Slowly Returning...

My apologies for this photo. I usually do better with these, but this one just would not photograph well for me. It was a lot clearer when I did not crop the photo, so there you have it. I believe the reflective quality of the paints I used along with the lighting I have to work with made this particular one a challenge.

This is what I finished this weekend, but I started a lot more. This painting I did for my husband, the tree lover. Basically, it shows the strength of the tree that grows from a bit of earth which just barely nourishes it. I really wanted to do something more whimsical thus the vine-like lines. Paintings where you can recognize an image is not normally my style, but my very left-brained husband really wanted something he could understand. Do you ever do work like this...something really out of yourself for someone else to better understand and enjoy? I would not do this for just anyone, but I kind of think a lot of this guy! :)

So I not only spent time in the studio, but I also did quite a bit of sketchbook playing and reading. It was a good weekend for me doing the things I love.

How about your weekend? Was it all you looked forward to it being?

Testing...and Opinion

This weekend was one of painting and one of testing. If you remember last week I did a post showing a small painting on the Ampersand Aquabord. This particular product works very well. I also mentioned in the comments that Golden has a product known as Absorbent Ground which I had not tried, but owned a pot that I wanted to try. And try it, I did...

To use this product, you have to thin it with twenty percent (20%) water and paint it, thinly, on a gessoed surface. The directions said the thinner and more layers used the better the product. So here is what I did. I had some Ampersand Gessobord, so on one I painted 2 thin layers of the product allowing the first to dry before adding the second layer. The second layer was allowed to dry thoroughly before dropping paint on the surface. For this first piece, I sprayed the surface of the prepared board with distilled water and dropped thinned acrylic paint on the surface. As you can see, it clearly did NOT take up the paint in the way watercolor paper would or in a way the Ampersand Aquabord did.

This particular material handles in a very different way. It is a surface unlike paper or Aquaboard. If you are more of a traditional watercolor painter, it might work very well for you, though. If you are more of an experimental painter or abstract expressive painter with watery paint, you will get a very different result than the other two products. I have already began to change this particular piece...it was very difficult to look at even as a test!

The second Gessobord, I did three layers allowing for thorough drying between the layers. This time, I also sprayed the surface with distilled water, but I used acrylic ink rather than the watery paint. The intensity of the ink was more appealing to me, but the ink still sat on top of the surface more than I had wanted. Since a lot of it was just sitting on top, I tossed a bit of sand on the surface (I am not really a good tester, am I?) to get this result.
I liked the result of this okay. It is fine, but nothing to write home about. I, personally, still like the other surfaces better than the Absorbent Ground.

But, once all this had dried, I noticed my pot of Golden Pearl just hanging out nearby. So I picked up that and did a bit of dry brushing over the sandy surface. Granted this is not controlled at all, but I really liked the result.
I know it is difficult to see the pearl effect here, but I thought being able to see the difference would help. Photographing those more reflective paints is a real bear!

So what experiments have you done recently? Are you willing to share the techniques? Do you think it is good to share this kind of thing or do you feel it is something an artist should keep to themselves? How do you feel about sharing just bits and pieces like this...not really art, but tests or how mediums and materials react with each other? And is this kind of blogging unfair to other professions such as writers or workshop instructors?

I look forward to hearing from you...

Have a Very Beautiful Day!

Black and White...

There was some interest in this particular doodle when it showed up in the group of art supplies, so I thought I would give you a better look today. This is a large sketchbook...each page is about 12 x 15 inches. I am not sure what "A" size that might be, although I did purchase this when I was in England.

Normally, I just play around like this when I have a pen in my hand. I rarely go to anything which has a recognizable shape. Does this mean my brain is warped? My brain really works this way. I am considering doing some of these outside of the sketchbook and adding a bit of color, though. It is a thought.

I look at drawings/illustrations done by some blog friends, like Andrea, Jess or Laura and wonder why in the world I do not see things in a similar way. There is so much lovely documenting going on in that sphere and it is so appealing to so many people (including me). But it just doesn't happen in this head of mine. The only thing I can get into drawing is "bamboo sticks". This is very true...those I could meditate while drawing! Do you think this is strange? It is!

I can draft out a lot of things, but I also think I have burned myself out on that kind of drawing. All of those years of doing interior renderings maybe did me in. Do you think that happens with structured drawings like that?

So here are the questions: Why do you think I can't make the connection? What kind of drawing do you do in your sketchbook?

I look forward to hearing from you on this subject.

Have a Very Beautiful, Creative Day!

More About Textures, Art Friends and Sharing

Yesterday I was so excited, encouraged, and greatly inspired by every one's comments and suggestions about textures in paintings. Thank you all so much for coming here to talk about art with me each day.

Additionally, when I was making my "blog" rounds yesterday I was shocked to see two paintings featured which were so different, but so similar in textures. I love both of these paintings so very much and want to share them with you. The other exciting thing is they each have a very exciting story to go along with them. So go ahead, grab a cup of tea or a mug of coffee and sit back with I tell you about them.

First, many of you probably know San Meredith who writes the blog, A Life With a View. Yesterday San wrote about some women who were trying to renovate their homes after the hurricane, Katrina, wrecked havoc on their city of New Orleans. San tells of selling paintings, then being asked to donate a painting to help raise funds to build a school in Guatemala. San tells a warm and beautiful story on her blog, so please go there now and read what she has to say. Go ahead and then come back...

While you are there, take a very close look at the painting, Blossom, San did for the school fund raiser. Look at the beautiful texture and the lovely colors. Although the collage part appears Asian, to me, the texture is cross-cultural and speaks of the adobe textures of San's Sante Fe, New Mexico, USA. I find this heavy, architectural texture so very appealing and in San's painting the tension is just perfect with the application of the Blossom print. How do you like it?

But this is really just the ending of my story. Yes, I am telling you about it backwards (did you expect any less?). I have been watching, closely, my friend Fiona Long's blog. You see, Fiona, who lives in London, UK is interested in textures, too, and urban art. As an art student, she has many people always judging her work. Last week she was chosen, as one of fifty, to show her painting, The Wall, at the very prestigious Royal College of Art in the State of the Art Competition to benefit the Prince's Trust. The exhibit was on Monday, March 17, 2008 and was touted as a great success. Here is Fiona's painting, The Wall:

But this is what I want you to see. I want you to consider how these two very fabulous artists on different continents, stimulated by very different surroundings have used a similar texture in very different ways to great success.

Here is the very beautiful Fiona with her very beautiful painting.

I think both of these artists are incredible painters. They are beautiful people and have shared a lot on this blog, so I know they share a lot in their lives beyond here. I encourage you to read and comment on their blogs (and on this blog). Congratulations to you both for work very well done. It is an honor to know you both.

So do you find this kind of texture interesting? Would you have an interest in trying it?


Please note: You may wonder why I featured photographs here of Fiona's work and not San's. I do not take images from anyone else without their agreement. At the moment I know San is very busy, but I wanted to get this information out to you. Fiona offered the photos, so I chose to use them. The important things are you get the information and I have not used copyrighted images without permission.

Contemplation 8

As promised earlier this week, this is the other painting I worked on this past weekend. As you can see, I chose to use more rice paper. This was one of tissue weight which began with cleaning brushes off. At one point I even pressed a small wet canvas into the middle of the whole thing. I began to really like the way it worked and wanted to include it into a painting.

This is Contemplation 8 (Dreams) of Mixed Media on 18 x 18 deep, gallery wrapped canvas.

There are a lot of layers of glazing on this particular canvas edge. The border around the rice paper application is applied with a palette knife. If you click on the image, you can see there are lots of colors in this including a bit of copper. The center emblem is actually more of a wine color than black, too.

I do not think the gestural marks have any meaning, however if you know different please let me know.

As Elis said in yesterday's comments paper (and in my case, rice paper) takes the paint is a very appealing way. I think that is exactly why I am drawn to using it right now. I also find the tension created with a variety of textures appealing, so applying it as a collage type item works the best for me. As you can see in Contemplation 8, I have the smooth surface where the glazes were added, the heavily textured surface of the paint applied with the palette knives and the rice paper add three distinct textures to this relatively small canvas.

Here is today's question...How do you use textures in your work? Is it literal? Or maybe it is subtle. I would like to hear from you on this subject.