PAGE 29!!!!

My complimentary copy of "STROKES OF GENIUS 2" arrived today and my contribution is on page 29. I immediately sat down and spent a few hours checking out all the images. The book is beautiful with so many different styles and techniques. I need to go back and write down some of the ideas that intrigued me. A simple graphite pencil and paper can produce exquisite results. There were lots of different surfaces and unusual combinations of materials. I am often interested in the materials and techniques even if I am not interested in working in the same style as the artist.

I am excited and inspired! Now, all I have to do is find lots more time.

FIRST TRY AS AN ACTUAL PAINTING!

Yesterday was my turn to sit at Gallery Concord, so I took some Tyvek and my liquid watercolors and spent the time doing a painting of my image. This was not intended to be a serious painting. I wanted to see positioning on the page and use some color and figure out a few things. The paper was damaged in that it had some creases that don't come out. This paper is so inexpensive that it is very freeing. I don't need to worry about wasting materials.

I drew directly with a watercolor crayon. These things never photograph well. If you click on the image, you can probably see it better. I started with the nose shape, positioning it on the page where I thought I could get the lower part of the head and some of the garment on before running out of paper. I also wanted room at the top for the lettering. I had to laugh when I realized I had positioned the head with the eyes in the absolute center of the page! I was able to correct the drawing by wetting a tissue and rubbing out the incorrect line and redrawing.

The second image is fairly far along in the process. I used the oiler boiler from Cheap Joe's loaded with diluted blue watercolor to write the words. I had the paper upright so that everything would run. I rather like the effect and I like how the color runs through the hair on the right side. I also like how the image and the background trade places in areas....become somewhat ambiguous. It creates an air of mystery. I also like how the writing is mostly lost except in a few areas. What I don't like is the pose. I have decided I am through working with this image. I am going to use the one on the Strokes of Genius 2 drawing. Hopefully I can get that started tomorrow.

The last image is how I finished it up. I started drawing lines with my Dragon's Tongue brush. I might have gotten a little carried away but I didn't really care. I learned some interesting things from this experiment so my objectives were accomplished. It was a lot of fun to play with and the time passed quickly.

On the way home I stopped at this incredible stamp store in Danville. The place is huge and filled with too many tempting things. I was looking for an alphabet that had large letters so I could try it out on the next version of this painting. I not only found an alphabet, but 3 or 4 other stamps as well. It only took me about 5 minutes to do all this financial damage. Tomorrow I shall put it all to good use.

"STROKES OF GENIUS 2" ACCEPTED DRAWING!

I received a notification in the mail today that the above image will be included in the next Strokes of Genius 2 book! I am very excited and honored to be selected for inclusion in this book. I submitted about 7 drawings and thought I had created a folder on my computer desk top with the images and their "titles". It disappeared somehow. I wasn't sure for awhile which drawing they wanted but finally figured it out. I didn't want to seem too ditsy by having to check with Northlight for positive identification.

The book will be published next October 2009.

Meanwhile, back to the challenge of the month. Hilda was uncertain how to proceed. I suppose she is not alone so here is my
best attempt at a simplified explanation of a cut paper drawing. Think in terms of positive and negative shapes. The negative shapes would be the pieces you would cut away. The positive shapes would all have to stay connected so the piece wouldn't fall apart. Some of the connections can be quite slender lines. It isn't necessary to cut out the negative shapes, just draw the shapes in a way that it would be possible to do so. It is just a way of designing shapes and subdividing larger shapes. It is a parallel excercise to the wire sculpture drawings. That was a challenge with lines. This is a challenge about shapes. It is different from collage where you glue pieces on top of each other. Some of the paper sculptors do combine the cut paper in a collage manner. Don't worry to much about what is correct. The whole idea of the challenge is to get our minds thinking in new ways to interpret a subject. This is another way to think about shapes, pattern, representing your image. See what you can do. Get as creative as you can.

SELF PORTRAIT SKETCH

Today was one of those days when you think you don't know how to paint anymore. I never feel like that with other media but watercolor feels foreign if I have been away for awhile. I decided to try and paint my popcorn kernels this afternoon. I found a wonderful artist, Nancy Christy-Moore at www.nchristy.com and she had these beautiful floating colors and then did a fabulous ink drawing on top. I thought that would be a great way to approach this image so I coated the paper and painted loosely using the forms and values in the charcoal drawing of the popcorn. When it was dry, I did a line drawing of what I thought I saw in the image. UGLY!!! So I took it to the sink and washed off as much as I could and tried it again. I think I have a candidate for a gesso coverup. Or tissue paper. Or collage. I am about ready to abandon this idea. I do not draw well from my imagination. I need to have SOME reference in front of me. I am going to set this whole idea aside for awhile and start on a serious painting. I need to get ready for the advanced portrait class, so I am going to do a sheet of 5" x 7" bozzettos with color for people of color. I hope some of you are having better luck with your popcorn images.

In the meantime, I am posting a page from my sketch book that I did in preparation for the self portrait series. This is one of the submissions for "Strokes of Genius 2"