Creative Brief - Paint and Pencil Experiments

GOAL: To create loose, gestural work using mixed media, to create textured landscapes, patterns and plants

Artist Inspo: Анна Владимирова-Лаврова - A Russian artist from Moscow who creates colorful, vibrant scenes using toned paper, paint and chalk or Pencil.

I had Anna pop up on my feed on Instagram a few years and immediately became obsessed. I love her gesterual strokes and toned paper. She makes these everyday scenes of Moscow look romantic and gorgeous - and if you follow her account she will post her references so you can see how she interprets a scene. I cant read a lick of Russian but her style looks so free like she is really having fun and experimenting with patterns, plants and materials and I find her so inspiring. As a person who struggles to loosen up a bit with art, I am always trying to push myself into more stylized work that uses a reference as a starting point but has a unique point of view

Assignment: Create a series of 3 pieces with the following criteria:

  • Toned Paper - Mixed Media! - Can be any size, but all three paintings need to be the same for consistentcy

  • Gouache (opaque watercolor)

  • Colored pencils or pastels

  • Must have plants in the foreground

  • Must have a pattern or buildings in the backgrounds

  • LOOSE - gestural strokes to show movement

  • Color - choose two dominant colors, but any palette is fine

Reference: You could set this up as a still life, or work from photos. You will need a photo of flowers or plants for the foreground, and of a pattern or a building for the background.