THE CHALLENGE!

I was in Kepler's bookstore in Menlo Park last weekend and found two new art books.  Trying to compete with the big chain bookstores has got to be challenging so this store has mostly art books that are printed in the UK.  The title "Collage, Colour and Texture in Painting" by artist Mike Bernard was calling to me, maybe even yelling my name!   I have read it from cover to cover.  The challenge for me is to interpret some of these techniques into the imagery that excites me, figures and faces.  Notice I have used the image I have been working with lately.  One large benefit of working in a series this way is you already have a composition established so it is very fast and easy to try out different techniques and ideas.  

My first attempt was a total disaster.  This is my second try.  The first layer is abstract collage.  He uses newspaper and magazine sections plus other types of collage papers.  I like how the letters look in his finished pieces, so I thought I would experiment with some of that.  I normally like to collage with tissue paper that has been colored or stamped by me.   Next I drew my image so I had a sense of where things should be placed.  I hope to have some time this weekend to finish this piece and see how it goes. To be continued!