Elephants   

When I first started painting, I went through period of painting elephants, a lot.  They're one of the most majestic nails on earth, extremely intelligent, caring, loving, powerful and sweet and their skin is so expressive, which is one of the reasons I like painting and drawing them.

I took photos from books and the internet and used them to paint and learn how to paint them. They didn't always work, some are terrible, but in the end I think some of them turned out OK

My first ones were these

My later ones look a bit better, I think

Its the eyes I love, and the way the skin creases and cracks, showing the shadows and light in contrast

 Etsy Site up and running

This made me very happy being able to get my head around the intricacies of setting an Etsy site up - I know you will likely see this as a simple job, but I overthink so it takes a tad longer

It looks better than I thought it would and just to ensure its got some form of brand, Ive got a load of merchandise as well

and a whole load of boxes for shipping.

Now just to get someone to buy a painting.......

 Starting out

My initial attempts at drawing and painting were slow and stuttering, often things out of proportion, or colours fairly bland, because I am only learning about layering and finishing (I am still learning so don't shoot me down).

So somethings looked passable, some fairly funny and some painful, but in each I learnt something, even if it was just 'to start again'

So here are my faltering steps....

But I tried and tried and tried and they started getting better...well, I think they are, but then, I once thought I could sing, until I heard the out-of-tune cacophony on the recording...

So the one above improved to this

which I thought was a bit nicer, and now is owned by a friend.

 Water

I quite like painting water. 

Whether its waves, the stormier the better, or water on the river reflecting the sun, or water that's hiding something dark underneath.

But I also like the still calm water you see in slow moving rivers and in ponds.

The feeling of moving through that sort of water is nothing short of uplifting to your mind. It doesn't have to be quiet even. Its just the feeling of peace.

So I started painting what I could see in my mind to describe this, yesterday and it turned out like this

It is still very much work in progress but is just made up of many many lines of blues browns and greens and a touch of white.

But a bit like the first painting I posted, the time it takes to do the small actions also helps me to focus my mind and concentration, which is often not possible in that ping pong inside my brain.

So, I shall carry on adding to this and another painting Im doing in between other things and update this as it goes...

 What is Inspiration

What gives you inspiration to draw, paint, make music ?  

Is it the light of the sun reflecting off the water ?

is it that the glistening of the light dazzles you when you are walking, or floating on the water ?  

Is it that it brings out something inside you that is already there or does it create something inside you that wasn't there in the first place ?  

I don't know the answer to be honest. All I know is that sometimes that happens and sometimes it doesn't.

For example, this photo inspired me to paint this. It wasn't the best interpretation of it but I liked how the water shone out.  Ive taken a long time trying to replicate it though.

For me, the real way I paint is emotion. If I don't feel something there is no point trying to paint or do anything creative.  It will be dull and empty (and likely some of what I have on Instagram is just that).  

The flip side is that the emotion can go anywhere and nowhere, I just have to wait to see how its going to end.

these are both based on the same photo, that I can't put my finger on, but was along the Deben near the cut.  The Pencil drawing was soon after I kayaked there and the painting was more emotionally driven as a painting.

Without sounding arty or anything, that's the sort of thing that drives my dabbling with paint.

Last night, I tried to paint, but my head and heart wasn't in it at all and it ended up a canvas and sheet of paper being wasted and ruined.

I should know not to bother by now...