ART CARDS FOR TRADING

Soulbrush and I are going to trade art cards - what fun! So...how do I choose one of her cards? There are so many I like. Do you think she will send me all of them? ha ha Nothing greedy about me, right?!?

So here are a few of mine to choose from. I hope you find one or more you like, Soul, to make you smile!


Top Left = Ice Skating (watercolor)--- traded

Top Right = Snail Mail? (watercolor)

Bottom Left = The Spelling Bee (watercolor with some pen/ink) --- traded

Bottom Right = Untitled (but it's a sea nettle/jellyfish) (watercolor)

Next set coming up....




Top Left = Striving for the Light (watercolor with a bit of pen and ink) --- traded

Top Right = untitled but it's based on the Lunar New Year Stamp I got at the post office, so you get a little collage added of that stamp) --- traded



















Bottom Left = untitled, it's hay bales in a field in Wales - hey, that rhymes, maybe I should add text to this one? ha ha (watercolor) traded to Margaret Ann/Waterblossoms

Bottom Right = untitled little lambie with rice paper over him to give him some nice texture
All cards will come in a handy heavy-duty card holder to protect them. If anyone else is interested in trading, just let me know and we'll work something out via emails.

Update: You snooze, you lose! Soul and I are trading 4 cards!! So off to the post office on Monday morning with a smile on my face to think that these little atcs will be travelling to her home and 4 of her lovely atcs will be coming to live with me :) I've marked the ones traded in red beside the descriptions above. And if you want to have any of the ones left in trade, just let me know. And I can always make more (wasn't that a Frito Lays slogan at one time?)

TOO HOT TO BE CREATIVE

It's going up in the 90F's today - too hot for me and also very humid. Luckily, I have my latest Watercolor magazine and my latest issue of Watercolor Artist.

Check it out! The August issue features Chris Beck, one of my artist friends. You will get to read more about her process, her thoughts while painting and see some of her fabulous paintings - everything from her salt and pepper collection of duckies and other birdies to beautifully glowing florals. I just gone my yesterday afternoon so if you subscribe, you might be getting your issue any day!

Congratulations, Chris, for the great article!

CREATIVE CATALYST DVD BY CARLA O'CONNOR = A++

Tuesday afternoon, I watched the Carla O'Connor DVD from Creative Catalyst I had purchased a few weeks ago. It is wonderful! I highly recommend it to anyone wanting to learn more about design and the process of designing/creating a good composition.




Now, nothing she said was anything I hadn't heard Sandy Maudlin say over and over and yet, even Sandy says sometimes you have to hear more than 1 person say it before the light comes on. Or maybe I had to mature to this step in my artwork for it to sink in and for me to be actually using it.


So...if you have the money, do buy this one. It is wonderful and the creative process she uses (gouache on gold gessoed watercolor paper) is wonderful and allows you to wipe back to gold, add color, glaze color, make textures, etc. But it's not just a gouache DVD - you can use everything she talks about in any medium because it's about design and seeing and making changes and arranging shapes shapes shapes!!



And thanks again to Teresa for the coupon!!


Here are two of the designs I came up with while listening to Carla talk and doodling and taking notes at the same time...



And I have my watercolor paper gessoed and ready to go (white gesso this time, not gold) and I'm going to use watercolor, not gouache (since I only have white).

NOTAN SWAN FINISHED - ON TYVEK

This is all I'm going to do on it. My goal was to get the paint to "stick" to the tyvek I have (not the kind Myrna Wacknov uses but the kind you use in construction and it isn't coated with anything to help the paint stay)...and to get nothing but greys in various colors throughout. I see I need to make that bill darker but that's about all with this...

What do you think? I think I'll leave the tyvek painting to Myrna - she's much better at it than I am!

FRONT DOOR PAINTING???

I finally got around to finishing the front door. Had ideas, you see, and just couldn't get up and bring them to fruition. Now that I have, and from a suggestion from my dear friend Susan in Vancouver Island, Jerry wants me to paint a sunflower on the panels. Oh, and the sunflower goes from the top yellow panel to the bottom so at the bottom is the stem with, oh, yeah, how about a frog on it?? We're not getting too carried away here, are we?



Sorry for the warped view - it's obviously from above and inside the house and I can't get a good spot from which to take a photo inside to show the bottom of the door and all 4 panels.

So, if this was your door, would you paint on those panels?


Should I?


Here's the template that I can use for each panel - one facing to the right and one facing to the left (using the back side)...






Don't look for the frog - it isn't there yet and may not be - a little frog on a stem may be beyond me. Afterall, this has to be in acrylic and I don't paint in acrylic, just watercolor...and I have to paint this upright so I can't paint very wet and juicy unless I'm prepared for runs...and I can hear myself trying to talk myself out of this!

SURPRISE FROM SURPRISE?

Well, look at what the postman delivered to me today! A wonderful bit of art work in the form of Margaret Ann's art trading cards plus her note card that is one of her designs, too, and a little sticker - that I will keep and never give away, of course (unless it comes back to you at some time in the future, that is!). Her work is so detailed and lovely and lacey and fine!

Thank you so much, M-A, for this beautiful work. Hope you get your little envelope soon and are as pleased as I am about my surprise from Surprise :)

FALLEN ANGELS - REVISED + NOTAN PAINTING OF SWAN

Just a bit of tweaking on this yupo painting of the datura (Fallen Angels). Jerry says the bottom flower is much too close to the bottom of the paper - and he's right but not much I can do about it right now (or want to do about it since I don't want to wipe it all back and start over at the bottom).

And this is on Tyvek and is so hard to get the paint to just stay put - but it does make some interesting textured effects and I can work on this more - this is just the first stage of the swan, painting from the notan painting and photo and then putting in muted colors of grayed greens and grayed oranges, etc...we'll see what happens when I get to work on it some more.

FROM MY SKETCHBOOK

Just a little doodle I did the other day. Something to look at until I get back to something bigger.

Right now, I'm painting our front door. Photo and explanation (!) to come later, but here's a hint: the inner panels looked like canvas/paper inside picture frames so...

FALLEN ANGELS

I had this yupo painting that I'd obviously washed off (stained here and there) to try again...so in class Thursday I thought I'd try again. I was in a "finish this" mood so didn't start anything new.

This is all watercolors on yupo. Daturas we saw in our only trip to New Orleans - or maybe it was from the trip to Vancouver Island and the Butchert Gardens? Anyway, from one of our photos. I still need to finish that bottom little one that got left out and it's done. Calling this one Fallen Angels (in case you go, ??? - because daturas are often called angel trumpets).

CHANGES

I am slowly going back to putting most of the blogs I visit back to the icon type listing in a row. It will take it down the whole side of the page but I miss being able to see when someone posts something new and can't do that with just the title and no icon to click on. So I'll get this done this weekend...slowly but surely. I may keep some blogs as just the title version so you don't get too overwhelmed with the icon listing - like a kid in a candy store, sometimes there are just too many choices and you walk out without choosing anything. (Really? Well, you get the idea!).

Just go to the bottom of the icon list, click SHOW ALL and the whole list will come up as icons.

PRINTMAKING MATERIALS + HAND PRESSED PRINT

I received some goodies in the mail yesterday when I returned from watercolor class. I had ordered these from Dick Blick art supplies for future printmaking fun. The Reeves watercolors are the kind Sharon used during our printmaking workshop at Marilyn's last Friday and they worked well - couldn't find the Pentell brand other than order from a shop in Canada and the shipping was as much as the paint so going to try this first. This book (I have glanced through it) has everything from monoprints to carbarundum (not spelling that right but not walking downstairs to get the book right now) prints and more advanced things. Hoping to get a good baren and a larger, harder brayer next and see if I can get a good piece of plexi at a hardware store - they cut pieces but doubt that they sand the front and edges.

And in class yesterday I put a bit more paint on the gold gessoed watercolor paper (hotpress) and then soaked a piece of hotpress watercolor paper and put it on top of this one - and brayered the image off = not enough pressure so it was pretty smooshy looking (that's not a technical term but you know what I mean = faint with soft edges all around). So added a bit more watercolor to it to brighten it up. I like the blue cow but not the brown one - maybe I should have made it more orange and red?

Since the one on gold gesso (which you've seen before) was called Once in a Blue Moo, I guess the print is called Twice in a Blue Moo? ha ha

I worked on a yupo painting in class, too. Will share that later. For now, rest time is up and time to get back to waxing the floors!

NOTAN

In the colorfulwatercolor group, we are learning a bit about notan. Notan is a Japanese word and the closest translation seems to be no = light; tan = dark. So it is a design element using light and dark. As watercolor artists, we are always working on our values and trying to get our whites pure and sparkling and also having good, strong darks throughout our paintings. So notan fits right in.

What we are doing is this: taking a photograph and unsaturating the color completely in our photo program (whichever one we have) and then amping up the contrast to bring up the blacks. So we have a photo and then a notan photo showing just the whites and blacks.

Then we are to paint the notan photo - not looking at the colored photo, just the notan one as a strong value study with no mid-tones.

This is what I have.

The photo is one shared at watercolorworkshop by Yvonne Carter a long time ago. I thought it was a great photo and intended to try to paint it some day...and that some day is now!

The photoshopped photo (although I don't have PhotoShop, I used my photo manipulation program that came with my camera).

And the painted version of the notan photo, using my own mix to make black (Perinone Orange + Ultramarine Turquoise). I didn't make a big enough, or juicy enough, or concentrated enough puddle of black to work with so it looks a bit greyed in places. But it will work. And I certainly see where I cut too much into the white here to maybe I should do another before beginning the painting...I think I was rushing and not slowing down and looking closely enough.

We have 9 members in the group and it will be interesting to see how the others do their paintings and what they choose to paint.

PRINTMAKING STAGES OF MY PRINTS

Here are the photos Sharon sent of the stages I went through with my prints.

First, the thin layer of pure color to serve as an underpainting for the print. Marilyn said this color will show as the top layer when you pull the print (first down on the plexi = last up on the print), so you want to choose something you would start with like yellow or a pale pink or peach or...you get the idea.

I wanted to try 2 in different shapes and sizes just for fun. So I started one with warm yellow and one with cool pink. The paints were Pentell watercolors Marilyn had to order from a shop in Canada - the paints aren't expensive but the shipping is about as much as the paint!

By the Sea while it was still on the plexiglass, ready to be printed. The stamp I used (created by Marilyn) is at the bottom.

And My Creative Heart while it was still on the plexi ready to be printed.

While we were creating on the plexi, the print paper was soaking so it was good and wet through and through when we got ready to print. We just allowed the water to drip off the paper and then blotted it in between 2 pieces of newsprint until the shine was off the paper - then into the print on top of the plexi and through the press!

You've seen the final outcome but in case you missed it, here they are again:

By the Sea

and

My Creative Heart

MORE PRINTMAKING PHOTOS

Sharon sent some of the photos she took during our Friday, June 5th printmaking day with Marilyn Bishop.

Here are the stages of the color being applied to the frosted plexi.

First, Sharon's stages...(sorry, I don't have a photo of the finished print but it was wonderful).

Sharon put her first layer down much thinner than I did mine but it's still just pure color (a peach mix Sharon chose) on the glass using a flat brush.

Then comes the dabbing and adding with a soft natural sea sponge, thinking about what your composition is going to be.

Marilyn said you put down 3-4 layers so working on that 3rd layer now...here's where you can stamp or cut into the color, lifting some if you want or...you can put something over the plate before printing (which is what Sharon did) to create a resist on the print. Sharon put a piece of grass/willow over the plate and then printed it, leaving a great space to add color to later.

And here are Marilyn's stages - she's an old hand at this and knows what she's doing so knew she wanted to work with a grid pattern and some round shapes, too. She worked with sponges and a sponge roller to put the paint on the plexi and she splattered some paint on, too.

I don't have a photo of Marilyn's finished print, either, but I bet she puts it up on her blog soon.

A FRISSON OF FLAMINGOS - FINISHED!

I finished this (I think it's finished) in Sandy's class Thursday but hadn't had a moment to take a photo and size and upload it until now.

Wat do you think? More to do? Anything to change that I don't see yet?

A DAY WITH A PRINTMAKING ARTIST

As I said yesterday, I spent many wonderful hours with Marilyn B. and Sharon R. yesterday, learning Marilyn's techniques for working with watercolor monotype prints. Marilyn has a lovely home and a great little studio (2 rooms side by side) in her downstairs area. We talked, laughed, had lunch together, and created art all day.

First, Marilyn took us on a tour and we got to see many of her art pieces I had never seen before, all beautifully matted and framed and displayed in her rooms. Many were watercolors, some were watercolor and collage and many newer ones were watercolor monotypes. All were beautiful and interesting.

Then Marilyn talked about what she learned about monotype printing and showed us the watercolors we'd use (you apparently can't use - or don't want to use - your expensive Daniel Smith or Winsor Newton brands). The plexiglass she had was frosted by just sanding it with 200 grit sandpaper until the shine was off - this, I was told, was so the paint would adhere better to the plexi. We also began by coating the plexi with Dawn dishwashing liquid (plain, no lotions or moisturizers in it) with a little natural sea sponge. That helped the paint release from the plexi to the paper when it was time.

I came home with 2 prints that I like. They are bold and the colors are strong and rich and I was happy with the outcome. Here they are:

1. By the Sea.............

(You put the border around it using watercolor crayons - Caran d'Ache - before you print; and the seashell was created by just putting the watercolor paint - Pentell brand - on the stamp Marilyn had made and then pressing it on the plexi.)

2. My Creative Heart

(No stamping, just dabbing watercolor on with a sponge dipped in thick pigment after putting down an initial "wash" with a large flat brush.)

Of course, the shape and size of the print is determined by the shape and size of the plexiglass piece you are using.

Sharon and I both thought Marilyn should give a demo and talk on this sometime at our watercolor society!

TIRED BUT WHAT A FUN DAY!!!

I'm too tired to post anything this evening but I will tomorrow. Spent several hours with Marilyn and Sharon today learning about watercolor monotype prints and using Marilyn's little press and trying to create something beautiful with a new technique. I didn't take my camera but Sharon did so when she sends me some pics, I'll post some of them, too. It was a FUN FUN FUN day and I learned so much.

Thank you, Marilyn!!!

Now, in the meantime, hop on over to Paul Kasmir's blog and start reading his children's book about Taurus and see his wonderful artwork to illustrate said book/story. If you know of a publisher who may want to work with Paul on this, let him know. This kind of creativity and whimsey should be out there for others to see and for kids and parents to enjoy.

PRINTS

I created these two in a Sandy Maudlin class a while back. Can't remember how long ago. The original painting is done with white gouache and watercolor paint applied thickly to the gold-gessoed watercolor paper. Then I wet a piece of Arches hotpress paper and laid it down over the painting, rolled it a bit with a brayer and peeled it off and got this. Two for the price of one!

















I am taking cookies I baked to my first day in a new watercolor class (still with Sandy but with a different bunch of artists on Thursday). Something I learned in grade school: always take goodies the first day so the other kids will like you. So that's what I'm doing! I should make a good impression on anyone who likes cookies and isn't diabetic! And I might just get back to that unfinished flamingo painting today or maybe I'll do another print like this - it was pretty easy.

Yesterday was the watercolor society meeting so I'll have to work on the minutes this afternoon. Then today class. Then tomorrow a printmaking session with Marilyn B. A busy art week for me :) I hope you are having a creative week.

ANOTHER LITTLE ART CARD

I painted this one a few days back. No ink, just inktense pencils and then brushed with a damp brush to blend a bit.

Since I'm going to be busy today (watercolor society all morning into the afternoon and then out to a late lunch/early dinner to celebrate an anniversary - our 14th!), this is all you get today.

Yep, we've been married 14 years, been together 15 years and are still together after the house painting fiasco so I guess we're still going strong :) He forgives me a lot of things, although you wouldn't guess that from this photo I took of him trying to read...

MY SWAP PAINTING IN TEXAS

Well, the SWAP painting I mailed twice (yep, it was returned to me because I left out a "2" in the address - apparently every single number is important!) finally arrived and my partner got it and shared it with the group.

So I can share it here. And I'm so glad she likes it :)

When I begin a painting for someone else, I actually spend more time thinking about colors and composition. Doesn't mean I end up with a better painting in the end but I do put more thought into it and try to step away before I ruin it completely. So this is my beginning steps - with the color swatches I thought I'd use on this one.

And this is the finish - maybe could have been left a bit more pale but not too bad.

Now I have a front door saying, "Paint me. You still have to paint me!" Should I ignore it or...

TORSO HEARTED

Heart beating within the body...working out some things...this may become another self portrait but I have a feeling no one will like it. Does that matter? Maybe not...maybe I just want to get it on paper and see what comes out.



The first try was in my Aquabee sketch book. I didn't like the way the heart seems to be floating outside the body. It needs to look more like it's inside...not like a religious icon but somewhat like that - without the golden rays and haloes.




Not sure where this one is going...if anywhere. What do you think? Too weird? Maybe something more iconic would work?

PLEXI-PRINTS

Well, I had to try the printmaking like Myrna talked about and tried on her blog. Using a small square of plexi, I drew on it with the Caran d'Ache watercolor crayons. I didn't have a great selection of colors but did my best and kept it simple. I sharpened the crayons and kept the shavings (thoughts or using them for later were already in my head). I got out my 3" brayer and drew this little painting of bleeding hearts on the plexi (yep, still on the heart theme, wonder why??)

The first transfer I did, the hotpress watercolor paper I used for the print was too dry. I soaked it for a minute and blotted it off right away and I should have soaked it longer and left it more wet.

The second transfer on hotpress paper, I soaked it for longer than a minute and left it damp and then pressed it onto the painting and brayered it harder and longer than the first time. It was too wet. (It must take a lot of practice to know when the conditions are just right to get a good print.)

And what was left on the plexi was so pale by now that there couldn't be another print tried with this painting so I was thinking of what else to do and came up with something that really turned out horrid - so you don't get to see that.

So I wiped the plexi clean again and tried something very very simple with color - remember those crayon shavings? Yep, used them, putting them on in a scrunching manner with a tough bristle brush, not a soft watercolor brush. It was fun and I thought it might turn out to be something cool.

This is what the painting on the plexi looked like.

And this is the print transferred onto a hard piece of All Media Artboard from Cheap Joe's.

I like this one - it's very simplistic but sometimes that's good. I did go in and put the green border around it with regular watercolor using a soft watercolor brush. I like the dots - very pointillistic and free and I think I'll do this again this way - more crayon shavings coming up!

I also want to try printmaking the way Chris Beck described it, using dishwashing liquid on the brush to get the watercolor to stick to the plexi and then transferring the painting to masa paper. Stay tuned! This is fun. If you can find a piece of plexi or glass (tape the edges for safety), try it. You can use a brayer or a rolling pin to transfer the painting to the paper.