Category Archives: Abstract

World Watercolor Month Days 18 – 25

Day 20, WWM, 2 x 2 inch watercolor on Arches 140 lb. cold pressed paper. © 2021 Sheila Delgado.
Day 20, WWM, 2 x 2 inch watercolor on Arches 140 lb. cold pressed paper. © 2021 Sheila Delgado.

Color is my day-long obsession, joy and torment.
– Claude Monet

Day 18, WWM, 2 x 2 inch watercolor on Arches 140 lb. cold pressed paper. © 2021 Sheila Delgado.
Day 18, WWM, 2 x 2 inch watercolor on Arches 140 lb. cold pressed paper. © 2021 Sheila Delgado.
Day 19, WWM, 2 x 2 inch watercolor on Arches 140 lb. cold pressed paper. © 2021 Sheila Delgado.
Day 19, WWM, 2 x 2 inch watercolor on Arches 140 lb. cold pressed paper. © 2021 Sheila Delgado.
Day 21, WWM, 2 x 2 inch watercolor on Arches 140 lb. cold pressed paper. © 2021 Sheila Delgado.
Day 21, WWM, 2 x 2 inch watercolor on Arches 140 lb. cold pressed paper. © 2021 Sheila Delgado.

To practice any art, no matter how well or how badly,
is a way to make your soul grow, for heaven’s sake. So do it.
– Kurt Vonnegut

Day 22, WWM, 2 x 2 inch watercolor on Arches 140 lb. cold pressed paper. © 2021 Sheila Delgado.
Day 22, WWM, 2 x 2 inch watercolor on Arches 140 lb. cold pressed paper. © 2021 Sheila Delgado.
Day 23, WWM, 2 x 2 inch watercolor on Arches 140 lb. cold pressed paper. © 2021 Sheila Delgado.
Day 23, WWM, 2 x 2 inch watercolor on Arches 140 lb. cold pressed paper. © 2021 Sheila Delgado.
Day 24, WWM, 2 x 2 inch watercolor on Arches 140 lb. cold pressed paper. © 2021 Sheila Delgado.
Day 24, WWM, 2 x 2 inch watercolor on Arches 140 lb. cold pressed paper. © 2021 Sheila Delgado.
Day 25, WWM, 2 x 2 inch watercolor on Arches 140 lb. cold pressed paper. © 2021 Sheila Delgado.
Day 25, WWM, 2 x 2 inch watercolor on Arches 140 lb. cold pressed paper. © 2021 Sheila Delgado.

In the final week now. Curious to know if your July has passed as quickly as mine. Haha. Choosing this 2 x 2 inch size was a surprisingly good idea. So much fun! I’m going to keep a stack of minis at the ready.

Time to paint!

Enjoy!

Don’t think.
Thinking is the enemy of creativity.
It’s self-conscious, and anything self-conscious is lousy.
You can’t try to do things. You simply must do things.
– Ray Bradbury

World Watercolor Month, Days 10 – 17

Day 13, WWM, 2 x 2 inch watercolor on Arches 140 lb. cold pressed paper. © 2021 Sheila Delgado.
Day 13, WWM, 2 x 2 inch watercolor on Arches 140 lb. cold pressed paper. © 2021 Sheila Delgado.

I am having so much fun with these. I hope you find this dainty display delightful.

Enjoy!

Day 10, WWM, 2 x 2 inch watercolor on Arches 140 lb. cold pressed paper. © 2021 Sheila Delgado.
Day 10, WWM, 2 x 2 inch watercolor on Arches 140 lb. cold pressed paper. © 2021 Sheila Delgado.
Day 11, WWM, 2 x 2 inch watercolor on Arches 140 lb. cold pressed paper. © 2021 Sheila Delgado.
Day 11, WWM, 2 x 2 inch watercolor on Arches 140 lb. cold pressed paper. © 2021 Sheila Delgado.

Even the tiniest of flowers can have the toughest roots.
– Shannon Mullen

Day 12, WWM, 2 x 2 inch watercolor on Arches 140 lb. cold pressed paper. © 2021 Sheila Delgado.
Day 12, WWM, 2 x 2 inch watercolor on Arches 140 lb. cold pressed paper. © 2021 Sheila Delgado.
Day 14, WWM, 2 x 2 inch watercolor on Arches 140 lb. cold pressed paper. © 2021 Sheila Delgado.
Day 14, WWM, 2 x 2 inch watercolor on Arches 140 lb. cold pressed paper. © 2021 Sheila Delgado.
Day 15, WWM, 2 x 2 inch watercolor on Arches 140 lb. cold pressed paper. © 2021 Sheila Delgado.
Day 15, WWM, 2 x 2 inch watercolor on Arches 140 lb. cold pressed paper. © 2021 Sheila Delgado.

I must have flowers, always and always.
– Claude Monet.

Day 16, WWM, 2 x 2 inch watercolor on Arches 140 lb. cold pressed paper. © 2021 Sheila Delgado.
Day 16, WWM, 2 x 2 inch watercolor on Arches 140 lb. cold pressed paper. © 2021 Sheila Delgado.
Day 17, WWM, 2 x 2 inch watercolor on Arches 140 lb. cold pressed paper. © 2021 Sheila Delgado.
Day 17, WWM, 2 x 2 inch watercolor on Arches 140 lb. cold pressed paper. © 2021 Sheila Delgado.

A painting is not a picture of an experience,
but is the experience.
― Mark Rothko

Learning – The Never-Ending Journey Of An Artist

Crayon Play. © 2021 Sheila Delgado.
Crayon Play. © 2021 Sheila Delgado.

I signed up for Sketchbook Revival, knowing full well I was going to miss some of the sessions. I almost passed, but I am so glad I clicked that button. I am in the process of catching up now. It is a two week event, and there are two sessions each day.

Those of you who are in the 30-Day Creative Gathering would love this as a continuation of your daily creative practice. I’ve been introduced to so many terrific artists and found a couple that I had lost touch with.

The session with crayons was so meditative. They all have been. Listening to the instructor, using the tools, finding myself in the moment. Not at all concerned with an outcome.

Of course, I found myself drawing flowers. I had just finished a search on tulips, and their simple shapes were fresh in my mind. I layered color after color. Yellow, peach, red, coral. Turquoise, bright blue, sage, teal, asparagus. More yellow.

When I had finished, I wiped of the crayon dust, and was surprised to find it left a nice sheen on the leaf. I took the tissue and rubbed the entire drawing. Laughing at myself, but this took me right back to childhood, and grade school.

Waxy Sheen

I may have the sessions out of order. I did not realize in the beginning that there were two each day. In this next session, we explored automatic drawing. Using different pens, exploring the marks. Automatism refers to creating art without conscious thought, accessing material from the unconscious mind as part of the creative process

This session passed so quickly, and yet seemd to last a long time. I think I missed some of what was being said, I was so into making marks on the paper. Haha.

Automatic Drawing. © 2021 Sheila Delgado.

Automatic Drawing.

Karen Abend, the event organizer, led a session on Intentional doodling. We started with observing nature. Taking notice of the shapes, and then using that to create more abstract shapes and patterns. You have seen this paddle plant before. I don’t think I will ever tire of the round leaf shapes.

Intentional Doodling. © 2021 Sheila Delgado.
Intentional Doodling.

Along with the sessions, each artist offers freebies to continue practicing their method. Some are worksheets, others free video tutorials, and even some short classes. SO MUCH learning. Mindfulness and intention are keys. The intention to focus on the moment. On the process.

Those reminders are always welcome. It is so easy to forget that key creativity. For me at least. Haha. I will continue with these lessons. JOY filled!

I am not sure how long the sessions will be available. Some of the freebies are still available, it looks like until the end of May. Take a look! Treat yourself! Enjoy!

It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see.
Henry David Thoreau

Artists are just children who refuse
to put down their crayons.
Al Hirschfeld

It would be possible to describe everything scientifically,
but it would make no sense;
it would be without meaning,
as if you described a Beethoven symphony
as a variation of wave pressure.
Albert Einstein