In Hiding

As the world is turning upside down with the COVID-19 outbreak, our Little Ones are off in hiding. We’re all afraid. However, we’re not letting it take over our lives! Staying positive and being on top of things is the main way to deal with it, right? Easier said than done of course. Still it could help by thinking of pretty things to keep our minds off all the fear. And so I’m painting away! Especially during this time of self-isolation and staying home, I’ll have more spare time to get creative again.

For this piece I used my Mixed Media sketchbook by Marabu and thought it would be an idea to prime the paper first. It’s been some time since using gesso, especially mixing it with some colour. Here I blended a few drops of green Hydrus Liquid Watercolour by Dr, Ph Martin’s with the gesso on a plastic tray (lid of an old yoghurt pot) and briskly brushed the mix across with a wide hard short-bristled brush.

I got some inspiration from my trip in Japan which still sticks in my mind: the bamboos and the flowers especially the Sakura cherry blossoms. Layers of random doodles followed using various mediums such as acrylic ink but also full-bodied acrylic, gouache and coloured India Ink. I also glued on some scraps of origami paper and bits of Japanese-language newspaper.

And now was the time to add Little One! Three of her, in fact, scattered around the painting! Can you see them? I used gel pens to draw them in. It’s a relief to know they are all safe in the semi-bamboo forest among all the pretty flowers! Once I was done photographing this painting, I found myself photographing close-ups of various parts of it. Then isolated the bits and created a collage! How cool is that too?