Carpe Diem

(random marker sketch)

A friend was challenging my thoughts on marker art, asking why couldn't I sell giclee prints of my sketches. I've always seen anything done with markers, crayons or puff paint as a doodles, not real art. But I decided why not, they make me happy, plus I've got connections, it wouldn't be a terribly huge expense to make prints... So I called my mom and asked if we could collaborate next weekend (she too is an artist but she's got bigger and better toys...like a professional giclee printer). Turns out she's not available....for a month... kind of took the wind out of my sails... I don't want to wait a month; I would rather just hit the ground running. *sigh* she said we can 'discuss' things and brain storm and in a month give it a go. Mothers should not be allowed to take vacations!

New Supplies

Having the right tools makes all the difference! I was running low on dye thickener, and as I was ordering more, I threw in a few squeeze bottles... 3 out of the 6 bottles weren't quite right, but the other three are awesome...I think that was exactly what I needed in order to work with dyes on fabric the same way I do with markers on paper.

Planning

To me there is something magical about having a dark background and a light foreground.  This doesn't happen 'naturally' in art.  If I were to use markers, crayons, textile paints, etc. I must plan my light colors before my dark colors.  Maybe it's just the empathy of the work that goes into having a dark background with a light foreground, but I've always found it to be more striking than the reverse color combination...and beyond that I really enjoy making the background more detailed than the foreground... it's almost like a game... in this piece you instinctively know the interlacing strokes of solid color are the subject, yet it's the background that has the texture and volume.

When to give up?

The other day I sat down to paint without any sketches or plan. As the music in the background switched from one song to another so did my vision. By the time I was done I was quite annoyed with my attempt to "wing it"... but later when I looked at it again I thought "well maybe".... so all week now I've been fighting with this piece... every time I think "just trash it" I think "what if I do..."

I'm  f..i..n..a..l..1..y starting to like the painting... though I have mixed emotions on the butterflies.  My general overall goal lately is to create artwork that is more welcoming for the viewer... but I have a strong desire to add military men to the painting.  Some of you may know my senior year in art school all my paintings were military related... I'm comfortable with the topic, I like it, it's gritty...butterflies, not so gritty.

Negative Space

A few years ago my mom took me to a small craft fair where I stumbled across a 93 year old woman creating bobbin lace. Instantly I fell in love as I watched her repetitiously weave each string. To this day I only know how to do a little bit of bobbin lace weaving. It takes about 2 hours to create one square inch... and I just don't have that kind of time. But the process has taught me to be much more sensitive to the negative spaces in a composition.

(In art we commonly refer to the main subject as the positive space, and the background surrounding the object as negative space.) In this piece I was playing with the positive and negative space, watching the visual dance of the two interacting.

White is not a color

When I was in college I noticed that people seemed to hate seeing white in a painting. Many times I brought a painting to a critique that had a white background, but ever single time my peers would say, "the white just makes it look unfinished."

I was looking at the sketch I posted the other day, and found myself saying the same thing - the white looked too bright, and unresolved. Originally, I chose to leave the small bits of white thinking anything more would be too much noise, but when I looked at it again, it seemed as though the white was the loudest noise possible. I just thought I would share the before and after with you - I think it's funny how 99% of the time it seems the artwork looks better without any white.

Tomorrow is finally here

(this is a 24x24inch painting done on silk... after the dyes have set the fabric is washed and the color is permanently embedded into the fabric -- its like magic)

For years I have been telling myself "I'll paint tomorrow"...well tomorrow has finally come. The painting above is one of the pieces I've been working on this last week. But here's the thing, I don't know if it's done. As an artist our job is to push past the initial "ah-ha" but know when to stop before going over the edge.

I'm in love with the composition, the simplicity balanced with complexity, and the mix of calm and chaos. If I were to continue all these traits will be lost or altered... but I know more could be done... I could add a pattern to the background adding dimension, or I could paint on top of the entire thing with textures making it moody, or I could go whimsical and add a background of flowers, clouds, or faint airplanes causing twisted cuteness. So I think I might make a series of these... that way I'll know the path I should have taken... kind of like a choose your own adventure novel... you read the story over and over again, to see what would have happened "if." (don't worry I'll share those trials with you.) :)

Inspiration from a date and a happy meal

This last weekend I was on a first date, and was explaining to the guy that I tend to gravitate towards abstract art, but it is much harder to sell than realistic art. I think it is respected more than realism, but not as easily understood.

Fast forward a few days later, I was running late, so rather than make lunch I bought a McDonalds happy meal (I know, shame on me), but pleased as could be with my new happy meal toy it dawned on me why don't I try to add creatures into my drawings to bring the viewer into the world, giving them something easily recognisable that they can build the story around.

My first attempt is a little crude... I was really captivated by the curve of the neck on the giraffe so I build around that, trying to echo that curve throughout the drawing, but I think the "foreign object" threw me off... the composition is a little uncreative...but I'm liking the concept.

Procrastination at its best

It always amazes me how I can happily spend hours working in my sketchbook, but I drag my feet about doing art outside of the sketchbook. Through the years I've come up with many excuses...
1. art outside of the sketchbook is real
2. I can doodle anything in my sketchbook and no one has to know -- it's almost liberating to think that it would be very difficult to display my sketches as actual artwork
3. it's cheaper to just play with children's markers

In all reality my sketchbook work is just as important as my paintings, it's the labor behind the scenes where I research patterns, color combinations, compositions... even if it's just for fun, there is a point to it... but hopefully this year I will start translating those sketches into actual paintings!