Sara Silkwood Illustration

4 postcards finished. I was going to chuck that grey sky, but I’m glad I didn’t.

Catching up on the . It counts…right? I changed the colors in my palette recently and now I’m… mixing the colors I took out. I didn’t think I would miss olive green this much…

Trying something different for this

I’m behind. And there were a couple pieces between this and my last post that…I really, really dislike. I know there are going to be days like that. I know I need to push through them because this is what growing looks like. But it’s hard.

Anyone out there trying to improve with their skills, you’re not alone. You’ve got this. Just keep swimming.

This was a struggle.

Ink drawing for

Did this one a little differently. Really like how this turned out.

Clouds over Waco Lake. Gouache on hot press watercolor paper. I like this one more now that I’ve slept on it. Values and color and shape language are still a struggle. But I feel like these are progress? At the very least I’ll have a pile of work at the end. Strange thing is, I’ve been lazy this week, but each time I’ve told myself to just draw something in pen instead of setting up to paint, internal me has balked. Apparently, I’d rather be painting these than drawing… not sure why yet. Maybe because it’s something finished? But it’s something to note. Learning about myself and my process is what this is about, so.

I finished this one and forgot to post it…

Learned a lot with this one from . I took the reference myself@at the meeting of the Bosque and Brazos rivers here in Waco.

Yesterday’s . This was my second attempt. Tried something new with color/“style” not sure if it worked or not… gouache on Strathmore 500 illustration board.

There’s a lot of things that I really like about this Sargent study. I think it’s the first time I’ve successfully painted a head in gouache. Also, trying to recreate another artist’s painting with a completely different palette is hard.

Day 4. Gouache on Strathmore 500 illustration board. I almost didn’t do a painting last night. This summer has been long. Not really in a good way. And I thought I’d do something I was more comfortable with and not push myself. But as I was trying to decide what to draw, I realized I was planning an illustration in my head instead of practicing. So I pulled up my landscape reference file and just did a painting. I sealed it last night and it changed the colors. A lot. I always expect a little bit of color changes, but… I think I need to do a swatch test with this cold wax medium.

Yesterday was busy. I didn’t get to art. I drew this on Sunday in anticipation of Monday being crazy: does that count??

Three days down . . . 97 more to go.

Number 2 of my . Reference was from something I found on the internet. Gouache on cold press.

I’ve decided to try the . I’m going to do either a little gouache painting or an ink drawing everyday. I want to establish better art habits. I had so much fun yesterday, I made two…

Test prints. Her hands aren’t reading the way I want and I’ve got to fix her hair, but, not bad.

This character? Concept? Theme? Is a recurring . . . thing . . . that I come back to over and over again in my doodles - probably something I saw when I was younger that just stuck with me. I’m playing with some techniques and thought I’d try her out again.