Basic Black and White Patterns

One thing I've learned while working with homewares is that it can be hard to find simple coordinates. There are plenty of busy, colourful patterned things available, but when someone wants a throw rug or cushion to match, it can be difficult. Monochrome solids are often the best option, but simple patterns in a smaller scale can work too. 

So I thought I'd put together some simple, plainer repeating patterns that might coordinate nicely with some busier ones.

"Simple Crosses", Digital, October 2015

"Simple Weave", Digital, October 2015

"Simple Triangles", Digital, October 2015

"Simple Stripes", Digital, October 2015

Arabesque Trellis Preview

I'm currently getting back into the swing of things after a pretty solid month of work at my day job. It's nice to have the time and energy to be creative again. Sometimes you just need a bit of time to play. Unfortunately, I wasn't quite thinking when I created this pattern, because I managed to save this small preview sized image that I'm currently using as a desktop background, but not the original sized artwork that I was actually going to make something with. So that's frustrating. Luckily, it didn't come out quite how I wanted, so I was going to have another crack at it anyway. 

For now, here's the small version to show you.

"Arabesque Trellis", November 2015

I'm not even sure if that's clear enough for you to see, but it's the best I can do. Let this be a reminder to keep track of what you've saved when you're closing files. I have a bad habit of getting distracted mid project, and going to work on another image, so I often have about ten tabs open at the end of a session. Don't do this. Save what you need as you go.

But also, don't worry too much if you lose things. It happens. There will always be something else to draw tomorrow.

"Connection" - Digital Mandala

This one reminds me of those construction kits that were a thing when I was a kid. Not sure if they're still around. I think they were called Konnects or something. They were like plastic paddlepop sticks with holes in them. I've named this one "Connection" based on that memory.

"Connection", Digital, October 2015

"Ditsy Leaves" - Color Throwdown Challenge - Digital Repeating Pattern

Time for another colour palette challenge from Color Throwdown. I always intend to do these, but I rarely get around to them in time. I spend too much time trying to decide what I'm doing, and suddenly a week has gone by. This week's theme is green, yellow, black and white.

I wanted to make sure I submitted something, so here's just a quick ditsy leaf pattern. I'm starting to practice patterns where I have to arrange different elements and make them look like a balanced repeating pattern. This is a lot easier now that I have a Wacom tablet and can draw in additional elements to fill spaces rather than sketching on paper and scanning them in as I had to do before.

"Ditsy Leaves", Digital Repeating Pattern, September 2015, 15x15 Inch

It's still a bit rough and I might go back to clean it up later, but I'm pleased with the technique and look forward to doing it again with more complex pattern elements. Look forward to some paisley and floral patterns in the near future. 

30 Paintings in 30 Days - Day 17 - Goldfish Girl Work in Progress 2

More of my Goldfish Girl, now with dark hair. I still haven't had much of a chance to work on it lately. The time I've been at home has usually been waiting for someone to arrive, which makes it tricky to pull out the paints when at any moment you may need to pack them up again.

I'm a little behind due to other commitments, but hopefully I'll have another chance to create today.

30 Paintings in 30 Days - Day 16 - Goldfish Girl Work in Progress 1

I've started my next 12 x 12 portrait. This one is taking a little longer because I had a friend in town at the moment, which cuts down on available painting time. I started wit a layer of orange and blue leftover paint from the previous painting, which I spread liberally over the surface. Some of it mixed to make a surprisingly nice green. I'm pretty picky with greens, usually. I then drew my lineart directly over the painted page with a Bic mark-it pen in Tuxedo Black.

The orange sploshes amongst the blue remind me of goldfish swimming in a pond, hence the title "Goldfish Girl". She also looks a bit like a hipster in those glasses, so she reminds me of the Starbucks logo mermaid.

Not quite sure where to take it from here. I guess wait and see.

30 Paintings in 30 Days - Day 10 - Jared

I've named this abstract Jared, mostly for the reason that I can't think of anything else to call it. Went with a male name this time, since it's fairly geometric, as opposed to some of my other abstracts like "Samantha". Might add some colour to it later, but for now I'm liking the black and white.

30 Paintings in 30 Days - Day 4 - Purple Dalmatian

Another entry for Leslie Saeta's 30 Paintings in 30 Days challenge. Actually used a little paint on this one, in the brief time I had this morning. I haven't got a finished artwork ready to go for tomorrow. I'm considering cutting back a bit, and challenge myself to creating a bit each day without worrying about whether I have a finished artwork or not. I want to have a portolio of artwork at the end of this month that I can actually be proud of. 

On the other hand, maybe I shouldn't focus so hard on what I'm creating during January, but rather the process of building habits and trying things. I've already experimented a little during this challenge, maybe that's a good thing. Even if the experiments didn't result in artwork that I'd be pleased to show off. 

I may even go back after the month is finished and work more on the artworks I think aren't quite finished. Teaching myself that it's okay to rework things might be good for me.

"Austin" is Now Available for Sale

So, remembering that I have a blog today. I'm not nearly as consistent with it as I would like. I've been posting nearly daily on Instagram to try and build up a following on there. I find that I get very single minded with social media, and post in batches on one while neglecting the others. Then realise I haven't posted anything on my blog or Facebook page for a month. The difficult part is that blog require words as well as pictures, and what I have to say isn't always relevant to the artwork. Maybe I should talk generally about my life more, I don't know.

Anyway, I finally got around to putting a Paypal Buy Now button on my blog so I can actually try to sell some art. I couldn't find out how to set it up so the button doesn't let two people buy it, so in the unlikely event that two people buy before I have a chance to disable the button, I'll refund the second purchase. EDIT: Fixed this problem and hopefully it will now only sell one painting to one person.

"Austin", Geometric Art Nouveau Style Acrylic Painting, Acrylic on Canvas, $1800

Will try to get a decent photo of it hanging up on a wall. So many things to do. I've also made a list, below, of the social networking sites and galleries where you can find my work (or will be able to find my work in future). Thanks for looking.

Renee Dillon Art on Blogger
Renee Dillon Art on Instagram
Renee Dillon Art on Facebook
Renee Dillon Art on Society6
Renee Dillon Art on Fine Art America
Renee Dillon Art on Saatchi Art (Formerly Saatchi Online)
Renee Dillon Art on Etsy
Renee Dillon Art on Twitter

"Austin" - Geometric Art Nouveau Style Acrylic Painting

I've had this post on hold for a few days, mostly due to a busy couple of weeks at work. But also due to the fact that I'm a little apprehensive to call this artwork 'finished'. Everything that that entails is a bit daunting. While I intend to hang this piece on my own wall for now, having a finished artwork involves putting it up for sale, as I intended to do from the beginning of this project. 

It can be pretty scary sending your creation out into the world. It means seeing how it will be received, after you've already imagined the best and worst scenarios possible. It means taking a first step towards being taken seriously as an artist - a first step towards even taking myself seriously as an artist. It means acknowledging that it won't happen straight away, that I'm still many hours of advertising and marketing and art making away from having fans or making sales.

The scariest thing about taking this step, though, is that it means testing my mettle. I'm seeing how far I'll go to accomplish the things I want to accomplish. I'm betting hours of my time and a large portion of my dignity on the idea that I'm willing to keep going until I can say that I feel successful as an artist. I don't know what form that success will take just yet, but enough that I reach a moment where I can think "Yes, this was a worthwhile endeavor."

"Austin", Geometric Art Nouveau Style Acrylic Painting, Acrylic on Canvas

I've decided to call this piece "Austin". While I was painting the bright colours, Austin Powers came to mind and I couldn't quite shake the idea. As soon as I thought of it, I knew I had the name. I still have a couple of spots to touch up, but for now I'm calling it basically finished. Time to start on the next one. Stay tuned for more geometric art nouveau style paintings.

Art Nouveau Work in Progress Continued

My Art Nouveau painting is coming along nicely. I've been adding colours here and there to see what it will look like. I'm thinking of adding purple and a little lime green in parts. I might make some of the yellows a bit more orange too.

If you'd like to see regular updates of this work in progress, follow me on Instagram or like my Facebook page, Renee Dillon Art.

Art Nouveau Style Acrylic Painting - Work In Progress

Admittedly, it's been a little while since I've updated my blog. Mostly that's because I've been thinking of taking my art in a new direction lately. I enjoy making tiling patterns. I enjoy fabric design and scrapbook paper design. But the design part of that equation was where I stopped enjoying what I was doing. There were things to contend with like deciding how many papers to go in a pack (while still fitting the upload limit on Etsy) and working out what size repeats should be to fit people's craft projects. I wasn't feeling satisfied about the end result because the colourways I really loved got lost among the colourways I figured someone else might like.

So ultimately, I decided to work bigger. Rather than making art that exists only in the digital world, I'd like to get back to creating art that exists in real space. A real, tangible thing that I can look at and say "Yes, I made a thing." Put it on a wall, maybe, I don't know.

I like the idea of creating something that is infinitely reproducible, that can be used and enjoyed by many people. But I also like the idea of something of which there is only one - something collectible and coveted and rare. I like the thought of somebody seeing my art and loving it so much that they want to put it in their house and look at it every day. And I like the idea of people seeing my art on this blog or social media and just enjoying what I do for free, as I've enjoyed the work of so many artists who share their work with the world.

All of this soul searching has resulted in me deciding to try a big canvas artwork for a change. Not something I'm typically comfortable with. My usual working size is less than A4 (usually even less than A5). I wanted something with large visual impact, though, and I knew for an abstract that the scale would be an important factor. What I've ended up with, so far, is this.

I'll go through the process in a future post, but basically it's a geometric Art Nouveau style abstract. It will be painted with yellow, orange, sky blue and hot pink acrylic (Jo Sonya and Monte Mart Silver Series paints). The thick black lineart was painted with a Posca paint pen. I'm sticking with my love of tiling, seamless, repeating patterns. I actually really liked it at the lineart stage, so in future I might work on some purely black and white pieces too.

Once it's complete I'll have to think of a name. Once again, I'm thinking of giving my abstracts people names rather than vague artsy nonsense. There's just something I like about a painting called Margaret or Georgia or Sam. It makes the painting seem friendly and relatable. After that I'll probably set up an account on Saatchi Art. Maybe I'll put it in my (currently empty) Etsy shop.

Come back soon to see the colours start to go on. I'm already really pleased with how it's turning out and can't wait until it's finished.