Katrina Dawn

Blog is finally launched! Yahoo! First up, "Ducati", an amazingly intense pet portrait I did a few years back. Those cat eyes! https://katrinadawn.ca/blog/ducati

It’s National Take-out Day! Get on out there and support your local restaurant. #bridgesrestaurant is a bit far out for us, but we’ve got our sights set on Thai food from @oncethaiabbotsford partnered with the delicious #vivace from favourite Okanagan winery @lastellawinery

Annual throwback to that time I painted something that ended up on a truck still not over it. Here’s a quote from Meg, who emailed Arctic Fox Logistics to let them know she saw their truck: Yesterday morning I was on my mundane courier route in the Boise, Idaho area. I came upon a colorful truck with a wonderful western scene on the side. It made me smile and feel good inside. Just wanted to let you know it brightened my morning for sure. ... Happy #watercolourwednesday

What a month! To start, I’ve identified a favourite painting from each week (I’d love to hear your favourites too - drop me a comment!) My faves were: Day 3: Winter barn Day 11: alley-way in downtown Abby Day 18: my sister’s house Day 24: Pub... It was a tough call, but those are my picks. What are yours? Re: reflections, I’ve broken them down into three categories: Approach, Technique and Tools. APPROACH: My last art challenge took place in January 2019 and at that time, I did a plein air painting each day. I ended up doing a lot of still life due to time constraints. In contrast, this time I opted to mimic the work of artists I admire, and worked (mostly) off of photographs I’d taken. Although I much prefer plein air painting, this month’s approach pushed my technique waaaay more and the subject matter was more interesting to me. As a result, I was more engaged this time round. TECHNIQUE: In February I learned a few different sky techniques, practiced a looser approach to sketching, became a bit bolder with contrast, practiced paint splatters, incorporated my white gel pen more often, and learned about drippies. TOOLS: Throughout February I worked on three different watercolour papers: all Arches products, all 140 lb, but one type was hot press, one cold press, and one rough press. I now clearly understand the differences in these papers and know that the one for me is COLD PRESS. I also did one painting on a CUP, which was fun, and it surprisingly went kinda viral. Given that I have 99 more, you will probably see more cup paintings in the future, just ‘cuz. I also exclusively worked with a fountain pen and can now officially bid adieu to Micron / Staedler archival ink pens (for the record, these are great pens - I’ve just been meaning to make the leap to the fountain pen world for a while now, and it’s finally happened!) Thanks again for following along! I will likely offer another giveaway in the upcoming days for another painting - so stay tuned. From there, you can expect to hear from me on my regular #watercolourwednesday and, of course, I am available for commissions. March is full up, but reach out for something later in the spring.

Part II of III for Jordan & Jade, who commissioned a home portrait of each of their childhood homes + their first home together. Happy #watercolourwednesday

Finn’s Slough 4 x 6 original, now available for purchase for $75. DM to make it yours! Frame not included (although available at IKEA for $2.99 ). Also, tulips not included! But srsly get out there and brighten your home with a fresh bundle from your local nursery!

Day 28. The final day. This last painting is of a scene from San Miguel Escobar, a town in Guatemala situated on the slopes of the volcano Agua. Years ago, when I was working with a charity down there, we hosted a volunteer team that helped with some housing reconstruction after some terrible land slides in that region. I guess I liked power lines even back then. I cut a special 5x5 sheet to suit today’s content. All my other minis this month have been on 4x6, but the conte...nt dictated the shape of this one. That’s a wrap! Stay tuned for some reflections tomorrow, along with my selection of fave paintings from the month

Part I of III for Jordan & Jade, who commissioned me to do a #homeportrait of each of their childhood homes + their first home together. Katrina! Wow! I am amazed by the paintings. They’re so beautifully done and just bring so much joy to my heart seeing our homes come together like this Thank you so much for doing these. You’re welcome! Happy #watercolourwednesday

Day 27. Artist inspo is @dtai_hansathit Drippies are back! Combo of styles here in this penultimate post. This is the @14thavepub in Mission, B.C. Notable for its Tudor style architecture Thanks for following Day 27. Now get outside and enjoy your Saturday. I know I will.

Day 26. I can’t in good faith tag my artist inspo for the week, because I don’t have enough drippies in this piece. Maybe tomorrow! Well, it’s the final countdown folks, and I’m doing whatever the hell I want at this point. So I dug back through my photo library and found this photo (swipe left) of Finn’s Slough! which is this community of homes on the Fraser River near Steveston, B.C. If you’re local and not been, it’s a great little day trip in the summer. I took a series of photos about three years ago that I intended to paint and here we are, years later. Thanks for following Day 26. Two to go!! She’s gonna make it!

Day 25. Artist inspo is @dtai_hansathit I’m always drawn to exterior staircases like this one on old apartment buildings. I’m not sure what this building was - maybe an apartment, maybe not - but it’s another from downtown Mission. Give it a few years, and I think this downtown might see some more revitalization. Looks of neat old buildings. Thanks for following Day 25. Only three to go!!

Day 24. Artist inspo this week is @dtai_hansathit I made a few decisions with today’s piece: #1. I like sketching. Together with watercolour. It’s my thing. So even though I intended to do less sketching this week, I found it killed my enthusiasm a bit and I wondered for the first time if I was going to complete my challenge this month. So I changed course and the enthusiasm is back. #2. I really do want to practice the drippies. So I will continue to mimic that from Dtai’s... work. #3. Time to tie all my learnings together from this month. In this piece you’ll notice 1) the sky technique from the first week, 2) the loose sketching technique from weeks two and three, and 3) Drippies. I couldn’t be happier with the combined result. Thanks for following Day 24. This is a pub in Mission that I’ve wanted to paint for about four years. Today was the day it happened! And it’s Wednesday, so happy #watercolourwednesday

Day 23. Artist inspo this week is @dtai_hansathit Drippies! I was a bit more successful today. YouTube videos are kind of a last resort for me, but I looked a few up. The key is definitely to keep your board on an angle as you work. You can also do planned drippies - where you guide the drip with a pre-defined stroke of clear water made with your brush and THEN add paint - or just go so heavy on the watercolour paint that it spills on its own. This is another shot from down...town Mission. Thanks for following Day 23

Day 22. New artist inspo this week is @dtai_hansathit This artist is a great example of someone who remains curious in creativity. He explores new content and mediums, which is evident in his feed. I love that. I came upon his work when he was painting really drippy looking watercolours - if you look back in his feed, you’ll see what I mean - anyways, I find it interesting to look at. That is the look I’ll be exploring this week with...I’m not sure how much success. Today...’s painting is of Lido’s Garden Restaurant in Mission, which unfortunately is now boarded up - but I found it photogenic, so here it is immortalized. Dtai primarily does watercolour and only adds hints of sketching here and there, so that is reflected here too. Re: drippy-look. Okay here is my current theory: I think he takes photos of his watercolours when they’re still wet. I’m not sure how he’s getting that look, because when drips dry...they don’t look like drips anymore - at least mine don’t . Maybe he knows a trick that I’ll discover this week(psssst @dtai_hansathit - want to share your tricks with me?) Thanks for following Day 22

Day 21. Artist inspo is @housesketcher Would you believe that the building pictured here is not actually a house, but rather a carpentry shop? It’s true. There is this dear couple that I have known since I was 6 who live on this property. She has prayed for me every day since then ( - It’s true!) and some of my earliest memories of her husband were all the little wooden cars he would make for the children in his life - right there in his Santa’s workshop. He still makes the...m, and when we visited them last summer, he loaded us up with little wooden cars for our nieces and nephews. She keeps this incredible garden, as seen here, and even though her mobility is now limited, she keeps her muscles moving by tending to it. I went for a ride on her tractor when there, which is a modified scooter equipped with her gardening tools to help her scoot around the yard. It was brilliant. Thanks for following Day 21 Tomorrow brings a new artist inspo for my final week of daily sketches.