pics

These are what I've been doing on brown paper. 3 x 3' approx. Acrylic, gouache, liquid paper. I don't think they're done yet though but working on other designs currently.

black and white

I was working on brown paper and it is giving my much more texture than the bond (duh). Indeed the paper is too white, even though I still like stark white on black too.
For the drawing component I'm not sure I even want to do the original thing - it's just so...colourful. Last semester colour was everything, now I just feel very black and white and brown. Still have to psyche myself up to do the brightly coloured collages. I am even thinking about putting it off for another project, but I'll try it again even after the last disaster and see where it goes where I want it to. Sometimes I cannot dictate the work... it does it on its own. Ok that's most of the time.

the long and narrow

I am starting to like this. I didn't join the paper officially - I like the feeling of the long narrow piece though. The whole scroll idea is probably going to be worth it. 2 25x38 sheets.
I don't have a good workspace so the narrow hall is a big but wooden wall with slats. I used them to my advantage and the texture is gorgeous. These are horrible pics but I had to upload something. When I get another chance I will photograph them in proper daylight. I work at night mostly. Days are awful.

I've also got a whole bunch of 11 x 17s to take pictures of - maybe tomorrow. Hooray for Carnival! The place is nice and quiet. While I have animation rendering for design studio, I am drawing stuff. Fun fun.

more

More yummy illustrator goodness from Karen Klassen. Should take pics and post... really should. Too busy working otherwise. Just popping in.

patterns

This work stinks. Utterly. I refuse to post it until it gets better. I've been working on a couple collage pieces - it was going okay but it ended up just like my mood - awful. Blech. I am quite self critical of my work - I like very few pieces.
I tried gluing some 25 x 38 sheets together - it's beautifully long but too thin, so not sure what's going on there. I have a nice large piece of thick brown paper graciously donated by Anna, and an end of roll from CPI. Trinpad still has to get ends of roll. So in essence I'm still scouting for very large pieces of paper.
Collaging is alright, messy but alright. Not one of my fortés, but I have the vision of what I want to do right there in my head. I can do an Illustrator mock up but that would just kill its effect.
Texture and colour are key! The wrapping paperworks well with the acrylic once applied thick and dry. I like.
Where can I get nice specialty wrapping paper? Not the usual crap with Happy Birthday plastered all over it. Oooh like this? I love patterns as a background for this work. This is some great stuff. Where can I find this here? Just short of painting it on myself but that refutes the whole idea of collaging. Hum. I love these colours too.

inspire

These guys are extremely awesome. Yum-o. Click the pictures for links to their sites to see more sweet delicious art. I wish I was this good!

Egon Schiele

David Choe

David Mack

Ashley Wood

Alain Reno

taub

Ooooh this is beautiful work from Hilary Taub. Her figurative work is wonderful and it's on paper! Go paper. Actually I have been thinking about fabric, but maybe for another time. Paper is it for now.

undersheet

25 x 38, bond, everything

It's amazing what happens on the floor. In this case I am required to use protective covering so I use one of my big sheets or 2. I realised after what gorgeous marks were made while splattering the edges of the sheets, testing paint and such. Yummy textures and layers that are just rich with marks and lines and age. It's alive!

girly girls

11 x 17, bond, gouache, pen, sharpie, liquid paper

Here's an interesting one. This was done right after the newspaper experiments so I was a good way in the mood and zoned out. I love the fluid quality! I can be sorry that it's not on better paper, but I'm not. Better paper is nerve racking and makes me tense up. Plus the drips may not have dripped how this one did. Because the paper is smooth it rolls along nicely. The liquid paper pen is working its magic again in the tiny circles just drawn on. I could never be that neat with a paintbrush. I need the control of the pen. I used the pen to outline the washes/brush strokes but that was too think so I had to switch to the Sharpie.

9 x 12, construction paper, gouache, liquid paper

Time for a change of paper. I had some of this construction paper lying around so I decided to play around. I had worked reverse before but not with paint. Fun fun. This further inspired the Rudolph Steiner canvas piece that was blogged earlier.
9 x 12, construction paper, gouache

I had done a pencil sketch earlier in the week and loved it so decided to do it in this way, with some hair. It's a bit androgynous but I kept it that way for interest. The paper is different and absorbs the damn paint. Nice effect still.

9 x 12, construction paper, gouache

Still with the hair. I'm crazy about the hair. I have to keep reminding myself not to go into watercolour mode though. It's not really my intention.


9 x 12, construction paper, white charcoal stick

Tested out the media. I was getting tired of the wet media so switched to dry for a bit, but didn't like it much. It has its uses of course and it's great, just not what I'm looking for right now.

11 x 17, bond, gouache, pen

Calligraphy I learnt is interesting in that can be quite abstract. I am not interested in the classical use and the old scripts. Denis Brown's work is testament to the diversity of text. I have always liked grafitti art as well, with its free form and large scale, and this reminds me of it. I used the bamboo brush again, as well as pen for filling in.

11 x 17, bond, gouache

What I want to do is combine text and images. Readable or not, it doesn't matter. It makes up part of the composition.11 x 17, bond, gouache

I really hate this but I put it up anyway. I was trying more colour. Yuck.

3 x 12, construction paper, graphite, charcoal, white charcoal

On a little scrap of paper I doodled. I am a born doodler. These usually come out better than anything "official". This is why I hate fancy paper - way too intimidating.

godknowswhatsize, Bristol board, graphite, gouache

Another scrappy doodle and it's beeyooteeful. Ok I like it. I was actually on a phone call and drew it while babbling. Perhaps I should try that more often - it gets your mind off of what you're doing and it may very well be a zoning technique. I have done some of my better pieces while on a call, but then when you're in a zone you're in a zone.

Sumi-e

11 x 17, gouache

My first real brush, when I got introduced painting was a bamboo brush. I had started off in watercolour so I have always had an affinity for it. I always liked the softness, the subtlety and now I appreciate its fluidity and flow. The delicacy of its application is interesting and fits in with my research into Wabi-sabi, and Buddhist beliefs of impermanence.
11 x 17, bond, gouache

This was all aunt's fault really. She had a theme going of an Asian inspired interior. I did a few of these in simple black frames, then mom jumped on the bandwagon and wanted for her room. I just did my interpretation of characters I found online. This is also a good warm-up, of getting your wrist and hand loosened up for painting.
11 x 17, bond, gouache

Doing a light wash first and following with a darker, thicker stroke makes an interesting effect.
11 x 17, bond, gouache

I love curly shapes so doing this one was fun. This character is supposed to represent God.

11 x 17, bond, gouache

Getting a dry brush effect from a watercolour brush is slightly challenging and a totally different approach is needed. Completely opposite to having the brush drowned in paint all the time. I'm afraid the acrylic kills my nice brush so I'm sticking with gouache. I'm even wary of the ink they're selling. Do they even sell these brushes here again? These are Grumbacher ones I have and they've lasted me over 10 years. I don't see much Grumbacher products anymore either.

11 x 17, bond, gouache.

Just in time for Valentines (ok not really). The character (one of several) for love. I was trying to another colour to see what would happen. Not bad... I think I like the black more though.
11 x 17, bond, gouache

Then I decided to mix the colours to get a different effect. I had seen some Japanese calligraphy that was beautifully coloured. Not sure where that picture is now though. I'm not really interested in changing the paper as such since I'm not basing the series on these characters. As aforementioned this is good warm-up stuff. The method is more important at this point. Perhaps I will return to it to get really involved.

newspapers

Finally something fun in the news. People have been using this stuff for years, and now my experiments have proven that they're drawuponable (my special word for the day). I saw some work using newspapers in collages from Alain Reno which reminded me of Picasso's and Braque's cubist/collage work. Personally it's a nice feel and easy to work with. I used the full page spread from the classifieds of the Express. This particular piece was done with charcoal, acrylic and whire gouache. The others are below.

Full page spread, newspaper. Charcoal and acrylic.

It's not that I don't like drawing hands... really. There's just too much passion in other areas, so the focus is elsewhere. I don't know how much sense that can make.

I was trying to copy Alphonse Mucha's illustration. It's just so gorgeous! Her eyes are closed as well which is quite appealing and works well with the series. The colour is rich and sensual. I love it love it love it. I've also loved hair for a very long time - must be some psychological female thing.

All my ladies have their eyes closed for this series but I tried something else with this one. It's a bit creepy. It was intentional though. I'll leave open eyes for another series or use it at the end to symbolise a new beginning, or the end.

Some freehand, rough circles with black and white acrylic. My obsession with circles and the circular is becoming strange.Definition: A circle is the locus of all points equidistant from a central point. Please! It's mathematical jabberwocky. I have always hated math, but it's relevant I suppose - up to a point. I wish I could treat my circles with such precision, but not at this point, and not for this series.

rough stuff

11 x 17, acrylic on bond

This is old enough, last year at Christmas time, trying to do some other work and came up with this. May look good as a triptych. Have always wanted to do such a series. Colours, shapes... something like that. I am liking the roughness though. Grr. Love those combinations even though I've an aversion for red; especially pink and red. Ew.

internal

I lost count base painting this 8 x 10 canvas board over and over until I was in black and white mode. I really hate canvas lately. It just feels wrong. Then the mood hits and it's over in a little while. I am using a liquid paper pen for fine white details. Works lovely on both paper and canvas; I prefer paper though.

A little sketchbook experiment last year with acrylic and pen. I love the rough quality, and dry brush lends to such an effect. Yummy. Sometimes I lay down a rough strokes and build around it, outlining the edges of the rough marks. It ends up with really nice contrasts, especially with watercolour and ink work. This one thought was simple and quick.

Birth

And we're on. I've finally set up the blog to keep track of all the stuff that is going on with these projects. A bit overbearing at times, but there is way too much information to journalise without becoming confused. This is a neat, concise way. There will always be the hard copy journal, but this is a quick way of keeping track on the fly. Now you can check in at any time. I will try to update every day with pictures and writings.