First Collage & Impression Lifting (How To)

I've been busy making paste papers these days. Not only does black Artagain work but Stonehenge kraft paper as well. I coated a piece of kraft paper with Liquitex gloss medium, let dry, then applied alcohol ink and blending solution. The inks moved very well on the surface, similar to Yupo. A particular piece of inked kraft paper inspired a landscape collage. The first collage I've been fairly happy with after many disasters. I'm not sure why I struggle with this art form so much. I believe I over think it. Whatever the problem, I'm determined to overcome. In this case I brought all my problems to bear and sorted them out on a single piece of 5" x 7" paper...ie. landscapes, collage and my latest focus, color theory. It's a conglomeration of paste papers, yellowed newspaper, a catalog image, colored pencil and acrylic paint. I threw a mat on it and scanned it. Sorry for the dirty looking mat. That's alcohol ink that has become a permanent part of my scanner bed. :(

I'd like to share another technique I tried today...impression lifting aka photo transfer. I printed out an image on glossy paper, then applied a thick coat of acrylic gel gloss medium over the image. I allowed it to dry thoroughly, then soaked it in warm water for a few minutes. Once the paper looked completely saturated I turned the image face down and used a damp paper towel to gently rub away the backing paper from the actual image which had now become 'one' with the acrylic medium. It's a bit of a mess but it went fairly fast. The result is a semi-transparent image that can be adhered to another surface, in this case, kraft paper. Note: If you give this a go be sure to take care in handling the image after the backing paper has been removed. The image will be a little stretchy and delicate. 

Homemade Paste Papers

I created these four papers with Lumiere light body metallic acrylic on black Artagain paper

Although I've been studying my Quiller color wheel and painting every day, nothing worth posting has been produced. To say I'm frustrated would be putting it mildly but I will persevere. In the meantime I've ordered a small set of tube acrylics which were on sale(!) but haven't arrived yet. I'm using that as an excuse to purposely sidetrack myself.

A good friend of mine was downsizing her library of art instruction books and sent me a book written by Susan Pickering Rothamel. It's titled The Art of Paper Collage . Yes, collage...another art form that has sent me screaming. Today I needed a break from landscapes so I tried Rothamel's idea of creating homemade paste papers, those decorative and very seductive papers(I know you've seen them in catalogs and drooled)that can be so pricey if purchased ready made. She suggested putting down a layer of acrylic medium or other gloss adhesive on paper to stop absorption. Let dry, then go over the surface with acrylics or dry pigment mixed with gloss medium. Before the paint dries add texture with stamps, combs or other tools. Another layer of medium can be applied and various embellishments can be included as well. One is only limited by their imagination and wealth of supplies.

Note: I follow Elizabeth Nelson (Paper Paintings Collage Artwork) on Facebook. She mentioned the wisdom of making your own decorative papers. Not all ready made and exotic papers are acid free or lightfast. Creating your own papers guarantees they are archival and also provides endless color and design choices.

Color Theory ~ split comp 3

I fear it's going to get a whole lot of ugly around here until I get this split comp thing down. I have no idea if this is good or bad. I'm working from Quiller's personal color wheel and using his suggested tube colors. For blue/green he prefers Phthalo Turquoise, which I happened to have in stock. For the analogous compliments I had Quin. Red, Alizarin Crimson and I had to make my own red/orange from Cad. Orange and Quin. Red. These are a combo of colors I never in a million years would've chosen for a painting. I threw in some white gouache to create a few opaque colors.

Once I have the colors I must decide how best to distribute them throughout the painting. Which colors should be neutralized? Which should stay pure? Lordy! On top of that, many other widely varying secondary colors can be created. For instance, Quin. Red and Phthalo Turquoise make a stunning blue/violet which can be used to neutralize the orange/red.

Note: I got the idea for this landscape from a photo I saw on Paint My Photo. I liked the strong horizontal lines. I think the straight line through the lower third of the piece is actually a bike path in reality but I loved the effect it lent to this landscape. 

Color Theory ~ pt. 2

In my second color study Yellow Ochre was used as the dominant, Ultramarine Violet and Prussian Blue as intermediates and Ultramarine Blue as the subordinate.

In this color study I used Prussian Blue and UB as the dominant colors, Yellow Ochre as the intermediate and Ultramarine Violet as the subordinate.

Here are a couple of split comp paintings recently completed. This time I used a semi neutral, in this case Yellow Ochre. Then I selected Ultramarine Blue, a teriary color and the compliment of Yellow Ochre. Within the range opposite of Yellow Ochre on the color wheel, I chose Ultramarine Violet(a secondary color) and another semi neutral, Prussian Blue. In hindsight I should've chosen Indigo blue because Prussian Blue lies just outside the correct range of hues.

Before I go on I'd like to make a correction. I mistakenly called DS Undersea Green a teriary color in my previous post. It probably should be considered a semi neutral, maybe even a neutral. Whatever it is, it's a combination of Ultramarine Blue and Quin. Gold Deep. It's neutral qualities worked well with my previous palette plus I like the color!

   

Color Theory

Landscapes (the bane of my existence) made fun by using a split comp palette and some imagination.

Because I've never received any formal art education, I've never studied color theory although I have a basic understanding. I can't count the times it's been a struggle to choose a palette for a particular painting. Painting with complimentary colors is something I do enjoy and I've found color combinations I like just by trial and error.

I had forgotten I bought the book 'Color Choices: Making Sense Out Of Color Theory' by Stephan Quiller. While browsing through the book I was blown away by his dynamic landscapes. The paintings I kept coming back to were painted with a split complementary palette so I had to try my hand at it. Simply put, I chose a color(green gold) and found it's complement (red violet...I used DS Quin violet) on the color wheel. Then I looked at the analogous colors of red violet. Analogous colors are those hues that are next to each other on the color wheel. I chose to go toward the more blue hues like blue violet(which I mixed myself) and Indathrene blue. I did add one tertiary hue which was DS Undersea green. If you're not familiar with it, it's an olive-y green.

Arrows indicting my split complimentary colors

Quiller also combines gouache with transparent watercolor. I have one tube each of white and black gouache that have languished in a drawer for a few years. I keep the white on hand just in case a highlight is lost and the black had never been opened. I got them both out and used them to lighten and darken my watercolors. Who knew painting with gouache was so much fun! Tinting gouache with transparent watercolor opened up a whole new world for me. It compares to getting new art supplies without spending a dime.

I won't go into everything I found extremely helpful in Quiller's book but in summary, I highly recommend this book to any artist, especially if they struggle with color. Mr. Quiller breaks down color theory so it's understandable without becoming boring.

Miss Willmott's Ghost...again

I can't get enough of this plant, it seems. I took more photos, this time closer to sunset to capture different lighting. The Aglaya daisies are blooming now and they look wonderful alongside Miss Willmott. This afternoon I did another painting, this time more loose. I painted the entire piece with a #2 squirrel quill. All very wet into wet.

Found a Bug in My Painting

It's always fun to apply acrylic gesso to a surface, then work it around with a palette knife or whatever is handy. After it's dry, the textures that occur as a result can be very exciting. Last night I had a swatch of paper I had coated with gesso and I began to slosh paint on it. I love to watch the paint settle into all the little nooks and crannies and lo and behold, I spotted insect wings! The more I looked, the more came into focus. A thorax, some insect-y legs...definitely a bug. I added some eyes, some antennae and voila! Try painting on gesso. The results are never the same twice and it never gets boring. 

Roots ~ negative painting

I'm still playing. Last night I poured some wet watercolor onto a swatch of paper, then placed a piece of plastic wrap on it and let it dry. It's a trick most watercolorists know. Afterward, the textures that were created looked like a tangle of roots so I took the cue and ran with it. I carved the tree trunk out and created more, finer roots by using a technique called negative painting. If you aren't aware of this technique, it means painting the areas around an object rather than the actual object (positive painting). Linda Kemp's work  (link) is a perfect example of negative painting. And here are my results.

The Importance of Play

In the wee hours of the morning I was enjoying the cool and suddenly felt the creative urge stirring. I didn't have anything ready to roll so I decided to play. I got out granulation medium, a Micron pen, acrylic gesso and walnut ink. I use styrofoam disposable plates for palettes and, when the bits of leftover paint dry, I stack them and keep them handy. I sorted through the lot and chose my colors. Then I played. I found out what granulation medium does when poured onto wet watercolor and/or walnut ink. I also discovered what amazing textures are created when you mix gesso into wet watercolor and granulation medium. I painted a loon! I finished the session off by painting part of a field stone wall. Most importantly, I learned! Just by taking a half hour to simply play I now have a few more tricks in my arsenal as I move forward. Don't ever underestimate the power of play. There's no pressure. Let the creative juices flow and enjoy yourself. Isn't that what it's really all about?   

Miss Willmott ~ WIP 2-3 & completed

Complete

WIP 3

WIP 2

Rather than keep posting updates I skipped ahead, taking photos as I progressed. I just finished the painting this afternoon and managed to get a pretty decent image for once. I think I've found the perfect spot for photographing my watercolors, weather permitting.

As I went along I wound up tweaking my palette a little although no new tube colors were added. I also wanted this to have a loose look but not go overboard. I did employ a spray bottle in several areas and let the paint run where it may. Then I went back in with a darker shade, carving out the shapes lost that were important. I didn't worry about color accuracy or capturing details. My intention was to give this a morning kinda 'vibe'...soft light and muted colors. I think I accomplished my mission. 

Note: Sorry for the blurry images if you choose to enlarge them. I don't know why that's happening. Man, it's always something.

Miss Willmott ~ WIP 1

Yesterday I managed to transfer my drawing to working paper, in this case Arches 140# CP paper. I laid in some background color and today I started work on the flowers. It's difficult to get certain colors to appear correctly because they are so neutral. In fact, when I tried to scan my color study the scanner read it as a black & white photo so I had to photograph it. When completed, this painting will be approx. 21" x 9". Sorry the painting is photographed in pieces. I was too lazy to set up my easel and do a proper job of it.  

Miss Willmott ~ color study

The final

First layer

This is the palette I have in mind. Very neutral colors with a decent range of values. I'm questioning my choice of a 'pop' color, which is Quin. violet, but it looks better IRL. I'm also using some negative painting on this sample. It's a much softer look. I am reminding myself along the way that white doesn't have to be truly white to appear that way. So far my main color choices are cerulean blue, permanent yellow and perylene green...all neutralized with either DS Moonglow or neutral tint.

Miss Willmott ~ sketch completed

A little confusion in the center but you get the general idea

Part deux

I completed the second half of my sketch and put the two together in a panorama using Irfanview. I used scanned images and, without the aid of Photoshop, I did the best I could to merge the two drawings. Not an exact match but I did my best. I have a palette in mind but I want to do a few color studies before committing to a larger painting.

Miss Willmott ~ pencil sketch

Inspired by Miss Willmott, I drew up this sketch while watching another rerun of Jaws on the telly this afternoon. I'd like to paint this in a long(wide), narrow format so I need to sketch more blooms. I just ran out of space on my paper. To be continued on another sheet.......

Miss Willmott's Ghost Blooms Again

This has become an annual event in my moon garden. Miss Willmott's Ghost(eryngium giganteum) aka Giant White Sea Holly is a biannual plant that, once she matures enough to bloom, dies afterward but she's a prolific self seeder. This has been a stellar year with not one but six plants reaching maturity. The tallest are almost 3' high with many flower bracts. I hope to get more photos of her before she kicks the proverbial bucket. One plant has popped up in the middle of my Golden Tiara hosta, another in my August Moon hosta, and there's no digging her out without causing major harm to the hostas. Miss Willmott has a very deep and tough taproot. I may have to take some cuttings. I just harvested about 20 garlic scapes and together, they might make an interesting a floral arrangement.   

Fancy Goldfish ~paper sculpt complete

I just put the finishing touches on this. I chose the warm palette because the coffee filters took on a yellowish appearance when the gloss medium was completely dry. I added two wooden beads I found for the eyes. The beads were red so I gave them a coat of Adirondack Pitch Black alcohol ink and glued them in place with Mod Podge. The entire piece is mostly Adirondack alcohol ink. I did add some DS Duochrome Hibiscus watercolor to the scales and DS Pearlescent Shimmer watercolor to the smaller fins. Painting on gel gloss medium is a unique experience. The watercolor pigments became permanent as soon as applied, which surprised me. I did have more control over the alcohol ink, though.

Fancy Goldfish ~ color study

Sorry for the delay with an update but I've been having fun trying out a few mediums on some trial samples. So far, I've tried Jacquard Lumiere acrylic, alcohol ink and watercolor and I'm still going. It's been an interesting (to say the least) education. I really should be more bold with my experiments! I've also tried out a couple of different palettes...some pinks and golds, some greens, blues and purples. Not all scanned well so I can't show them all and because I've used duochrome watercolor and some metallics, I doubt they would photograph much better. I've used blending solution, alcohol and water(applied w/spray bottles), rubbed and manipulated the inks and paints with a brush and my fingers...what's next? To my visitors...which palette appeals most? I'm open to opinions.

Fancy Goldfish ~ paper sculpt WIP 2

I've just completed the sculpting process. Yes! The head was formed using another coffee filter and the scales near the tail portion were created from printer paper with a hole punch. The scales on the forward area of the body were fashioned from 90# card stock using the same hole punch. I added another fin that drapes below the chin area using more printer paper. Now it's time to let things dry. The gel medium is still tacky and probably will be for a day or two. If we get the rain they're predicting it may take longer. In the meantime, I'm going to create a few sample sculpts so I can try out various palettes and mediums. 

Fancy Gold Fish ~ paper sculpt WIP 1

I fell in love with a gorgeous fantail goldfish I saw online so I decided to use it has inspiration for my next attempt at paper sculpting. I had the brilliant (?) idea to use coffee filters for the long, flowing fins. I think it worked out fairly well but now I'm not sure how to tackle the body of the fish. This will take some more thought. I'm working on Yupo again, using gloss gel medium as my glue and sculpting medium. I did use facial tissue for the small side fins. I wanted them to appear more delicate.

I drew a simple sketch directly on the Yupo with pencil to guide me. I can still see the sketch through the layer of tracing paper I put down for my background (because I didn't want the background to be naked Yupo). That was a huge relief. Otherwise I would be flying blind.  

Blown Glass Rooster

I can't think of a title for this so I'll call it what it is....a glass rooster. It's a little tschotske that came from my parent's old house. I have no idea where they got it but it's a colorful little thing. I drew and painted this from life. I scanned the painting because it's small...roughly 5" x 9" so every little boo-boo shows up and the colors are a bit blown out. It was a fun exercise and I enjoyed getting my brushes wet again. I'll be on to another sculpted paper project tomorrow and it may take a few days before I have anything to show. I'll have to wait for each coat of gel medium to dry and I don't want to rush things. 

Alcohol Ink on Sculpted Paper

I've planned on trying this for months and finally got to it the last few days. This is sculpted paper on Yupo Col Mitchell style (link) using tracing paper and gel gloss medium. The little bird was cut from Yupo and glued in place with Mod Podge. I wish now I had taken a photo before I applied the ink so you could see the sculpt work. This is only about 4 1/2" x 5 1/2" and is really too small a format to get terribly creative. I just wanted to see if I could do it at all. I've said many times how I love to add texture to my work and this is certainly one exciting way to do just that.

Cornfield Crucifixion

SOLD

Sounds pretty glum, doesn't it? I also spelled the word 'crucifixion' wrong on my drawing. Oh, well. I'm having a time getting inspired. Another collage has gotten the best of me and I'm stuck on another project. Naturally my mind wanders to dark places. In this case, scarecrows. They have always 'creeped me out'. I think most folks see them as whimsical folk art-y creations meant to scare crows but I doubt they really work. Crows are pretty savvy. Creating a man-like 'thing' and hanging it on a cross in a cornfield has never set right with me. Anyway, it was something to draw while I think of something better.

Small Works ~ in progress

The rainy background is strips of newspaper glued to Yupo. The figure is soft pastel.

This one is still a work in progress. I'm not sure where its headed yet.

I'm working on a series of small 'creations' using various techniques I've been dying to try out. A little collage, some mixed media, ink...anything that floats my boat. Since these are all roughly 4" x 6", if a few fail it's no big deal. My style seems to be no style so why not go with that premise and see where it takes me. Last year I chose to stick with the alcohol ink but because my lungs have become so touchy I've been hesitant to play with these inks too often. I'm not planning to give them up by any means but I thought I'd mix things up a bit.  

Digby Redux ~ complete

I finally settled on a palette for this one and after that, things went pretty fast. I've painted this on Fabriano 140# HP with a color combo I love...Quin. Gold, Carbazole Violet and Quin. Sienna. I added a little FUB to the violet and the camera really picked it up. Hopefully I'll be able to get a better photo with colors that are more true to life when the light is better. It's too sunny today. I worked from the original photo and the posterized version so it turned out slightly stylized but I kinda like it! 

Digby Redux ~ value drawing

Value drawing

Posterized version #2

Posterized version #1

And not a good value drawing, I might add. I half traced, half sketched his outline onto tracing paper. At the time I didn't plan to add much more to it. However, I started fooling around with a grade B graphite pencil and one thing lead to another. I loved this reference photo. A white cat backlit by the sun. Very dramatic. I wanted to get the values sorted out but tracing paper is not a good substrate for this mission. A large amount of graphite will almost fall off it and certainly wipes off at the slightest touch. I found as much on my hands as on the paper. I did wind up putting the original image into GIMP, greyscaled it and posterized it to get a better idea.

I never tire of including Digby in my artwork. He was a wonderful subject to photograph and wonderful companion to me for many years. In my reference photo he is waiting 'patiently' for me to open the door and let him outside. I can see his patience is wearing thin by the upward flick of the tip of his tail. Gosh, I miss him.    

Drawing Tip ~ Flip it!

If you work from photographs and struggle with certain subjects, here's a tip that may help. For example...I'm not the best at free handing people, especially faces. I usually resort to tracing or if a perfect likeness is called for, I will use a grid. Several years ago I spent a great deal of time on Wetcanvas.com in the Drawing & Sketching forum and participated in the weekly drawing challenges. The reference one week was a photo of a little boy and girl having a big hug with each other. Loved the photo but it scared me to death. It was not only people but children and the faces were at very odd angles. I flipped the image upside down in my photo editor and worked from that. Flipping reduced the subjects to nothing more than various shapes and lines that made no obvious sense to eye. Then I proceeded to simply draw what I saw. When completed, I flipped my drawing over and surprise! It looked a great deal like the photo. Why couldn't I have drawn this with the image right side up? Probably fear and an untrained eye my brain didn't trust. I wish I could remember who suggested this to me because I would love to credit them. Give it a go. You might surprise yourself, too. 

Sketching Crows

We've had an abundance of crows in the park this year and I enjoy watching them interact. All the posturing that goes on and some seem to be holding conversations with each other. Intimate conversations. Backs hunched, heads close together...I can almost imagine them whispering secrets

only crows can share. They are such smart birds. I wonder if they gossip. One would think so watching them. I've spent time sketching these crows while I sat on my sofa and watched them out my front windows. I thought I'd share a few. They might find their way into a painting or two. Who knows.

                                                                               

Sea Turtle 2 ~ complete

Once again, I can't seem to adjust the colors so you can see the turquoise without screwing up the other hues. It still appears too blue. Try to imagine the water the same color as the sample swatch I posted prior and there you'll have it. It's also really hard to recreate a painting in watercolor. I thought it might be interesting to see how I've advanced since the first version was painted but watercolor still has a mind of it's own it seems. There were many happy 'accidents' that occurred the first time around that were simply not gonna happen again. Ever try to recreate a happy accident? Forget about it.