SUCH a fun way to experiment with gel plate techniques! Printing on envelopes is fun, not precious, and gives you the opportunity to send your art pieces out into the world. This video features (and was inspired by) the song "Checks and Love Letters", by Bernice Lewis. Lucie Duclos, in Victoria, BC, is the one opening the mail, gushing over the collage papers I sent.
I am working on a short video demo of gel printing on envelopes, and here is a little preview. The music, Checks and Love Letters by Bernice Lewis, is used by permission.
The last few days I've been trying to get back into a groove of painting. With studio construction back underway and various other projects I'm working on, painting has taken a lower position on my priority list. Building momentum always takes time, and can be frustrating. I flailed around for a while, and then decided to go back to something that feels reasonably comfortable.
As a workshop assignment I often do my Complementary Colors exercise. Here are a couple of examples, which are 10"x10":
Achieving as much variety as I can within one color is a great exercise, and it helps me focus. So I decided to play with orange on top of "works in progress" (which means works that have been hanging around, unfinished, for a while and need an injection of drama). The following pieces are 20"x20" on panel:
Working in black and white gives you the opportunity to focus on value relationships, depth, quality of line, edge, scale, arrangement of elements, and other elements and concepts that sometimes get neglected when color is front and center.
It's summer here in the northern hemisphere, and time to kick back a little, take things a bit slower or easier (anyone who knows me is going to roll their eyes at this - yeah right!). For me it's more challenging in the summer to delve deep into a series of paintings, because I get interrupted and distracted easily. Neighbors stop by, I have construction going on, gardening, more bike rides because of the longer days. So I put together a little kit of art materials that you can pick up for quick, easy, fun art. Art Lite. In Small Bites.
A page spread in my little sketchbook, using most of the materials in my Portable Art Studio
You can put together whatever materials you are comfortable working with, just as long as they don't include acrylic paints and mediums, which require some set-up and clean-up. The Portable Art Studio features materials that are easy and convenient. You can probably put together a kit from things you already have in your studio. Here are my picks:
A small set of pan watercolors such as Sakura Koi Watercolors
A small set of water soluble crayons, such as Caran d'Ache NeoColor II Water brushes
Small scissors and a glue stick (any type)
A small-ish sketchbook paper that will take watermedia
Card Stock: this works great as an inexpensive substrate for small collage. Get it at any office supply store.
Some paint markers. My favorites are Posca Markers in a couple of sizes Micron Pens or other fine permanent felt tip pens (not Sharpies)
A good selection of collage papers in a variety of colors and patterns. Include found text, your own painted papers, decorative papers, maps, junk mail, etc. Variety is key.
Lucie Duclos has a new class available on SkillShare (I LOVE this site for all kinds of learning). SkillShare is the inspiration for a new format of online classes I am exploring: the series of short videos, without the written lessons.
Here is a funny video from one of the students in my Composition and Contrast workshop in Nanaimo, BC last April. It is really just still shots, but put into a "theme". I actually did a little bit of editing and changed the music:
I am working on some new downloadable workshops that will be shorter, and they will focus on more bite-sized topics. Color mixing will definitely be one of them, and I might even divide it into two separate workshops.
This video is a sample of what one segment of such a workshop might look like. Each workshop may have twelve to sixteen short segments like this.
Please comment to let me know if there are any particular topic you would like me to address in a workshop that is formatted in this way.
I am teaching Monoprint Collage at Omega in a couple of weeks, and there are a couple of spots available. Here is a sampling of student work from previous classes on this topic:
I posted the preview of Lucie Duclos' new class a couple of weeks ago. Now it is available on Skillshare. Click here to see it! It is a fun little demonstration of watercolor, called Watercolor Field Trip. Here is what I did in my sketchbook using Lucie's technique and inspiration:
I did not use all of the techniques Lucie demonstrates, but a few. I found this to be a very accessible introduction to watercolor, a way to explore the material without the pressure of making something you want to frame. Enjoy!
