The Art of Shawna Apps
It’s probably no surprise, but I love painting and drawing birds. They’re the animal I create most often, and they are my most requested subject as well. On our vacations to the Outer Banks, sandpipers are one of our favorite birds to watch while we’re on the beach, and I knew I’d be painting one soon…
Title: Sandpiper
Continue reading “New Piece: Sandpiper”If you’ve been around for awhile, you know I love watercolors.
You might also know that I love drawing with graphite pencils.
I’ve been after a way to combine the two loves into one cohesive piece lately, but no matter what I’ve tried, it never looks…right.
Well, I decided to reorganize and redecorate my office, and guess what I found buried in a spot that never should have held this particular item?
WATER. SOLUBLE. GRAPHITE. PENCILS.
Continue reading “New Mediums”I was inspired to create this piece in February, but it took me a full month and a half to even attempt to try painting it! I tend to get in my head when I see things that inspire me to paint, telling myself it’s too hard, I’m not good enough to even try it, and I’ll waste my time and materials by even attempting it. I’m getting better about it, but it’s still a voice in my head that needs major work to silence it!
Title: Soar
Continue reading “New Piece: Soar”Confession time!
Sketchbooks? Not my thing.
As an artist, that feels weird to say. I feel like sketchbooks are a must have for us, but I have never really cared for them. I don’t know if it’s because I just want to create finished pieces or I just am afraid to create something beautiful just for it to be stuck in a book forever, but sketchbooks? I’ll happily pass on them.
Continue reading “Artist Confession”You’re never going to believe it…but this piece? It actually DID WHAT I WANTED IT TO. I’ve had so many recently that went their own way, so to have one do what I wanted?
It felt really, really weird.
I’ve had a couple questions about where this piece is from, and I love that even though it’s from Corolla, Outer Banks in North Carolina, that it reminds my viewers of their favorite bodies of water!
Title: Tranquility
Continue reading “New Piece: Tranquility”Ever since my daughter was little, my husband and I had a feeling she would choose a college major/career path leaning towards the arts or something very creative.
Now that she’s a senior in high school (who let that happen??!??!), college applications are in, the deposit was sent to her #1 school, and her double major has been chosen, our initial guesses were right: she’s creative!
Continue reading “She’s Creative!”This piece was a rollercoaster ride to create!
I started out with this being an 18″ x 24″ piece, and some times it went well, others…not so much. Paint was running everywhere, the paper was warping from the water, colors were blending beautifully…like I said, a rollercoaster ride with its ups and downs!
It wasn’t until I was so close to being finished and getting ready to frame it that the unthinkable happened….
A question I get often is do I use reference images for all of my pieces or can I just draw/paint them by memory. My answer is always this: I have to use reference images!
That statement is no longer true because of this piece…
“Your work is too soft.”
“You need more contrast.”
“You know what would make this piece better? Differentiating between your lights and darks more.”
Those comments and so many other variations on them came from my professors and classmates in college, whether I asked for feedback or not. Critiques, working in class….I’d hear them all the time.
Continue reading ““Too Soft””Sometimes I’ll make a piece and be like, okay, this isn’t bad. Others I’ll be like, oh wow, I like this a lot!
This piece?
I’d keep it and stare at it all day every day if I had wall space left for it! I really think this might be the best piece I’ve ever done.
Title: Twilight
Continue reading “New Piece: Twilight”
Back to the Drawing Board 