Trying a New Technique

Here is a picture of Frida that I chose as my  model.  I wanted to try this new technique I learned from Jeanne Oliver in the Studying Under the Masters course.

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First you draw with charcoal and then you add gesso to make an underpainting and then you paint it. This is what I have so far.  Its a great technique, I think I will use this from now on.It really helped me see where I had gone wrong.  At first I had the hand in the wrong place so I just gessoed over it and used the charcoal to add it in the right place.  It doesn't really look like her but that is ok as I am just learning the technique and I don't like making exact replicas anyways. I am learning so much in this course.

She was painted with Golden fluid acrylics.  I made the background and table with PanPastels. She is not perfect by any measure but I sort of like her so I will move on to the next piece. Oops I just realized I never added her jewelry.  I guess I will do that at some point. As they say art is never finished.

I am linking to Paint Party Friday today. To see what other artists are doing. Check out Paint Party Friday here. If you found something of value in today's post, I'd love it if you shared it.

Have a great weekend.

Kate

Playing with Charcoal

Here is my first exploration in my new class.  Its playing with compressed charcoal and it was really a lot of fun. I so love what you can do with this medium. I love how you can create depth so easily. The shapes that came out of this piece of play are fun.  What do you see in this piece?  Can you see the body?

Now some more pages in the journal I talked about in the last post.

Lots of random things are on this page. Washi tape, and ATC, spray inks, japanese paper and some journaling,

This page began with acrylic, ink and water.  Lots of fun lovely blobs, so I outlined them all. There appeared to be a tribal looking fellow on the right. Not sure what he is up to.

And lastly the page on the right has Neocolor II watercolor crayons with Pitt pen flowers added by using a stencil.  I love the image of the yellow raincoat.  I had a slicker back in the day in this same color.  When Sarah was little she had a cute little yellow raincoat and hat.  She looked so cute in it. This page really brought back those memories.

New Techniques and Free Classes

So its Friday and I was going to do something for Link Love over at Daisy Yellow 's blog but realized that was set up for blogs and not videos.  I found some great videos when I was ill that I wanted to share with all of you.



 
In this video the people at GelliArts show using gel medium as a resist. Just one more way to use a gelliplate. They also use distress stain instead of paint which I liked because I have some of the stains but don't use them that often.  I love finding new ways to use old supplies.



In this video I.K. Tolbert show how to make prints with some glue and cardboard. It looks like a fun technique.



This is a step by step journey through creating a portrait in charcoal.



My friend Kelley made this video showing how to make paper fortune cookies.  They are so cute, I know I will make some soon.



In this video you will learn how to make a strip of tickets without using a die and its so easy.  I wish I had seen this last month.  There was a ticket swap in a group I belong to and I really didn't want to buy a die to participate. Now I know I didn't have to.


Free Classes 

I know that you all like a bargain so here is one for you.  A coupole years ago I offered 2 online classes. They were called Mixed Media 101 and Bodacious Backgrounds.  The first covers the basics of mixed media and gets you started on your own art journal and the second is all on backgrounds.  I am making them available free to anyone.  Here is the link to both sets of classes.  Pass on the information to anyone you think might be interested.  Have a great weekend!

Art Date

I had an art date with my friend Jolene the other day. This piece was on her wall. I think it is an amazing reminder of who we are. She has a friend who scanned an Art Journal page of hers, had it printed on canvas and then stretched over a frame. I think the idea is awesome. I think I am going to have to paint my own Art affirmation canvas for my own studio.

All the work we did that day is in stages so I will post it at another time. She had her Aunt Ilene come over too. She was just introduced to mixed media and Art Journaling so we were giving her all sorts of ideas. I hope we didn't overwhelm her too much.

Jolene introduced me to to a new kind of charcoal that I really like. You don't sharpen the pencil what you do is tear paper off like a china marker. I can't seem to find a picture online but I got mine at Michaels. I think they are made by Generals and come in a pack with 2 pencils and a small kneaded eraser. I love how charcoal can really make images pop.

Last night I had the family help me move my Art supplies back downstairs to my studio.  It was getting to the point I had the entire table full of supplies and no room to work.  I am doing better with stairs now so I think it will be ok.  I organized it a little but I am thinking that the studio may need an overhaul. It feels so good to be back in my studio again.  Sure I could create Art upstairs but there is just something about the studio that just feels right.