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I took a really fun class with Carla Sonheim in October. For one of the exercises, Carla had prepared splotches of paint on card stock and we were asked to find images in the paint. You can see my results here. Wanna play? I made some splotches for you to use, so go to my website and print them out. If you use them to create something and post them, please leave a comment with a link! 

By the way, this is the type of game that surrealists use to generate ideas. 

Also, I just updated my website with lots of new work!

I attended Art and Soul in Portland in early October. Katie Kendrick's Spontaneous Haiku Painting and Carla Sonheim's Imaginary Creatures classes were a huge inspiration for me. The photo is of a piece I made after Katie's class. I've got more in the works!

Penguin 5

Penguin Love 1-4 were based on a sketch of real penguins, and I really liked how the two animals interacted.

However, translating the sketch into a colorful piece (as attempted in Penguins 1-4) seemed to become a little too much about getting the image right instead of about exploring different ways of working with the media.

I wanted to try something a little different, and that led to Penguin 5. I like him because he's quirky and not lifelike. I enjoyed the process of tearing paper and not trying to replicate an image but building an image with the torn pieces. I also like the line quality and rough edges of the paper. I learned from my other pieces and developed the background while I was creating the animal so they are more integrated.  I like the drawn line as a part of the final image, and I think the shading works well, too.

There are some issues, though, including that he somehow looks too wooden and the chest, the orange area, is too much like overalls. I also miss having two penguins interacting.

So, I keep learning and trying new things to get my ideas into the tangible world. I have hope that I will be able to find a process that fits me.

September, 2009

Penguin 4

This is my fourth iteration of the Penguin Love image. I like many parts of it, including the beaks and the head feathers. The highlighting and shading worked out well, too.

The sky is not my favorite. Maybe there's too much going on in it.

I used Murano paper tinted with acrylic paint for the sky, bodies and head feathers. The beaks are mulberry paper tinted with acrylic paint. Shading and highlighting were done with china markers and Sharpie oil paint pens.

How did you find your preferred medium and style?

September, 2009

Penguin 3

In a continuing attempt to render this image in different media until it "feels right", I tried again. This time I tinted Murano drawing paper with a watered down acrylic paint. Then I tore the paper into the basic penguin shapes. The shapes are glued to a watercolor paper substrate (approximately 9 x 12).

My original plan was to use gel pens to create shadows and highlights. The pens worked well on the beaks. You can see some of my little squiggles where I was attempting to shade the bodies.  The problem was that the pens had such a fine point that the shading looked odd on their bodies, so I picked up my oil pastels and added shading and highlights with them. After adding oil pastels, I couldn't use any more collage techniques since the gel medium wouldn't stick on top of the oil pastel. Therefore the head feathers are drawn, and the yellow sky is also oil pastel.

I like the dimension that I achieved in their bodies, and I really like how the beaks turned out. I wish I could have added more collage, such as with the head feathers. Assessment - I'm going to try another medium with the same image and keep building on what I like.

September, 2009

Penguin 2

My first attempt in developing this sketch into a drawing resulted in an oil pastel painting. I liked the image, but I wanted to try it out in different media to work toward something that felt more like my internal vision.

I painted archival tissue paper with watered down acrylic paint (got this idea from a Carrie Burns Brown DVD). Then I tore and layered the paper over a sketch of the penguins. My favorite part of the work is their little head feathers. I also like how  their beaks developed.

This process was rather tedious, took lots of scraps of paper, and almost a full ounce of gel medium to glue all the little bits to the watercolor paper substrate. The yellow sky is acrylic paint onto the paper. The finished size is approximately 9" x 12".

I also took some photos of the work in progress to share.

As I work on developing shading and adding different values to my work, I've been taking successful sketches to translate into color. It's more challenging than I would have guessed. It's much easier for me to think about colors than value. However, in a class I took from Fred Mullett, he said that all color is subordinate to value. I can see how this is true and I need to adjust my vision.

These penguins are oil pastel on watercolor paper. I will be interpreting the same image using at least one other mixed media technique. My goal is to compare what I like and don't like as my style and media preferences continue to evolve.

I made up a new game/drawing exercise where I find a suitable magazine picture and add a little drawing. This kept me entertained one recent weekend. It turned out to be quite fun!

  A couple of months ago, I wrote about Ann Fleming and trying out ceramics. Just recently we got back together, glazed the piece and fired it. I love the color combination that Ann suggested!

I knew the walls and construction would be a little wobbly since this was my first piece, so I accentuated this with off-kilter windows and the door. I'm happy with how it came out.

Finishing the inside with glaze was important to me, and Ann showed me how to do it. I like how it looks all tidy inside and out.

I've been thinking about houses, house metaphors and common sayings we use about houses. Shelter is core to the human experience, and I guess that's why the theme keeps coming up in my consciousness. Now does this house need some little critters? Hmm.

 As I surf the web, I find a lot of cool stuff. Recently I saw a post by Teesha Moore(of Artfest fame). She blogged about a class she took from Carla Sonheim where they made squiggle lines on their surface and then found a shape to emphasize.

I have been doing that in my life for the longest time (veins through marble, in linoleum, etc.), so the idea immediately struck a chord with me. I decided to try it, and this really worked for me. I'll be posting several more examples in the future, but here's a bird that came out of a couple yellow lines.

I've found that staring at a blank page is very difficult for me. So, I've started drawing something in front of me (from a book or a figurine or something similar) or using squiggles to get going.

Carla has great ideas, and I'm looking forward to taking two classes with her at Art and Soul in Portland in October.

What gets you going when there's a blank page staring at you?

 You may remember that I took a class with Carla Sonheim at Art and Soul. I think she's a terrific teacher and was delighted to find that she is working with Joggles to offer classes.  The one I took is called Rags to Stitches and includes techniques for making a Carla-style journal and purse.

Here's my finished journal, and I'm delighted with it. You may recognize the elephant, who is a cousin to other elephant drawings I've posted.

December, 2008

 This week's theme for Illustration Friday's is rambunctious. What gets in more trouble than a curious kitty?

My goals continue to be simplification and intentional imperfection. Based on some feedback from last week, I adjusted how I painted this illustration. I think it works better, so thanks for your comments!

See the rest of my blog here. See the rest of my Illustration Friday drawings here. 

October, 2008

In August I posted about my excitement about taking a class with Carla Sonheim. The first one I took was called Drawing Blast and it was fun, challenging and rewarding. The drawing at right is an example of "scribble drawing," one of the techniques she teaches to help people loosen up their expectations and just put the pen on paper.

I did draw - years and years ago. In fact, I learned many of the same techniques a long time ago, too. However, Carla made them fun with her encouraging smile and attitude. AND she brought wonderful props such as a wooden, jointed frog, animal figurines, stuffed animals and international oddities. The props turned some traditional drawing exercises into a blast.

If you want a chance to develop or refresh your skills, I highly recommend taking a class with Carla.

 The work I've been posting recently is small, approximately 6" square, and is based on the techniques I learned last June in a workshop by Rebecca Wild that I wrote about. I've been playing around with the composition and layout since I think my original pieces lacked a clear focal point.

Inspiration for the newer pieces have come from some of my Zentangle-type doodles and from looking more closely at Paul Klee's work. I've also been working on building some drawing skills so I can create interesting focal points.

July 2007

 In March, I posted about  classes I wanted to take this summer at Sitka. The anticipation was fun, but taking a class last week was even better. The piece on the left was completed in Rebecca Wild's class inspired by Paul Klee. We created our own alphabet based on our signature and used the symbols throughout the workshop. I enjoyed both her process and the results so much that I went out and got the supplies to keep going with the ideas I learned.

I've never considered myself to be into drawing, but this workshop opened up the possibility to me.

During the student introductions  at the beginning of class, almost half of the people said had taken a class from her before and they would take any class from Rebecca Wild. I thought it was hyperbole, but she really is a terrific instructor. She's full of information, supportive, and yet also encourages students to explore on their own. (I would link to her work if I could.) Thank you, Rebecca!

February, 2007

I'll be on tv this month (Feb. 16th at 1:00 on HGTV) demonstrating how to make the clock on the right. This program was taped in April 2006, so it seems like old news to me. I think the best part is that I've gained a lot of perspective since then, so the story now seems less traumatic than last year.

Applying to be on That's Clever seemed like a great idea at the time. I figured it would be some work; however, I'd taught classes before, and I knew how to make clear instructions. Also, the segments are pretty short (5-6 minutes), so how difficult could this be? With that logic in mind, I applied to do two segments, a main one and the short one they show at the end of the program.

My first contact was with a pre-program taping gal who wanted me to basically change the whole design of the project I sent in. I had made a clock with an orange-burgundy-ochre color scheme using daisies. Mostly it was an assemblage project, putting the different pieces together. She thought that was too simple, so she wanted me to dry my own flowers, perhaps something from my garden. (We have deer. Enough said.) She also wanted me to change the text (punched out into diamond shapes) from a dictionary page to my own poetry. (When did I become a poet!?)

Because it was February in Oregon, I had to figure out what kind of flowers I could 1. find to make a "hero" clock (the clock that is done and ready to go so there is  something to show at the end in case the in-progress clock is very messed up) and  2. would also be available whenever they showed up to do the taping. I decided on hydrangea flowers, which completely changed the color scheme of the project. I had to get a device to dry the flowers (a Microfleur) and figure out how to dry hydrangea. Taping a segment had started to turn into a full-time occupation.

My next contact was with a gal who would actually be coming to the house to tape. In our first phone call, she directed me to create "step out" samples for each step of the clock making. I'm sure she'd had plenty of experience with crafters who really didn't estimate well, so even when I told her the paint would dry in 5-10 minutes, she insisted I have a sample with dried paint. That means I had 5 clocks in various stages of completion. Now the project was getting labor-intensive and a little costly.

Two days before the taping, the step-out gal and the producer visited our house to scout the location. I'm sure this was also to confirm I was a real person and wasn't going to beg off at the last minute. The step-out gal had me show her all of my in-progress clocks and explain the steps. The producer wandered around our house while I was trying to communicate the steps. He wanted to know why the gumball machine wouldn't work for him.

The next day the producer and step-out gal arrived with a camera guy and a sound guy. They took over our kitchen with lighting and rearranged most of the furniture in our kitchen and dining room. It was a super-intense day (from 3-9pm) filled with a little drama and a whole lot of smiling. I didn't realize that each clip needs a few seconds before and after a shot for the editors to "grab" when splicing tape. I ran on adrenaline for at least three hours and collapsed when they left.

My last contact was with the web gal who posts directions for the show. She had seen the tape and was asking me about directions that didn't make sense with the clip. Since it had been almost a year, I told her to make whatever changes she thought were necessary. My fingers are crossed! I decided to quit being a chicken and tell people the show will be on Feb 16th at 1:00 on HGTV. I hope I don't regret it!