Inspiration

Simple Definition of INSPIRATION

Something that makes someone want to do something or that gives someone and idea about what to do or create; a force or influence that inspires someone.

Pinterest is often my go to place to get inspiration especially from other artists who have shared their artwork their.  I love pinning my favorites and then going back and looking through the pins to get inspiration for a new painting or drawing.

An artist that has been one of my favorites for the past 5 years is Pam Carriker, pamcarriker.com. Although I have not been experimenting in her portrait style for a while this week I felt like doing something whimsical.

I created this little watercolor painting on a 9 x 11 400 lb cold press watercolor paper. I used my regular watercolor paints and also incorporated some watercolor crayons that I recently purchased from Opus by Gallery.  I already had another brand of watercolor crayons that I was not really fond of so thought I would give these ones a try.  I really liked the intense colors and how they moved with the water and they blended really well.

When I first started this painting I wasn’t sure if I was going to like the outcome but as it progressed I really liked the direction it was going and the whimsy of it all. I also used some rubber cement to keep some areas white as an experiment and I was surprised at how easy it was to remove at the end.  So it works pretty good as a masking fluid and it is much less expensive then masking fluid….only $5 at Staples and a much bigger bottle with a brush inside, though for finer lines you would need a smaller brush.

It really is enjoyable to try different styles of painting and explore new techniques.

Until next time happy creating.

Michelle

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A little Wabi-Sabi trial

I recently purchased the book Wabi-Sabi Art Workshop by Serena Barton http://www.serenabarton.com/info.php?page=4, which I discovered on Pam Carriker’s blog http://pamcarriker.com/2013/06/10/serena-barton-wabi-sabi-book-blog-hop/ and I am definitely intrigued by her techniques.

This is my first attempt at trying some of the techniques on a 8 x 8 canvas. I didn’t have any of the re-inkers that Serena uses and they are not available in Canada where I live, so instead I used acrylics with acrylic glaze and some cold wax. I am pleased with how it turned out.

I am registered for Serena’s Wabi-Sabi Workshop at the Portland, Oregon Art & Soul Retreat http://artandsoulretreat.com in October and I can hardly wait to take the workshop.

til next time
Michelle

Drawing takes a lot of practice…

I love creating art pages, it is a great way to practice various art techniques and if you do something you don’t particularly like or mess up then you can either gesso over it or start a whole new page.  It allows me the space to be fearless and develop my skills as I go along.  The last couple of weeks I have been practicing a lot of face drawing which is one of the skills I want to develop – I have to really work at trying to get proportion right even though I am not trying to create a life-like face but a more whimsical one.  I find I have trouble with eyes so I decided to just draw some faces with the eyes closed  and practice shading and see what developed.  Still need to work on face shapes as sometimes they look a little weird but I am a work in progress and if I continue to practice I will soon find it easier and will be able to create faces with more ease that  I can incorporate into my mixed-media collages.

Here are a few of my recent whimsical type faces I have done in the past few days.

Afterwards I decided to add some collage ephemera to the pages and then added som pan pastels.  I was so excited when I went to Opus the other day and found that they now have pan pastels in the store so I  could not resist buying a few new bright colours.  Next  photos are how the pages progressed into a collage.  I recently watched Pam Carriker`s tutorials on recycle art journal pages which  were a big influence in my face drawings.  http://pamcarriker.com/

Til next time, happy creating

Michelle

Delicious new art supplies!

My Christmas wish list this year was mainly art supplies and I received the majority of them under the tree.  I was so excited to get the Pan Pastel Starter kit, which included a few sponges, Shades of Grey pitt pens, pit artists pens, mini canvases, a How to Draw for the Mixed Media Artist and art magazines.  I have been playing around with my new supplies the last couple of days now that things have settled down from Christmas celebrations and have been having fun experimenting.

Practice makes perfect have patience

Still have lots to learn about pan pastels, so think I will try Donna Downey’s Pan Pastel 101 on-line workshop http://www.donnadowney.com/shop/product.php?productid=2587&cat=16&page=1 so that I can hone some techniques and make the most out of my pan pastels.

Gratitude

These picture to the left is my first attempts trying out my new Shades of Grey Pitt Pens, and following a Pam Carriker Tutorial http://pamcarriker.com/tutorials/….still need lots of practice learning how to shade.  The one to the right is done with pan pastels and watercolours and some charcoal pencil to add more depth.

I am so grateful for these mixed media artists sharing their talents and providing such great tutorials so that others can become better artists too.

 

Shades of Grey with a touch of Pan Pastel

 

 

 

Paper mache and collage come together

‘Being creative – means trusting your own purpose and having an attitude of unbending intent in your daily thoughts and activities.’

I have been busy the last little while trying some new techniques to incorporate into my collage art.  One of the techniques that really intrigued me was making little fun foam forms covering them paper mache toilet paper using diluted soft medium gel with water.  I learned this technique from Pam Carriker’s book ‘Art at the Speed of Life’.  It was really fun to do, I designed my little dresses and cut them out in sticky back fun foam and then attached some detail to the top of the forms attaching  them to another larger piece of foam to keep them from moving around.  I then took sheets of toilet paper and separated them so they were single-ply placing each sheet individually on  the forms spraying them with the diluted gel medium to adhere together.  Approximately 8 – 10 layers – as I added each layer I gently pushed out bubbles forming the paper around the details and shapes of the dresses.  You have to let them dry for at least 24 hours and then it easily lifts of the form – gently and carefully tear off any excess along the edges. 

Paper mache and collage come together

I had painted and collaged a 8 x 10 flat canvas that I had purchased at the Dollar Store and when I finally got it to the point where I liked how it looked I added a little clothes line to attach the dresses to.  Before attaching the dresses I used some distress inks to add a little more detail and depth to the paper mache dresses and attached with these little clothes pegs I found at the Dollar Store.  The Dollar Store is a great place to find items to use in your collages!   I also glued the dresses to the canvas with some gel medium and I am going to attach a saying of some sort to it to finish it off – there is a temporary one in place in the pic in the post.  I am very happy with how it all turned out.  The border outline I did with black paint and tar gel to just give it a bit more pop. 

So this was an experiment that turned out the way I hoped it would and I am excited to try it again very soon. 

Stay tuned for more on my collage adventures shortly. 

Til next time happy creating!

Michelle

Discovering Creative Learning Resoures and Inspiration

It’s funny how you come across great magazines when you least expect it and they are treasures just filled with wonderful creative ideas, resources and new venues to develop your art.  One magazine in particular that I am really falling in love with is Somerset Studio it is chalked full of wonderful artists sharing their art and techniques.  These are definitely magazines that you keep on your bookshelf close at hand to refer back to off and on when you are needing a creative boost or looking for an idea.  Their website is also an interesting and informative place to check out where you will find free how-to videos, project ideas and new products and more http://somersetstudio.com/. 

While reading one of  the articles in the latest issue of Somerset Studio I discovered a link  for learning more about using moulding paste in collage and art pages – the link was  http://PamCarriker.com – well what an exciting find this site has been and I have  found myself returning many times this past week to continue to soak up all her fun techniques.  Pam Carriker is an amazing multi-media artist and she has done some videos on how to use your art pages again by making copies of them and then cutting, tearing, etc. different pieces of the previous art  page copy and giving it a whole new life on a new page.  Pam’s site also led me to a link to Stratmore’s Artist free on-line workshops another great find  http://www.strathmoreartist.com/vjworkshop2011.html .  I have  enjoyed watching all of Pam’s workshop videos – she is an incredible teacher and her techniques are really something I want to incorporate into my art pages and collages as I continue to learn and grow as an artist (still got those training wheels on).  I would be remiss not to mention that there are two other artists – Linda Blinn and Roz Stendahl also teaching Strathmore Artists Workshops on art pages and they are both really informative.

I have  scanned some of my pages, printed them off and have been having fun trying out Pam’s techniques while creating a totally different art page.  I am still working on my first page not quite finished…..but soon.

So if you are looking for some inspiration and to learn some more techniques for your art page do  check out the links I have shared in my post, well worth exploring.

Til next time happy creating

Michelle