Time Lapse Watercolor Painting, A Gift to Jen

For the time lapse video of how I painted this, please click here

This painting if entitled "Never Apologize for your Stash". A lot of knitters love having a lot of yarn, and non-knitters can't quite understand why we have so much "stash". Some knitters even feel apologetic or embarrassed by having a big stash. I'm not so. I have yarn for at least 30 pairs of socks, and I consider this to be a yarn drought. It's not really as crazy as it seems. A painter will have many blank canvases, sketchbooks, paints, easels. A wood-worker will have lumber, power tools, nails, screws. A baker will have a full pantry of flour, sugar, spices. My Mother-in-law's pantry is always stocked and ready for almost any recipe.

But what if you have more stash than can be used in your lifetime? To that I compare the stash to my art supplies. I still have prismacolors, oil pastels, chalks, and acrylics that I most likely wont use, just because I have now identified myself as a watercolorist. My focus has changed, and watercolor is my new favorite. I shouldn't have to use up all my art supplies just because I have them. But I like to keep them just in case my focus changes again, as with the yarn stash :)

So, my friend Jen is a bit of an apologetic yarn collector. I painted this picture for her in order to remind her that she shouldn't be, and to please never stop doing the thing that we've bonded over - knitting, and all the yarn/book/pattern/needle/notion shopping that has come with it.

No stash apology!!
Tiffanny

ps. The cute red head is based on Jen. I even called her husband to describe to me just how she sits while she knits!

Time Lapse Watercolor Painting, Alicia and Sparky / See the painting IRL @ The Knitting Nest

Please click here to go to the video!

This the the last of the Knitters and their Cats series. This one is based on a dear friend who inspired me to take up knitting. When I lost my dog Cosmo, she knitted me my first ever hand-knit scarf to cheer me up. I was in awe. I regarded that hand made scarf as The Best Thing Ever. She made it with her own two hands, just for me. It was better than anything you could ever buy at a store. I took up knitting soon after I received that scarf. Like her, I generously knitted for others. One year, I knitted 11 pairs of socks for my family. 22 socks total. That was before I learned how to watercolor, so I had time back then :) Now my knitting obsession has been replaced by painting. I guess I have an addictive personality. Its why I stayed away from coffee for a long time. Now I'm addicted to that too. DOH. 

Knitting to me now is the treat at the end of the day. If I have felt like I've done enough art, If I have completed at least 30 minutes of exercise, if I have spent enough time with the dogs and exercised them, I will allow myself to knit. Surprisingly, even with these stipulations, I've completed a sweater and 4 pairs of socks this year :)

You can see the 4 Knitters and their Cats paintings in person at The Knitting Nest. The owner of the yarn shop is so sweet. She's an animal lover just like me. She lets her dogs hang out at the store. That's what I love about Austin. People generally love dogs here. There's almost always outdoor seating at restaurants so you can eat with your dog. There are even parks you can go swimming with your dog at! Anyway, I do go on. You're probably here to read about art and painting, and here I am rambling about knitting and dogs. DOH.

Hope you visit me again, traveler of the internets!

Tiffanny

Time Lapse Watercolor Painting, Eunice and Mewsic

 

It's crazy how busy I have been lately. There is really not enough time in the day. I might have mentioned here before that I'm aspiring to paint for a living (or at least as a moonlighting job on top of my day job). I thought the easiest route for me would be to be a children's book illustrator, but trying to get jobs is frustrating. After sending out 80 postcards to various publishers, there have been no responses. I ordered 250 more cards and I'm so busy typing up addresses. It's so mundane but it's gotta be done. I often wonder why many publishers don't accept e-mailed art. That would make my life so much easier. (And cheaper. postcards are expensive to print. Plus the postage!)

I've been busy getting enough paintings together for The Knitting Nest. The woman there, Stacey, has agreed to hang my artwork there for a Ravelry event next weekend. I think it's the perfect venue for my "Knitters and their Cats" series. I would like to extend my gratitude to Eunice for helping me out with my project. She's a super sweet lady with a heart of gold. Regarding her cat's name she says "My cat's name is Mewsic. Music is my favorite thing and when I got her, she meant so much to me, I had to name her after my favorite thing in the world." How sweet, right? 

So here is the Time Lapse Painting on YouTube!

I'm hoping that I could get my readers a special surprise. I'm on my way to Zilker to do some plein air painting. I'm bringing a camera and tripod along. Hopefully, I can get a time lapse of me painting on the spot. Because of the logistics of my camera memory, battery life, etc, it may just be a 1 frame/second deal.

Thanks for visiting my blog!

Tiffanny

Time Lapse Watercolor Painting, Chinese Girl and Cat

I made a Time Lapse video of this cute painting available on Youtube. Click Here.

Thanks for visiting my blog!

Watercolor - Jennifer Anastasia and Tennyson

My friend Jen and her cat Tennyson.

Well, I've been working on a video tutorial for my watercolor techniques and philosophies. Unfortunately AfterEffects doesn't accept the format that my camera spits out. So I have to import the files into 3DSMAX and render it to a file that AfterEffects recognizes before I can cut the video together. But rest assured it will be up soon! I've always liked teaching. I took advantage of my little sisters when they were kids, sitting them down and lecturing at them. Poor dears. :) Now that I'm somewhat acclimated with watercolors, I feel that I have a few things I can teach. I guess we'll see how it goes. I've never been taught watercolors OR how to teach. This is allllll going to be new.

Until tomorrow,
Tiffanny