Chronically Hopeful Art: Paintings, Lettering And Drawings From Feb 2019

​This is the first in a new series of posts where I will share all the art I have worked on for the month. I hope to be consistent with it, but life with a chronic illness is anything but consistent, so don’t hold me to it. I am very grateful, though, that this month has been quite productive creatively and I am so pleased with the pieces that I have made. I hope you enjoy this little gallery too.

​​February started off with me being in bed for a few weeks, flaring due to ​noisy chainsaw action happening outside my house. The council has been ​cutting down some rotting trees in our area. I had so little energy, I was weak and spent my days drifting in and out of sleep in the back bedroom, furthest away from the noise.

​Eventually they were done and I started to slowly improve​. I had reordered some supplements and also a new pen I was excited to try.

​Paintings, Lettering And Drawing

A piece of cardboard on a table with the words Faith, Hope Love lettered in white paint with botanical drawings around it. 2 pends on teh table next to the card.
A brown card with the word Bloom lettered in cursive with white paint pen. 2 pens positioned around the card on the table.

​The first ting I did when my Amazon order arrived, was tear off a piece of the box and try out my new white pen. I fell in love right away! The paint pen is quite thick, but I already had a white gel pen which I love and using the two together is just perfect. The gel pen works very well for adding the finer details.

Floral mandalas in white paint pen on blue card, 2 pens on the table around the card.
Pink card with the word Love lettered in white paint pen with floral mandalas drawn around it. 2 pens positioned on the table around the card.

I absolutely love this ​​pen and just want to draw on everything now! It reawakened my joy of drawing and I started doodling daily. I even decorated my Kindle and made my sister’s birthday card – all while stuck in bed.

Botanical line drawings in White paint pen on Kindle. pen to the right of Kindle on the table.
Whimsical scene of hills, sunset and clouds drawn in white paint pen on blue card. 2 pens on the table around the card.

​Of course I’ve not only used the white paint pen this month, I also started drawing with my fineliners, sharpie and gel pens again. I love playing with the different line weights of each pen.

A white card with black botanical drawing, two pens positioned below the card on the table.
Botanical line drawings in black ink on white card, 2 pens positioned on the table around the card.
Botanical line drawing fraing the words Faith, Hope and Love, lettered with black fineliner on white card. By Chronically Hopeful Char
Botanical line drawings surround the word joy lettered in black fineliner by Chronically Hopeful Char

I’ve also really had fun with my watercolours and gouache. Some of my favourite things to paint are leaves. They use simple strokes and are very forgiving when your arms are shaky and weak. And once they’re done I can get lost in a colourful forest of greenery – or whichever fantastical colour I used.

Leafy watercolour composition in purple on white card, the words Live, Laugh, Love lettered in the middle.
You Are Loved, watercolour lettering with botanical frame, pink paint on white card, Paint brush and pens on the table around the card.
Leafy green watercolour wreath on white card, paint tubes and brush on table around the card
Botnical watercolour composition in yellow, red and orange on white card, paint tube and bruch on the table around the card.

​Although I painted lots of leafy compositions, this month I started experimenting with new things, like picking up more than one colour on the brush at the same time, dipping my brush pens into paint before lettering, and trying out new botanicals I don’t usually paint. Not every technique or layout worked well, but I will keep trying and I know I will improve over time.

Four watercolour leaves in purple on white card, the words Faith, Joy, Hope lettered among them, by Chronically Hopeful Char
Various botanical paintings in blue watercolour on white card, a water brush lies above the card on the table, by Chronically Hopeful Char
The word heal lettered in blue watercolour framed by a blue leafy wreath painted on white card by Chronically Hopeful Char
Leaves and flowers painted in watercolour on white card framing the quote bloom where you are planted, by Chronically Hopeful Char

Another favourite of mine is painting lake scenes. They are so calming and remind me of my many visits to the lakes up in northern Italy where our family would spend our summers. Such tranquil scenes.

Sunset lake and mountains scene, with 2 birds flying in the sky and fine whispy grass in the foreground. Paint, brush and pen lyingon ht table around the card. by Chronicaly Hopeful Char
Daytime lake and mountains scene in purple watercolour, with 5 conifers in the foreground, the words Faith moves mountains lettered above the mountains, by Chronicaly Hopeful Char

​Although they might seem similar at first glance, each one is unique. Whether daytime, night time or sunset. Including boats, clouds, stars or moon. And I have also changed the way I paint the trees – with practice comes improvement and I think you can tell which are my most recent attempts.

Daytime lake and mountains scene in watercolour, with clouds, a boat and 3 conifers in the foreground, by Chronicaly Hopeful Char
Night time lake and mountains scene with boat, moon and stars and 3 conifers in the foreground, by Chronicaly Hopeful Char

​Something else I have started this month, stepping outside my comfort zone, is painting birds! I have loved having a garden again and it has reignited my love of bird watching, so I decided I might have a go at painting birds.

A colourful and fluffy little bird sitting on a rock. The words Just be your beautiful self lettered above it. Lilac-breasted Roller painted by Chronically Hopeful Char
A colourful little bird sitting on a twig. Lilac-breasted Roller, Photo by Praveen Siddannavar

I’ve included the reference photo here since this ​bird is quite unique and I didn’t want people thinking I just made up this rainbow fluffball – it actually exists! It’s a Lilac-breasted Roller found in Botswana and this particular little guy was photographed by Praveen Siddannavar. He has some amazing wildlife photos over on his Instagram. ​

I only completed one bird this month, the second, a peacock, is still a work in progress – I cannot wait to show him off next time!

​Well, that’s is for February 2019.

Actually I’m quite impressed that I got so much done. I would love to hear your thoughts on my various pieces.

Which is your favourite piece?

Which style do you like best, the line drawings, watercolour sceneries or botanicals?

What would you like to see me do?

​Did you know you can also follow my creative journey on Instagram?

Visit @ChronicallyHopefulArt and hit “Follow”

The word Love lettered with while pen on pink paper. Pens lying around the picture on the table. Title reads, Art gallery, paintings, lettering and drawings from Feb 2019

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​Are you a creative too? Do you share your creations on​line? Let us know in the comments below, leave a link so we can ​visit your page too!

​Art Supplies I ​Love To Use

This page contains affiliate links. This means I will make a small commission, at no extra cost to you, should you make a purchase after clicking on one of my links. Thank you so much for your support!

Tubes of Gouache

A tube of Winsor and Newton Gouache

​View in US / UK store

​Paint Brushes

A set of Winsor and Newton Cottman paint brushes

​​View in US / UK store

​Watercolour Paper

Bockingford watercolour paper test sheets. Hot pressed and cold pressed.

​​View in US / UK store

​Water Brushes

4 Aquash brushes with Pentel written on top left corner

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​Ballpoint Pens

A set of 5 Uni-ball Eye Pens

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Fine Liners

A set of Uni-pin Fine liners

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​White Gel Pen

Uni-ball Signo White Gel Pen with its cap off

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​Paint Pens

A set of Posca Paint Pens in pastel shades

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​Stardust Pen

A Sakura Gelly Roll pen in Clear stardust colour

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​Large Brush Pens

A set of 6 Tombow dual brush pens

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​Small Brush Pens

A Tombow Fudenosuke brush pen and cap

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​Blendable Markers

A set of 6 Spectrum Noir blendable alcohol markers

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Thank you for stopping by. Hugs, Char xx
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Chronically Hopeful
Chronically Hopeful

Char was born and raised in South Africa, but has been settled in Europe for over 20 years. She's passionate about finding ways to live well, despite chronic illness.

Apart from blogging, she enjoys art, cooking, reading, gardening, gaming and learning new things. She speaks English, Italian and Afrikaans fluently and is slowly learning French too.

She used to be a teacher, but has been housebound with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis since 2015. Since then, she's focused on spending the little energy and strength she has each day on the people and activities she loves. Finding joy in the little things and celebrating the ordinary.

5 Comments

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  1. I LOVE this idea of rounding up the art you’ve been working on – you’ve done some amazing things, I love it! I need a real kick up the bum seriously to get back to doing a bit of sketching or colouring or anything really, I’ve not touched my art stuff in ages.

    I took at look at those white pens on the Amazon link – I’ll have to see if I can get one in the UK as they’re pretty funky.

    How did you get the products you use to look so neat in the box at the bottom? I haven’t found a plug-in yet to do something like that, I think it’s fab.

    Looking forward to see what you come up with next month 🙂
    Caz xx

    • Thanks so much Caz. It’s so hard when health keeps us away from all the creative things. This month has not been very productive at all. Apparently Amazon has updated something and a lot of the new links no longer localise. I have to add the UK links manually. I ran out of steam the day I published this post.

      As for the box with product listing, I designed it using tools that come with my Theme. I use Thrive Themes. I write about it on my About page and there’s a link. I really love their page and post architect. Makes everything so much easier.

      I look forward to seeing some of your creations. Hopefully we can get back to creating soon! Hugs