Emma O'Shaughnessy.

Feast your eyes on this and then come back for seconds.

Emma O'Shaughnessy, ink, chalk pastels and a little digital editing.

Robert P. Ryan.

Here you go, a lovely gift from me to your peepers.

Robert P, Ryan, "Give and Take", digital painting.

The receipt's in the bag.

Shane Horan.

Shane Horan, "Merry Krampus", pen and post-it.

I've done my homework on this one: Krampus is the central European Christmas tradition of dressing as a monster in order to scare children into being good.
As for the character on the left, your guess is as good as mine.

Theme for December.

Hello. Now what can I do for you? A theme, you say? Well I've got a nice special theme here just for you:

Give and Take.

Give it a go, see what you make of it.
Take as long as you like with it (within the month), then send a copy of your image to trysquareart@gmail.com and it will appear here on the blog.
Give a look at the Information page for more details, but square and in some way arty is all you really need to know.
Take whatever interpretation of the theme you wish, it's entirely up to you.
Give yourself a break and create some art just for the fun of it.


Take it easy!

End of November's Theme.

Well that's that for this month. Did you remember to make art a part of your November?


Photo Gallery by QuickGallery.com

Lots more fascinating pieces. And wow, we are three months in already. Really starting to get body of work together.
Tomorrow will bring the last Try Square theme of 2014. Who knows what it will be?
I do, but I'm not telling... until tomorrow.

Robert P. Ryan.

Okay, Mr. Me's one:

Robert P. Ryan, oil paint & digital editing.

Emma O'Shaughnessy.

Forget about cheese dreams, this image was created by Ms. O'Shaughnessy while eating her morning eggs:

Emma O'Shaughnessy, mixed media.

Memento.

If you cast your mind all the way back to Try Square's first theme, you may recall the contribution of Mr. Patrick Edmund Lynch.
No? Can't ah... place it at all? Slightly awkward.
Well here's a reminder:

Prints of this piece will soon be available.You can pick one up so you'll never forget again!
Once more over to the man himself for the details:

"‘A Giant Leap’ limited edition 12" prints // PRE-ORDER NOW
Available December 7th // Unframed €70 // Framed €120
To place your order and arrange delivery, please e-mail (patrick at patrick lynch dot i e) or send me a private Facebook message.
Due to popular demand, I have produced a limited edition of 50 digital prints of ‘A Giant Leap’. Inspired by Royal de Luxe bringing the giant grandmother to Limerick to celebrate Limerick City of Culture 2014 I set to work on an illustration that would try to capture the energy and ramshackle beauty of the event. From the desk in my studio to the printers of Thinkk Creative to the workshop of Cummins Picture Framing, each of these 50 first edition prints supports local business here in Limerick City: Ireland’s first National City of Culture."

Patrick has a Facebook page as well as one of those Twittery things:@thePELportfolio.

Patrick Edmund Lynch.

I'm going to directly quote the man himself for this one:
"At first, you may think it's a dark square with some numbers in it... but behold the black magic of detail as your eyes adjust (or your monitor's brightness shoots up for no reason)"

Patrick Edmund Lynch, "Remember", digital painting.

May be updating this post soon with some fascinating information that you possibly could not live without!

Shane Horan.

Here's Mr. Horan's piece:

Shane Horan.

Shane has informed me that he plans to do all his submissions on Post-It notes. It's a great way to keep everything square and particularly fitting for this month's theme.

Sinead Hanrahan

Mmm mmm light the corners of my mind, 
Misty, watercoloured... oh, ahem, it's you again.

Sinead Hanrahan, "Fred", ink and charcoal.

Ms. Hanrahan took time out of her busy schedule of pouring milk on people's books to produce this, and I'm very glad she did. 

Take time out, that is, not pour milk all over my book.

But I'm not sour about it.

I bet my book is though.

Sour. All stinkin' of milk. 

Defné Cetin.

I was concerned that this month's theme might be a little mentally jarring.

Defné Cetin, watercolour and pen.

You can find much more of Ms. Cetin's work on her Facebook page. She's always posting new pieces up there, so give it a peek!

Theme for November.

It's November. Yay!
Now, what was it I wanted to write? Ah yes, this month's theme:

Remember.

This theme may be slightly more abstract than the previous ones, so you'll have more to chew on as you think about how to visually represent it. But as I ALWAYS say here, the theme is merely a jumping off point and it is completely up to you what you take from it and use in your finished image. The end result is not the important part. If in doubt, recall the words of Mr. Francis Bacon:

"What is called inspiration only comes really from regular work"

So get it done!

If you are new to Try Square you gotta fight! Sorry, forgot where I was there for a second. If you are new to Try Square, the main thing you need to know is that this is for you! Make a piece of square art and send it to trysquareart@gmail.com. The work remains your property etc. etc.

There was one more very important thing... ammm...

End of October's Theme.

BUH! What's that behind you?!

Sorry, I... I thought I saw something. It's the thirty-first of October, which means that tonight can only be one thing: the end of our second theme.


Photo Gallery by QuickGallery.com

This post will be here for any late arrivals, but it's also an opportunity for me to thank this month's participants. Luckily none of the art was too spooky for me, but it was all pretty cool. A special thanks also goes to Mr. Eamonn O'Neill for his management of the Instagram account. Plus, I'm now thinking it's probably not a bad thing to at least refer to the work in each post, so that will be happening from now on, to hell with it.

Tomorrow will see more thematic action, so give a look to see what November's buzz is.

BUH! There it is again!

Patrick Edmund Lynch.

Patrick Edmund Lynch, "It's Alive", digital painting.

Sinead Hanrahan.

Sinead Hanrahan, pencil.

Emma O'Shaughnessy.

Emma O'Shaughnessy, wool and digital painting.

I may need to come up with a better way of naming posts. Calling them after the artist will result in lots (hopefully) of posts with the same name. Which probably isn't a problem at all, so disregard.

Robert P. Ryan.

Ayy, it's me and my stuff:

Robert P. Ryan, digital painting.

I seemingly have the weird tendency to accidentally draw people I know. It was only when finishing this piece did I realise I had done it again. Probably not the most complimentary of images, so I won't be naming the person, but don't worry: it's not you.

Defné Cetin.

October's got a pulse!

Defné Cetin, watercolour and pen.

Had a minor freak-attack when I checked in on our lovely blog venture today and discovered all the images had been removed. They are kind of an important part of all this. Don't know how long it's been like that but it's all sorted now (I hope).

Theme for October.

Right, we survived the first month. Try Square is up on it's feet. This month's theme is:

It's Alive.

Again, it is completely up to you how to interpret this theme. It is merely a jumping off point to get your creative juices flowing. Nobody was deducted Try Square points (still not a real thing) for deviating any from last month's theme.

If you're unsure about what we're after, give a look over last month's submissions and check out our Information page. But essentially, do something square and you're golden.

Send completed work to trysquareart@gmail.com. Along with your name you can include any/all of the following: medium (what the piece is made from eg. "pencil"), where you are from, a link to an arty website you may have and maybe a short blurb about the piece. They are all optional, so don't let any of that stand in the way of you sending something in. Just get it done!

Okay, October, yaaaay!

End of the First Theme.

I wanted to have a final post in September so I can update it with any late arrives.



Photo Gallery by QuickGallery.com
I also want to thank everyone who participated. Things are looking pretty good around here and that's all down to you. Everyone gets three Try Square Points (not a real thing).
I hope you got something out of it and continue to in the future. On that: check back tomorrow for October's theme.
Ekk! What will it be?

Shane Horan.

Shane Horan.

September's nearly down. I'm going to go warm up next month's theme. 

Michelle Hennigar.

Michelle Hennigar.  

Annika Lönnblad.

Annika Lönnblad, pen.

For those of you who are clued in to all the internety things, Try Square is now on Instagram: http://instagram.com/trysquareart.

Brain Idea Section:

If you include which part of the world you are sending your work from that can be posted up here too.

One week left on this first theme, which is plenty of time to make something. Participation not product is the idea here, so whatever you can pull together.

Send in something you're not happy with. You'll be happier for it.

Sinead Hanrahan.

Sinead Hanrahan, pencil, watercolour pencil, pen and acrylic.

Emma O'Shaughnessy.

Emma O'Shaughnessy, pencil and chalk pastels.

Things seem to be chuggin' along quiet well here at Try Square. Which is nice. 

Who'll be next to send something in? Could it be YOU?

Well?

Eamonn O'Neill.

I'm naming posts after the artists now. Not only will that relieve me of having to constantly come up with high quality subtle puns but it will make finding the work of specific contributors easier. Rad? Rad.

Eamonn O'Neill, "The Raid", digital painting.

Building.

Ahoy!

Defné "The Defster" Cetin, watercolour & black ink pen.

Two more brain ideas: 

Links: If you have an online portfolio or artist website or something that has a bunch of other art you've made, I can include a link here for nosey (interested) people. 

Mailing List: I'll send a group email at the beginning of each month to let you know the new theme is available. So if you submit I'll stick you on the list (unless that's not cool).

Oh and don't forget to send in ideas for next month's theme.

Getting Into the Swing of Things.

Hey... Hey you. Over here. Ya, that's right. Take a look at this:

Patrick Edmund Lynch, digital painting.

I've been weighing up whether or not to write a blurb about the work going up. I've decided (for now) not to comment on them at all. My thinking is that knowing your work is going be commented on may present another hurdle to getting it done (very unTry Square). The flip side of that is that not commenting may seem cold or disinterested. Hmmm...  

But anyway, here's some art! Which I may or may not think is wicked cool.

Ziggy.

Here we are, first images up. I think the best way to do this is to simply have the image with the artist's name underneath. Liiiiiike:

Anthony Kelly, collage.

Robert Ryan, pen and paper.

I stuck in the medium as well, so give me a note if you would like that to be included with yours.

Hope this clarifies what we are after. Anything square, essentially. 

Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!!!

Theme for September.

Pens, paints and vats of human blood at the ready because it's time for the first theme:

A Giant Leap.

How that is interpreted is completely down to you. This theme is merely a guide to help spark some creativity. Your image does not need to have any visible connection to it.
Your image can be any size as long as its height and width are the same (a square).
When you are done with your image send it to trysquareart@gmail.com before the end of the month and I'll stick it up here on the blog.
We'll probably be sorting out some other ways of sharing the images in the near future, but for now this is the easiest option.
Oh, if you have any ideas for next month's theme send them in too.

Right then, let's see how we get on.

Square One.

Hello and welcome to Try Square!

Okay let's jump right in and explain a little bit about what this is:

The goal of Try Square is to encourage people to regularly make art and overcome any hang-ups they may have about having it seen. This will be done by giving a tiny bit of structure and providing a platform for the sharing of work.

The plan is to post a loose theme every month as a launching point for something to be made. 
The one constriction on the image is that it should be square.
A digital copy of the work can then be sent in within that month to be posted here on the blog.

Who is this for?

You! Whether you are a world famous artist, haven't drawn so much as a doodle in fifty years or somewhere in between, you can give this a go. 

The Art:

You can put as much or as little time into this as you choose. You can use whatever medium you see fit. The emphasis here is much more on making art than how it looks in the end.

I want to keep this first post short and to the point, but I will be writing an info page soon (if I can figure out how), which will have more of a detailed mission statement. 

Be sure to check back on the first of September for the first theme. 

I imagine we'll be ironing out a lot of this as we go, so bear with me.

Hey... I'm pretty excited.