Photo Shoot

I am re-designing the front page of Jane Davies Art Gallery, and making the navigation easier.  In preparation, I had a photo shoot today with George Bouret, who is not only an excellent photographer, but he is fun to work with.  I'll post some of the studio shots he took next week, but meanwhile, here are a few shots of him, and of my studio rearranged for the shoot:

Photographing the Photographer

George took photos of me dripping paint on these canvases, so they had to dry flat.

After the studio shots of me working, George took photos of some finished work, including the stripes you see here on my movable wall.

Thanks for visiting.  

Self-Portrait Experiments

For the first lesson in my online Self-Portraits workshop we'll be starting with a photograph and tracing around it. Simple enough, right? I started by taking a few photos of myself using the automatic delay thing on the camera. Then I made them into black and whites in Photoshop, though you could use color photos. For the first two I printed them out light so that the drawing would be emphasized.
Nice how you can draw lines selectively and end up looking twenty years younger!

On this one I printed the photo out without making it lighter. I drew over it and then painted it in black and white, emphasizing my gray hair:

OK, so I look like I'm choking, but it's fun anyway.

Today I added paint, mostly with a brayer.

I used my "spritz and blot" technique (contained in this video) to make the water droplets.

After you get comfortable drawing your face over a photograph, it is much easier to tackle the self-portrait on a blank sheet of paper. And there are all kinds of fun things you can do with your altered photos of yourself!!!

Advance Copy

I finally got my advance copy of Adventures in Mixed Media, and I am happy to report that it looks terrific. Nice color reproduction; the book design is awesome; I'm always impressed with the work of my photographers, John Polak and George Bouret. The official release date is April 26, but you can pre-order the book from Amazon if you like. I will bring copies to Art Unraveled in August, and Art and Soul in September to make them available as well. Here are a few sneak previews.

Making a simple pamphlet-stitch book:
Remember these paper bags?
I did a chapter that includes making these shrines from foam core. The gorgeous one on the right is Carol Owen's; she is the inspiration for this project.
This chapter on Fusion, Fabric, and Fiber opens with a photo of Sue Bleiweiss's fabulous tea pot:
A couple of my own fusion fabric pieces:
There is a chapter on Mixed Media Dolls. The doll in the upper right of the left page is by Ingrid Dijkers.
And here is some eye candy from the chapter on books and boxes: paper mosaic with paper gems and glue gems. All the sparkle and glitz you could stand.
Thanks for visiting! Don't forget to check out the Sketchbook Challenge blog.

Paper Dolls

I'm almost on the home stretch of writing my collage and mixed media book - I had a photo shoot yesterday with George Bouret, who is doing the hands-on how-to sequence photographs, and I have what I hope is the final shoot on Monday with John Polak, who is photographing the finished pieces. Then I have about three weeks to finish the manuscript. YIKES!!!! Today I received two beautiful handmade books made by Elissa Campbell, whose work I just found on the web a few days ago. I am so excited to be able to have these two pieces in my book. So why am I posting pictures of paper dolls? Just for fun. I made these a few weeks ago; I don't know if these exact pieces will be in my book, but I do have a section on paper and mixed media dolls. With some fabulous contributions from real doll artists. After the book is done (end of March), I want to spend some time exploring paper dolls, collage figures, and a whole bunch of stuff I've not had time to do while working on this project. Those collage dresses a few posts back? Love to explore that format in more depth. Thanks to all of you who are stopping by my blog and commenting! It really helps me feel connected.