NICOLA YOUNG

So in last week’s blog I mentioned that one of the things on my 2021 plan was to throw myself into a few more challenges. I kicked this off last week by creating some postcard sized pieces for the #oneofmanypostcards initiative. 

#oneofmanypostcards

The initiative is the brainchild of talented artist and print maker John Pedder .  The campaign aims to give people a chance of getting an original piece of art or a limited edition print free of charge. If they are able, recipients pay it forward by donating to a charity of their choice.

I set out with the plan of creating a handful of postcards.  Generally I start with a larger piece which I then cut down. This time, I thought I’d try something a bit different. 

Creating Postcard Pieces

A couple of years ago I had picked up a watercolour paper block of blank postcards in Flying Tiger.  Considering they were only a few pounds the paper is actually very good quality and holds water and paint really well.  My original plan was to do some collage. This would combine two things on my list,  but I had the urge to paint so started just pushing paint around, doodling and generally going with the flow.  Whilst a very relaxing exercise, this generally results in very ugly paintings and last week was no exception. 

They say you are influenced by the things around you, including décor, and I certainly was.  The painting I did for my 12 Day Christmas Art Challenge was propped up on the shelf next to me so as I moved into the thinking stage I ended up producing four little pieces that were very similar in colour and style. 

I didn’t actually notice this at the time so on the cards I had left I thought I’d stick with the style but mix up my colour palette and for some reason the colour purple was calling me.  One of my favourite colours generally, it rarely makes an appearance in my art – not sure why?!?

With the final two I thought I’d go with a red based palette.  Red is a colour I also really like and whilst it does often appear in my paintings, it si generally only in very small amounts.  I always find mixing a challenge with red. I love the saturated colour, but whenever I mix reds I always seem to lose the vibrancy. Maybe that should be on my 2021 plan.

I posted images of the nine cards on my Instagram page on Saturday, and was really surprised and pleased by the response – I just wish I had created a few more. Anyone who wants one of the cards can drop me a direct message. Later today, once the varnish is fully dry, I’ll be sending these out to 9 names I pull out of hat (or rather, a bowl). 

Learnings

So what did I learn? Well, intentionally creating postcard sized pieces is much tougher than simply cutting down a larger piece. I generally work quite small but in December, I started painting much bigger pieces. The switch to A6 size paper was, I found, quite restrictive. I also need to judge paint quantities better! Mixing myusual amounts of paint left with a lot left over…

New Work

This week I also managed to finish off a painting in my sketchbook I started several weeks ago.

Hope you’re all coping with January weather and continued lockdown!