HAPPY INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY!

Happy International Women's Day! Isn't it wonderful that there is a special day to celebrate us? I have such fond memories of this day and I always find myself looking forward to it.  When my brother and I were little, we would always find an almond tree and bring a beautiful almond branch full of blossoms to my mother.  I still associate this day with almond blossoms and not with other more conventional floral options. When we were a bit older, we could just buy flowers, but those pre-school days of looking for flowers seem more fun in retrospective. Do you have any fond memories connected with this day?

I'm actually in Croatia right now and I will stay here for the next week or so. On my blog, we will celebrate this day with some art sharing. In the past, I also shared 30 READING RECOMMENDATIONS (LADY AUTHORS) so check that out if you want to celebrate today by reading female authors. Today I'll share a new art update: two paintings that were both inspired by a finishing boat I saw and photographed last year. I first painting this boat in my new royal talens sketchbook (not sponosored) and then I decided that I will transfer it to a canvas as well. So, now I have two versions of this boat. I took the reference photograph of this boat in Jelsa on island Hvar. I used the same photograph as a reference for both of these paintings.  Yesterday, I showed you a commissioned painting of a boat, today I'm showing you a boat motif that I choose myself. 



MY BOAT PAINTING PROCESS- THE SKETCHBOOK VERSION
First I'm going to show you the sketchbook version of this boat painting. If you look closely at my laptop, you will be able to see that I was burning the midnight oil to paint this one, staying up after 1 am. I know that natural light is very important for painting, but often it is hard to find time doing the day. It is not a problem for me to find time to sketch, but to do a proper painting, I need at least 4 hours and then half an hour for cleaning the brushes and so on. That is why I often don't start before midnight. Sometimes I manage to reverse this and make myself get up early and go to to bed earlier but it depends on my day time obligations as well. Fortunately, I have a very tolerant husband who doesn't complain about me walking around the house at 3 am. I did add some finishing touches to this painting in the morning. Anyhow, bellow you can see my sketching and painting process. I sketched the general outline with a graphite pencil and then I started applying the acyrlic colours (by the same brand as the sketchbook royal talens). My art dealer (gallery Michelangelo in Mostar where I took six art courses in the past) has changed up their supplier. As far as the paints themselves go, I'm very happy with the royal talens/art create acrylic paints. I don't see any difference to other quality acrylic paints I used in the past. However, I'm not a fan of the packaging. If you want, I can share a more detailed review. 




THE PROCESS OF PAINTING THE SAME BOAT BUT ON CANVAS 
Bellow you can see the same boat painted on canvas. As you can see, the paintings are not identical even if they are quite similar. I focused more on the sea when it came to the canvas version. The canvas enabled me to add many layers of blue paint (more than I could on the sketchbook paper). The sea on the sketchbook version of the painting you can see above is more simple in comparison to that on the canvas. Sometimes different medium requires different adaptations. On the canvas painting, I tried to really capture the movement of the sea. On both paintings, the reflection of the boat in the water is visible because that was important to me. You could even say that is the key element of both of these paintings. The reflection of boat is definitely the things that attracted me to this motif and made me opt for this photograph as reference. I watched some art tips video on YouTube and all the artists there seem to agree that it is important to choose a quality reference. I like using my own photographs as a reference. It is also easier to paint something you actually saw with your own eyes, well at least for me it is. So, it makes sense for me to use my own photographs or that of my husband because they display things we have actually seen with our own eyes. Scroll down to see the work in process photographs. As you can see, I gave up on an idea of making a sketch and just covered the canvas with layers of blue paint, waited for them to dry and then started to paint a boat on top of that. I find sketching on small canvases to be hard and anyway sometimes you have to work on your 'paint' confidence. I'm always hearing about how line confidence is important and I agree with that. However, I think it is also  important to be able to complete a painting with a brush. Even if you sketch with a brush and set some guidelines that way, the process with be different than drawing with a graphite pencil. I like being able to paint directly without always having to rely on a sketch- not that one shouldn't practice sketching. I definitely need to practice drawing more. I'm just staying that painting directly on canvas is also a good practice.  Anyway,  I'm really happy how this one turned out. Recently I have also applied varnish on this canvas, so now it looks even better. I will share my varnishing experiences in the future as I'm still new to it. 


INSPIRED BY JELSA ON ISLAND HVAR

Some of you may remember that I lived and worked in Jelsa on island Hvar in 2020. You can read about my experiences in this post: ONE YEAR LIVING IN JELSA ON ISLAND HVAR 


Moreover, here are links TO SOME OF MY PREVIOUS POSTS ABOUT JELSA VILLAGE (SOME SEE IT A SMALL TOWN):



As always, thank you for reading and visiting. Have a lovely day! Take care and stay safe.<3

Comments

  1. Happy Women's Day Ivana, I guess the almond tree flowers are beautiful!
    Thanks for sharing your art process of work!
    xoxo

    marisasclosetblog.com

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  2. Happy International Women's day! Oh, such sweet memories! Love knowing the process of this painting! Beautiful illustrations!

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  3. Tanti auguri per la festa della donna, ivana!
    Che dolce la tradizione di tua mamma! Io l'unica tradizione particolare che ricordo di questo giorno è che di solito marinavo la scuola con le mie amiche e andavamo a divertirci al Parco divertimenti che sta qui a Roma!^^
    Bellissimo il tuo dipinto: sicuramente questo è uno dei tuoi lavori che mi piace di più, davvero stupendo!
    Baci!
    S
    https://s-fashion-avenue.blogspot.com

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  4. Happy International Women's Day! I have really only been celebrating it for the past 5 years or so - it wasn't really much of a thing here prior to then.

    I meant to say on your last post: art is like any other skill. It's a muscle that needs training, and needs to be exercised! Just as you wouldn't expect to go on a sports field and be an expert immediately, with art, you need to train, take classes, and practice in order to get better/stay better/improve. I love the way you paint water, Ivana.

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  5. Happy Women's day! I really like your artwork, you always capture water so well - I guess because you are lucky to live near so many pretty bays! :) Your boat painting is lovely!

    Hope your week is off to a nice start :)

    Away From The Blue

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  6. Happy International Women's Day Ivana and thank for sharing your process of painting - it's very interesting to me. And Jelsa looks absolutely beautiful - Croatia is on my list of places I'd like to visit.

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  7. Happy Women's Day. Loving the photos and the art work :-D Have a great week :-D

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  8. Happy International Women's Day! You did a wonderful job of capturing the depth and motion of the water.

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  9. Happy International Women's day Ivana. Your artwork skills just keep getting better and better. The water looks so real!!!
    OXOX
    Jodie
    www.jtouchofstyle.com

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  10. Feliz día me gustaron tus cuadros. Te mando un beso

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  11. Lovely picture, you live in such a beautiful place! Happy women's day!:)

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  12. Happy International Women's Day, Ivana! Your artwork is wonderful. xxx

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  13. Bringing your Mum a blossoming almond branch is such a sweet gesture!
    Thank you for sharing your artwork and creative process with us again, Ivana! I love the way you manage to capture the gently lapping water. Happy International Women's Day! xxx

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  14. Prelepo je stvarno! Srećan Dan žena!

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  15. Amazing drawings!! :)
    have a great time my friend,
    Tiziana
    www.tizianaolbrich.de

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  16. Pretty good post full of many topics, it was like a diary update!

    I hope you're doing well Ivana. First of all it is lovely to read that you have a lot of memories related to blossom trees, they are one of my favorites but sadly they last too short :( Anyway they are like a special moment of the year, like the announcement of spring *_*

    And congrats about your commission, I feel so happy for you! Obviously when the method or the materials change there is a new challenge, but you are way too talented and it seems like a perfect result!

    PS: Love your lilac socks in one of the lasts photos!

    Happy spring!
    Pablo
    Hey Fungi

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  17. Your arts are amazing! :)
    Happy International Women's Day!

    https://www.heyimwiththeband.com.br/

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  18. Che bello il tuo omaggio alle donne, sei davvero brava Ivana!
    Kisses, Paola.

    Expressyourself


    My Instagram

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  19. Hope you had a special day!
    I remember giving my mom flowers on this day when my sister and I were little. Also, we used to recite a poem for her.

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  20. Happy International Womens Day. Predivna mi je slika i bilo mi je jako zanimljivo gledati cjelokupni proces nastanka iste. Također ovo drvo i prvi pupoljci izgledaju predivno i sviđa mi se kako si ih uklopila u fotografiju.

    New Post - https://www.exclusivebeautydiary.com/2021/03/most-worn-winter-fragrances-20202021.html

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  21. Just stopping by to wish you a lovely day dear ivana!!
    xoxo

    marisasclosetblog.com

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  22. Another Boat Comes To Life - Well Done

    Cheers

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  23. I agree! I think it's wonderful that there's a day celebrating us!

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  24. That's a beautiful painting! Hope you had a wonderful day!
    xoxo
    Lovely
    www.mynameislovely.com

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  25. Your painting is wonderful! You have amazing talent!

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  26. Captivatingly beautiful painting. The gently lapping water has such a lifelike quality and instantly soothes the soul - much like real waves - just looking upon it.

    Happiest IWD week wishes!

    Autumn Zenith 🧡 Witchcrafted Life

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    Replies
    1. Thank you so much for your comment. It is my ultimate art goal to be able to capture waves and their movement.

      Delete
  27. Happy (belated) International Women's Day!
    I do think that your paitntings are marvellous and I am always so impressed with what you achieve. I ADORE patintingso of the sea and boats and this one is really beautifully done. The mtotion of the waves and the reflection iss great!

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  28. Something really weird was going on with trying to comment just then- it was adding all these extra letters in AFTER the words I typed and I couldn't delete them at all!!! It's fine now but it was so odd!

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    Replies
    1. I don't know what it could be. Thank you for your comment.

      Delete

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All your comments mean a lot to me, even the criticism. Naravno da mi puno znači što ste uzeli vrijeme da nešto napišete, pa makar to bila i kritika. Per me le vostre parole sono sempre preziose anche quando si tratta di critiche.

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