I meant to post more often once I retired but I’ve been busy…. so here’s a collection featuring my “busy” for the last little while.
Mini pastel painting book
I’ve been trying to figure out how to make a mini book filled with pastel paintings. The big problem is the smudge factor as the pastel is so delicate. I finally hit on the idea of placing a sheet of framing acrylic straight on the painting, securing with tape then glueing the painting to the inside covers of the book.
Next I added a mat to hide the edges and joined the covers with a painted canvas hinge. I think it could be a goer- I’ll sit it on the shelf and see what I think in a few days time.
Now that took a lot of thinking and fiddling round and a fair chunk of my “busy”….
A few You Tube demos
I wanted to get a couple of YouTube demos done and put away for a rainy day. It’s good to have one sitting ready to upload if I have a dry idea week. So I did a couple of small paintings, edited the videos and now I have a spare. That took a medium size chunk of “busy”….
A trip up the coast
Hey this was work folks! I needed a few more photos of the East Coast of Tasmania. Seriously, I’ve only got a few thousand and that’s just not enough . We left early in the morning and I got some shiny sea shots on the way up which I was pretty happy with.
Then some sunny ones at Honeymoon Bay ( a fantastic little beach in the Freycinet National Park). In between the photography I squeezed in a spot of snorkling so as not to waste the sun, warm water and prolific marine life.
Then back home again with a few stops…
and that was a very full day of “busy”.
I unleashed the sewing machine
A trip to the home furnishing shop a few weeks ago saw me grab few bolt end fabrics and they ended up in this trio of bags.
And I made another mini watercolour painting book.
Just wanted to play with my new Schminke watercolour set which is lush!
In between the busy I’ve swum and snorkled, baked and eaten, walked and talked, written and read so forgive me for my blogging slackness please.
What’s your “busy” been ?
Lindy Whitton Studio 
You have been crazy busy! love the paintings and the photos, I might have to come back and read this post again, very inspiring.
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I like being busy!
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You have been busy! Your paintings are beautiful as always. And I love the idea for the mini books. My busy has been working on a new stitching project that I have been rushing to finish as a present for my parents before our trip to go visit them in a few weeks. (And keeping up with my three year old, of course, which always keeps me very busy!) Unfortunately this hasn’t left me any time to pick up my pastels lately. Still enjoying your tutorials though and can’t wait to get back at it after our trip. Keep up the lovely work. I was also wondering if we have permission to use your photos from this blog as references for our own painting. Mine would only be for practice since I am still a beginner and do not try to sell my artwork at this time. At most I post my paintings to my Instagram and some private Facebook groups for artists to share their work and get feedback. If not that is fine. Just wondering for future practice. I’m always inspired to pick up my pastels when I see your gorgeous photos. Thank you!
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Hi Brandy, Nice to hear from you . A three year old is all kinds of busy !! I well remember those days. Re the photos – I’m happy for you to use any photos I have in the Video Reference section. I’m trying to post photos for all the demos I’m doing on YouTube in this section but haven’t quite finished yet. I’m also posting some reference photos in my Etsy store for a token amount ($1.99Aus approx $1.50 US) which come with a licence to use for personal and some commercial uses. ( eg for paintings you will sell). I think this is the easiest way to ensure I keep the copyright but others can use freely without breaching copyright. Hope you enjoy your holiday.
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Thank you for the info on your photos!
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Love your photo’s Lindy, could almost be New Zealand 🙂 Probably the wrong place to ask questions….however will take the opportunity . I need to place an old ship wreck in a pastel I am doing, its really just a silhouette in a beautiful colourful sunrise photo, have free hand done the background, now terrified of getting the ship proportions wrong ! How should I do it ?
Second question, how to keep pastels clean, I’m sure you have included this in one of your video’s, just cannot spot it. I would love your thoughts if you have time in your busy life. Cheers Adrianne
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Hi Adrianne, If I have a tricky object to paint I often crop the photo to the object and then size it to the actual size I want using photoshop. I might do 2 or 3 sizes so I can try different sizes on the painting. I then print them out and cut around the object and lay it over the background to work out exactly what size and where I want it. Once decided I turn it over and cover the back with a pastel colour that will stand out against my background then lay it face up on the painting and trace the outline with a pen or embossing tool. Then when I take it off there is my outline – all the proportions are correct and I can get on with the painting. Keeping pastels clean is a bug bear! I try to paint with a piece of cloth or paper towel in one hand so I can swipe the pastel on it before I put it down ( sometimes I swipe it on my shirt!). Another thing I do is line my trays with rice or semolina and as the pasels move around the grit rubs the dirt off them. You can also just put your dirty pastel sin a plastic container, pour in some semolina , put on the lid and gently shake.I don’t always work clean like this so every now and then I just take an hour and clean each stick with a paper towel.Happy painting! Cheers
Lindy
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Wonderful photos, and you look quite happy and relaxed in the “lunch break” shot…
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It was a looong lunch and that always makes me relaxed and happy!
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Glad you are blogging again…I have missed you.Your busy makes mine look very ordinary!!! Beautiful pics its a lovely part of this beautiful isle.
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I’ll try and do better at the blogging! Off to the Tasman Peninsula tomorrow – making the most of the last of the warm days.
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Your “busy” would be my nightmare I think! But hey! maybe age has something to do with that!
My “busy” has been a lot less busy this week with the major fund raisers for WGS over. I am feeling lots more relaxed but then there is Green Hair Day to come tomorrow and who knows exactly what shade of green it will be!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Well I think we all know what shade of green it is now!
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That is properly busy! Fabulous work!
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