
After arriving in Kentucky everything got unpacked except my camera. I placed my camera bag in the closet and let it sit there. I left Southern Pines feeling burned out as far as photography went. In Southern Pines I had a good thing going. I had a steady stream of on location portrait clients and was meeting my necessary profit margin. But being close to a military base the market was becoming saturated with shoot and burners; people were getting DSLRs and turning into "professional" photographers over night. Some were charging as low as $50 a session with all images included! When people would call me for quotes they had a hard time understanding why my prices were so much higher. I often found myself having to explain my pricing structure in great detail. These were prices that I carefully calculated based on my overhead, average (real) industry rates and consideration of my area's cost of living. It was frustrating. It was exhausting. It took the fun out of photography. With a move to another military town where the market was even more saturated, I wanted a break from that. I decided to put away my camera gear and spend my time in Kentucky focusing on my artwork. For a while I did just that. Seven months went by and my husband started to voice his concern over my lack of photo-interest... Photography was part of the person he fell in love with and he missed it. I did too. Starting at the beginning of this summer, he encouraged me to get my camera out but I couldn't seem to make anything magical happen, I wasn't motivated. And then something changed. My niece, Amerah (the one in the polka dot dress), came to visit for part of the summer. Amerah thinks everything I do is amazing which is flattering and probably the way it's supposed to be as far as an auntie-niece relationship goes. Amerah asked me if I could do a photoshoot the next morning of her and my daughter, Caitlyn. I nonchalantly said "sure, if you are up and ready by 8:30". I didn't think anything else of it, but the next morning her and Cait were both up and ready. I still wasn't feeling it, but once I had them outside it came naturally. Having my camera in hand felt right and when I finished the images in Lightroom, I was excited with the results.
Lesson learned: I realize photography is definitely a part of me and I do love it. With that said, my camera is not going back in the closet. We'll see what happens in the months to come.
Aesthetic Emotion
A lot of times I get stuck in the drawing process before I even begin. I do I'm thinking too hard about what I want to "draw". I watch my kids do the same thing and my advice to myself and to them lately has been to just get it out. Just put it on paper as fast as you can and then move on...
This came from my sketchbook. It started as just a quick sketch showing the bond between mother and son.
I'm not sure who this is by. I found it on Pinterest.
A lot of times I get stuck in the drawing process before I even begin. I do I'm thinking too hard about what I want to "draw". I watch my kids do the same thing and my advice to myself and to them lately has been to just get it out. Just put it on paper as fast as you can and then move on. Once you get it out, it can be turned into something better later, used as a reference drawing or perhaps it will be perfect as it is. If anything, consider it practice.
What I've realized is that perfect form is great but capturing emotion is what really makes a difference. Emotion is what draws the viewer in. Emotion is what makes us fall in love with whatever it is we are looking at. That's why simple illustrations containing only line drawings work. Like the one I've posted above from my sketchbook or the simple line sketch I've included in this post of a man and a woman that I found on Pinterest. I saw it and it immediately caught my attention. It makes me wonder what this man and woman are going through. They have a story, what is it?
What I'm experiencing by falling in love with this simple sketch is according to Clive Bell called aesthetic emotion and it's completely subjective, even the term aesthetic emotion is subjective because some disagree with Bell's theory. While I see the sketch of the woman leaning on the man as a work of art, someone else might think it's crap... just a sketch, an unfinished piece... and that's completely ok. That's the beauty in it, it gives every artist a chance to succeed and develop their own style because someone out there will love their work, right?
To better explain myself, and Bell's theory of aesthetic emotion I'll leave you with the first paragraph of Clive Bell's essay titled "The Aesthetic Hypothesis". I'm not sure that I agree with everything in his essay but read the rest for yourself in his book titled "Art" and let me know what you think. The essay starts on page 3.
The starting-point for all systems of aesthetics must be the personal experience of a peculiar emotion. The objects that provoke this emotion we call works of art; this emotion is called the aesthetic emotion. All works of visual art have some common quality, or when we speak of ‘works of art’ we gibber. There must be some one quality without which a work of art cannot exist, which is significant form. In each, lines and colours combined in a particular way, certain forms and relations of forms, stir our aesthetic emotions. It will be said that the objects that provoke this emotion vary with each individual, and that therefore a system of aesthetics can have no objective validity. However, we have no other means of recognizing a work of art than our feeling for it. I have no right to consider anything a work of art to which I cannot react emotionally; and I have no right to look for the essential quality in anything that I have not felt to be a work of art. All systems of aesthetics must be based on personal experience-that is to say, they must be subjective.
Pictures in the snow
It's beautiful here in Kentucky right now... to me at least. I grew up in Connecticut and as a child became accustomed to ice cold winters with lots of snow, but I've spent most of my adult life living in North Carolina where winters are pretty lame.
I actually took this photo of my son and daughters playing in the snow with my i-phone... and yes, this is our back-yard here in Kentucky!!!
It's beautiful here in Kentucky right now... to me at least. I grew up in Connecticut and as a child became accustomed to ice cold winters with lots of snow, but I've spent most of my adult life living in North Carolina where winters are pretty lame. As most know from my post last month I recently moved to Kentucky. Finally, cold winters and snow are back in my life! Naturally I want take lots of pictures of the kids as they roll around in the snow. Ive been using my i-phone which does great in capturing the moment. But to be honest I'm feeling a little guilty because I have my D800 and the ability to create some stunning photographs, but I haven't taken it out of it's bag since I got here almost a month ago. Looking outside, the sun is out and it's ultra bright. This gets me thinking about exposure... and as someone who never shoots on auto, how tricky it can be with the sun reflecting off the snow. For some it is easier to throw the camera on auto but that means less control. Once you get the hang of it, understanding exposure is pretty simple. It's all about understanding 1) the lighting conditions and 2) your ISO, F-stop and shutter speed and what those three functions mean and do. For those who want to dig into it and do more with your photography, here's a great (FREE) guide to mastering exposure from one of my affiliates. No more super bright or way too dark, this should help you shoot for just right :) I think I'll go dig out my camera now... it's time to go play in the snow!
(FREE) guide to mastering exposure
A Valentine's Day Sketch
Every year that goes by I tell myself I'm going to try next year to be more festive. So here it is, Valentine's Day 2015 and I think I did an ok job in my attempt to get into the mood of this particular holiday. I'm wearing red, I'm baking a sweet treat for my kids and I drew this cute little Valentine's Day mouse. :)
From my sketchbook.
Every year that goes by I tell myself I'm going to try next year to be more festive. So here it is, Valentine's Day 2015 and I think I did an ok job in my attempt to get into the mood of this particular holiday. I'm wearing red, I'm baking a sweet treat for my kids and I drew this cute little Valentine's Day mouse. :)
What is creative flow?
Sometimes when I talk to my artist friends we joke that our clients think we have a magic wand that we can wave and create with. It’s definitely just a joke, I have no such thing, but to be honest there is something a little magical about the creative process. Realistically and for those who don’t believe in magic, it’s a purely physiological process.
From my sketchbook. I drew this on a long car ride with pen and watercolor pencils. I was inspired by an illustration I found on Bechance by Maaike Bakker. Click on his name to see his work, it's pretty inspiring if you like sea monsters!
Sometimes when I talk to my artist friends we joke that our clients think we have a magic wand that we can wave and create with. It’s definitely just a joke, I have no such thing, but to be honest there is something a little magical about the creative process. Realistically and for those who don’t believe in magic, it’s a purely physiological process.
The process I’m talking about here is called flow. Creative flow. It’s a real state of mind. One that when achieved allows me or you or who ever is experiencing it to almost freeze time and speed up creative productivity. When it happens at least for me, the rest of the world falls away. I hear nothing. I’m in a different place. It’s like being in a creative trance.
How does this happen?
According to an article I found on psychology today, the state of creative flow occurs as a result of a temporary deactivation of the prefrontal cortex. This is called transient hypofrontality. The prefrontal cortex is where our voice of reason, our critical and impulse controlling self is housed. With our reasonable side temporarily shut out, our brain then releases a chemical cocktail flooding the brain with large quantities of norepinephrine, dopamine, endorphins, anandamide, and serotonin. There’s more to it, but in short, that’s what happens when people achieve creative flow. For me, it doesn’t happen all the time. It’s a once or twice a month kind of thing depending on what I’m working on and how inspired I am. I noticed that I’m more creative after a long run, probably because it jump starts that creative chemical cocktail.
What about you? What triggers your creative flow?
Reference:
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-playing-field/201402/flow-states-and-creativity