Scrappy

 

It's getting to the point where I have all these little paintings floating around -- ACEO sized, postcard sized, and 6x6.  I had the ACEOs in little trading card sleeves, but it was pretty bleh as far as a way to display them.

 

So I thought, why not make scrapbook pages out of them?  I bought these little corners at Jerry's and that way, if I ever sell one, I can pop it right out of there and leave a spot for another one.  

And then I thought, I could put more than these little paintings in here... I could put my favorite photographs, even photographs of jewelry I'm really proud of, poems, photos of larger works or things that won't fit in these, all that stuff.  It could be for real a scrapbook of every creative thing I've ever done.  Well, okay, I don't have every creative thing I've ever done and this scrapbook would hardly hold it all.  

 

These pages are not all finished, but on a day when art was frustrating (nerdgoat) it was nice to see something come together.

Ain't So Hot

My friend Penny and I have a standing joke between us... cat videos are all right, but if you REALLY want to cheer someone up, share a goat video.  So we do, frequently.

Another friend shared this picture of her goat guy and he made me laugh.  I told her that even though I had a dozen projects, everything was going to have to go on hold till I paint Nerd Goat.  Isn't he adorable!?

  

Yeah, so I bought this hot press paper when Bran and I went to Jerry's Art-a-Rama.  I cut myself a 6x6 piece of it and got to work.  Well, I don't know if it's only sized on one side and I used the wrong side or what, but it was really not workable with wet media, it kept balling up the way you'd expect a napkin to if you tried to paint on it.  BLAH.  I may try it again, but the way it responded was completely unworkable for this piece so I scrapped it.  Darnit... NERD GOAT MUST BE PAINTED!  Maybe I will save him for September's 30 Paintings in 30 Days, though.

I didn't want to start all over because I knew I didn't have enough time to finish at this point, so I tinkered with another project that's been rolling around in my brain for a little while now.   I think I'll save it for another post, though.

Check back in for Nerdgoat!

Scratchboard Experiments

I ran across some amazing scratchboard + inktense art  (check these out, rah-bop on deviantArt and that's just her first one, check out her gallery!, and Karen Hull -- WOW!) that I thought was absolutely mind-blowing.  I had those scratchboard kits before and sorta liked them, and I'm enjoying my toned ink on black paper, so I thought this might be something I'd like.  Before I go investing in the stuff to do this (I tend to get a million crazy ideas, buy the stuff, and only some of them come to fruition), I thought I'd pick up one of those cheap scratchboard kits with the art already done on the top for you, you just go over it and scratch it out.  And it was on clearance, yay!

 

Sure 'nuff, I like doing the texture on these.  This particular one is not the plaster that the Ampersand Scratchboard is, but a metallic stuff underneath.  So the ink didn't become one with the board the way I assume it will with the plaster.  It actually stuck better than I expected, though.

 

Most likely, more experiments forthcoming on this front.

Eevee

 

I'm slacking a little on my nature journal entries.... maybe because it's been too godforsaken hot outside to notice much in nature.  It's been a bad one here in TN.   So while puppes are only sort of "nature", my nature journal is a little more encompassing than just the traditional observational nature journal.  It's usually one picture to a page.  One of these days, I'm going to make a website where you can feel like you're turning the pages.  It's next to best, because I love this book.... it's got paper that feels almost like fabric (it doesn't warp with water media either, which is nice, but erasers and frisket are NOT ITS FRIENDS, either, which is a little intimidating). 

Anyway, this is the story of Eevee.  I named her that because we were out hunting Pokemon when a wild Eevee appeared, and she's the right color, and I have no idea what she's going to turn into.  That's a super nerdy Pokemon reference, I know.

I know this:  I want to draw/paint more dogs, and get better at it.  It's amazing how much life a shiny nose and eyes adds to a painting, though.

I work with a group called Friends of White County Animals, and they want me to write Eevee's happy story for the local newspaper.    

Happy tails to little Eevee, her fur-ever family, and to you!

Cute Falcon is Cute

I got to play with my new Inktense pencils this morning.  I used a ref from Wet Canvas (love that site!) for it.

Mr Falcon (Falco peregrinus) says I elongated his head too much and made him look like a pigeon. It's bad for his image. Sorry Mr Falcon. 

Later that evening I snagged another ref photo from the same site and tinkered with Inktense flowers (this is an anemone).  I used gel pens for the white in the water droplets (man, I really think I got that one water droplet PERFECT... wish I felt that way about all of them), so this is technically mixed media.  I like it pretty well, though.  First time I've ever framed anything like this, with a border on a 6x6 square piece of watercolor paper.  I think some experiments with toothless hot press paper are in order.

This is art every day this week except Wednesday, and two today. Go me!  This means that I am very well on track for... *drumroll*

Yep, I'm doing it.  Even though I have a yuuuge craft show to get ready for in October, this is where my heart is right now.  Maybe longer than right now, despite my fickle artistic nature.  

That's Intense

 

My Inktense came today!  This is the first time I have ever bought a complete set of ANYTHING art related so I am super excited.  I have the full set of blocks and the full set of pencils in their dreamy fancy wooden box.  So I stole a little Art Time and made myself some swatch cards (very important when starting out with a new set of anything).  

 

I didn't have time for much other than that, so I just made this little mushroom doodle from a photo I took a couple of years ago.  I REALLY like them.  They fill in the gaps where I was struggling with watercolor, and I love the texture that the pencils can add to the mix.

 

Yesterday Bran came by to work for me in my day job business, and I taught him to do henna.  This is the first time I've been on this end of a henna cone in years.  Then we went to Sparta Green Market, where he did henna for free so he could practice.  Didn't take him any time at all to get the hang of it.

He starts class again next week, his official senior year as an art major, so he'll be working on his thesis.  But he's recently made the decision to try to make a living from his art, which is always a big step.  My friend Janin is doing the same... she said, "Two weeks ago today, I left the steady no future/ no appreciation/ no benefits day job I'd had for three years...In that two weeks, I've been cleaning up my arts and trying to help turn them from a hobby into a life (with various results); I'm at that stage where I'm scared to fail...and equally scared to succeed."

I know it well.  I'm at a similar crossroads myself, trying to figure out where my passion is.  But then again, I always seem to circle around to that crossroads and the ground here is well worn.

You can check out Brandon's art HERE, and Janin's art HERE.

Peace Love and Yupo

My painting for today is pen and ink flowerdy peace sign on Yupo paper with watercolor mush around it. Yupo is WEIRD y'all.  Not sure I like it.  May need to play more.  I think it might be cool if I did a thick, permanent resist with puddled colors in the center, similar to THIS painting, but in watercolor on Yupo instead of acrylic on board . The cool thing is, this stuff comes in transparent form, so there are ideas for that.

 

 

Yesterday my (art major senior at TTU) son Brandon and I had an artist's date of sorts... my husband is in Nashville for his NRLCA Union convention so we went to have dinner with him and spent the day in Nashville.  This entailed a trip to Jerry's Art-a-Rama, and to the Frist Center for Visual Arts, where their rotating exhibit is currently Italian cars.  I took a TON of reference photos, since I'm mildly fascinated with painting cars lately.

Also on exhibit was the work of surrealist Inka Essenhigh.  I didn't think I was a surrealist fan but I thoroughly enjoyed her work, especially this painting, called In Bed . I'm sure my little thumbnail does it NO justice, but its subject is splayed out in bed with gremlins pulling her eyes open and spilling her guts.  Haven't we all had nights like that?  One thing I was particularly fascinated with was the source of light in several of her paintings.  In this one it seems to be the center of the subject and the center of the painting (the "guts") -- see the shadows the gremlins cast and the bed, as well?  I also love the way the blinds add a touch of the mundane and lead the eye into the painting.  The colors are impossibly vibrant, too... no photo of it could possibly do it justice.  If you're local, take a trip up there, it's worth it.

   

Russ's convention was at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel, which is an amazing place.  It's nine acres of gardens which are INSIDE the hotel, with the rooms built around and overlooking it, complete with waterways (you can actually take a boat on one of them), waterfalls, gorgeous fountains.  The hotel was all but destroyed with the horrible flooding we had in 2010.

I took a lot of reference pictures there too, but walking through the lobby I spied this glass sculpture and rushed over to it, thinking:  CHIHULY!!  It wasn't, it's done by Ludech Hroch, and once again, my picture does it no justice.  If you get the opportunity to visit the grounds of the hotel, you should take that too.  The sculpture's name and theme are totally appropriate for the hotel and its return from near destruction; it's called "Resurgence."

  

I dropped by Hobby Lobby looking for a frame for the picture I did of Nick's car, having not found anything online that I really liked.  They had a 12" square frame with a 5x5 opening but nothing with 6x6, but then I saw this "floating" frame that is truly perfect.  Nick liked it, too.  I'm pretty happy with how it came out, considering it's the first time I've painted anything reflective in watercolor.

In a final bit of news, the little painting I did of Oldham Theater this week prompted a friend to commission me to paint the entire theater (not just the marquee), with "Star Wars" on the marquee, because he has fond memories of seeing Star Wars there.  Since I planned to paint the theater at night anyway, I'm looking forward to that challenge.  I think I might go for an evening/sunset theme, just to give myself a headache.  

Lots of news today!  Thanks for reading.