acrylic video

Annnnd…. the final product packaged by a nifty little video I put together.

Special thanks to my sister and mom and their creative minds for making this happen!

Rain Rain Rain

rain rain rain by emily elizabeth enns

And then I made a series! (your welcome Mom) Why not? I really liked playing with my watercolour sets and experimenting with different ways to “make it rain”. I also played with ranges of other colours and different shades and tones, as well as varied amounts of water. I used brushes, paper towels, bowls, straws and cups to get the effects I wanted.. which pretty much ended up looking all fairly similar. I still wish to experiment further with more paint techniques – I think i might have to switch mediums to make something really edgy, and less… watercolour-y.

Coach and the Country

Last week I decided to venture out to a dairy farm in southern Manitoba to snap some pictures of cows. Little did I know what i was in for…

Firstly, I was not well prepared. I managed to trek through the focal terrain in my favourite Coach boots, luckily without too much scuffing and dirt. But the pictures were more than worth it.

1 week old calf by emily elizabeth enns

The cows came too close to me for my own comfort – I was told afterwards that they apparently thought I was food or possibly had some for them. I tried to tell them to stop, sit and stay and not come any closer to me… but needless to say they didn’t listen.

Cows in the barn – by emily elizabeth enns

The closer they came to me, the faster i tried to scoot away… and then the faster they closed in on me. That is until i backed into the electric fence and got quite the, ahem, shock.

Once i finally escaped their captivity i was able to snap a few more shots!

calves in hutches – by emily elizabeth enns

I think i’ll be sticking with the babies all cooped up in their little hutches!

I think

Pens, Pencils and Improvised Light Tables.

The next pen and watercolour sketch draws inspiration from the beloved Burberry trench and its native home in rainy London.

Hack: Don’t have a light table for sketching and tracing lines? Improvise! I flipped my laptop upside down, taped my sketch book to the screen (scotch tape left no residue and came of easily, though masking tape might be better).

Improvising a light table! by emily elizabeth enns

I took some tips from idrawfashion.com on drawing hair into consideration, to give her locks a little more life, then brought it down to look a little simpler.

London in Pencil by emily elizabeth enns

It’s hard to let go of my pencil sketches, what if I screw up and make it worse? BUT what if I make it even better?

Regardless, I like the pen outline in contrast to watercolour –that, or I’m still learning how to color between the lines and need the reference point!

London in Pen, ready for colour! by emily elizabeth enns

Now that I’m pleased with the pen outline, I’m still hesitant to add color to the page – there’s a nice simplicity in black and white lines. But I want to expand my skills and try to add a rain effect into the picture.

Pen & Watercolour: Fashion Sketches

Pen and watercolour. Chic and simple, it’s one of my favourite mediums. Various pen sizes allow for delicate lines and detailed curls to shine, where as watercolour gives life and whimsy to fabrics, hair and shoes. I began dipping my toes into fashion sketches (which are not as easy as a few lines and some colour!), but maybe a little more practice and experimentation will help!

Fashion Sketch 1 by emily elizabeth enns

Fashion Sketch 2 by emily elizabeth enns

Fashion Sketch 3 by emily elizabeth enns

Welcome Back.

So after what felt like the shortest break ever – it’s time to get back to the blog.

What did I do over the holiday? Nothing.

The view from my backyard… Arizona Sunset by emily elizabeth enns

Honest. I turned off the world to spend the time with family I don’t have the opportunity to during the school year.

I shut off my email, never opened any social media sites and never even turned on the TV. Of course I picked up my camera to spend some holiday time shooting video of my family, so I’m really pumped on putting the footage together creatively.

And OF COURSE I listened to the best of the Eagles on repeat. C’mon, is basically a necessity.

Getting back into the swing of school was much easier than I thought. My creative juices are flowing again and I feel inspired for some of this years projects.

I’m also really excited to explore more of my drawing skills… they need a major tune up, so bare with me!

…because we could all use a daily dose of Henley’s golden throat 😀

Who Am I?

I may have had a little Prezi fun this week!

Although this was an assignment for Advertising class, it brought to light some interesting ideas and made me really think about who I am.

Curious? Check it out HERE!

Mrs. Incredible… my secret identity?! Maybe one day… (Disney character, iPhone 5s and Starbucks cup edited by emily elizabeth enns)

Status Update Drawing

I figured this time I’d give a little more of a peak into how a painting starts.

Part One: Sketched – this pattern is driving me a little crazy!

Pencil drawing of DVF dress by emily elizabeth enns

Pen n Pearls

Pen and watercolour by emily elizabeth enns

Pen and watercolour drawing of the pearl photo. Surprisingly the background was the hardest part – getting watercolour to layer on that thick is very time consuming. It’s a little tricky to see in the image above, but there are variations in the black background which give the image a little more depth and interest as apposed to a stark black background.

Hint: click on the image to enlarge it, the detail is much easier to see

On to the next one!

“Proud” by Michael Healey at Theatre Projects Manitoba

Ross McMillan plays Prime Minister Stephen Harper in “Proud” at Theatre Projects Manitoba Nov 12, 2014 (taken by emily elizabeth enns)

Plays are in no way my “thing”. I’ve maybe been to four or five of them in my life, and I’m pretty sure they were almost all mandatory. Don’t get me wrong, I really enjoy going to the theatre because it’s basically a 3D movies with way less special effects – I’m just usually not very good at understanding them.

However, Proud by Michael Healey kept me engaged and entertained. It was funny, witty and clever – I was pleasantly surprised that a play about politics could be so interesting. The theme throughout the play and discussion the characters had about self-reliance was intriguing and thought provoking, especially in the realm of Canadian politics.

The only parts that made me slightly uncomfortable were the sexual innuendos. Maybe I’m a little more reserved than I realized, maybe it felt a tad cliché, or maybe it’s just weird to watch Prime Minister Stephen Harper awkwardly navigate sexual confrontation… I’m going to assume it’s the latter.

What interested me the most was the talk back session with the actors and art director after the play. I realized I have a deep appreciation for actors and the complex processes they take on to play a character. Mostly because I can’t imagine myself doing anything close to that amount of research and investment into portraying a character in front of an audience.

Ross McMillan, who played the part of Stephen Harper, said: “When you play a character you have to love that character even if nobody else does.”

He said that slipping into the Harper character was easier to mimic than other famous figures because Harper himself is a fictional persona: “If he’s stepping into a suit, why cant I?”

It’s easy to poke fun and make jokes about Harper because of the way he presents himself, but McMillan did a really good job of exaggerating the habits and mannerisms that make the character so interesting. It’s like a giant insider the whole country is in on. Hilarious.