LifeBook Catch-Up Week13 & 24: Happy Painting

These two LifeBook lessons were taught by Juliette Crane, whose loose, painterly style really appealed to me. I couldn't quite achieve the same look and I think I know why. I'm still afraid to let go, give up control and surrender to the process. I keep falling back into my comfort zone and I'm stuck at the same level.

I did each lesson twice, consciously trying to "loosen" up a bit. I think I managed to achieve this to a certain extent. My first attempt at Juliette's main lesson, the owl, ended up looking more like a collage than her happy painting. Luckily my son fell in love with it and he wanted to have it in his room, so I created another version, following the guidelines and the composition of the lesson a bit closer.

First version - now displayed in my son's room

Second version - to be bound in my LifeBook

Here's the process of the second version with some close-ups to follow:

The bonus lesson by Juliette Crane was the creation of a "character" through an intuitive painting process. I couldn't quite grasp this process and fell back into the habit of making a sketch first, so my picture looks a lot more controlled than it should be. I created this weird little character. My first attempt turned out rather ugly without being weird, so I'd rather not show it to you. This one's more whimsical and I quite like the weirdness in it.

Yesterday, I took the plunge and signed up for LifeBook 2016. Well, it wasn't really a plunge, there was no question whether I should sign up or not. Last year, I signed up on a whim and I can honestly say it was the best thing that ever happened to me! Now I'm trying to complete as many LB2015 lessons as I can, so I can start afresh in January. I still have plenty of time to catch up so I'm hopeful!