Jessie Lilac Blog

I had a lovely email this morning from a lady that bought my painting The Tree Pose to hang in her sister's yoga studio. The Core Balance Yoga Center can be found HERE. I love to hear where my paintings end up and this is particularly exciting for me because it's travelled all the way from the UK to Missouri! Before my very busy weekend began, I had a nice life drawing session friday morning. The reddish brown drawings are using an Inktense pencil with a little bit of water for the shading. I had to be a bit braver using that because once it's there you can't rub it out! I did a couple of quick studies in black ink too at the end of the session. I like the way these drawings have more strength than the pencil ones, what do you think?

Here is the finished illustration for the magazine. It's drawn in ink with a watercolour wash. I did a spot of tweaking in Photoshop. Poor fish, I'm beginning to feel sorry for them. They don't look too happy do they?! Click to enlarge.

I'm waiting for paint to dry so while I have a moment, I thought I'd show you my painting corner. The circular pallette you see down near the books was once the packaging on a pizza. Those polystyrene ones are perfect for the job and they last for ages. There are a couple of tin lids there too that I use to put paint on but they're a bit bumpy, not that useful really but I couldn't bring myself to throw them in the bin. I've had to put my big brushes and canvases to one side today. I'm working on a magazine illustration which should really have been done by now but naughty me....I forgot all about it! I've made a start and will post it here when it's finished. I've never drawn a shark before! (That's not a cup of tea on my table, that's my murky paint water. Don't worry, I haven't drunk it by accident....yet.)

Here's my pic for this week's Illustration Friday. I had to get birds in somewhere didn't I?! Can you see them?

This morning was the first life drawing day. A very cold day it is too and I felt sorry for any life model who had to take their clothes off in this weather! Joy of joys one of my favourite models was there this morning and with the heater on in the room you could almost forget it was winter! Have a nice weekend! :)

Here's a watercolour of mine that I've put on Ebay and there's only a couple of days to go until the bidding time finishes. CLICK HERE if you'd like to catch it before it goes! :) I'm been busy making paintings on canvas. The images evolve in layers of paint and I find myself making images that seem to echo my thoughts. I've taken these pictures with my little camera so the quality might not be as good as I'd like it to be but I think you can click on each one for a close-up. Quite often I don't realise what the shapes look like until the painting is finished. The one above appeared to be a tree so I added an extra branch to confirm this! The birds were almost an afterthought. The painting seemed to need something as a focus. I'm glad I put them in. Ths one is finished now too. It was inspired by a recent visit to the Forest of Dean . I love to see light across a forest floor, there's an air of mystery and possibility isn't there? I'

Do you remember my watercolour painting 'Foxy lady'? It's for sale this week at £30. The measurements are 18 x 28cm, that's approximately 7 x 11". It's painted on heavy watercolour paper and will be sent to you first class. CLICK HERE if you'd like to see more details. :)

This week the word is on Illustration Friday is 'chicken' . As I started to draw a chicken I suddenly remembered the story 'Chicken Licken'. I knew I used to have a reading book with the story in it from when I was little and here it is! I could never understand how an acorn could be mistaken for the sky!

I wasn't going to take a photo today because there isn't much light here but this hasn't turned out too badly has it? You get the general idea of it anyway! It's many layers of colours, interspersed with feelings, emotions and the content of my mind. Needless to say, there's a lot going on! It's not finished yet, I want to change the top bird's wing to something a bit more vibrant. I shall post here when I'm done.

This is a painting that is almost finished. I painted it on an old tatty piece of wood. There was something magnetic about the piece of wood that drew me to want to paint it! I'm not sure what to do to it next, I'll look at it tomorrow and see what I think about it then. It's quite small so I managed to scan it in 2 halves and stitch it back together in Photoshop. I've got another one I've almost finished too and if the day is light enough, I'll take a photo to show it here. I think the red tree is me.

I thought I'd show you what I've been up to the last few days. I'm working on a series of canvases with no particular plans as to how they would turn out or what the imagery would be. The best way to be creative is to be open to possibilities and to allow things to change for the best when they need to. I didn't plan on painting a tree but there it is! This one is nearly finished and when I've decided to not do any more to it, I'll show it here in more detail.

I found this week's word tricky, it's 'déjà vu' . I think I might have painted a bird in a tree before, what do you think? ;)

I'm still working away on my larger canvases today, getting myself covered in paint (how does that happen?!) Meanwhile, do you remember my painting I made just before christmas? It's inspired by the full moon and the winter solstice. I used lovely warm rich reds, just the thing for this time of year don't you think? I've decided to list it for sale on Ebay. CLICK HERE if you'd like to see more details! The bidding will finish on the 17th January. :)

My day started very dramatically this morning with the sky putting on a spectacular show for me. Today is the first day I have alone, a chance to pick up my paint brushes and get back to the canvas. It's not an easy thing after a long break is it? I can find plenty of 'urgent' other jobs that need doing but they must wait. ;) As I write this I have actually made a start, although you could swap the word 'start' with 'mess' but I'm pushing on through despite the chaos! The painting above is one I did earlier. You might say, "Oh this doesn't look chaotic!" No, that's because it's small and still inside my sketchbook! The paintings I'm have trouble starting are larger ones on canvas. An entirely different way of working, with bigger brushes, thicker gooier paint and a larger surface to cover. Well, off I go to do some more to my 'mess'. When I've spent some more time on it I'll give you a peek!

This week's word for Illustration friday is 'resolutions'. Here is one of mine. Have the courage to follow your dreams :)

I was enchanted by the performance of the Secret Sisters on Jools Annual Hootenanny show last night. I could have listened to them all night! Thank you for all your visits here on my blog and for the lovely encouraging comments that I appreciate so much. ******************** A happy new year!! ******************** Wishing you a creative new year filled with happiness, love, and inspiration. xx