The trees along the path

Walnut Ink sketch June 20, 2011 ©Sweet Enemy Art

Thanks to Arkonbey and some Indian Roast coffee, I've actually been experiencing some nice mornings out in the garden.  On Monday, when I didn't have to be to work until lunchtime, I took my beloved walnut ink out to the garden area and did this sketch, about 9" x 10".  This is perhaps the first real "plein air" piece I've worked on in years.  

I must say, it's a good idea to work monochromatically when you're faced with a bazillion* little pieces of information.  Especially a monochromatic medium that is easily correctable.  

*bazillion is apparently not a made-up word, or this spell-check is more forgiving than I thought.

I'll have the Walnut Ink out at the shop on Tuesday July 19th from 4-5:30 if you are in the area and want to stop in and try your hand at it.  Gorgeous stuff. 

Winter catch-up!

So the past few weeks have gone by in a bit of an art-making blur, though I don't have the usual type of finished product to show for it.

First came the a day of three art demos for the Vermont Maturity magazine's 50+ Expo:  Relief printing, Walnut ink, and Oil Paintstiks.  I spent the majority of the prep time working with paintstiks, as those were entirely new to me.  Here's the photoset.  I'm doing another demo (of paintstiks) on the 26th of February at Artists' Mediums.



In the middle of the January I went to my third "Cross Pollinators" crit group.  There I shared a project I'd worked on at the beginning of the month:  living dress drawings done super-small, in just graphite, trying to mimic old photographs.  I've started creating a loose story line around them (very loose!) and am setting them in a vintage-style black photo album/ scrapbook.  
But THEN!  Just as I'm working super small, and everyone at the group was interested in seeing the dresses far bigger, I got an email from S.P.A.C.E. facilitator Christy Mitchell.  The call to action was for an interactive, almost life-sized paper doll show for February.  I came up with two outfit designs and got them fully painted in the nick of time to be scanned by the originator of the  idea, Jme Wheeler.  The night before the opening, scissors flew as pieces came out of the printer.  



The opening itself had a nice turnout, and several of us are hoping we could take the idea a bit further.  Once we find out how much the printing actually cost, perhaps we will! 



Artists involved in the Dress Me Up Show:  Jme Wheeler, Christy Mitchell, Wylie Sofia Garcia, Beth Robinson, Justin Atherton, and me!


I'll edit this post later to add the images of my two outfits.  
Ciao!  
Off to make valentines and eat good food.  

Studio Visit! Open Studio 2010

It's been a long slow start-up to Spring, but here we are:  Memorial Day is right around the corner.
That means it's time for an Open Studio tour!

Our Jericho-Underhill group once again has its hub at the Emile Gruppe Gallery in Jericho Center.  This is a good spot to pick up your maps (both the local and the state-wide) and to view samples of work by our group as you plan your tour.  Also on display at the gallery are photography by Bruce Gilbert-Smith, and watercolors by Kathleen Bergeron. The yellow maps for our local group are very handy, if you need good driving directions.

In previous years, I exhibited my "studio" off-site.  This time, I invite you to visit the studio itself.
Come and see what I keep on hand to inspire me, what materials I use, and more.  Try your hand drawing with walnut ink, or charcoal, or who knows...
Here's a typical painting day for me:  everything at hand!  Everything!!!!

The last few months have been an interesting "germination" period.  Most recently, the week I spent at the Vermont Studio Center in Johnson yielded new work:  more "Monster Fashion" drawings (bigger and bigger!) and a self-portrait diptych that is in the very early stages.  These are just two of the many things I've started recently, but yes, there are a few finished pieces as well.  I am looking forward to sharing them with you.

To get you started, here's the map for the local tour!

 

What happened to the fishes

Mixing paint in front of people is something I'm not too scientific about:

But the nice thing about this technique is transparent glazes are very forgiving...here I am wiping something out:

(Thanks to Lynn Powers for these demo images!)

And here's where the painting is now, with a bit more color glazed over the gray underpainting:

Now here's what's happened to my fish painting.  I think it was a case of too much paint, not enough paying attention, or "do not listen to Brave New World on audio book while painting, it's too much." 

Below, the original underpainting.

And here we have the current status:

Other than being choosey about what you listen to while creating, may I offer this advice as well:

Keep the initial color values light, light, light when glazing.  And be careful how much detail you add in a small piece, lest you end up with a cramped painting.

Monday night paintings

Three pieces that had their genesis during my Acrylic Underpainting demo on April 27th. Really all I came home with at the time was two pieces of matboard: One had been an example of tinted absorbent grounds, applied with a squeegee so two contrasting colors blended, the second piece was just a soft iridescent reddish-orange background.  The first has now been cut in two, and the second is becoming ever-more sparkly.  The shimmer is really obvious in the last image.

A last look before bedtime, originally uploaded by Sweet Enemy Art.

Since then, the pepto-bismol pink half is now the acrylic drawing on the right.  Here's what it looked like a few days ago, as I discovered that Absorbent Ground on a textured matboard is a surprisingly forgiving surface when using a dipping pen:

And last night I held my breath and started putting in some more color.  It is always hard to make that jump, but I remind myself now that it's worth it.  Besides, Absorbent Ground is very forgiving if you're applying thin washes at first.  

This one, the "fairy-tale drapery" piece, is more of a mood piece right now.  Great fun was had with the spray bottle and some blue matte acrylic, but not sure yet what will be in the center.  Thinking of the Arabian Nights, perhaps.  It's always a blast to look back and see how my paintings started, because in the end, this painting will hardly resemble what you see now.

Right behind it, is the tree painting I'm working on (visible in the center of the top photo.)  So far there have been about six layers of varying colors, and heavy usage of masking fluid.

Next up, I post what happened to the purple fish painting.  Yikes, we'll see if it can be saved.

More images for the demo!

Right.  So, if you missed it, this is for the
Acrylic Underpainting Techniques
Free demonstration at Artists' Mediums, Williston, VT
Saturday February 27th, 2010
11 a.m. to 1 p.m. 


Okay!  Here are a few more pieces I've prepared for the demonstration.  It's really hard to stop at the underpainting stage on some of these, because I really like what's going on, and want to keep doing it.

That's about all that I have the patience to upload tonight.  The internet is moving at molasses speed, and I want to get back to the paint.  So here's a link to my flickr stream, where you'll find a few more of these pieces.

Acrylic Underpaintings

Acrylic Underpainting Techniques
Free demonstration at Artists' Mediums, Williston, VT
Saturday February 27th, 2010
11 a.m. to 1 p.m. 
In preparation for this weekend's demonstration, here's a peek at at least one image.
As usual, I've made a huge list of things I want to show, namely different grounds and techniques for applying them.  Colored pencil on watercolor canvas, colored pumice grounds, etc.  A pile of samples is currently building up by the door.  I also am working on a more complex piece in grisaille, based on Arkonbey's original sketch.  I haven't quite captured the original expressions yet.  But some of the shadows overall are pretty decent.  

More images to follow as we go!

Listening to while posting:  My Maudlin Career

Vermont Artists' Week Residency!

A nice little pile of mail awaited me this evening, and I'm pleased to say that I've been accepted into the Vermont Artists' Week residency at the Vermont Studio Center!
This was my second attempt, and I was quite picky about which images I chose (I also sent far fewer) and in what sequence they would be viewed.

So, several projects are in the works, including a collaboration with Arkonbey, partly in preparation for my Acrylic Underpainting Techniques demonstration that happens at Artists' Mediums on the 27th of February.  Wonder what I'll be working on when the residency rolls around...

woohoo!

The paints are out!

It's been months since my acrylics have gotten their time in the sun.  Well, I'm fully fueled with caffeine and am poking through the corners of the studio, finding random surfaces to prepare.

Because I'm doing a demonstration of "Acrylic Underpainting Techniques" February 27th at Artists' Mediums.  So I'd better get cracking, eh?

In other news, just picked up my work from the S.P.A.C.E. Gallery (looking forward to their Valentine-themed show this Friday) and we came home with prints by two other artists as well.  Images of those later, once we get them situated.