Drawing Workshop

I'm going to try to squeeze in a little post here about the drawing workshop I'm taking with Leonard Ragouzeos at North Country Studio Workshops. We are working with India ink on Yupo paper.  Watch out! I will not be able to resist the urge to demonstrate some of these techniques....  Meanwhile, some pix:

Ann working on a figure

Kathy working on her Javelina

My third composition

My first composition

My second composition

Someone else's figure

Someone else's figure

Vicki's figure

Ann's fiigure

My figure in graphite on paper

Grid of value studies

Kelsey working on Robot Man

Mary Jane's gorgeous head drawing

Value studies (mine)

More of my value studies

 Thanks for visiting!!!  More when I get back to the studio.  You are going to LOVE this set of materials.  Can't wait to show you.

Brush Giveaway Winner

So great to hear from all of you - your brush habits, other cleaning tips, etc.  Thanks for commenting and entering the brush giveaway drawing.  THE WINNER IS.... Diann S. Verrette, chosen at random.  Diann, it's your job now to e-mail me with your mailing address so I can send you the brushes.

Meanwhile, starting tomorrow I will be at a five-day intensive drawing workshop with North Country Studio Workshops, held at Bennington College.  The teacher is Leonard Ragouzeos.  Read about the workshop here.  Apparently, we'll be doing a lot with India ink on Yupo.  And two mornings of figure drawing.  This is definitely out of my comfort zone, and I am looking forward to the stretch.  I took an encaustic workshop at NCSW two years ago, which you can read about here.

And only because I can't do a post without a picture, I'll post a little progress from my series that started as deli paper prints:

This one I liked better a few stages back, but you can only go forward.  So I'll see where I can take it from here.

This one seems close to done, but we'll see.

Not much to say about this one... still in its adolescent awkward stage.

THANKS for visiting my blog!  And congratulations to Diann.  I'll include a little surprise with the brushes.

Brushes - Giveaway

I've been asked frequently about the brushes I use.  So here is the scoop:  your choice of brushes is pretty much based on personal preference, so I'm not advocating a particular type of brush.  It depends on the type of work you are doing - your substrate, the scale, which paints you prefer, and so forth.  It also depends on how you treat them - do you take care of your brushes and wash them carefully at the end of each studio session?  Or do you leave them in a bucket of water until they disintegrate? How much spring do you like in the brush hair?  Do you like them soft, firm, or somewhere in between?  And then there is handle length and material...

But to answer the question, I use these Dynasty brushes from Blick Art Materials.  They're cheap, so I can abuse them; they have all the characteristics that feel comfortable to my hand (my hands are small) and the right amount of stiffness.

New Brushes

Used Brushes

 

Brush Care

If you would like to try these brushes, comment on this post, and I'll choose someone for a giveaway.  Just a couple of these brushes in two sizes, maybe something else thrown in for fun.  You must be in the USA to be eligible, and it's your responsibility to give me contact information.  I'll do the drawing on Monday, January 27th.

Brush Cleaning

If your brushes get too stiff from leaving them out too long with acrylic paint on them, leave them in a strong solution of Murphy's Oil Soap over night.

I did not come up with this brush cleaning technique.  Various people have told me about it, and I have discovered that it works.  YAY!

A Few Finished Pieces

Here are a few that came out of the Deli Paper Print series.  I have, at this point, about sixteen in the works, some of which will come to conclusion.

 

 

 The following are still works in process.

I am really excited about the layering, making marks, scraping back, painting over, creating texture.  I am not limiting these pieces to a specific set of techniques.  They did all happen to start with the deli paper prints, but could just as easily start somewhere else.  I'm really enjoying seeing how space develops: flat space and layers of depth.  These shapes keep emerging, so I'm going with it.  Shapes, scribbles, grids... 

Deli Paper Prints

Well, the finished pieces are layered and layered and layered, so they are more paintings than prints.  The deli paper prints are the beginnings.  THANKS to those of you who have sent, are sending, and have offered to send deli paper!!

Here is a short video on how I use deli paper to print, or transfer, paint.

First stage.  This is as far as I got in the video.

Then I scribbled all over it and applied more paint.

This version is almost done.

And here, I think it is done.  Not certain, but we'll let it sit a day and see.

This is the second piece that is finished, I think, out of the twelve in process.

 The rest of the pieces are in process, but some are almost finished, I think.  Sometimes the last 5% takes the longest, so I won't speak too soon.  They are all 12"x12" on printmaking paper.

Materials used in the video include:
Blick Matte Acrylics
Golden Open Gel
Deli Paper
See My Favorite Materials for papers and other paints.

We use this and other deli paper techniques in Layering with Transparencies workshop, which I'm offering this spring in Kansas City and Portland, Oregon.  Also in Big Fat Art: Big Fat Art Weekend in Vermont (March) is full, but I'm offering a four-day Big Fat Art workshop at Pacific Northwest Art School in September, and a one-day Big Fat Art workshop in Virginia Beach in October.

Gel Plate and Open Acrylics Winner

The winner is Robin Broitman!  Congratulations, Robin.  Now it is your job to e-mail me with your shipping/mailing address so I can send you the goodies.  THANKS TO ALL OF YOU for your comments, your enthusiasm, and for joining in the conversation.  All the attention has gone to Amelia's head, and she is strutting around like a rooster.  I'm sure there are more collaborations in our future.  Here is a picture of her:

And this is one of the prints finished, I think:

This is the preliminary version of the piece above.

Thanks again for your participation in this giveaway.  We will be using gel plate techniques in the following upcoming workshops:

• Stencils and Masks in Kansas City, March 21
• Monoprint Collage in Portland, OR, April 11
• Monoprint Collage in Coupeville, WA (Whidbey Island), May 9 - 10

And more after that.  See my full 2014 schedule of workshops.  I am not currently offering workshops on chicken art, but maybe Amelia will at some point.

"Open" Acrylics on the Gel Plate and GIVEAWAY

Many of you have worked with the GelliArts gel printing plate, and dozens of technique demonstrations are available on the GelliArts blog and elsewhere.  I don't have anything new to show you in terms of techniques.  However, I do want to show you how Golden Open Acrylics work so well with the gel plate.  They remain wet and workable for WAY longer than other acrylics, so they are ideal for gel printing, giving you time to think about and develop each print pull.

You can mix the Open acrylics with regular acrylics or acrylic mediums, and that will speed up the drying time;  for example, mix Open Manganese Blue Hue with Fluid or Heavy Body Manganese Blue Hue, and you will get a paint that dries faster than Open, but slower than regular, and at full pigment strength.  Or mix Open paint with regular matte medium or gel, and the result will dry faster than Open, and be somewhat extended (diluted).

This is the preliminary print, 10"x10".

This is the piece more developed, not sure if it is finished yet.

The preliminary print, 10"x10"

The same piece, developed further

This is a 12"x12" preliminary print.

... and the same piece with collage and paint, still in process.

 

The next three images are preliminary prints with no collage or paint added.

 

10"x10"

12"x12"

12"x12"

Here are my collateral collage sheets:

And Amelia's works in progress:

Amelia's fine chicken prints

Amelia's monoprint in Manganese Blue Hue

I will be giving away a 6"x6" GelliArts gel plate, along with a few sample Golden Open Acrylics, to a random person who comments on this post.  You must be in the United States to be eligible for the drawing (ALL of the United States).  I will do the GIVEAWAY on Monday, January 13, so check back to see if you won!

WIN THIS!! (plus some paint)

PS:  if you choose to post any of these images elsewhere, please label them as works in progress.  Thanks.