CAN'T GET ENOUGH OF HER!

50/50 #33

This is another image I failed to photograph the background before adding the drawing.  It's fairly easy to see the background, however.  These were collaged tissue papers commercially available, in the card section of the store.  I always check to see if there is anything new and interesting.  A hand printed pattern gives a very different look than a commercial one.  Some of the dress shops have printed tissue for wrapping your purchase.  If I like the pattern, I ask for extra tissue and they are always very obliging.  The pattern was so strong on this board that I needed to use acrylic white to bring out the highlights and a wash of cerulean blue around the image to set if off.  I often use gesso instead of white acrylic because it is more opaque.  In this case, I like that the acrylic white has some translucent qualities.  I love this pose and have used it in any number of pieces.

I finished the Blurb book today.  Unfortunately, there is no spell checker built into the program and I rely heavily on that wonderful tool.  I will wait for my husband to check it for me when he returns and then it is off to the printer.  When the installation is up in the Sanchez Art Center, I will take some photos and add them to the book but I want to print a copy first to  make sure it looks the way I intended.

A FAVORITE!

50/50 #32

This is one of my favorites in the group..  It started with a black gesso background over the watercolor paper, then collaging some washi papers and white gesso stamped paper and then a tissue with an beige pattern over the white.  The angle of the head in this one is more interesting and fun to draw.  This is also one of my favorite faces to draw.  Do you recognize the face?

MOVING RIGHT ALONG

50/50 #31

I am running out of things to say!  I like the way the drawing works with the background.  I just discovered tonight that I painted one of the images upside down to where the nail hole is drilled on the back!  Hopefully, I can successfully drill a new hole.  I thought I was very careful to pay attention to that little detail.  I hope this is the only one that slipped through.   At least I discovered it before the installation day!

DOWN AND DIRTY!

50/50 #30

The background on this one has something called a "dirty glaze" scraped on it.  I found the recipe and the name in one of the many, many books that I have!  Love the name and love the effect.  You take one part Micaceous Iron Oxide (a Golden product) and mix it with 8 parts matte medium.  I use a plastic spoon and put it in a small plastic cup and stir until well mixed.    You can cover the unused portion with Stretch and Seal and it will say good indefinitely!  I use a credit card to randomly smear some of the mixture over the surface of my paper.  Below is another example of a piece I did with some Dirty Glaze on the paper before the rest was added.    Give it a try!

PROUD!

50/50 #29

This background has some torn newspaper.  I love this technique and just can't seem to get it right.  Liz Hill is a master and I love her figures with torn newspaper incorporated in them.  All of her work is phenomenal.  You can find her blog listed on the side of mine (Irreverent Art).  I do like the ink drawing.  This is a Native American image.  Such wonderful faces to draw.

SCROOGE?

50/50 #28

This was one of those backgrounds that I forgot to photograph.  It was collaged National Geographic page treated with Citrisolv which causes the ink on the page to move around and created interesting abstract patterning.  I have yet to find another high gloss magazine where the ink will dissolve in this way.  This technique was promoted by Robert Burridge.  I don't think he invented it but you never know.  Be sure and have good ventilation when doing this.  Even though Citrisolv has a pleasant odor, after a while it is overwhelming and nauseating.   I found this surface very pleasing to draw on top of.

I took all fifty tiles to Critique this morning.  We laid them out in the 7 x 7 formatted rows and then shuffled them around for the best balanced view.  The help was much appreciated.  

I had the unexpected honor of appearing in the latest issue of Palette Magazine and I am extremely complimented by the text of the article.  Sharing a page with Picasso is heady company, for sure!

WAHOO!

50/50 #27

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This background paper was made with a blue foam stamp.  I am addicted to making these stamps.  Each one is unique to you as opposed to the commercial stamps.  The blue foam heats up easily with a dryer that is hot enough for shrink wrap or embossing and takes an impression of any three dimensional surface.  You can order the stamps from www.clearsnap.com  I always try to bring some to every workshop I give so everyone can try them out.   With such a strong background, I needed more than just an ink line for the image.  

This guy is grinning because I FINISHED THE 50TH TILE TONIGHT!!  So, Wahoo!  I will still post one at a time, but it feels great to have them done.  I will photograph the last 6 tomorrow outside in natural light, then I will lay them out and configure the best presentation order.  I need to seal each piece with acrylic spray to protect them.  After that, I will create the Blurb book.  Installation is August 18th, 19th and 20th.  Opening reception is August 24th.  

A CHANGE OF COLOR FOR A CHANGE!

50/50 #26

Hand painted tissue paper collage on white paper.  Forgot to photograph before adding the drawing.  Scaling the drawing to fit on a 6" square has proved to be an interesting challenge.  I tend to draw on the large side and struggle a bit to fit it on the page.

HALF WAY MARK!

50/50 #25

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This background was painted with bronze acrylic then collaged with a tissue with gold on it and then one with white gesso on it.  After the ink drawing, I added some lighter gold and white for highlights.

KEEPING IT SIMPLE!

50/50 #24

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This was one of my favorite papers.  Fortunately, I didn't mess it up with the drawing.  I think the two mesh very well.  I only needed  a simple ink drawing with no highlight or shadows added.  

TICKLED PINK!

50/50 #23

Sorry to be away so long.  I am on a trip and having trouble getting on the internet with my laptop.  All the images are in the laptop and not the iPad, so can't post for the iPad at this time.  Poor planning on my part.  

This one has a background of half commercial printed tissue...a stripe which was lots of fund to overlap in various ways for different patterns...plus half of my own painted tissue.  The color unifies the look.  Over all a rather busy background but I like the effect with this drawing.

THE MIDAS TOUCH!

50/50 #22

Another background I forgot to photograph.  This one had quite a bit of metallic on the tissue paper.  There is some mauve underneath which is not showing up too well in my photo.  The edge of the tile is mauve so I was trying to set up a relationship.  The drawing really needed the highlights in light gold.

PAYING ATTENTION!

50/50 #21

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Today I was drawing on a few more of the tiles.  6 more, to be exact.  I started noticing how difficult it was to stay on task.  I had to force myself to do more.  This contrasted greatly with the feeling I had while doing the backgrounds where I didn't want to stop and ideas kept feeding on each other.  Do you every stop and really pay attention to the emotions that come up with each activity?  So, what was going on?  Perhaps the fact that working directly with ink is a little like walking on a tight wire without a net.  Mistakes stay.  Pressure,  A form of self-imposed stress.  On the other hand, the backgrounds were a form of play, exploration, discovery, nothing is really a mistake and everything is a learning experience.  I think we need both of these activities for mature work.  Maybe it would be good to alternate throughout the day.  I'll have to think about this idea.  It has implications for teaching, as well.  Perhaps breaking up the intense activities with a bit of splashing about.  

20 SOMETHING!

50/50 #20

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This background has lots of layers.  It started out as black gesso with some red gold foil paper from a candy wrapper in the cruciform design.  It was too stark and not plausible to put an ink drawing on, so I layered a tissue with some red over it.  Still not right so I layered a yellow orange tissue with some metallic gold specs.  Finally, something I could work with.  After I did the ink drawing, I added light gold highlights and then some more ink on top of that.  I think it all comes together with the background working well with the drawing.

TEXTURE!

50/50 #19

Here the gesso pattern on the tissue replicated the wrinkled condition of this face, even with the lightest portion giving volume and depth in the right places.  A little bit of serendipity with the last part.  I started printing out the images I wanted to draw and then trying to match them up to the best advantage with the backgrounds that I have created.  I chose not to add anything to this simple ink drawing.  It felt complete.

OOPS!

50/50 #18

Well, it appears that I failed to photograph some of the backgrounds.  This is one of them.  Actually, this was one of my favorites and I like how the drawing works with it.  This background has a lot of light on it, so it doesn't need additional highlights added and little black shading.  Most of the papers are commercially printed.  I always check out the patterns at the card stores for interesting new patterns.  I also get extra tissue if a store is wrapping something I purchased in an interesting printed paper.  

I decided to photograph this outside in full sun.  What a difference!  I may rephotograph the others before I make the book.  

HALF WAY THERE!

50/50 #17

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Although I am posting #17, I have completed 25 drawings on the backgrounds.  This means I am half way there!  This background is Tyvek, some painted, some not partially covering the watercolor paper.  I painted the paper first rather than putting a wash on after gluing down the tyvek.  That left the unpainted tyvek white.  These are subtle differences but I wanted to see the final effect with as many variations as I could.  This will be very useful to me in the future.  I am liking how I can get ink to look more like charcoal in many of these images.  

I watched a video of Gerhardt Richter painting yesterday.  You can see it on my Pinterest video board.  The most interesting thing to me is his home made personal painting tools.  I am going to ponder this idea a lot more.  The coffee stirrer is an unconventional drawing tool.  What else out there can be used as a drawing or painting tool.  This is an intriguing way to have personal mark making that makes work unique and distinguished.  

HAPPY BIRTHDAY #1 SON!

50/50 #16

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This background was a combination of torn painted on Tyvek (old painting ripped up) and painted tissue with some original paper left showing, then a thin color glaze over all to unify it.  I like the way the drawing meshed with the background in an interesting way.   That is the serendipidous part of this process which adds to the fun and excitement.

MY FAVORITE MODEL!

50/50 #15

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I used some torn pieces from an unsuccessful tyvek painting collaged down on part of the paper.  A wash of Dioxazine Purple and Nickel Azo Yellow (the replacement color for Quin Gold) and I was ready to draw.  I like the angle of this image.  I took it with my iPad when my husband was leaning over me.   I am trying to vary the images with heads at different angles and positions as well as interesting features and expressions.  I think I have a great collection now to work with.

5 FOR THE FIFTH!

50/50 #14

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This one is torn tyvek on paper, then painted.  The ink drawing was put on top.  Today I drew 5 more faces on 5 boards.  This project is humming along.  Mostly I am drawing with the coffee stirrer stick and carbon ink which is very rich and black, also permanent.  Some of the surfaces don't take to the stick very well, so then I switch to the Cheap Joe's Lizard's lick #4.  For me, this is the best brush for drawing.  I couldn't get along without it.

CELEBRATING THE FREEDOM OF CREATING!

50/50 #13

Another deli paper background.  Pretty busy surface to put a drawing on top.  Added a little white for definition.

THE MIDAS TOUCH!

50/50 #12

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This is another background on deli paper with acrylic.  The paper has a very different character from tissue.  I added gold for highlights on the face to bring out the drawing.  I like the simplicity of line drawing. 

I found a book of Ben Shahn's drawings today in a used book store in Palo Alto.  I think I love his work more and more.  It is inspiring me.  

Tomorrow I will be doing lots of drawings on the finished backgrounds.

BACKGROUNDS COMPLETED!

50/50  #11

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I hated to draw on top of this paper as I liked it by itself, but I think worked out okay.  

I finished the backgrounds today of the last 5 boards.  I decided not to do some techniques that I have done before as I would have nothing to learn by doing them again.  I used crackle paste on one but so far, I don't see the crackle effect.  It may not be dried enough.  I love the look so I am hoping it will work.

STEADY WINS THE RACE!

50/50  #10

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Today was very productive creating backgrounds.  The ideas were coming as fast as I could get them down on the paper.  Usually, when I am working on a piece, I get ideas for variations and I want to change horses in mid stream.  Creating these small pieces goes very quickly, so I am able to finish one idea and then immediately put together the new idea I had which then generates a third idea, etc.  I am getting inspired by some of the materials I have created in the past.   I only have 5 boards left to do, then I will start putting drawings on them.  

The piece I am showing here is on painted deli paper following some of the ideas in the Ann Bagby DVD's from Creative Catalyst.  I made them on this gel mono-printing plate I bought from Interweave Press.