As I make my way through my pile of old paint patterns I’ve drawn and used over the years, I figure I might as well start the posts at the beginning – with “A”. For Arches.
I’m pretty sure there has to be some mathematical or logical way to draw arches.
If there is, I don’t know it.
Nope. When I needed/wanted to paint an arch on a wall or canvas, I would sketch-erase-sketch-erase until the arch looked fairly symmetrical.
Granted, I’m not always the brightest bulb in the box. Or is that sharpest tool?
Whatever.
In the early years I was so excited about painting murals that I couldn’t wait to load my brush and get started.
Eventually I saw the folly in that and began taking time to sketch-erase-sketch-erase on paper, before touching the wall.
On paper you can take a smaller round object, like a plate, and use it as a template, then take your drawing to an oversized printer (I use a blueprinter) and have it printed to scale. Then just transfer the scaled pattern to the wall.
Then there’s the pencil-and-the-string method. Hubs showed me that.
Here’s a funky l’il diagram but basically you place a pushpin where you want the center of the arch, tie a string from the pin to a pencil, making the string as long as you want the radius. (I paid a little bit of attention in Geometry class.) Then, with the string taut, draw a half-circle, creating an arch.
To be honest, I ran into a few problems with this, as in, I couldn’t get the string to stay tied to the pencil. Or it slipped down the pencil making the arch all wonky. Or . . . stuff.
So I’d go back to my sketch-erase-sketch-erase and irritate the Hubs since, after all, the pencil/string thing was his idea and aren’t his ideas always the best?
Good times.
Anyway, on the off-chance you might want to paint an arch any time soon, here are a couple patterns for you.
This was for a hanging canvas, the first I ever did, I think.
Huh. I didn’t realize that I was smarter in the early days and planned these things out.
This is a similar arch, again for a canvas.
I also drew the detail for inside the arch.
This was back when everything I painted was ‘tuscan’. You might be wondering why there is a pinkish-red sky.
Me too.
It started out blue. But then my brother-in-law came over with a date who happened to work for an art gallery, who happened to think I had talent, and also happened to think that this painting should have a pinkish red sky.
Blech.
Why would I allow someone I just met to influence me to change one of my paintings? I have no idea. Chalk it up to lack of confidence, I guess.
Anyhoo, I’m kneedeep in the January blahs here. Trying to organize the house. Trying to get painting classes planned and scheduled. Trying to paint the doggie series.
Starting new projects when you’re blah is a challenge. Or is it just me?
I really shouldn’t complain because our weather here has been nothing short of fabulous (if you don’t consider we’re facing record-breaking drought conditions) and it’s warm enough that I can actually try some chalk paint finally.
But that’d be one more project started. Not finished. It’s a disease, I tell ya.
I think that’s why I’m enjoying posting these paint patterns. It helps me to realize that I actually do finish some projects.
What are you working on? Anything fun? What’s the weather like where you live?
Colleen
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