deuxième partie

Hello! I’m back with a continuation of my postcard journey! On the first postcard post, I described my written intensions for the postcards. So now for my attitude -relaxed with that sense of play and experimentation without judgment!

 

I was completely OK with this being an experience, a gift of myself to the ladies in the swap. There is such freedom in not worrying if something will be worthy of selling or creating a “statement.” Oh how often I will let my own expectations stifle my creativity. Totally self imposed! Being afraid to mess up a beautiful background (right!?!) that I’ve become too attached to or struggling over what color to place where, or –my biggie- overthinking so much that I end up “thinking” instead of painting. What has helped my overcome these blocks more than anything has been my art journal!

If you have a bossy inner critic like I do and don’t art journal –please give it a try! Not the formal lesson oriented sort (which don't get me wrong are awesome in there own way, but just a messy deeply personal space to unabashedly be yourself – let loose of any boundaries, celebrate your highs, work through your demons, explore techniques and medias you aren’t familiar with, heck even copy, scribble, doodle … but mostly DREAM in imagery and words (Here is a link to one of my art journal posts and one of a more personalpage if you’d like to check it out)

Oops, a little detour on one of my passions there, but back to my postcards. Next gathering and laying out SUPPLIES! (I'll list the exact ones at the end) I am very random -remember no rules, just what feels good! I started out with prints of butterflies I'd found on various sites through Pinterest (Oh, I LOVE Pinterest!!!) Butterflies represent transformation and beauty and soaring, all very appropriate symbolically, don't you think? I cut them out and gathered some craft paints in happy colors. I cut out 4x6 cards from a Mixed Media Journal where I had already written down my intensions (and various other life stuff) on the pages. Then I pulled a couple favorite stamps (butterfly, bumblebee, rectangular design I'd never used before, small zigzag, and finally a part of a ruler) Yea, a lot of stamps -went a bit cray cray on this part! Each card got a big fat stamp of each then on to the watercolor crayons. 5 colors just happened to be on my desk already, I liked them so they are what I used. Next more happy color with craft paints smooched on with a credit card. Tip: A good strategy is to alternate transparent and opaque layers  (ex: watercolor crayons -transparent-ish, acrylic -opaque-ish) If the paint is obscuring too much, wipe some off. Still super random!

 

Next I took my Tim Holtz distressed sequin waste stencil added purple to my cards (bubble wrap would have also worked) Then I tore into strips pages from a favorite book, "A Tree Grows In Brooklyn" and used Matte Media to glue 2 to 3 on each postcard. Some splattering of pretty turquoise paint with an old toothbrush and finally I created red drips by drenching some water on the card edge where I want the drip and adding watered down paint over the water on the card. Ok -backgrounds completed!!!!!

I've got some botched old test prints of some of my girls so I cut their faces out to add to the cards. I don't quite have enough so I print out some of my previously scanned girls that I group on a page of typing paper. Now I start to add the faces and the butterflies I cut up earlier to the cards. This is so fun. I pull from my trusty scrap bag for decorative papers, fabric scraps, old ticket stubs (Nashville from a couple weeks ago), napkins, maps (New Orleans from Christmas) and other assorted bits. This is more meditative. The girls begin to tell me what they where they want to be placed, if they want to wear wings, how they want their hair to be and what they want to wear. I think I am in the home stretch. Tomorrow I think I will finish up. (HaHa - I am delusional)

 

The faces are pretty blurry since they were mostly taken from scrap prints, the colors are off so now I am on the individual cards one (mostly) by one. I add paint and ink to the faces, sometimes only changing eye colors and highlighting details, other times basically starting close to scratch.

The basic steps though are similar. I add shadows with a Sketch& Wash Graphite pencil and black watercolor pencil. Extra dots of color with the watercolor crayons and acrylics. Then I start adding details and words with back and white pens. On a couple I use word cutouts. I rarely outline and detail with stark contract -this is new -it is experimentation and play! No fear, No rules! Most get an ink or pastel smear along the card edges. Once again, I'm in that meditative state imagining what each girl wants to say. They start becoming more individual. Certain ones call out for something different: a bit of glitter, a bit of grunge, the bits like glow-in-the-dark paint for the "Shine" card and a 3-D butterfly for the "Soar" card. One girl simply refuses to accept words, she wants to be open ended -surprise the map is very evident in her background. I'm lost in the creative flow - one of my favorite places in the world.

 

Whoa baby! Yes, I've really completed the postcard fronts!!!!  I am SUPER HAPPY!  Wiggle, wiggle, jiggle, twist!  I am really tired!  I decide to scan the cards so I can create wood blocks later.

 

Now on to the backs. I've gathered quotes that really spoke to me and fit my girls. I print them out along with my name, Laurie Anne Smith-Sikorowski and Swap Info. A quick bumblebee stamp (you know science still hasn't figured out how these chubby little creatures can fly reminding us that nothing is impossible) and it is off to the post office! DONE & DONE!

 

I sure hope you've enjoyed going through my process. Please note these cards were done over the course of a couple weeks, not all at once. I am not particularly speedy (at anything really). I wish I was but I'm just not. I was born with a quiet calm steadiness that sometimes irks me but I am trying to learn to appreciate this part of my personality. It is so easy to tell someone else that they are perfectly imperfect just the way they are. It is much harder to accept it for yourself. So if you are another artsybody who gets discouraged with how fast and amazing other artists create -Don't! You are not alone. Everyone has their own gifts and their own struggles. LOVE YOUR IMPERFECTLY PERFECT SELF! GIVE YOURSELF A HUG RIGHT NOW, I MEAN IT RIGHT NOW! YOU ARE FREAKING AWESOME!!! DON'T YOU FORGET IT -EVER!

Finally, a quick peak at the supplies that I used for this endeavor.  If you'd like the actual list with brands and such just let me know in the comments and I'll include it there. As long as you have something to make marks with and on, truly anything is substitutable. This is probably more than I usually use for such a small work but its fun to just layer it on! I've still got lots more postcards to complete for the next batch to go out so I'm sure I'll be posting more progress pics. What I really want to try next is a video tutorial. Wouldn't that be fun? We will see! Anyway, I will be sharing some of the postcards with their quotes as single quick posts coming up soon so come back often and check them out!

Music for tonight: Gary Wright -Dreamweaver

Quote for tonight: "You can do what you have to do, and sometimes you can do it even better that you think you can." - Jimmy Carter

 

 

 

 

 

Creating Hope

Time for a peak into the making of my newest bit of mixed media artwork, "Angel of Hope."

I have been wanting to play with something more 3 dimensional than a typical painting but not an actual assemblage or sculpture so first I doodled around in one of my sketchbooks (after a nice bubble bath which almost always gets me dreaming of some new something) and I came up with a shadowbox sort of idea. I browsed my scrap pile for some possible pieces to use as my base. My sketches -really rough, more like thought nudges, were more square or horizontal in format but all I could find that might work was the lid of a shoe box, a narrow sandal type box. Luckily I had some scrap cardboard left over from cutting out sheets to use as mailing backer boards. Putting the box over the board added a little detail and  jazzed up the proportions. I also grabbed a piece of chip board, you know the kind that comes at the back of a ledger pad to use for my cut out elements.

Next i started my angel. I did a loose sketch, really just the face as I knew I wanted the body to be a simple shape. I painted her with acrylics and watercolor crayons, then cut out her out and headed to my paper piles and baskets of odd bits to see what I could find. By now I knew my color scheme was going to be predominately green and gold so anything that might go in that direction was tossed on to the floor next to me.

I laid my angel aside, went back to my background and began using matt medium to collage on torn pieces of a paper towel saturated with green paints, magazine photos of a garden, and some old scrapbook paper left overs. I intentionally keep it messy with a few crinkles to catch a later layer of paint. 

I have a great collection of well, I guess most people would call it trash. I can't bear to throw away even the tiniest of paper so as I cut papers for one project, its scraps become part of the next ... and so on and so. Its kind of cool, each piece of new art has a bit of old art in it and its left overs become part of the next. I peel a bit of the top layer of some of the cardboard and add an old sheet of music (It came upon a midnight clear) to completely cover the substrate. Then I start to smear on some blue with fluid acrylic and watercolor crayons. Then back on my angel.

I lay her in the box to see how she fits and then look through the pile to my side and start trying different pieces to see how I want to continue. I tend to just pick up the first piece I see then move it around till it finds a home. I cut and tear the scraps to layer up the angel's dress. It includes some neat wrapping paper my daughter used at Christmas, part of a print that the ink ran out in the middle of, and a piece of vintage lace given to me by a friend. Next I add bits of cardboard to the back of my angel so she will hover off the background.

I slip her into the background for another check. I initially cut up a heart shaped gold doily for the wings but now I think the piece needs more color to tie to the color in the dress so I trim them down and add a bottom layer of red polka dots. I also cut some green wood grained lower wings (yes, scrap from another project) and serendipitously a few green feathers fall out of a basket as I pull out some copper wire for her halo. Its fate, I simply must slip then in as well.

Back into the background she goes. Now I wonder, should I go in a different direction? I tear some printed paper and see how she'd do as a garden fairy. I add some of the red polka dot flowers to the frame. I also try some stars and a butterfly. Hum... Nice but I think she'll stay my angel of hope but I do see another piece developing in my head. I take off the hair and some of the polka dots (they weren't glue on so its easy, I'm constantly editing and changing things and sometime put off gluing something way too long -just in case, you know) I do keep the heart charm and a pair of flowers at the frame top. Finally I commit and glue it all together and then add a final bit of grunge over the whole thing with charcoal and fluid acrylics.

Just about done. I'm torn -do I want to attach the art on a canvas at a diagonal. I have a partially completed background on an appropriately sized canvas so I add a few scraps of the red polka dot paper and more red paints to it and see how it works. I like it but it gets a little too matchy cute which is fine but not where I was wanting it to go in my head.

So I sleep on it and this morning, I know what I want to do. I decide I'll use the red canvas for my next project.  It turned out nice so it'll make a great background. But for this one, I gather some twigs then wrap some of the copper wire and rustic ribbon around them for a hanger. I also find a little silver butterfly charm and add it to the twigs. Voila! Finished -unless I change my mind again. Hope you enjoyed this little peak in to my process :)

"Faith has to do with things that are not seen and hope with things that are not at hand." 

-Thomas Aquinas

Putting on the Mask

My last blogging entry was regarding authenticity and what I feel it means to be real. This one is about making the artwork that spawned that post. 

First, I'll begin with my inspiration. As I've mentioned previously, I have lots of sketch/notebooks (yes LOTS of sketch/notebooks) which when ever the light bulb in my head blinks, I immediately pick up. Sometimes it is a quote or just a word, other times it is a full blown drawing down to the last detail but usually it something in-between. (This keeps the stress down since I know that if I have a day when the creative muscle is not cooperating, all I have to do is pick up any one of them and Ta-da I have my Mojo ready and waiting)

Well, this particular inspiration is a combination of a sketch I did over a splatter of purple paint, a beautiful b/w photo of some roses, a rather bland painting of a girl I had done over an old paperback page for valentine's day but wan't quite happy with and a rerun I caught of HGTV's Secrets of a Stylist. The first three inspiration images you can see right above. The tv show which actually triggered the sketchbook drawing had a lovely bedroom make-over for an actress named April (she is the best friend on Drop Dead Diva) The colors in the room were in shades of lavender, gray and white with a bright orange pillow pop.

I still had one of the collaged boards I created while doing the previous friendship painting so I was ready to go. If you ever don't feel up to painting but still want to spend art time, I highly recommend getting some backgrounds going that way when you do want to paint, you are already one step ahead and no intimidating white canvas creeping you out. I draw up some flowers, cut them out and add them to the board then start painting messily. I begin with mostly purples and grays. Next I scan the Valentine girl page (I never know when I might want to come back to her and let's face it, I am a natural documenter and scan pretty much everything -now finding it on the computer later, that is a different story) then cut the girl and hearts out of the original paperback page. I position the face on the board and use matte media to "glue" it down. I add more purples to her hair and decide to put the hearts away for a later project. 

The painting is getting a little muted and dull. So I roll on some orange polkadots, still not loving it so I pull in some blue. That, while going away from my initial color concept, starts to add some much needed life. Now I see it going more in a New Orleans Courtyard sort of direction. I cut out a bird shape from some old sheet music and paint the details with fluid acrylics. Then add some stamping in black of music notes, graphic flowers, and butterflies. I use purple, black and blue watercolor crayons to outline the girl and the bird. I paint over much of my girl's face to blend it in. I deepen the darks and lighten the lights but the background is really competing with the figures so I add glaze of Quinacridone Nickel Azo Gold (a burnt rust color) fluid acrylic to settle it back down. Most of the original collage is completely covered up but paintings are like that -they have a life of their own.

Next, I have to decide what my birdcage is going to look like. Thanks goodness for Google. There are hundreds of birdcage images. I just absorb for a while. Then I take my roll of bumwad (trash paper, tracing paper, whatever you want to call it) and sketch over my painting to figure out how big, how detailed and exactly at what location I want to put the cage. I'm actually happy with my first option. Often at this point, I will completely change my mind and decide to add a fish instead of a bird or a building instead of a flower, or a key instead of a heart, ..... but today I stay with my original plan.

After painting on the birdcage, I scan in the image. I told you I am a scan fanatic -love me some scans. I decide take my image in to photoshop and up the saturation then print out a larger version. I actually use this print to complete the art piece. I'll probably come back to the original in the future and modify it differently, who knows.

I need a mask for my lady but the scrap of gridded acetate I planned on using competes with the more decorative lines of the birdcage. I wish I had some black lace then brrr ring ... It's my Mom on the phone. Would she like to go with me to the fabric store -no, it is late but she just might have something in her sewing basket that could do. Yeah. No late night fabric run to the next town. I drive over to my Mom and Dad's house, bringing my print to try out the lace. The lace is really big and heavy but if I cut just a small section of the center of a scallop it will work. Bedtime. Next morning I glue on the lace and add jewels to the corners. Another scan. I want to add my words but my computer fonts are too perfect and my rubber stamp letters are too small. What to do? There is an old newspaper besides me, the joys of a messy art room, so I stamp the words the way I want them, blow them up on the copier, grunge them up with an ink pad and a little paint. Re-blacken the letters that blur too much, glue them on, then outline with black and blue watercolor crayons. A few more jewels on the birdcage, iridescent paint on lips, bird's breast, and under the lace at the eyes. Voila ...all done.

Life is a Masquerade, My Friend. 

Won't You Join Me in My Masquerade?

Don't leave quite yet, there is just a bit more. One of the last little things I like to do is play around with my artwork in Photoshop. Such a deviant little time sucker it is. Well, below are a few of my variations.

First is an Oxblood rendition. I think it has a more mysterious nighttime feel. The middle one is over bright and intense. I think it has a youthful kick. The last is blend of purple and tangerine. I think it is the most cheerful and light-hearted. Some or all will soon be available in my Etsy Store so drop on by.

I hope you've enjoyed this peek inside my process and will come again -bye for now :)

Music to go along with the Art: Masquerade

The Making of Friendship

Hello My Little Art Blog :)

Today I am describing the process I used to put together my newest Mixed Media painting "Friendship" & sending out lots of love to all my wonderful girl friends and my two amazing daughters!

First a bit of context: Other than printer woes, my life is swimming along quite nicely. As usual, too much to do and not enough time to play in my studio (which of course is what I really want to be doing) Laundry, grocery shopping, buying eyeglasses, paying bills, finishing up work projects, the list goes on and on and on. Partly because I have been sneaking in a little extra time "arting" about & Yes that is arting (not farting -gross) as I never know what exactly to call what I most like to do. It is a little drawing, a little collaging, a little painting, a little stamping, and a little of whatever else catches my fancy at the moment. Mixed Media seems so off putting and do you say I'm mixed media-ing, just doesn't sound right. But I guess that's what it is. So there you go.

Ya'll, I am really excited to show off my latest creation. I've wanting to do something that represents the special connection between girl friends, but hadn't had the right inspiration until the other day while perusing pinterest and this cool advertisement caught my eye. I know the three women in it are models posing and probably not close friends but something about it hooked me (probably the pretty colors -I am sucker for pretty colors) and I knew I had to put it into a sketch. So I did.

As you can see from the image below, I take lots of liberties while translating inspiration to art idea. But that's the fun -distilling what's personal and making it my own. The next evening I went about taking it from a sketch to the beginnings of an actual piece of art. I used the sketch from my notebook/ sketchbook (I adore them & have dozens; lined, gridded, plain, fancy, all with bits of art ideas, recipes, prayers, travel journaling, etc all thrown together) and drew the three girls in my Strathmore mixed media journal (I like the way its paper takes acrylic and it tends to hold up well with lots of glueing) then I cut the ladies out so I could add them to my background.

On the photo above -top right and bottom left, you'll see that I gather up favorite bits of decorative papers, napkins (love how they turn translucent when applied with matte medium) old book text, letter stamps, and craft paints (folkart, less than $1) then started applying them to an old board I had laying around. Once the papers were arranged to my liking, glued down and dried, I cut the board into segments. I added more collage bits to the cut edges then used a credit card and dotted brayer to grunge up the board. I then stamped in some butterflies and flowers rather randomly and added the words: LAUGHTER and JOY. Some of the napkins and collage bits bleed over the girls to give texture and settle them in to the piece. This is seriously loosey goosey fun time.

Now to give my ladies some love. I start with white heavy body acrylics and watercolor crayons (love them!) Scribble... I mean it, I scribble bit of watercolor crayon then go over with a light mix of water and white. It just blends beautifully and you can still see the pencil through the paints much like watercolor. I try not to be too perfect or get caught up in fine detail at this point. I figure out what colors I want where and add a messy outline around the women with a sketch & wash pencil and fluid acrylics. Four fluid acrylic colors that I used a lot in this painting are quinacridane magenta, phthalo green-blue shade, yellow ochre, and raw umber. Actually, these are probably the four colors I use most (along with white) in many of my paintings.

I keep blending and adding color until I am happy with the composition then I start on the detail. I really like this part. I probably use at least four or five layers on each girl's eyes. I add subtle polka dots on the dress, then add the flowers and finally white highlights on lips, cheeks, dresses, and eyes. Last step is a bit more grunge -red paint with a palette knife and a few more yellow and blue smears with my fingers. I typically paint equal parts brush to fingers -not kidding. (You can't say I don't get into my art - LOL)

TA-DA!

Friendship

I believe that imagination is stronger than knowledge. That myth is more potent than history. That dreams are more powerful than facts. That hope triumphs over experience. That laughter is the only cure for grief. That love is stronger than death. And that there is nothing on this earth more prized than true friendship.

(A bastardized and blended quote adapted from Robert Fulghum and Thomas Aquinas)