drawing calm Review & GIVEAWAY

drawing calm: RELAX. REFRESH. REFOCUS with 20 drawing, painting, and collage workshops inspired by Klimt, Klee, Monet, and more by Susan Evenson. This 144 page Paperback – released April 1, 2017 by Publisher: Quarry Books, is a collection of mixed media projects to promote creative practice. The author begins by taking you through the following steps: finding time, setting up your work space, and gathering the tools and materials necessary to collage, paint, draw and pastel. Next are 5 simple warm up exercises to choose from. They quiet the mind, activate the right brain and help to improve the creative experience. Then using the works of great masters for inspiration, Susan guides you step-by-step through the process of making art, with a variety of techniques such as torn-paper collage, blended pastels and wet-on-wet watercolor, in colors and moods that suggest calm. Creative Healing Educator Mary Rockwood Lane provides commentary on the arts and it's benefits to the body, mind and soul. Below is an example of how each project is presented – Chapter Three's Silent Beach. Get your copy below! 

CONTENTS

Foreward
Introduction

GETTING STARTED

Chapter 1 WARM-UP EXERCISES

Chapter 2 DELIGHT
Chapter 3 QUIET
Chapter 4 WARMTH
Chapter 5 HARMONY
Chapter 6 CALM
 Chapter 7 LIGHT
 Chapter 8 RHYTHM

Chapter 9 MAINTAINING THE CALM

Acknowledgements
About the Author
Index

Page 49 Silent Beach Chapter 3 QUIET, Project 3

A beach offers a still point where we can let go of our busy schedules, clear our minds, and tune into nature. This Degas drawing has a wonderfully peaceful feel to it. What I love about it is that Degas created such a deep vista of sand, sea, and sky simply with horizontal bands of color. I’ve played with this idea, using torn strips of paper colored with watercolor and gouache, but you could try it with pastel. Allow for some ambiguity, as getting specific or busy can change the feel of the work entirely. Let your colors remain flowing and soft.

YOU WILL NEED :

• 8″ x 10″ (20.5 x 25.5 cm) or 9″ x 12″ (23 x 30.5 cm) Bristol board or watercolor paper
• three pieces of watercolor paper, 8″ x 10″ (20.5 x 25.5 cm)
• watercolors and gouache
• paintbrushes, in a variety of sizes
• water
• matte medium

Imagine a seascape, using the Degas painting as a reference. Paint the Bristol board with a sand color. It can be an off-white or light brown, or lighter in some areas and darker in others. Allow the paint to dry completely.

Paint the three pieces of watercolor paper, one in varying shades of blues, another with whites, and the third with soft yellow tones. Orient each of these horizontally on your workspace.

Tear the painted sheets from step 2 into irregular horizontal strips. The paper can still be a little wet. There may be rough spots and crooked lines, which is okay. Enjoy the imperfections.

Imagine a band of deep water at the bottom of the page, a brighter horizon line toward the middle, and a vast sky above. Overlap the pieces of torn paper on the background, brushing water over them to hold them together. Notice how you can add piece after piece to construct the three areas of color. The brightest band is in the center of the page.

Attach the strips to the surface with matte medium. Starting at the bottom, attach the darkest section. Move up to the brightest area and then to the sky. Don’t worry if the colors aren’t coming together the way you want them quite yet. Let the matte medium dry.

How do the bands of collaged color look? Do you have beautiful torn edges that are adding to the depth of the landscape? Add a few more torn pieces of painted paper, if you like. Now focus on how the color is lying on the page. Do you need to add anything? Does it feel hazy and beautiful, or do you want richer color? You can go back in with paint now and work on any areas that need a little something more. Start with a watery paint and let the subtle colors and torn paper textures remain important elements on the page. Enjoy the subtlety of the sea, sky, and the beautiful textures you’ve created.

drawing calm is available worldwide at Quarry Books, a division of the Quarto Publishing Group USA. Check out their unique catalog at Quarry Books. Quarto has generously offered to giveaway a copy! One winner will be selected at random. Open until June 6, 2017. Prize includes free shipping Canada & the USA. Good luck!
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