Drawings

“Art is an adventure into an unknown world, which can be explored only by those willing to take risks.” Mark Rothko and Adolph Gotllieb manifesto

| ssemchuk

August 1, 2016

Oil painting in progress of two lemons in a glass vase.
Two Lemons WIP, July 30, 2016, Oil on Canvas, 30″ X 40″

A little more progress on my latest lemon painting, and the completion of my July 31 Drawing A Day Challenge!

July 26
July 27
July 28
July 29
July 30
July 31
What I learned from my Daily Drawing Challenge:
  1. It’s the commitment that makes the difference – the commitment to post publicly on Instagram and the commitment to each drawing while I’m drawing it. I’ve drawn daily before without publishing and would often start and then scrap the drawing if I didn’t think it was going well. This time I didn’t have the luxury of time for that. Instead I kept going and figured I’d make the best of it. And some of those drawings are my favourites.
  2. I realized awhile ago that if my finished images look nothing like what I was working from, it doesn’t matter because no one else knows what it was SUPPOSED to look like. With this project I decided that even if the drawing clearly doesn’t reflect reality – as in it’s obviously not proportioned correctly, etc – that’s not actually irredeemable. It can still become a sweet little drawing if the character of line is interesting, and a bit of colour is added with care.

So my intention is to continue drawing regularly – but not daily. I am committing to three drawings a week published on Instagram and here with my weekly post. Let’s see what comes of this…

“My art may be conceived during a hedonistic Bohemian love-in with the muse…

| ssemchuk

July 4, 2016

“My art may be conceived during a hedonistic Bohemian love-in with the muse, but it comes into the world, like any birth, with labour. Always.”
Vertical Tulip, Jul 2, 2016, Oil on Canvas, 24″ X 36″
Vertical Tulip, Jul 2, 2016, Oil on Canvas, 24″ X 36″
Finished! I feel like this painting has taken far longer than it should have. It’s been a busy June. July looks like it may include a little more freedom and so I have taken up a daily challenge this month. For each day in July, I will create one small ink drawing and play a little with watercolour. I have almost zero experience with watercolour, but I do have this great little travel set of paints to use. So far, I am finding it … challenging. Perhaps by the end of it I will have gained some sort of proficiency. … or not. Either way, it’s something new. I’m posting the images to Instagram daily and will add them to my weekly posts here as well.

July 1
July 2
July 3
July 4

“The critic has to educate the public; the artist has to educate the critic.” – Oscar Wilde

| ssemchuk 
May 10, 2015

After a short vacation, I’m back with another blog post. I spent last weekend in Vancouver, BC running my sixth half marathon. It went well – it’s been two years since my last half marathon and I didn’t have high expectations. I surprised myself and ran my fastest race yet finishing in 2:06:55. Vancouver is a beautiful city and I enjoyed the trip very much. I have not painted at all for a couple weeks though. I haven’t had the chance and I haven’t really felt like it. I really need to find some new subject matter to inspire me. In the meantime, here are some drawings that I’ve done recently.

Recent Drawings May 10 2015

 

“anything or anyone that does not bring you alive is too small for you” – David Whyte

| ssemchuk

March 30, 2015

No painting done this weekend. Instead I enjoyed a lovely family ski trip to Banff with friends. The weather was warm and the snow was still great for spring skiing. I’m looking forward to the Easter long weekend and some quality time in my studio.

In the meantime, here are a couple of drawings I did this week. I’m still making a point of drawing everyday – even if the result is not something I’m proud of. I tell myself that if nothing else, I am gaining practice at being able to switch into that state of mind where art happens – I consider it an almost meditative sort of focus. Often I feel that I am too busy to take the time out to draw, but with my determination to spend time at it daily, I usually find that once I start I am able to stop thinking about time and what I still have to do and actually get out of my head and onto the paper and to enjoy it.

2015 03 25 Oranges
Oranges, Mar 25, 2015, Pen on Paper, 8″ X 10″

 

Ski Mitts
Ski Mitts, Mar 29, 2015, Pen on Paper, 10″ X 8″

 

 

 

 

“If nothing else is left, one must scream. Silence is the real crime against humanity.” – Nadezhda Mandelstam

| ssemchuk 
March 15, 2015
Storm
Storm, Mar 14, 2015, Oil on Canvas board, 6″ X 6″

So I’ve started working on a commission based on A Crane Called Frank. And I thought I would play with some of the oil mediums to see if they might be something I want to use in this new painting (which I’m calling Francine at the moment). I tried out Galkyd, Neo Megilp and Galkyd Gel. And in the process this small storm ensued.

And here is the beginning of Francine. I’m just building the background now. Chances are very little of this will be visible in the final painting, but we’ll see. I just need to put on a few coats of clear gesso to seal it really well and I will be ready to go.

Francine WIP
Francine WIP, Mar 14, 2015, Mixed Media, 36″ X 24″

Lastly, here are a couple of drawings from this week. One from a figure drawing class that I’m doing – no, she did not have an inordinately large head, I just messed up the scale – and a small drawing I did during the week while thinking about folded paper in preparation to begin Francine.

Model
Model, Mar 12, 2015, Charcoal on Paper, 18″ X 24″
Kids Game
Kid’s Game, Mar 10, 2015, Pen on Paper, 8″ X 10″