Art Recipe Challenge

Sounds yummy right?!?! Well it is. Yummy with color and supplies. This challenge was given with the recipe of supplies to use in creating the piece. The recipe was to use these supplies: Watercolor, gesso, pen (black), collage, and washi tape.  The additional color direction was warm colors, but was also optional.

I thought hey, an art challenge fun. It was a challenge. I don't typically ever use watercolors, but I own them so I used them. The other supplies were regular attendees of my art room creation parties and keeping in the warm colors made it a little more interesting to chose a subject.





The supplies the challenge required that I used are pictured to the right:


-Liquitex White Gesso
-Golden Matte Medium and my adhesive
-Black Uniball Onyx Pen (non permanent)
-Reeves Watercolors in warm colors shown



General supplies that I also used for the project include:

-Water color paper
-Brushes
-Scissors



Washi Tape was also on the required list. I store my washi tapes in color groupings on 2 hanging curtain rods..so to take off the 10 I used would have been a little challenging. I love having all of my washi tape out in the open to admire them in all their colorful beauty, as well and to get ideas of what I want to use. I never lose them and I never forget what I have in supply.  I did take a picture of the warm color section that I did use. The 10 I used are numbered on the picture below.

This is the 2nd  watercolor background I made, which I used to cut out my giraffe and collage his spots and various body pieces. I wanted to stick to the color scheme, and I guess I took that pretty literally..but wait till you see how it turns out!  I like deep vibrant colors so that is one area that watercolors challenge me. I did add it quite thick. I used the wet on wet method to help blend the colors and made sure there were different mixes of the warm colors. 

I painted the first watercolor (on the right below) on watercolor paper (Canson Watercolor Paper). As a base I used gesso on bubble wrap to add resist dots. Then after the initial water color, I left it wet and put a brush full of gesso into the water allowing it to burst out into little blurry star spot. 

     

   

The picture above right, is what it looks like after I chose all of my washi tapes. I just lined them up across the page leaving a little space between each one. The first gesso wash over the tapes is thinned with water. I didn't want to lose my giraffe in all the warmness. 

After allowing this to dry, (I generally use my embossing gun, I'm impatient), I used my black pen to outline the tapes in scribbly lines.  Beside it you can see the giraffe collage cut out from the 2nd water color I made. 

Now we're getting somewhere. After the giraffe is cut I had extra scrap watercolored paper that I used to make the spots and giraffe features. Tufts, ears, and nostrils.  I tried to use contrasting colors that were able to stand out from one another.

I added black scribbly outlines to my giraffe to bring out his spots. I used Golden Matte Medium to adhere the spots so they would stay securely put on the giraffe. Below you can see all of the pieces in progress and almost ready to share my finished piece. 

 I had to put it up in my living room next to the beautiful Octopus angel swap I received from a fellow artist Jennie Sanderson. BEAUTIFUL WORK!!! (hers :)) Octopus has the unlikeliest of new friends...giraffe.

This is my finished Recipe Art Challenge piece:

For not loving watercolors, for limiting my colors to warm, for only using a black pen and making gesso and watercolor effective in the same piece..I am overly pleased and so happy I was able to participate in this Recipe Art Challenge. I would NEVER have made or even imagined to create something like this. It was so much fun and I love it! What more can you ask for from your art?
Thanks for visiting!

Art for Fun!

Art is supposed to be fun.  Sometimes it becomes less fun when you try to create a specific thing or put limitations or expectations on it.  I participate in different challenges throughout the week and they usually don't take very long. I'm a quick artist. What I mean by this is that I want to start and finish a piece in the same sitting..which could range from 20 minutes to an hour.  I don't wait for paint, mod podge, or modeling paste to dry. That is what my embossing gun is for.

Also..Coffee is an art in 2 forms. Photography and the creating of a perfectly steamed milk and coffee syrup to shots ratio. My favorite and pictured to the side is a triple white chocolate gingerbread mocha affogatto. (2 shots in the coffee, one floated on top of the foamy milk) This was my morning and I LOVED it!

Once upon a time I would start out drawing what I wanted to see accomplished on the page. That was good for a purpose of following form and function, but as I have grown as an artist and embrace the mixed media style of art a few squirts of paint and a smear here and a scrape there, I'm ready to go.

I have a multitude of journals. Too many to count and types to mention. I do have a journal that I have dubbed my "trial and error" no mistakes journal. It is a Dylusions large journal which I have come to LOVE!! This is the start and progression of my creative random creating for fun. I am a doodler..I doodle on the phone, I doodle in my notes, I doodle on everything.

Pretty simple background of roughly painted colors and shapes. I did use white gesso to soften some of the middle colors, but that did not last for long!

So, doodling ensued and I am loving the use of black and white on color. I use a sakura gelli roll white pen, along with my new favorite black permanent writes on everything Needletip 0.5mm ball Energel Liquid Gel Ink Pentel pen.  (I included any and all descriptions of the pen so if you want you can check it out.

This is my first and favorite doodle on the whole entire page.  I want to turn it into a stamp but I'm not sure how yet. 

This is my 2nd favorite doodle on the page..the white in the center of the pink..Not a flower, but just randomly created doodle. Also prime candidate for a stamp should I find enough patience to slowly cut one out. 

Last but not least..This is a tag I was inspired to make after finding an interesting pinterest pin..Imagine that...something interesting on pinterest. 

http://blog.luluart.com.au/2014/04/12/vintage-butterfly-tag-by-karen-knight/

Here is the original blog and the artist (giving credit!! where credit is due!!) that was discovered through pinterest. 

If you want to check out my pinterest page..here is that link as well:

https://www.pinterest.com/happyart/

So art is absolutely fun and exciting and not always about the challenge provided by others, but the fun challenge of creating something from nothing with no original direction. The tag yes, but the Doodled journal page..just to play for fun..AND it's not done. I'm still playing with in and don't know if it will every truly be done. Just pure fun!

Finding Inspiration in Elementary Art

Most schools in our area, and I think this is common in other states as well, do not have a dedicated art teacher or curriculum set in place.  At schools my son has attended, they have parent volunteers as docents.  At the first school they had lessons planned and sorted in tubs with supplies and lesson plans.  I liked this because not every docent is skilled or even knowledgeable regarding the subject as a volunteer. It also meant that each year the children would be exposed to a variety of different artists and they would not have duplicated projects year to year. I do like progression so if you teach the same lesson year after year you can see how the child's art evolves.

Enough about organized art. At the second school that I am currently involved with, the art docent program is really open-ended. Meaning, you come up with your own projects, lessons, tools, literature, and examples. So you can use the items in the storage room of an elementary school such as paint, watercolors, sharpies, and construction paper. Anything out of the ordinary or creative is out of your own pocket. Knowing art and having years of prepared materials this is not a big deal for me. I can tweak a lesson so many directions and ability levels it's not even funny.

I used pieces of Happy Mail from artist friends, such as the Oz stamp, Alice, Altered tickets, small vintage woman picture and the stamped arrow image. 

One of the projects at the school this year was classroom wide for a leadership symposium for the Leader in Me Program.  One of the parents (an artistic lady and very good friend of mine) presented a project that would tie into the ideas and dreams of each individual child in the school.  Each child was photographed. One project used the kids body outlines to make constellations of themselves.  Another project was the side profile picture in 8x10 size cut out and tape masking lines this way and that, painted over and removed for the kids to write positive leadership things about themselves.  The favorite of mine and where my inspiration for the page came from is such a stunning and beautiful project.

Here's the basic steps:

1. Paint shades of blues in different values with watercolors on watercolor paper.
2. Drop salt to soak up some paint and create a "starry" effect.
3. Add glitter on top for a little bit of sparkle while the watercolor is still wet.
4. Add a side profile picture of the child/or myself as in my project in the bottom left corner.
5. Choose ephemera and pictures or items of things that represent you, or that you dream about
6. Lay out the elements on the page above the picture for a composition that you like. Some things overlap each other and create texture.
7. Glue down all the items and adhere to a black background paper.

I just used the same techniques with different colors and items that were special to me. This is the journal page the elementary project inspired.  This was made for a watercolor prompt. I usually don't use watercolor but need to expand that area of my artist toolbox.

Recent Pages

Just a couple of pages I was working on. The first one I call, "my kid was being a brat about getting his hair cut, so I went to my art room and made this". I used reds and oranges that I typically wouldn't. I saw the color scheme in another post and decided I needed to try it out. Very organic creation with this one. The second one is a using a stamp I made as a custom element. You can check out more at DLP prompt for a custom element which talks more about this page. This was a simple 2 sided block stamp in a box kit from Dick Blick. The face is carved on one side and the hat on the other. I like to think they have a zetti girl feel to it. I've tried coloring the image but prefer it as a one color statement. This page also uses happy mail postcard pieces from an abstract postcard swap. The colors really popped and I was going to mimic them with the blue circles but started adding other fun elements. Out of my normal box, and I LOVE it!

Back to the Words

I create art in all sorts of different mediums and you can check those out under the tabs at the top of the page.  I started out with drawing sketches and pictures in a spiral art journal, moved onto oil painting, created with ceramics, scrapbooked, and rubber stamped, moved onto teaching art in programs for children and recently have immersed myself into the visual mixed media journal. I find that when I create these, it is a reflection of what I am feeling on the inside. This is the reason I have so many journals so I can create in all my different moods and feelings. There is not a day that goes by that I am not creating, painting or thinking art. My brain doesn't know how to turn that off and I'm super excited that it doesn't.

I love to write. I am also a writer and can sit and write for hours if I want to. What happens to all the words when the mixed media page of art takes over and the words are in the pictures? A picture may or may not be worth a thousand words, but they are secretly masking them in all their collaged and painted glory.

I wanted to get back to the words. Sometimes the word is the focus of the page. Literally. I just completed a journal page that used "focal point" and  "coming into focus" as a prompt.

This page is that prompt. Of course focus to me, immediately evokes visions of cameras and apertures, so I captured that on the right side of this layout. I rarely stick to one page although these two could be stand alone pages. The second page in working backwards was the one completed on the left. It is the colorful side of the focus, or exactly the opposite. It is the bokeh created when lights are NOT in focus. For this I wanted to use words. The words I chose came from this Mark Twain quote which fits perfectly.   "You cannot depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus."                          

After thinking about words I was shared this "Go now and live" piece that would also in its original creation be a fabulous page as a background for all of the little things to remember in life.



Finally a more personal statement in words. Sometimes I will intentionally leave a space to add words later so I can really express what is going on in my life at the time. I will scribble it out in a way that I know what it means so that the viewer isn't overwhelmed by my life drama.  It's not really drama it's real life. It's real things that happen and that I experience. Life is hard and always thinking you want to grow up so soon. Yeah, that's the worst thing ever and your parents are right. Who knew?  The last words I came across that I will use in my next creations is this by Kurt Cobain.

I recently completed a grunge tag swap and when thinking grunge ALL I could think about was "come as you are, as a friend", "smells like teen spirit" and Nirvana. Anyhow, how timely for this influence to pop up again. "I'd rather be hated from who I am than love for who I'm not."- Kurt Cobain.  Behind the mask of art and behind the mask of societal "expectations", who you "should be" as a mom and wife and a friend and a community member...and, and, and...I'll just be me thank you very much. -with love of course.

Time for Art

 I have created yet ANOTHER journal. If one doesn't feel right I just go to the next. In my crazy organization in my head I have to have journals for certain "subjects" to keep all the like things together and to see progression. For example a DLP Dylusions journal, a Canson Mandala journal, a sketch journal, another Strathmore whatever art catches my fancy journal, an office planner journal for art I want to try that I see others have created, and now THIS one. I was using my Dylusions journal and had picked up a 2nd one for half price at a local craft store.  Anyhow the ink I was using went through the spine into all the previous pages.  I used gesso and then was suggested to try without.. Bring in the new Dylusions journal. I did a new cover this time. Just what I felt not what I "Wanted" it to be in the first take. I wanted it to be whatever it came to be and this was it. This is my no mistakes no criticisms no limits journal. So the colors of my current day are turquoise and purple and I have hung on the attraction of those colors for awhile now. Blended acrylic paint in those colors. Then I have also discovered masking with vinyl. So I cut some circles and place them in random spots.  Oh, almost forgot and little white gesso ghosting of the honeycomb design down in the lower right hand corner. After the black circles were dry I placed a circles stencil over the top and only filled in the spots inside the circles. To me in the end it is abstractly similar to a butterfly wing perhaps. I blended oranges inside to make them pop and added a few black paint dots with the end of a paintbrush. Hi light with a dip of white gesso in a few of them..This brings me happiness when I look at it. That's what art is supposed to be right ???

Testing techniques for dylusions spray inks. Of cours this isn't an issue if you only drip color vertically from top to the bottom of a page, but of course I have to be different and do it my way. (stubborn artist) 

This is with White gesso on the seam over some washi tape..doesn't really bleed through, but it does leave the obvious white line breaking continuity. 

Don't get me wrong I LOVE this combination of yummy dylusions colors. Again with just washi, it seals the seam. However if you take it off you see a stark white empty line breaking continuity again. If I leave it I have obvious washi tape down the middle of my page. Oh well. Still pretty just not a solution yet. 

Different color combinations and just having fun. Some washi tape and honeycomb stencil in my of course current favorite colors.

I finally went back to the first page and started an unprompted feel as you go journal page. I had this little cupcake girl cutout and loved her, so I had to use it. I made the clouds with a scalloped paper template I cut and used different blues to make the stencil of cloud lines. What I figured out this time and is so easy, swirling gesso in circles with your fingers in those shapes makes perfect clouds. Now maybe you think you can't draw clouds, or paint them, but I bet you an finger paint in a circular motion. Try it! 

gone for a week

What?!?! I've been a slacker..well in the journal and art post on my blog department. I haven't however been slacking in the art room/journal or kid department. I've been super planning, prepping, and practicing with my son's Destination Imagination team that performs tomorrow. Then back to the blog. :) I'm working on a layers piece in my journal. I skipped a page that I created with this amazing drip delusions ink and a cloud but couldn't bring myself to use for anything but the image it created. So now onto layers and a circus theme, because right now my life feels like a circus!

I am looking forward to Monday. A girls day with my MIL and SIL, spa, sauna, massage, and lunch...Pure magic!

I don't go a day without throwing some paint down or scribbling on some project. For that 10 minutes or 5, its clarity for the crazy ideas I have floating in my brain.  I am on a circus theme I will say that and  I love it. Time for bed and a busy tomorrow..then blogging every day for a week! That's the plan :)