NEW DRAWING TOOL!

I had a dental appointment the other day.  I finally found a reason to be excited about it!  The dental hygenist used a syringe to inject strong mouthwash into the deeper pockets.  It was the bent needle that got my attention.  I asked if I could have one of the syringes for my art work.  When he gave it to me, the needle was straight.  I told him I wanted the bent one.  He told me he bent it himself.  Duh! Why couldn't I have thought to do that?  Sometimes the simplest ideas evade us.  It takes a little practice to smoothly move the syringe to release the ink.  The bent needle allows me to draw at a better angle.  What fun !

GUESS WHO?

My sister sent this to me this morning.  It is from my highschool year book.  She found it on a website called classmates.com.  It seems my yearbook was being featured today.  In September I will be attending a 50th reunion!  Good grief, where has the time flown.  Even my grandchildren are past this year in their lives.  Can you find me?  I didn't think  I looked like this photo even then.  

HOME ALONE! FINISHED

I worked on this painting all afternoon.  With this process you could keep going forever.  It is a pretty dark painting but I like the proportion of light to dark, warm to cool.  The texture is fun.  I think I have totally covered over the initial collage.  In fact, I lost count of the layers of paint and paper.   I enjoyed trying some of the new tools and ways of applying color.  Overall, I think this has something of the feel of what I was trying for.  I want to try it again with a new image.

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!

6, 7, 8 HOW DO WE DECORATE?

I decided to use my self portrait daily drawing challenge for numbers 6 and 7.  You can see them on my other blog, Drawn to the Mirror.  For number 8 in the series to draw from the previous drawing, I drew with the eye dropper in one of my cardboard books.  I liked the quality of the line so much, I almost didn't proceed to place patterns within the shapes.  I decided not to think of anything as too precious, so I proceeded as planned.  A nice evening project sitting in front of the tv.  It makes you realize how few minutes are worth my attention on any show.  So many commercials and air filler nonsense.

NEW DRAWING PROJECT!

I decided I wanted to take up the challenge to do 30 to 50 drawings, each one drawn from the previous drawing.  I could only do one drawing from the original photograph.  This is a slight variation on an exercise in Robert Kaupelis' book Experimental Drawing where you have to do 50 drawings in a short period of time.  I couldn't deal with that stress!  The idea of working off of your previous work should produce some interesting results.  I started with a very detailed drawing, thinking I would drag out the distortions slowwwwwwwwly.  Ha!  Looks like I am moving too fast but I can't worry about what I will have left to work with towards the end.  I only need to think about the next drawing,  Think this is a fun idea?  Join me in the madness.

LAST BUT NOT LEAST!

This is #3 in a series (so far there are 4).   I just received word it has been accepted into the National Watercolor Society show this year!  I am very excited as this is one of my favorite shows.  Last year I didn't make the cut.  There are never any guarantees with so many excellent painters in the country.  Plus, every judge has their own ideas and opinions.  This show has 3 judges.  Does that make it easier or harder to get in?   I had to order another giant packing box from AirFloat to ship it.  Definitely the down side to painting so big (40 x 40 framed!) I need another house just to store this stuff.  Too bad no one has invented an inflateable carton that is puncture proof, sort of a blow up bubble wrap thing.   I now have two boxes for this size painting, so I might as well keep making big, scary faces!

Tomorrow is the opening reception and awards ceremony for the California Watercolor Society. 2 PM at the Officer's Club in the Presidio.  What a gorgeous venue!!   If you are in the area, be sure and join in the celebration.  I am looking forward to seeing the show and excited to congratulate the winners. The first of this series is in the show.  Karen Frey, who I studied with for awhile, took top honors.  Her work is stand alone fabulous.  I wanted to learn to paint like Karen.  She, wisely, just helps you paint like you!  By the time I took a workshop with her where she taught her technique, I had moved beyond wanting to imitate someone else, no matter how incredible their work was.  It must be a natural progression in artistic development...first learn how to make it look like a photograph, then how to make it look like a famous painter and finally how to make it look uniquely yours.  Some people get stuck in the early stages and never move ahead to authenticity.  Someone said you need to be your best you because everyone else is already taken!