Kirsten Bailey: Art » illustration friday

Illustration Friday – Linked

Kirsten — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 05:44:52 +0000

This week’s topic over at Illustration Friday is “linked“. Here’s what I came up with:

It’s titled Entwined.

I really enjoyed creating this one, and I’m happy with how it’s turned out… but painting the way I do can be quite messy:

I’m so glad watercolours wash off easily!

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Illustration Friday – Rescued

Kirsten — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 12:48:02 +0000

I’m *really* late with posting this Illustration Friday painting – the new topic is due up sometime today. It took me a while to get the idea straight in my head.

Here’s what I came up with for the “rescue” topic:

A heart’s rescue.

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Illustration Friday – Subterranean

Kirsten — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 22:15:19 +0000

This week’s topic over at Illustration Friday is “Subterranean”. My immediate thought was of layers of rock under the ground. This was my inspiration for this litte abstract watercolour, which I’m (not surprisingly) calling “Subterranean”.

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Creating “Brave”

Kirsten — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 12:30:23 +0000

As promised (OK, a little later than promised, but still!) here’s my step-by-step for the creation of my latest painting, “Brave”.

Step 1 - OK I probably didn't need to show you this - the blank page. I've started using watercolour blocks instead of pads or loose sheets, and they're great! You dont' have to tape them down at all.

Step 2: Using masking fluid, I masked off the edge of the paper and created three separate panels.

Step 3 - Colour washes for the background. Here I've done the first two. I tried to give a feeling of the day passing - using the colours of sunrise, midday and twilight.

Step 4: As I wanted to convey the idea of the same tree and bird changing over time, I wanted my tree to look the same in each panel. I usually paint my trees freeform, without sketching them first. This time, I sketched a tree in pencil first, and transferred it to the 3 panels so each would be the same.

Step 5 - 3rd background wash. I did this panel a little later as I was waiting for the masking fluid I used to create the stars to dry. Step 6 - The tree sketch transferred onto each panel of the painting. Step 7 - Trees and birdies painted in. Step 8 - Masking fluid rubbed off, painting completed!! Hope you liked learning about how I created this painting

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Illustration Friday – Brave

Kirsten — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 03:12:59 +0000

It’s been a while since I’ve participated in Illustration Friday – I tend to wait until a topic really grabs me.

Last September I spent a lot of my holiday sitting outside in our patio, reading and drinking cups of tea. It was so lovely and peaceful, that I often stopped reading and just sat and took in the scenery of my little garden. In one of our trees, a baby bird was learning to fly. It was amazing to just quietly sit and watch as he (or she?) spread his wings for the first time.

When I saw this week’s topic from Illustration Friday was “brave”, that little baby bird was the first thing I thought of, and was the inspiration for this painting:

I’ve posted a step-by-step about how I created this painting – check it out here.

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