Midsommer
Midsommer, FOTO, 2020, Astrid Volquardsen
Bright evening
The evenings become brighter and brighter and our walks later and later.
Bright evening, 10×6,5cm, Guoache, 2020, Astrid Volquardsen
Peony
It loses a little bit of this diary character and turns into a color study book.
Peony, Gouache, Sketchbook, Astrid Volquardsen, 2020
Especially the red and green tones have done it to me. There is one red that I like best: Chinacridone violet by Horadam Schmincke. Exactly this colour tone came across me in the form of a peony/farmer rose. Of course I lack my grey tones in this version, because originally it was the brush application that mattered to me. Which brush leaves which traces.
Be comfortable in being uncomfortable
When evening comes II, Gouache, 10×10cm, Astrid Volquardsen, 2020
A nice reader told me the other day how much she struggles with some of her pictures. That’s where »the key« to the whole, if not to life itself, lies.
In English we say, »Be comfortable in being uncomfortable.«
Feeling comfortable in the creative process while at the same time uncomfortable in discovering unknown territory. It is important to endure this discomfort, and (if possible) to feel joy in discovering new techniques, new ways of expressing oneself.
Venus
Venus, 10×10cm, Guoache, 2020, Astrid Volquardsen
When evening comes
When evening comes, 10×10cm, Guoache, Astrid Volquardsen 2020
Experimentation
Cloud studies, Guoache on AquaBord, Astrid Volquardsen, 2020
I have now finally arrived at a phase of experimentation. Everything is allowed. I particularly like AquaBord. It has the property that it allows very robust work and that I can wipe the result away with a cloth and start again. This is very much in line with my way of working.
Almost like my »brush« in pastel painting. I wonder how many students flinched when they heard this sentence:
»How attached are you to your painting?«
