A few weeks ago, Jane Ferguson, (yes, the infamous Jane) brought this idea to Critique group. Jane and I seem to be tuning into the same channel of creativity. Lately, our work has been eerily synchronistic! Stamping and making my own collage paper is exciting to me. We had just taken a workshop with Betsy Dillard Stroud who showed us how to carve simple stamps from this soft material commercially available through art supply stores and catalogues. It runs about $3 for a 4 x 6 piece, on up. Well, Jane showed up with some vinyl floor moulding( you know the stuff they put around the bottom of the walls so the vacuum cleaner doesn't mark up the wall)....$2.50 for a very long strip from the hardware store...and it turns out one can easily carve into it with the Speedball cutters....the upturned edge even acts as a handy handle! You can cut the strip with a scissors, easily, into what ever length you want. Naturally, I rushed to the hardware store on my way home from Critique that day but Friday was the first chance I had to actually make some stamps. The first image shows the two stamps I have carved, so far, the Speedball cutter and the stamped sheet I made. I used a wet watercolor stick from Daniel Smith to "ink" the back of the stamp. I like how it stamped in an irregular manner. I had to spray the sheet with Acrylic Spray so the color wouldn't smear when I collaged it down. The second image is a collaged sheet of watercolor paper using the new stamped paper. I haven't decided if I will cut up this sheet into smaller images or use the entire piece for a background.
A word of caution....always push the cutter AWAY from you as you carve and keep your fingers behind the cutting blade. Most of the Speedball cutter handles have a removable cap where you can store the extra cutters in the hollow handle!
Here is the final result of the painting I started the other day. The GAC 200 worked beautifully. I used Golden Liquid Acrylics diluted a little with water and then full strength in subsequent layers. I purchased the GAC 200 at an art supply store that carries all the Golden Acrylic products. It helped hold the acrylic to the foil. The fun part was brushing alcohol on the painting and rubbing some of the acrylic away, then glazing over. I also sprayed some on the background and the hair. I had a strong urge to add some of the oil pastels on top but decided to save that for my next painting. I also think I want to crumple the foil a bit before gluing it down. I got a little carried away with the neck. I wish I had brought the shoulders up higher. I have been reading a book on Modigliani and you can really see the influence.
Gerry talked about the architect that created the phrase "less is more" then he quoted another architect who stated "Less is boooooooring" Mr. Brommer sides with the latter! Today's assignment was to have a "theme" and place your focal point in the top third of the vertically oriented page, then fill the bottom 2/3rds with lots of small drawings and words, much like a journal page. He likes to fill up all the space. This is a great idea for travel, especially. We started out with collage images, covered with washi paper then diluted gesso. After this dries, go back into it with drawing and painting.
I decided this was a good chance to see how my new photo transfer process would work. I ruined two sheets by printing on the wrong side. The ink just slides off and doesn't stick. What a mess! It was very difficult to see the coating on the side meant for printing, but I finally got it right and printed one page of drawings and one of colored paintings of my Frenchman. I made a contact sheet with nine on the sheet. It was lots of fun working with this idea. After I transferred the images, I used mostly tissue paper to collage over as I wanted a lot of the stuff to show through. Gerry suggests adding a border to unify the composition and contain all the small fragments. I still want to add some stronger ink lines and perhaps more words. Over all, I am pleased. It is very different from anything I have ever done before. I also want to try more of the transfer process on this surface. It has interesting possibilities.
I was too tired to unpack the car. Tomorrow I have to finish packing for my workshop in Ransom Canyon, Texas. I will need to switch hats and be the instructor instead of the student. I love both roles. Looking forward to renewing some friendships from my last Texas workshop and meeting some new friends.
Here is the second painting I have done using the new Daniel Smith Watercolor Sticks. This is a full sheet of watercolor paper. I coated the paper with thick gesso and impressed a texture sheet into it while the gesso was still wet. Some of the gesso had dried so the impressions varied throughout the rectangle. I think you can see the textured surface in the detail image. I will describe my process and try to address some of the questions from the comment section of my last post.
I drew the basic shapes onto the paper with a dry watercolor stick. Then I blocked in the shadow shapes with a thin wash using a wet brush on the cobalt stick. This helped me get a better sense of accuracy of my drawing and the general composition. I could easily make changes at this stage because this surface is very liftable. I then started to complete the heads from left to right. The far left head was done entirely with the sticks. I decided that it would be more economical to use regular watercolor paint for the washes and then draw and scribble into the image where I wanted richer, more saturated color or spots of color or lines drawn into the image. I could scumble one color over the other and then blend them with a wet brush. I had to be careful not to lift the color off entirely with this surface. The texturizing created ridges on the surface that the stick skimmed over. When I moisten the sticks, they will deposit quite a bit of color. Layering these colors in this manner creates a highly saturated dense concentration of pigment resembling other media, giving an unusual appearance to a "watercolor" image. They will also give the transparent light washes most often associated with watercolor by using a wet brush stroked across the stick or sharpening the stick and dissolving the shavings into water for a larger wash mixture. Very versatile.
The difference in these new paints and Caran D'ache is subtle but significant. The watercolor crayons will lay down creamy color when dry much easier. The watercolor sticks won't do that unless you dip them in water or work on a wet surface. When you wet the deposited pigment, the watercolor crayons turn milky and unpleasant (to me) but the new watercolor sticks dilute to beautiful watercolor washes. I have not tried these new sticks on traditional untreated watercolor paper yet, so I am going to try that next.
Thank you to everyone who took the time to post a comment on my last post. Be sure and share your own experiences with this new product.
I decided to do a self portrait today to mark the beginning of my 67th year. I work on a MacBook and there is a built in program called "Phone Booth" which is the camera and then some variations. It works better than a mirror because when you are looking at the image you are not looking directly into your own eyes because the camera is in the top of the lid. You get a different perspective. It is a cruel, cruel camera. You wouldn't believe the lines it added to my face!
I found a wonderful blog by a terrific artist who does a lot of print making. Her name is Belinda Del Pesco and you can find her by clicking on the title of this blog. It will take you right there. Belinda posted a mono print she made using Caran D'ache watercolor crayons. I was intrigued. She put it through a press which I don't have. She was kind enough to e-mail me encouragement and a few helpful hints, so I thought today would be a good time to try it out. I found a piece of glass to draw on. I always tape the edges of glass for protection. I started with the crayons but some were resistant to marking on the glass. Curious that some were easier to use than others. I decided to try some of the Stabilo pencils I bought and found them much more user friendly for this project. Unfortunately, I don't have the wide range of colors with the Stabilo, I wet the paper, blotted it and layed it down on top of the painted glass. Belinda suggested I put a sheet of wax paper on top of the paper. Then I used a French Rolling Pin (baking item) and put as much pressure as I could. Anyway, you see the results above.
Not great but it has possibilities. I need to practice this technique and try some variations. I have the new Daniel Smith stick watercolors. I think that might be a very interesting product to try with this process. Belinda also paints on top of her prints and adds other mixed media. Can't wait til tomorrow to experiment further.
I was determined to paint an acceptable (to me) painting using this palette from Nina Leland's new color book. I created each palette by using water bottle caps and loading each cap with the appropriate color, writing the color name on the bottom and putting them in a "gift card tin" I got a Michael's for $1. The tins come in different patterns, so I can distinguish one palette from the other. They hold all but one color from the palette. I should get an extra tin to put in all the lone colors from the different palettes.
Anyway, the first attempt to use this set of colors resulted in an ugly mess. I was trying to force the colors to go against their innate nature. This palette has no ability to create dramatic darks, and most of the colors are weak pigments, have a "waxy" feel and are semi opaque and granular. It's not called a "high key" palette for nothin!
I was able to keep the color mixtures from getting too dull and I didn't try to go dark. I was able to darken the Cobalt Blue a little. I used 5 of the colors in the palette: Cobalt Blue, Manganese Blue Hue, Cobalt Violet, Aureolin Yellow and Rose Madder. I'm beginning to think 5 colors is a good number to work with in any painting. It creates a natural harmony but I think these colors are not for me. A little too "sweet".
I think I will try a painting with the other pigments in this palette that were left out this time and see what I get.
I did create a number of drawings and value studies of this image. I was surprised how quickly I was able to simplify the subject and stylize it. It happened almost immediately! Wow, this practice, practice, practice idea has something going for it.
I have fallen into a pattern most days. I try to read for about a half hour in the morning before I get out of bed. Reading often acts like a sleeping pill at night, but I can focus better in the morning. Right now I am excited about this book "Iconoclast", which is someone who is an original thinker. I also check my e-mails on my computer while I eat breakfast. I signed up for this Artist A Day service. Each morning there is a new artist to check out. Many times I am not too taken with the art but today I was blown away. Talk about an iconic thinker! This guy does amazing things with a sheet of typing paper. Click on the blog title and it links to his website. He also works with bigger pieces of paper....much bigger. I always love when things link up unexpectantly, like the book and the Artist A day website.
In the afternoon I went to a terrific demo and hands on session sponsored by the Santa Clara Valley Watercolor Society, with a representative of Atelier Interactive Acrylics by Chroma. I have been very curious about them and actualy bought a trial set but was waiting for this session to figure out how they work. They are in competition with Golden's Open Acrylics but I think these are more versatile. They are highly saturated and thick bodied but can be diluted with just water to a spray bottle consistency without loosing the acrylic bond! One set of paints can be used for the entire gamet of viscosity. You also can rewet the paint after it has dried and you can speed up the drying time as well as slow it down dramatically.
I have been wanting to try mono-printing for a long time but after reading the books on this process, I didn't want to invest in the various paints that it required. I thought slow drying acrylics might just do the job. So, that is what I played with this afternoon. I painted the image (guess who) on a piece of glass and then placed the paper on top. The first image was slightly marred because I used a brayer on the back of the paper and you can see the uneven marks. I repainted the glass and this time just rubbed the back of the paper with my hand. This print looks like a woodcut. The eyes are startling. I like the effect. There was still lots of paint on the glass, so I sprayed it with the unlocking solution (how you rewet dried paint) and got the last print. I think this one will look interesting with lines drawn on top. I am going to explore this technique further. Lots of fun and always a surprise when you pull of the paper. Isn't it nice that art is always full of surprises!
I sat at Gallery Concord today with one of my favorite people, Juanita Hagberg. It was great having someone to visit with and bounce ideas off of each other. After the close at 4 PM, we went to downtown Walnut Creek and hung out at Barnes and Noble and then went back for the Gallery Reception , celebrating the opening of our new show, at 6 PM. It was a mild night and there was a good crowd, food, drink and lovely musical entertainment. I stayed for an hour working at the sales desk, then headed home. It's an hour's drive but my books on tape keep me entertained.
I had a chance to do a painting during the day of the Frenchman on a half-sheet prepared like the sketchbook I posted yesterday.. I used some pen but mostly Hydrus Liquid Watercolor in Paynes Gray, Indian Red and a little Chrome Yellow (which is actually a yellow orange). I finally added some white acrylic ink because it needed the contrast. I don't think the additional color improved the technique. With collage, sometimes smaller works better because of the scale of the added pieces in the composition. I think I may try this again with just the pen. I don't have that "Eureka!" feeling I had with the sketchbook. I did prepare a second sketchbook, ready for drawings, so I am continuing to work on this idea for awhile.
Here is the drawing I liked the best from the drawing marathon. I took another photo of it and that solved the download problem.
I took a colored photo from the newspaper (It covered the entire page of the paper) and used gesso to glue it down on the watercolor paper. Gesso really isn't a good acrylic glue (matt medium is what should be used for good adherence) so part of the sheet didn't stick down. I pulled up the loose part slowly. The paper was pretty soggy. I put it down in another place on the paper . The newspaper ink started to color the gesso and created a pale beige color as I brushed over the paper. While the paper was drying I started putting thick gesso on another sheet of paper. I used a scraper with small teeth on the edge and textured the page. I then took a sheet of wax paper and brayered over the wet gesso. I then transferred what was on the wax paper to the first sheet with the newspaper on it. I hope I can create another sheet that will have this look. Sometimes lightening only strikes once.
There is going to be another Drawing Marathon at Merritt College in Oakland on Sunday, December 7th. I understand this one is even more exciting with lots of models posing simultaneously. I had better get busy preparing my papers!
This is a quarter sheet of 300 lb hot press watercolor paper that was a failed painting. I was anxious to try some of the new ideas I have been reading in the new books I purchased recently. I spread some gesso over the ugly painting then I took some white wrapping tissue and gessoed it onto the page in two large areas and let it dry. Next I took Golden's fiber paste and a credit card for a scraper and troweled the paste over a stencil to get a raised relief image. I then took the stencil and laid it down on another area of the painting and ran a brayer over the back in order to transfer the residue paste creating a negative of the stencil. When the whole thing was dry, I used the triad of Yellow Ochre, Burnt Sienna and Paynes Gray to paint the page.
In Critique session this morning, Jane Ferguson had done a bunch of great little artist's trading cards. They are 2.5 x 3.5. I decided to divide up my page into these rectangles. If I want, I can cut this page apart and have lots of Artist's Trading Cards. As it stands now, this is a study page for some textural techniques and the range of colors I can achieve with this triad. I really like the colors and want to do a portrait with them.
This detail shows the number stencil I used and the metal stencil that I scrubbed out the color with a toothbrush .
This detail shows the fiber paste through a metal labyrinth stencil. I also used a few of the Derwent Graphite colored watercolor pencils to enhance some of the shapes.
Here you can see one of the metal stencils used in three different ways; fiber forced through the openings, residue pressed onto the page and color lifted by scrubbing with a toothbrush while stencil is held to the paper, then blotting.
Here is the positive and negative fiber paste stenciled. Looks like pressing the fibers through the stencil smooth it out. I like the bas relief effect.
This was a fun little project. Tomorrow I will try to do another 1/4 sheet with a different texturing idea and a different color scheme.
Today I was able to go the the quarterly drawing marathon in Palo Alto and stayed for both sessions. It took a little trial and error but I finally figured out a combination of inks and pens, brush strokes and marks that gave me results I liked. I am posting my two favorite drawings from today and the rest that I liked are in the slide show. I was using India Ink with a brush, walnut ink with a brush and the Elegant Writer black pen and then a permanent fine point uniball pen. I took the phone book, my new pad of YUPO and a Watercolor travel book that I wasn't too fond of the paper quality. It was perfect for the materials I worked with today. The morning session had my two favorite models. In the afternoon, I switched to the long pose but didn't have an interesting vantage point so I started drawing the other artists around the model a la Charles Reid. That was fun. I was so happy life didn't interfere with art today.
I'm not sure this really qualifies as "line" but it certainly is TEXTURE! The stamp I used was web-like lines, so I started out to do physical texture using line. I took an unsuccessful painting I started in a workshop (140lb watercolor paper) and covered it with my new Utrech Gesso. It was like icing a cake! The consistency is like buttercream frosting. It can be thinned down to whatever consistency you want, so it is very economical. I stamped into the wet gesso and then let it dry. Actually, that is as far as I got yesterday. Today I took my time and drew the image with my #4 Lizard's Lick Cheap Joe brush using diluted Cobalt Blue Hydrus liquid watercolor. I kept the board upright so I wouldn't get a distortion. The gesso surface makes lifting and correcting very easy. I then used Hansa Yellow Deep (yellow orange), Permanent Red and the Cobalt. Mixing Cobalt with the Red creates a very dark color close to black! I also drew into the image with my oiler boilers using diluted Magenta and Thalo Blue.
This feel more like me. I like the looseness and texture, lots of color but less abstract.
I spent a few hours today finishing up the painting. My biggest problem was getting the support board to be perfectly level. I am painting on a French easel in my "Library" space. It has 3 adjustable legs. I have a large art glass marble that I placed on the board. Which ever way it rolled I knew to raise that side. It took awhile, but I finally got the perfect adjustment. I usually work on a table when I am painting on Yupo or Tyvek so it is automatically level.
The ink from the stamped images resisted the paint, creating some interesting effects. I will need to spray this painting with acrylic spray after I am sure I don't want to make any changes. I do this because the heaviest paint will remain tacky indefinitely. The spray seals it and gives an even sheen to the surface.
This painting is pretty wild. I limited my colors to Ultramarine, Alizarin Crimson, New Gamboge, Hansa Yellow Deep and Diluted Thalo Blue. This painting reminds me of a quilted image. It has future possibilities. I do think I need to tone things down next time. Hopefully, I will get my thick gesso tomorrow and can do a texture painting with it.
I absolutely love Ann Bagby's paintings. She makes her own stamps. I have purchased the necessary materials to do so, but haven't taken that step yet. I have made some stamps with this very cool stuff that you heat with a stripper gun and then press into a textured surface to create a stamp. You can reheat this foam block with the gun and the image disappears and is ready to accept a new impression. I used one of those stamps in this painting. It is the area around the eye in the detail image. The rest of the stamps are purchased. Click on each image to bring it up in a separate screen, enlarged.
I drew my image on Yupo with a permanent finepoint pen. Then I created a stencil from tracing paper for each shape so I could stamp just the shape I wanted without slopping over into the adjacent area. I thought about keeping the stamped tracing paper to use as collage but decided it wasn't usable. I think next time I will use tissue paper for the stencil so I will have good collage material left over. After I finished the stamping using regular archival stamp pad ink, I redrew the lines with a heavier line. I'm not sure I like it better with a heavier line, but everything is an experiment and gaining knowledge for next time around.
This process is really forcing me to slow down! I need to embrace the process. I completed this step last night and started painting it today. Very slow going but it is looking interesting. This looks nothing like anything I have every done. It does have a graphic quality that I am seeing in lots of contemporary work these days.
I hope everyone is having fun trying new things. Can't wait to see what you come up with. I have added a number of new paintings to the slide show, so check it out again.
I'm working on a new painting. I decided to try collaging with torn Tyvek. I saw a beautiful painting on Thursday by Leslie that had some areas of torn tyvek and wanted to try it. I took a failed Tyvek painting and made a small cut on an edge and then started ripping. It's pretty tough stuff but can be torn up with a little effort. I used full strength acrylic matt medium and glued the pieces in a random way over a failed watercolor. Much of the Tyvek was the unpainted part but I used some of the pieces right side up and I left a little of the original painting showing through. I brushed some red liquid watercolor into the surface of the collage while it was still damp. Then I set it aside to dry. I drew the image on with a Vis-A-Vis pen and then used acrylic inks to start layering the color. I bought the inks because I wanted the feel of watercolor but the non-lifting properties of acrylic. The inks are so transparent that the undercolor really interacts with it in a very interesting way! I am very excited about this result. I have posted two details of the painting. You can see how the original red is popping through and the texture is really amazing. I should be able to finish the painting tomorrow and post the final result.
