knitting! (drawn)

I finally managed to round up some knitting photos to use as reference thanks to a friend who agreed to model. I think I've been looking at this piece for too long now and it's started to take on that sort of unreal quality.

I'm still doing image transfers over the top and generally trying to loosen things up somewhat. There's nothing like slightly uncooperative transfer paper to add something unpredictable to a piece...mostly it works great, but some of them just sort of crackle up and fail to stick properly. I'm starting to suspect that has more to do with my iron than the transfer paper, though. Anyway, I'm printing out some transfers that I've scanned and altered in Photoshop so that they're basically clear apart from the text or diagram that I want to use. I think this lightens them both literally and metaphorically so the transfers don't tend to dominate the watercolor.

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.

art opening!

The opening and art walk for the Mini Art Show and the main gallery show at Ghost Gallery was last night. I stopped by to see my little squares - I never get tired of seeing my pieces up on walls :)

It's official - I was there and I made some art. There you have it.

But the best part was seeing my lovely artist friend Letha! I hardly ever get to see her so it was delightful having a chance to catch up. That's not her work behind her - we couldn't get to her pieces due to a mass of people but she does some pretty amazing stuff (check it out right here).

Apart from a cold I'm fighting I had a great night! Thanks again to Laurie of Ghost Gallery for curating this show.

mini art show!

Not a show with few pieces but a show with many many tiny pieces! I have a few of my new little square paintings in this show in Seattle at Ghost Gallery...looks like it should be amazing!