The finishing of a sketch always creates different emotions for me. I love drawing and painting preliminary ideas for composition, however, it is rare for the sketch to represent the final painting completely. This sketch of the cactus flowers sparked an interest in me for several paintings, a combined painting, and new possibilities for color schemes altogether. As a painter I try to show my emotions and feelings at the time of execution on a piece or when the photograph was taken. Feelings and emotions change day to day or at various times of the day. My paintings, especially the larger ones, take days or months to finish. Colors change during these days and times so having a color swatch to the left or right of an idea in my sketchbook really helps me looking back. I need to remember to mix the colors and write both colors used for the swatch.
Also, I think writing where the colors were used on the actual sketch is a great idea. I did not do this in the painting you see in this blog but I think I will in future sketchbooks. What are some things you do to remember the colors you used during your processing time? I would love to read about it in the comments below. Having a community of artists to talk to is also nice if you feed off others ideas, like to critique, get critiqued, or just share with others in order to gain new perspectives. I really like to get my ideas together and share with very few trusted artists I call friends. I have come to find that art is a very personal experience for the person creating the work. In my experience, I am an artist that is very in my own head and live with my creations. This being said, it is normal to have a difficult time communicating thoughts to others. Writing these blogs have been a challenge for me yet I am learning and growing.
Thank you all for reading and your continued support. Please follow me on Instagram, TikTok, or my Etsy Shop at khilliardart which is the same name as my website khilliardart.com
My Facebook is at Karen Hilliard Art if you would like to follow me there as well. On these platforms I create reels which show me painting these sketches in a timelapse form. I speed up all the videos because I paint really slow and concentrated and am sure that would not render to most people’s attention span or desires. I hope this blog is found helpful and I hope to read awesome comments about how you remember the colors you want to use in a painting or a style you want to recreate.
-Karen Hilliard