new series!

 Deflect, 16x20" mixed media on paper

Pieced, 11x14" mixed media on paper

Stabilize, 11x14" mixed media on paper

These are what I've been trying to figure out for the last couple months.  There's a learning curve for how to incorporate new things and it took quite a while to figure out how I wanted to proceed.

I picked up a book at the local used book emporium about embroidery in various cultures.  The pictures are beautiful but the idea that clothing in some places was embroidered to protect the wearer really stuck with me.  I've been sort of mulling over combining stitching with figure drawings for a while and I was ready to move on from the crafter drawings.

The best way I found to embroider onto the heavy watercolor paper was to pre-punch a hole from the front (so I could see where I wanted it) and then re-poke the hole from the back so it was big enough to put the needle through easier.  I didn't really care for the look of the holes in the paper so that's why I came up with the idea of patching bits of fabric over the holes.  On 300 lb. watercolor paper the holes were sort of overwhelming the stitching.  My transfer paper works great on fabric so I thought that would make an interesting combination.  I like that using bits of fabric also gives a patchwork feel to the drawing.

I worked on all three of these at once and I think I will do them one a time in the future...that's a lot of little holes to embroider and my fingers are hurting!

feeling fall

In between the encaustic experimenting I was working on a couple of pieces on paper.  This piece had an unexpectedly autumnal sort of pink when I came back and looked at it again.  I meant to just make a toned-down pink but it feels like a fall color to me.

I bought some 300 lb. hot press watercolor paper on sale and I really like that ironing on the image transfers is less likely to warp it.  The other pieces usually came back to being pretty flat but this is even smoother.  And obviously it's less prone to buckling when it's wet since I don't like to have to stretch the paper.

more knitting

Graphite, watercolor, gouache, and image transfers on paper, 11x14".


I think this is the last sheet of this more off-white paper - not sure why it doesn't match the other pieces.  I have a maddening variety of white mats, frames, and drawings...I go to swap something out and I realize that the paper looks icky against the mat or vice versa.  If I wasn't so cheap frugal I would have a mat and frame for every piece but instead I switch them out for shows.


I've discovered that using a gridded ruler works really well for making the lines match up with each other (at least the ones I want to be parallel, anyway).  I already had one for my rotary cutter so now I use it for drawing, too.  Of course, I only have one and I'm too cheap frugal to buy a second one so it's usually in whichever spot I'm not :)

colored pencils

11x14" colored pencil, watercolor, and gouache.


I was poking around in my paper supplies and I wanted to use up some more of this lovely heavy cold press paper.  I got a smokin' deal on a 10 pack but I didn't realize it doesn't take pencil all that well.  It's ok but it's not great either.  So I tried a few different things and it seems to love colored pencils.  Graphite looks dull but the Prismacolor pencils turn out really nice and rich.


So I made this to experiment with the pencils and see if the wax would make too much of a resist for the watercolor, etc.  I think I like it but it's definitely harder to do a really fine line like I'm used to with the smooth hot press paper and regular graphite pencils.  It does make a little bit of a resist but not to the point that it's distracting (I hope).  Plus lines in color!  Very exciting.  I'm going to do a few more of these and see how I feel about doing linework in different colors.


I realized (before I tried it, fortunately) that ironing transfers over the top of colored pencil would probably melt the wax and turn it into a mess.  Although in the interest of science I'll have to try that on a scrap sheet of paper...

third camera-as-model

This is the last of the three vintage camera drawings...unless I unearth another old camera at my parents' house, I suppose.

In other news, I went to the big Gauguin exhibit at the Seattle Art Museum with Letha! So fun to look at art with another artist and a very thoughtful and thought-provoking show.

first piece of 2012! (finally)

I've had a very hectic last few weeks but it's so good to get back in the studio again! Nothing like multiple out-of-state trips, crazy snowstorms (with power outage), and piles of house guests to throw off your schedule. Anyway.

This is my mom's little Brownie camera again posing for a drawing. Can I just say again how much I love it? It's so adorable.

I wanted to get a little different effect than the last drawing so I tried a more subtle monochromatic wash-y thing with the watercolors and the gouache. I thought I would see how the image transfers worked over the top and I think I like what happened. There's nothing like being able to take the things I use in Photoshop and plop them straight onto a painting. Incidentally, the "Drug Store" stamp is from the back of a photo that my grandpa took and that was where he and my mom got their film developed when she was a kid.

new drawing

Happy December, readers! How is it December, anyway?

Here's what I've been working on for the past week or so. I used my grandpa's Pentax as the model for this (is that what you call inanimate objects that you draw?). It still needs the shutter repaired or cleaned or whatever but it works fine to draw from.

I did some ruler lines and some doodly lines on this one. It's still a challenge for me to go in on top of a finished drawing that I like with no ruler and just hope for the best but I think it's probably good for me :)

It's 11x14" pencil, gouache, and watercolor on hot press paper. Only thing I didn't try was an image transfer on top of this but I thought it was getting awfully busy.

square-ing

I hope you aren't sick of the sight of these mini paintings because I'm having so much fun making them! These are both 6x6" watercolor, gouache, graphite, and image transfers on 300lb. cold press watercolor paper.

I love getting to incorporate some of the things from my digital collages into actual paint-on-paper paintings. I printed several of the bits of handwriting and typography multiple times on the sheets of transfer paper and it's interesting to me to reuse them in a different way each time.

I think if I only made collages out of the original pieces of paper I would never be able to use these things I've inherited. It's one thing to cut up an old book or magazine I bought but I would never cut up my grandma's knitting books or chop into her notes on a knitting pattern.

And totally unrelated: I had a dream about fireflies a few nights ago. I've never seen fireflies in real life but they were unbelievably beautiful in my dream.

last of this batch

4x4" watercolor, gouache, graphite, and image transfers on watercolor paper.

Here's the last two of the stack. I'm really happy with how these image transfers are working - they're sort of translucent (as long as I only print things that aren't super dark). It totally feels like I'm doing some Photoshop layering but in real life - so fun. I miss having an "undo" sometimes though.

more squares

Slightly bigger this time - 6x6" watercolor, graphite, gouache, and image transfers on cold press watercolor paper.

This is some paper I picked up on sale - I'm usually too cheap to buy 300lb. paper so I ended up with cold press this time. It's relatively smooth for cold press so I think I like it well enough for the price :)

tiny little squares

4x4" graphite, watercolor, gouache, image transfers on 300lb. cold press watercolor paper.

I started a whole pile of these several days ago - I cut a bunch of squares, then I did all the pencil doodling, then all the watercolor and let them dry, then the gouache, and then some iron-on transfers on top. I decided to skip the acrylic layer that I was messing around with before because it didn't seem like it was adding that much to the pieces. So that made the image transfers infinitely easier - all I had to do was plunk the iron down and wait until the transfer stopped making a little hissing sound and then peel off the backing paper. SO much easier than applying them to the acrylic.

There's something very satisfying about going straight in and drawing crooked wonky lines and circles with no ruler! I'm sure I will still use my rulers and circle templates and things on some pieces but working on these tiny squares is so fun :)

trial #2

Here's another one - same paper, same size, watercolor, gouache, etc. I mixed up the acrylic layer over the top a little differently this time. It's a bit more watery and I think I didn't put enough white pigment in...? It doesn't have the sort of frosted translucent quality I was hoping for, anyway. It's hard to tell how it's going to dry while I'm mixing it.

I kind of like it like this but I think I'm going to try an image transfer on top of it to see what happens.

Camera/film update: I've put a roll of film through each of the cameras...just sending it out now. Can't wait to see what happened! :)

experimenting!

I can't believe it's August already! This summer is flying by. Of course, we didn't get any warm weather really until a couple of weeks ago so that may be what's confusing me.

Here's something I've been working on this week. This is pencil, watercolor, gouache, and a little colored pencil on 6x6" cold press watercolor paper. I've been thinking a lot about ways to loosen up my abstract work on paper and maybe incorporate a looser sketchier quality into the figure pieces in the abstract layers, too. So I played around with it in my sketchbook and tried actually painting a couple of things but this is the first one I don't hate :) It's still diagram-based but no rulers or circle templates this time.

Over the top is a mix of acrylic medium and a tiny bit of white and gold pigment to make it slightly opaque, plus a little water to thin it down. I saw somebody doing a faux-encaustic look with acrylic medium somewhere on the internets and I've been wanting to try it.

I got some 300 lb. watercolor paper to try it on so it could handle the thick layer of acrylic without curling up - plus I figured if I don't like this effect it would be great to collage on for the same reason.

squares

6x6", gouache and graphite on stonehenge paper.

Here's what I actually ended up putting in the two 6" frames for the gallery. I think this is the last of what I've been working on lately :)

fyi: that is some genuine old rickrack from my grandma's sewing box that I used for the reference photo. It even has the tiny little pin and the card it came on. Clearly my hoarding tendencies are genetic, which means it's not my fault that I can't throw away craft and art supplies that I might be able to use someday. I'm relatively tidy about many things but art supplies, crafty things, and books I always seem to keep. This is why you don't see that many photos of the inside of my studio, I guess. I can't stop hoarding in there but at least I know that I should feel a little shame about it :D

A little branching out

8x10" watercolor, gouache, and graphite on Stonehenge.

I wanted to try putting down a watercolor wash before I added the gouache to this piece and I think I like how it turned out. It gives the various opacities of the different areas of gouache a different effect. I'm trying to incorporate more brush-y, wash-y, scribbly looking areas in these drawings to loosen them up a bit.

snip

11x14" graphite and gouache on Fabriano hot press.

I used a pair of scissors that were my grandma's as the reference for this drawing. They're very old and not at all sharp - I should probably try to get them sharpened as I don't have any other scissors this small. I think they work ok as a model, even if they can't do any actual cutting :)

While I was working on this last night I had an idea to try to incorporate some brushier, more expressive watercolor areas into this kind of thing. It was too late to try it yesterday but I'm trying to work out how I want to do it and I think I'll give it a shot on the next piece. Maybe a small one, just to see if it works.

I'm always intimidated by the thought of ruining a big piece of nice paper, so working small lets me worry less. It's taken me a long time to get to the point where I feel like I can dive straight in and start drawing on a nice sheet of paper.

Button

Still experimenting with paper size - this one is 8x10". It feels like it's easier to work with a smaller sheet when it's a less complicated subject.

I was mixing colors to see what I liked and this green is indigo and olive green in W&N gouache. I didn't think this is what I would get but I liked it :) Clearly I need to just sit down with all my gouache colors and mix up a sample sheet. I haven't gotten that many colors so far (even with all these gouache projects) so it wouldn't even take that long...but it feels like work. Maybe some other time :P

Back to drawing

I got in a drawing mood after playing around with abstract painting and collaging lately. These two are graphite and gouache - the top one is 11x14" and the bottom is 9x12". I thought reducing the size of the paper would make it easier for me to fill in the composition when there's just one hand that I'm drawing and it seems like it worked out ok.

One of my challenges with these pieces is figuring out what exactly I want to show and what is unnecessary and can be left out. So I try to think of that when I'm putting together my reference photos or I end up wanting to put too much in. Even cropping down the image so it's showing only the bit I want to draw helps me simplify. Most of these drawings are a sort of composite of multiple images and the hands are usually pictures I've taken for reference. Not that it probably makes that much difference but I thought maybe other artists who work from images would find it interesting :)

Cut and paste

A couple collages today. I printed out the pink scanned images a while back and hadn't got around to actually putting anything together. The weather has been sunny and hot until yesterday so I thought I would go in the studio for a change :)

I like mixing it up a bit and incorporating that certain vintage magazine pink. I like the blues and greens and all, but I need variety, too.

Also collage

This is the next collage - same watercolor/pencil/gouache/prints and similar feel.

Making collages is a little more intuitive than drawing and painting. But honestly I just sort of look at what I've put down and start waving my hands around and try to get a feel for where I want to put something next on drawings and collages both :) I often draw in the first figural part of a drawing and don't really love the composition, so I change it up a bit with the diagram-y stuff that I put in last.

Oh, and I realized that if I take a photo with my phone camera of my collage before I have to move anything to glue it down, I can actually put everything where I originally intended.