1 Year, 52 Paintings - Goal #55 Masterpost

After completing 52 paintings inside 12 months - goal #55 on The List - I figured it might be easier to create a masterpost to display everything together!

Here are my 52 paintings.
I've sorted them into categories, but have numbered them according to the order I painted them in.

Clicking the thumbnail will take you to the post containing that painting.

Fanart
01. Teatime in the Forest	02. The Colour of Music
03. Smoke and Mist	29. The Visitor
30. Picnic	31. Gee Up!
35. Giftart for friend	38. New Year at 221b
50. Steve Finn and the Cute Lamp

Self Portrait with Catbeard

Self Portrait with Catbeard, January 2015

Self Portrait with Catbeard
This is it, the final painting for this goal:

055. Create 52 paintings in 1 year.

All the others have been posted, though this is actually #46.

I realised that I hadn't attempted a self portrait, in fact it's a topic I usually avoid. So I thought I would paint one, but with a difference. Well, if people can take photographs like this, I sure can paint this selfie!

The cat in the painting is Alfie, who tends to follow me around (and trip me up) and sleep in my room and get hair all over my clothes, so it only seemed right to include him in the picture!

I discovered through this image that hair is not as easy to paint with watercolours as it is to 'paint' in Photoshop (no surprise there, really). It was also difficult to mix my hair colour, which is currently a reddish brown!

Still, I like this as it's a bit silly. :)


Well, that's the goal done and dusted!
I'll eventually make a master post with all 52 pictures as thumbnails linking to their corresponding blog post. For the time being, you can browse the paintings by checking out the tag for goal 55.

A Blank Page (or Art That Isn't There Yet)

Now I've completed my goal of creating 52 paintings in a year, let me tell you: I've spent hours staring at blank pages, knowing there is an image there.
Art involves a lot of invisibility, starting with a blank page (and sometimes a totally blank imagination, argh!)

Very rarely do I have a precise idea of how the finished piece will look.
I may have decided to include certain elements or colours, or wanted to evoke a particular emotion, but that's it.

Eventually I put on some music and get on with it.
Last time it was asobius, so here's their music video, 'Starlight'. It's bouncy and happy.

Music always helps to jog my brain into creativity.

Soon enough, by putting pencil to paper (gasp!), the 'Invisible Art' starts to appear...

Traps & Suggestions

Today I'm sharing four new paintings towards the following goal:

055. Create 52 paintings in 1 year

This includes more suggestions, so is a mixed bag of subject matter!

Inside, January 2015

Inside
Originally this one was going to be quite different, but once I'd drawn the person in the box, I thought to add a hand closing the box--and a box in the person's hand.
Unfortunately, in my wisdom (hah!) I picked up a fineliner when I'd finished painting, and outlined the person, which ruined it somewhat. This was one of those paintings where I didn't quite know when to stop.
That aside, I'm pretty pleased with how the big hand turned out, particularly as I tend to struggle with drawing hands.
I took inspiration for this piece from the feeling of being trapped inside oneself, by oneself, and the despair, fear and lack of control one feels over it that only makes the situation worse.
Medium: Watercolour on watercolour paper
Size: A5

Cheerful, huh?!

These next three are on much happier topics.
They're actually the last three I painted for this goal (yes, I've finished!) but I'm choosing to post them first. As I was stumped for what else to paint, and had already bothered Facebook for ideas, I decided to bother tumblr instead.
And quite helpfully, gained three suggestions:

Thank you, tumblrites!

So here goes...the tumblr suggestions...posted in the order I painted them, rather than the order they were suggested.

Suggested Scenery

Whilst I post pieces for my painting goal here, I also share them on a particular art group on Facebook. Recently I grumbled a little about lacking in inspiration, and had some great suggestions from other members...

(Have edited out userpics/surnames because privacy rocks)

So, I took those suggestions and got painting! Thanks girls!

Mourners of Mountain Moon, January 2015

Mourners of Mountain Moon
Terry (who also blogs over at Write.Create.Connect.) suggested falling snow, or a girl with head bowed and a single tear.
Alright, so I didn't get to the falling snow part, but from her suggestion, I ended up with this!
I tried to use very pale colours for the skin and tears of the characters. Originally they were going to be flower-like, but I decided to go in a different direction. The mountain part really happened because I'd just finished reading The Hobbit (which I'll blog about another time) and my brain was full of the Misty Mountain!
Some of my moon craters ended up a little wonky but overall this turned out better than I expected.
Medium: Watercolour on watercolour paper
Size: A5

Pathways of the Mind

The mind is a curious thing. It brings us dreams, discovers links between otherwise unrelated things, and of course chugs along merrily as we go about our daily lives. Scientists have devoted their lives to understanding the mind, whether in matters of psychology or neurology. They have tried to discover the full extent of the mind's power, and unlock the mystery of imagination.
When we let our imaginations run wild, there is no telling what our minds may come up with, nor how ridiculous and nonsensical it may appear.

Which is why the theme of this art post is Pathways of the Mind, and comprises of a nice big helping of surrealism. 

A Stage of Consciousness, January 2015

A Stage of Consciousness
A figure dances on a checkered stage, hemmed in by rock and riches. Nearby stand two structures of unknown origin, as more hover in a red sky, and all this seen from the mouth of a cave. But the dream is ending, and the scene slowly melting away.

I painted this to represent that point in slumber when you are caught between dreams and awakening--when you are conscious that you are dreaming, but powerless to affect the dream, or immediately wake from it.

Medium: Watercolour on watercolour paper
Size: A5

Sheltered Life

Sheltered Life, January 2015

I've been churning out paintings like there's no tomorrow, and still haven't caught up with posting them all yet. I'm not going to post them all together, because I still want to share them in sets wherever possible. Today's painting comes all on it's own...

Sheltered Life
Admittedly this isn't a new idea. I drew something similar several years ago, using biro, and it took forever to draw all the monsters!

For comparison, I'll add the original drawing at the bottom of this post. 

Normally I paint purely for the sake of creating something aesthetically pleasing, or to illustrate a scene. This image is different--it has meaning. It depicts a 'Sheltered Life'. The faceless subject beneath the cover of the umbrella is wrapped up against the world, in a clean but relatively barren and boring landscape. Beyond the protection of the umbrella, the monsters of reality await, unable to reach the figure inside. At first glance they appear fearsome, but on closer inspection, whilst some have savage teeth and cruel eyes, others have an expression of kindness and humour.
Such is the reality of a sheltered life: whilst the horrors are kept at bay, so too are the joys.

The Gathering

The Gathering, January 2015

Yup, this is another art post. Technically this does count as Doing, even though it's not Going Out And Doing.

I flew into a bit of a panic a few days ago when I realised how many paintings I have left to paint before the beginning of March. My goal was to complete 52 within a year, with the first one being painted on 3rd March (though I didn't share it until July, whoops).

So I got on and created some more paintings, and here is one of them.

The Gathering
I wanted to paint something magical set at night, with lots of tree silhouettes and so on. So I painted a gathering of fairies/elementals--but of course, we can't see anything of them but light and energy!
The grass posed a problem, and the trees took ages to paint, but I enjoyed painting them.
Medium: Watercolour on watercolour paper
Size: A5

By the way, if you've started to think this is a blog solely about what I do when I'm sitting on my butt...that is going to change! Next week, I'm planning to go ice skating with my sisters, which will not only be another goal off The List, but a real challenge as I've never tried it before!
Our ice skating adventure won't be at any old rink, but somewhere rather special.
Watch this space!

Slightly to the Left of Human

Alright, so this blog is supposedly about Doing, but all I've done lately is post about books, share artwork, and eat chocolate.

Today...I'm going to share more artwork. I shall blog about Doing Things when I get around to doing them (plans are afoot!)

Today's theme is Slightly to the Left of Human* and includes paintings from as far back as last March, so you can see my improvement ;)

Daisy, March 2014

Daisy
With this, I was trying to imitate a style on a Facebook art group I'm part of (everybody was doing it, I thought 'Why the heck not?') Needless to say it didn't go too well. I think her pupils are the best part of it! I utterly destroyed parts of the paper in trying to colour her face, and the ink pen I used turned out to Not Be Waterproof, so I had a few smudges. Gaah!
Medium: Watercolour and fineliner on paper
Size: 17.7x24cm

At least I'd improved by the time I painted the next one...

Somewhere Far Away (and a Weird Story)

Somewhere Far Away, September 2014

Today I'm sharing another painting, and not only is this in a different medium to the others I've posted so far, but it has a weird story to it...

Somewhere Far Away

This depicts a scene from memory, albeit a faded one...

Story time!

New Year at 221b

New Year at 221b, December 2014

New Year at 221b
First attempt at Sherlock fanart, and a little seasonal message to all readers! I wanted to do it in Little Forest Folk style, but with the poses I used, that didn't really work out. Oh well. John is a happy and cheerful drunk whilst Sherlock is working on The Case of the Man in the Blue Box.
This didn't turn out brilliantly as I got a bit clumsy with application of colour (why did I even bother painting a wall and floor?!) I did, however, get to use some more masking fluid, which turned out a bit of a bugger to remove when it was too thin, but was also damn handy for making sure John's streamers turned out alright.
One thing I am pleased about with this is Sherlock's hair.
Medium: Watercolour on 300gsm hot pressed watercolour paper (ooh heark at me with my fancy art materials)
Size: A5

So this is the last post of the year from me; I'm now going to wander off and post this Elsewhere.

Nacho Party

Nacho Party, November 2014

Nacho Party
I painted this at the end of November, but couldn't share it until now as it was a Christmas present for my middle sister and her boyfriend! The subject is their chihuahua, Nacho. I painted it to match the painting I did of their other dog last May...

Chihuahua, May 2013

I think my skill has improved somewhat! I'm also using better quality watercolours--the older picture was painted with a set from a discount book/art store; whilst I like the vibrancy some of the colours give, the overall quality and ease of use isn't so great.
Of course there are a few things I'm not so happy with when it comes to Nacho Party, but overall I'm really pleased with how it turned out (I wouldn't have gifted it otherwise!)
Medium: Watercolour on watercolour paper

I was given a new pack of watercolour paper for Christmas, which I'm very pleased with! The last several paintings I've shared here have been done using paper from a cheap A3 watercolour pad, which I've been cutting to A5 size! One thing with watercolour is that the materials are kind of expensive, but you certainly get what you pay for. One day I will learn not to scrimp so much when it comes to art materials!

Nacho Party is part of a goal from The List:

055. Create 52 paintings in 1 year. 

To see more from this goal, check the 55 tag.

Flight to the Stars

It's been a while since I updated with paintings for my goal, so here is another one, which I painted in August.

Flight to the Stars, August 2014

Flight to the Stars

In what seems to be tradition for my punctuality of posting my paintings, I finished this one in August!

This is the result of my second attempt at using masking fluid.

The paper tore in a couple of places when I removed the dry masking fluid; I'm not sure if that's down to my ham-fistedness or cheap paper. I was trying to be careful!

I think the line of the moon ended up too sharp and uneven, whilst the clouds at the bottom don't look cloudy enough.

After removing the masking fluid from the moon, I thought it looked too stark, so I rubbed over it with my fingers and smudged some of the lilac paint across the white. To be honest, I think it looks a bit of a mess.

However, I'm pleased with how the nebula turned out, along with the bird/winged spirit.

Medium: Watercolour on watercolour paper
Size: 14.2x20cm

As noted in most of my other painting posts, this is part of a goal from The List:

055. Create 52 paintings in 1 year

This is number 33--I'm over halfway! I've painted 37 in total so far, though there are some that I've yet to post.

I was hoping to share this as part of a set of paintings, but haven't been inspired to paint along the same theme. I will, however, attempt to use masking fluid again sometime!

For more of my paintings, check out the tag for goal 55.

Little Forest Folk

It's been a month since I posted any more paintings, yet what I'm posting today are paintings I finished in July!
I posted them on deviantART, but never got around to sharing them here.

As before, this is towards a goal:

055. Create 52 paintings in 1 year

(The year runs from March-Feb, because March is when I started!)

Today's theme is fanart, Little Forest Folk-style

Gee Up, July 2014

Gee Up: Another fanart of Full/Tomo Furukawa, vocalist of Guniw Tools, and Shilfee and Tulipcorobockles (to name but a couple of bands). I've painted him before (he's one of my favourite people to paint in this style!) This time, here he is smoking his bubble-pipe and riding his trusty rhinoceros beetle. In painting this, I discovered that painting beetles is rather relaxing!
Am really pleased with how this one turned out.
Medium: Watercolour on watercolour paper
Size:22x14.5cm

Folk Tales of the Sea People: Contents

Back Cover for Folk Tales of the Sea People, July 2014

Contents

Not all tales have a happy ending. Indeed, not all tales are even conventional. These are Folk Tales of the Sea People, who sang their stories long before we learned to spin our own

Preface and Introduction
In which a modern-day professor comments on the fact science has proved that mermaids to not exist, and Cadogan Browne introduces his compilation with insistence that they do.

Halywn, or A Pinch of Salt
A tale of Selkie-folk in a saltless sea, set upon by a terrible creature--and what they do to defeat him.

A Havsrå's Fortune
The story of a lonely Havsrå, gifted with the ability to see into the future, but cursed that no Human man shall ever remember her face.

Yam and the Octopus
A simple story about a nosy boy and a grumpy octopus.

Golden Scales
In which Glyndwr the Vain learns not to be vain, through rather awful means. (Do note the warning at the beginning of this one).

The Clam Keeper and the Sailor
A story of a Siren and a Human, who meet upon the surface of the sea.

A Pearl for Your Daughter
A cautionary tale about a spoilt young Mermaid.

How Helle Found the Monster
In which a curious Selkie seeks to discover the source of the sea's warmth

The Gentleman Traveller
The tale of a frog-legged, dish-headed and very gentlemanly traveller in search of the ultimate sea-cucumber

The Woman on the Pier
A dramatic tale about a Näkki, an accident, and the troubles that follow.

Three Brothers and a Draug
A story about three identical Siren brothers, who must defeat a wicked Draug.

A Dragon in the Sea
The story of an outcast and angry Dragon, and the Siren girl and Selkie boy who try to help him.

The Wily Old Glashtyn
In which a pretty young Mermaid seeks the help of a wily old Glashtyn to win the heart of a prince.

A Raft on the Lagoon
A tale of Mermaids, Humans, Draugs and not-so-accidental death...

Six Silly Sisters
In which three Siren sisters meet three Human sisters, make a discovery, and prove just how silly people can be. 

The Fish Who Grew Legs
A tale of a Fish who wished to be a Nereid, and how he fared.

Fresh Water and Salt Water
The story of a salt water-dwelling Siren, who fell in love with a fresh water-dwelling Nereid.

That's sixteen stories in all, more than the ten I set out to write!
With regards to the image at the top of this post, it counts towards my goal of creating 52 paintings in a year. It's a simple image, painted with the idea of creating a 'back cover' for this story collection. Unfortunately I managed to bend the paper before I had a chance to scan it, argh!

Fresh Water and Salt Water

Here comes the final story from Folk Tales of the Sea People. 

With this, I conclude one of the goals on The List:

046. Write 10 original stories of 1000+ words

There is an illustration for this story, but this time it's at the end.

So without further ado, I bring you the tale of a siren and a nereid...

Fresh Water and Salt Water

There once was a handsome young man, a Siren like you and I, who was many tides past the age to become married. He had lustrous red hair and shining scales to match, and his fins were dark blue like the twilight sea. His name was Moana.

Everywhere Moana went, women stared and blushed at his handsome appearance, and sometimes some of the men did, too. Many young women lusted for Moana’s attention and the men, envious of Moana’s popularity, looked on in envy. Moana received many proposals of marriage from men and women across the kingdom. He found it most tiring to receive so much attention and turned down each and every request that came his way.

His parents fretted at his reluctance to marry, for in those days marriage was for profit and appearance, and it was deemed improper for a man of Moana’s age to remain alone. Every day they would beg him to choose a bride from the many willing suitors.

They did not know that Moana mourned for a secret love, Melanchor of the Swan People.

A Gift Art

Untitled gift art, September 2014

The above is an A5(ish) picture I made for my friend Sparrow (webmistress and translator of 鬼愛～Demon Passion～ - go there for JP-ENG translations of ghost stories!)
It features some of her original characters.
I used watercolours and took the opportunity to use some more masking fluid, albeit only a little! After painting, I went over the lines with a fineliner, so I guess it's more of an illustration, but I'm counting this towards my goal of 52 in a year (goal #55 on The List).

The Fish Who Grew Legs

Folk Tales of the Sea People is nearing an end--this is the second to last story! A tale of hope and transformation.

The Fish Who Grew Legs, July 2014

The Fish Who Grew Legs

There was once a large fish. His name was Shui, and he had scales of blue with black stripes, and bright yellow fins. He lived in a sea not far from here, amongst others of his kind and close to a village of Nereids.

Shui envied the Nereids, for they were slender and fast, and had not tails but beautiful legs, which allowed them to walk upon the land, should they wish it.

When Shui watched the Nereids, he thought that he should be one of them. He, too, wanted to play in the water and visit the land. He wished he had legs to wiggle instead of his tail, and thought that surely he should have been born with them. But when Shui told his friends that he wanted to be a Nereid, they laughed at him.

“You cannot be a Nereid,” they said. “For you have no legs, and your face is that of a fish, and your body is that of a fish, and you are fish through and through.”

“My heart is one of a Nereid!” insisted Shui. “Though my body is that of a fish, I cannot change my heart.”

His friends laughed so hard that Shui swam away, sad.

It so happened that a Nereid boy found him. Though Shui was a big fish – bigger than the boy – the Nereid was not afraid, for he knew fish to be gentle.

“Why are you sad?” asked the Nereid.

“Because I have the body of a fish and the heart of a Nereid, and everybody laughs at me,” said Shui.

The Nereid patted Shui’s head. “They’re very mean,” he said. “You can be a Nereid if you want to be.”

“How can I go to the land without legs?” asked Shui.

Six Silly Sisters

Well, it's been a week since I last posted anything from Folk Tales of the Sea People, so it's about time I posted some more, isn't it!
I would have posted sooner, but the past week or so has been busy, and when I've returned home from the various events I've blogged about lately, I've been feeling pretty tired. Gallons of tea is what has been keeping me going lately!

Anyway, without further ado, here is the next story...

Six Silly Sisters, July 2014

Six Silly Sisters

There were once three Siren sisters. Their names were Muirgel, Muirgen and Muiren. Muirgel was the oldest sister, Muirgen was the middle sister, and Muiren was the youngest. The three sisters went everywhere together, and what they liked most was to swim to an inlet where they would meet interesting Land Walkers. Their parents warned them not to go there, for it was a dangerous place, but the sisters paid them no regard.

One day, when they were swimming up the inlet, they met three young Land Walker women who looked almost identical. The young women had taken off their shoes and socks and were paddling in the water.

“Oh look, Muirgen!” said Muiren. “Those three Land Walkers look the same!”

“Let’s go and talk to them,” said Muirgel. She called out from the water, and waved to the young women. “Ahoy!”

A Raft on the Lagoon

Here is the next instalment of Folk Tales of the Sea People. This time, a tale of Mermaids, Humans and Draugs. With regards the illustration, it seems I need more practise with drawing ghostly things upon the water! But the story is much better--I hope you enjoy it.

A Raft on the Lagoon, July 2014

A Raft on the Lagoon

Long ago, not far from here, there was a lagoon, which has long since merged with the sea. Close to that sea there lived a Human sailor, who often sailed upon it with his little raft, which he had built himself. The sailor’s name was Irving, and his heart lay with a lovely Mermaid named Nerissa.

As Irving’s house was so close to the water, Nerissa was happy with the idea of marrying Irving, and when he proposed it so, her parents gave their blessing. Happily, they planned their wedding day, unaware that Irving had a rival for Nerissa’s affections in the shape of his best man, Conway.

Conway was also a sailor, and he was a very jealous man. He decided that he could not allow Irving and Nerissa to marry, for he wanted Nerissa for himself.

So a week before the wedding, when Nerissa had taken a trip away to prepare, Conway sabotaged Irving’s raft.