Month: December 2018

Sketches / Drawings / Paintings

Health, love, wisdom & a long life!

by Jane Hannah10 Comments on Health, love, wisdom & a long life!

Have a heart that never hardens, a temper that never tires, and a touch that never hurts.
— Charles Dickens.

I wish you health, love, wisdom & a long life!

Learning from the Masters such as Winslow Homer is illuminating! I discovered that I could mix the colour Burnt Umber, which is a brown, into the sky which I would never have done otherwise. I also learnt that all of his colours are muted, except for the woman’s hat, the sky, the sea and the date tree. I really enjoyed painting this. In a way it is much easier to imitate than to actually paint on one’s own as all of the figuring out has already been done for you. This one is for you Gaétan!

Paper: Stillman & Birn, gamma series, 6″ x 9″
Colours: New Gamboge, Raw Sienna, Pyrrol Crimson, Raw Umber, Cobalt Blue & Ultramarine
Original painting: Winslow Homer 1836-1910 “Along the road in the Bahamas20181231-winslow-homer-jane-hannah-loRes

 

Sketches / Drawings / Paintings

:: Winter solstice ::

by Jane Hannah8 Comments on :: Winter solstice ::

I wonder if the snow loves the trees and fields,
that it kisses them so gently?
And then it covers them up snug,
you know, with a white quilt;
and perhaps it says
‘Go to sleep, darlings, till the summer comes again.’
— Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There (1871).

The winter solstice, also known as midwinter, is an important day for us in the northern hemisphere as this is the day that has the longest night and the shortest day of the year… so this means that tomorrow the days are starting to grow longer… already! Ancient cultures viewed this day as a day of death and rebirth. This fills my heart up with joy as the promise of spring is coming, even if it will not appear before mid-April. And to add to this day, there will be a full Cold Moon.

Here is another beautiful poem by the great Ursula K. Le Guin

HOW IT SEEMS TO ME
In the vast abyss before time, self
is not, and soul commingles
with mist, and rock, and light. In time,
soul brings the misty self to be.
Then slow time hardens self to stone
while ever lightening the soul,
till soul can loose its hold of self
and both are free and can return
to vastness and dissolve in light,
the long light after time.
— Ursula K. Le Guin

20181221-winter-Solstice-jane-hannah-loRes

Sketches / Drawings / Paintings

:: When day is done ::

by Jane Hannah3 Comments on :: When day is done ::

When day is done and I reach my gate,
I come to a realm where there is no hate,
For here, whatever my worth may be,
Are those who cling to their faith in me;
And with love on guard at my humble door,
I have all that the world has struggled for.
— by Edgar Guest (1881-1959)

What better way of giving than to offer a piece of art? So for those of you who are pressed for time, or simply don’t know what to buy or would like to peruse a few of my paintings & drawings, here is an easy way! Just click here for either a digital version or a printed version of some of my paintings & drawings that I have done over the years. An added perk is that the texts are written in English & in French!
http://www.blurb.ca/b/8458456-a-few-stories-with-watercolours-and-drawings

JaneHannah-Watercolours-Drawings-Texts_Page_01

Sketches / Drawings / Paintings

:: Ring your own bell ::

by Jane Hannah10 Comments on :: Ring your own bell ::

No reaction at all — extinction — wears away on the individual until the behaviour grinds to a halt. This is a danger for artists who struggle in a vacuum. Joining clubs, exhibiting online, sending work away to distant galleries, inviting trusted friends to come over and critique goes part of the way, but it doesn’t always ring the bell. Art is a rare pursuit where participants have to learn to ring their own bells.

In my Creative Workflow class, students need to draw a complex line art drawing, then convert it into a digital format using Adobe Illustrator then bring it into Photoshop to actually paint it in watercolour with the help of a Wacom Intuos Pro digital tablet. The end result is usually quite amazing! The students also seem to love it, as they seem to go into a very zen mood.

I use my watercolour painting palette, scan it in, bring it into Photoshop, and then use the eyedropper tool to extract the actual colours and then proceed to paint with the Mixer Brush… which actually does what the tool says that it does. It mixes the colours together. I have been playing with this tool and I have actually managed to use a limited palette for this flower. So I have screened-shot my Photoshop screen so that you can see how I work and see the result.

Medium: Adobe CC Photoshop

20181208-digital-Painting-jane-hannah