acrylic

The past few weeks my sister and I have been consumed by a giant 4×4 ft canvas, crazy huge brushes and large amounts of acrylic paint.

red paint pallet by emily elizabeth enns

We took on an art project to fill the walls of our Mom’s living room with something abstract and vivid.

superkid primary pallet mixing by emily elizabeth enns

So we went to town. Smearing all kinds of colours in no pattern whatsoever. Just slapping on paint to get something on the canvas. Needless to say, Mom was a little scared… scratch that – she was freaking out that this mess was going to have to end up on her wall.

brush by emily elizabeth enns

We reassured her a million times that it would all turn out, but I still doubt she believed us. After layers and layers of paint and blending till our wrists hurt, we got right into and spraying water on the canvas to make the colours bleed and drip down, and using our fingers to create more texture on the canvas.

putting our hands in our work by emily elizabeth enns

ellen, my sister, very into her handy work by emily elizabeth enns

And I think we did it. After a lot of work and a few afternoons, two creative heads collaborating together made it happen.

P.S. Mom was elated, an the photo doesn’t quite do it justice.

bleeding city on acrylic by emily and ellen enns photo by emit elizabeth enns

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.

Burberry in the Rain

Making rain out of watercolours is one messy task. But it was super easy and fun to do, I felt like a kid again.

Pen and Watercolour by emily elizabeth enns

Layers. Layers layers layers. And waiting, waiting for very wet paint to dry. Then adding more layers, and more waiting.

I started out dripping watercolour with a brush, but that process was going far too slow for me. So I switched to soaking a paper towel in water, smearing in with blue paint, and squeezing it over the page at an angle so it dripped down the paper.

Black and Blue Rain in coloured water by emily elizabeth enns

Very very messy. And resulted in very very blue fingers! Once the base was covered to my liking, I went back in with smaller brushes to make more detailed drip lines.

Once those layers dried I used thicker drops of paint overtop of the black to lift the colour a little and give it some more texture.

Burberry Trench and a Red Umbrella by emily elizabeth enns

After the rain was completed, I finished the watercolour paint on the girl in the trench coat. I then cut her out, painted a drop shadow onto of the rain and glued her down in place.

I really liked the 3-D isn effect this gave the painting. plus, maybe i can experiment more with this idea?! We’ll see!

idrawfashion.com

After my last few rounds of testing out fashion drawings and figures, I decided my art skills need to be taken to the next level, and I found my mecca!

Burberry trench coat – courtesy of idrawfashion.com

idrawfashion.com is a great website that show you how to draw fashion sketches properly – so that they actually look like their real life representations. The site is full of tutorials to guide you through drawing almost everything from iconic designer patterns, such as the Burberry plaid, different stockings and garters, feather boas, shoes and a variety of different fabrics.

Shoes! courtesy of idrawfashion.com

Each day new tips and trick are posted and you can search for just about anything! The list goes on!

Stockings and Garters courtesy of idrawfashion.com

Over the next few weeks I’m challenging myself to tackle a few of these to improve my skills and hopefully draw some cool stuff.

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

DVF Part II: Pencil Crayon

Pencil crayons are not one of my favourite mediums to work with. Maybe I haven’t spent enough time playing around with them, but I feel like we just don’t get along too well. I think I liked it better as just a pencil drawing and maybe should have just built on that. But hey, at least I tried!

I’m very jealous of anyone who has been able to master this technique… I ask, any helpful tips?

Just pencil….

Pencil drawing of DVF dress by emily elizabeth enns

Pencil Crayon

DVF. in pencil crayon by emily elizabeth enns