design – Communicating Creatively

I Love Shooting Up!

Featured by communicatingcreatively, posted in Photography

There is a lot to look at in this world of ours.

Way back in 1982, when I first started getting serious about photography, I noticed how I instantly developed a greater curiosity about our world. I started to explore detail in subjects that I had not even noticed prior to becoming interested in communicating via this medium.

Detail is one thing however, we also need to look up (I would say more than) occasionally as how much do we miss in our daily travels as we get busy with life? This brings me to the subject of this short article.

I love shooting up!

The next time you are out and about, take a minute away from your busy schedule and look up. There is a whole new world just waiting for you feast your eyes upon it.

Happy travels!

Written & Photographed by David Johnson

4 March 2023

Things That Attract My Eye! – 2

03/08/202214/08/2022 by communicatingcreatively, posted in Photography

One of the types of subjects that I have always enjoyed photographing since I took up Photography in 1982 is the ‘everyday things’ that we come into contact with.

Prior to taking up photography, I certainly was not aware how beautiful mundane subjects were. Photography created a new awareness within me and since I took up sketching and painting, this awareness of my surroundings has deepened.

It really is amazing at just how many beautiful subjects there are if we only would take the time to notice.

I’ve included some images below that I hope you will find as interesting and as beautiful as I do. All were taken in 2022.

Till next time!

Written by David Johnson

3 August 2022

Mother Nature – Artist

29/12/2020 by communicatingcreatively, posted in Stories From Life

Walking is something I love to do, however, unfortunately, it is something that has only happened intermittently of late due to all sorts of reasons and maybe a couple of excuses.

What better time to restart the activity than the time between Christmas and New Year.

Unlike last year here in Sydney Australia (when bushfires and thick smoke continued for months and 40C/104F+ temperatures), this Christmas has seen downpour after downpour and (so far) cooler temperatures 23C/73F – 33C/91F for Summer.

This morning I walked approx. 3km/0.62miles just ‘as a starter’ as it has been nearly 2 months since the last one. With cloudy skies and recent rain it was ‘cloudy bright’ overhead which delivered nice, even lighting.

On my travels today, I found some interesting tree bark patterns and thought I would share them. Mother Nature certainly provides us with a range of designs and colours. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did.

Written by David Johnson

29 December 2020

Red Point Art Association Inc

12/07/2020 by communicatingcreatively, posted in Painting, Stories From Life

Yesterday, I joined Red Point Artists Association Inc at Port Kembla, which is situated 93 kilometres (57 miles), 1 1/2 hours drive from Sydney, near Wollongong and about 45 minutes SE of where I live.

I had visited some years ago at the invitation of a friend, Dulcie Dal Molin who is a former President of the Association and an Honorary Life Member. I have known Dulcie for may years through our involvement in Photographic Societies.

I had been wanting to become a member of RPAA for quite a few years but had too many commitments on my plate. Those commitments have now ended and my love for Sketching and Painting has increased remarkably over the last few years. The time was indeed right!

You might ask, ‘aren’t there Art Societies closer to where you live?’ ‘Why travel that distance to join this Art Community?’

Valid questions. I have always found my visits to ‘Art On The Grass’ which are held every second Saturday of the month, for 11 months of the year, special. There is something that keeps drawing me back to this Art Community that I cannot quite put into words. Perhaps the French phrase, ‘Je ne sais quoi’ would sum it up.

The RPAA are to be congratulated as not only have they found a ’space’ in the Main Street of Port Kembla, they have found a truly inspiring space. A grassy rectangle surrounded by a ‘horseshoe’ of studios, a gallery where the members can hold exhibitions and a cafe with outside seating that all contribute to the ‘Artsy Vibe!’

On the grass and via the studios, members can also sell their Arts and Crafts and the general public can come in and seek out that special gift for themselves or others whilst beautiful music plays in the background.

Workshops and Art classes are also held regularly.

It really presents well as a delightful Community Art Space in a relaxed environment where a variety of Arts and Crafts are practiced.<

For more information please visit the following links:

Web: https://redpointart.org.au/

FB: https://www.facebook.com/RedPointArtistsAssociationInc

Written by David Johnson

12 July 2020

To Gather Its Essence

02/05/202003/05/2020 by communicatingcreatively, posted in Poetry

To Gather Its Essence

Journal Lessons

25/03/202008/03/2020 by communicatingcreatively, posted in Stories From Life

It’s been well over 2 years since I started ‘formally’ journalling and it has been a thoroughly interesting journey.

I started off with a (writing) Poetry journal in the form of a Visual Arts ring-bound A5 book and an A5 Moleskine Watercolour journal then in my next journal, a Paper Mill A4 with Ivory sheets, I combined the two interests.

On the writing Poetry front, I noticed that my Lamy Safari Fountain Pen’s nib now writes a bit rough after using it on 110 gsm paper. I won’t make this mistake again.

The Paper Mill Journal seemed like a great option at the time as it would hold Watercolour but was smooth enough to write on with a Fountain Pen. The one thing that kept gnawing at me though was that the paper was too smooth for Watercolour.

I’ve also tried a Strathmore A5 190 gsm Watercolour Visual Journal which was ok though I think I prefer the Moleskine A5 200 gsm.

I now write my Poetry on normal paper that is contained within an A4 Journal that is approx. 3.0cm thick and it works rather well and have been utilising both the A5 and A4 Moleskine Watercolour Journals of late.

It would be so nice to find ‘a one Journal fits everything’ though so far I have not seen anything that will fit the bill, short of making my own Journal.

I’m sure that I will try a home-made one in time. I’ve seen examples where people have ripped out the pages of a book and repurposed the cover for their home-made journal. Being a book lover I would find this extremely hard to do so I would have to make the covers myself as well.

I have a few commitments that end on 30 June this year and plan to spend a little more time investigating in a home-made journal then, so till that time, I will keep experimenting.

Have you found a Journal that meets all your needs?

Written by David Johnson

March 2020

Nil Rocha Art – A Mentor

22/03/2020 by communicatingcreatively, posted in Painting

Within the past week, a change has come across my Watercolour Sketch a Day practice.

When I started the practice it was because I wanted to learn not only Watercolour but obtain practice in sketching and drawing with pencils and pigment liners.

Over time and sometimes due to time constraints (mainly during the week), I found myself dispensing with the pencils and pigment liners and just doing a quick ‘wash’ sketch with paint only. This is ok, I guess as I was still getting practice, but I wonder how much I was actually learning, leaving myself to my own devices…?

Just under a week ago, I decided that I wanted to go back to my ‘original why’ and I started looking at YouTube and in particular searching the phrase, ‘Line and Wash.’

I came across an Artist channel, ‘Nil Rocha Art’ whose sketches appealed a lot to me. “Nil Rocha Art’ is listed as ‘a Professional Artist in ‘Line and Wash’ drawing landscape and others.

Having now done five of the tutorials, I feel like I am learning so much more now about sketching, painting and the use of colours, mixes etc than I have in all the time previously. Yes, I wish I had done this earlier but I guess we all have our own journey. Previously, I would watch different shows, picking up the occasional tips and practicing them, reading books etc.

I feel that the tutorials are stretching me, exploding me out of my comfort zone and even after only five days, I feel that my confidence in sketching/Watercolour is growing each day. I’ve included the five Line and Wash sketches I’ve done so far, below.

If I was just starting now, I would definitely jump onto YouTube or similar and find an Artist/Mentor that you can follow.

Should you be interested in learning about how to do Line and Wash here is the link to ‘Nil Rocha Art’ YouTube channel. I hope you have as much fun as I’m having.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChARxKHm9NvFsN52nnvpxRw

Thank you to ‘Nil Rocha Art!’

Written by David Johnson

22 March 2020

“Fishing Trip” Day 416 of a Watercolour Sketch a Day

“Country House” Day 417 of a Watercolour Sketch a Day

“Farmland” Day 418 of a Watercolour Sketch a Day

“House On The Hill” Day 419 of a Watercolour Sketch a Day

“Hillside Living” Day 420 of a Watercolour Sketch a Day

Stretching My Comfort-Zone…Flowers

18/03/202004/07/2021 by communicatingcreatively, posted in Books, Painting

Being still (what I would call) relatively new to Watercolour, I am still exploring the types of subject matter that I would like to paint. Predominantly, I have been painting landscapes, seascapes, sky-scapes with a few buildings thrown in here and there.

I hadn’t really thought of painting flowers. They always looked rather challenging (and still are) and I have so much still to learning about painting them.

Recently, I purchased the book, ’The Watercolour Flower Painter’s A – Z’ An Illustrated Directory of Techniques for Painting 50 Popular Flowers.

Thus far, I have attempted 3 of the exercises 1) Strelitzia (Bird of Paradise); 2) Freesia and 3) Petunia and found the exercises easy to follow, offering detailed instruction and a delight to read.

Under ‘Essentials’ in the front of the book it covers nearly 30 essential techniques to learn that will aid the aspiring Artist in artistically reproducing the subjects.

If you are looking for an easy to follow book that will take you out of your ‘painting comfort-zone’ then I would highly recommend you take a look at this book.

Written by David Johnson

March 2020

Observations on Day 406 – A Watercolour Sketch a Day!

07/03/2020 by communicatingcreatively, posted in Painting

Looking back, I haven’t written about my project, ‘a Watercolour Sketch a Day’ since the 127th day. I’m happy to report that today is Day 406 and I haven’t missed a day yet.

It’s been a fascinating journey and I’m making heaps of mistakes so I must be learning a lot!

So, why pick Day 406 to write about the experience, I mean why not write about it on Day 200, 300 or 400? I noticed that today signifies a slight change in direction…

To explain: When I first started, it was about a Watercolour Sketch a Day, meaning the goal was to create a daily watercolour sketching habit, quick sketches that I could do on say A5 (or smaller) pages.

This was how it was for a time, then I noticed I was attempting larger sketches on A4 and above paper which is fine, but they were taking longer and longer to complete and as I’m not a full-time artist, my time to commit to larger sketches during the week is not as great. Sometimes, I only get a limited time to do them, say 10 – 20 minutes. On the weekends it is longer, mostly.

I also noticed that after a very busy day I was prone to tackling easier subjects, abstract I suppose you could call them which is fine and fun though at times I felt I was doing ‘anything’ just to say that the sketch was done for that day. I don’t want this to be a production, it was meant to be and is fun.

Also, I had gone away from using pencils and pigment liners as well. I want to improve my drawing/sketching skills with the aforementioned tools as well Watercolour paints.

This morning I decided to go back to my original intentions. I started using a pencil again and am doing a smaller size sketch.

One of the challenges I have is that I don’t get out as much as I like to sketch, especially during the week as I run a business, though it is not tied to an office or shop predominantly, per se.

Perhaps I should tuck a Moleskine A5 Watercolour journal and a couple of pencils etc in my portable folder so that if the chance comes up, I could do a quick sketch whilst waiting for an appointment. That would be a great habit to start instead of pulling out the Smartphone and wasting time with that…

Doing a Watercolour Sketch a Day still motivates me and I can certainly say that I am enjoying the journey. Watercolour is such a fascinating medium. Drawing/sketching is fun and it still feels like a kind of meditation for me.

Here are a selection of my Watercolour Sketches since Day 128.

Written by David Johnson
7 March 2020