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Sonntag, 31. März 2019

"Luna moth" - Art Element Theme Challenge

This months theme for the Art Elements theme challenge was chosen by Jennifer - " Luna moth". I have to say this was a difficult theme for me as much as I love these insects (and insects in general are simply stunning creatures!). Maybe it was simply the fact that I got ill, there were a lot of deadlines, I spend some long days writing grant applications, and also went to a conference. Sometimes a too literal theme stuns me in the beginning.

I know, I could have simply taken the colors alone as inspiration or create an abstract pattern but once your brain is stuck... it is not easy to get it working again. The only way that works for me is actually to start creating something even without inspiration or any idea. So I tried to sketch a luna moth to get a better feeling for the shape, pattern, size and overall shape. The upper wings are not wide enough but it helped.

If you follow me here or read my blog post at Art Elements, you know that I don't like most commercial available water color sketch books and started binding my own ones. I still wanted to try out the Moleskin one. Although I am not such a fan of the art sketch book, I have to say the water color book works really good! I was pleasantly surprised. The only downside? It is so damn expensive...

When I am stuck, I love to create color swatches. They are so relaxing, to see the colors flow has something so beautiful and joyful. It lead to another try to pain a luna moth. It is okay but I am not in love with it. Just a... meh...

But you know what? This kind of challenges where I am stuck in the beginning can be the best! Because it forces me to think. Jennifer shared her carved stamps in the last theme challenges and just showed her tiny sketchbook made with tiny wee carved pattern stamps for the sketchbook project (have a look here). The last time I carved anything is a year ago and I thought maybe I should change the medium.

I simplified the shape of the luna moth...

....and I wanted to add eyes. I don't know why but the image of eyes, the moth and the moon kept coming up in my head.

If you want to mirror copy a stamp, simply stamp it with watter resistant ink on the rubber. Now you can carve it. If it should be the same orientation like the original one, simply to it again with the mirror image stamp. Yes, they will be a little bit different but in the end it should still be a handcarved and unique stamp.

I tried out several shapes and pattern for the eyes. In the end my favorite was the one with the tear drop that I copied to have a pair to be combined. The only thing I changed in the mirror stamp: The light reflection should come from the same side!

I played with the stamps and water color. Just playing...

This pink card was a birthday card for a friend. The moth is maybe a little bit too big for cards.

I also created several test prints on high quality paper.

I think this one is my favorite with a single eye on top. Maybe I will add a moon / circle in the background.

I also need to play more about how I could incorporate the eyes.

By the way, if you want to add metal effects in your water color, I really can recommend Aqua Bronze from Schmincke. It is made of metal powder and not mica. It comes in a powder form that includes a kind of glue. You have to wet it with water (every time fresh!) and then you can apply it as paint. It takes some experimenting with the ratio and paper since the metal particles can be easier rubbed off than pigments. Depending what you want to do with the finished piece you should fix it.

But it looks so stunning! No other paint ever came close, it has an effect like metal foil! I also have a silver version.

As always... shimmer and shine is difficult to capture on camera.

In the end I actually had another go at a luna moth painting. This time it worked for me and I like the finished piece. The trick was to go for different colors. There is still green but combined with turquoise and not anymore this neon like light green. It may be not the true color of luna moths but somehow it looks more real to me.

As much as I struggled in the beginning of this theme challenge, I really love where it lead me. My absolute favorite? The eye stamp(s) with the tear drop! I think this may become one of my favorite and most used stamps ever!

Thank you for joining us and please have a look at the ideas and creations of everyone! :)

Guests:

Art Elements Team:

Caroline

Cathy

Claire (you are here)

Jen

Donnerstag, 28. Februar 2019

"Birds of prey" - Art Element Theme Challenge

This month's theme was chosen by Cathy - "Birds of prey". I already knew it would be a stressful month and I still struggled with my lung, but I took the chance to at least sketch, paint, and experiment with styles a little bit.

I love how both of this sketches turned out although they are so diffeent in style! I will definitely play more with that.

Also I try to incorporate more bold color contrast quite often. I am not drawn to realistic images but rather to expressionistic ones. Still, I have to work on both before I will get close to what I would love to express ;)

Not all turned out well... but I will show you all here!

And I don't enjoy repetitious work like feathers from wings. Nope.

I get messy with it and I don't like that... but at least I gave it a try and I know that I don't enjoy it. I don't want to spend too much time with that... but before you can get lose, you have to know how it is build up... and I don't want to!

But I so love the face of this one! You see the difference if I enjoy painting a part? I pay attention to the details, shadows and form... NOT true for wings. Ugh.

All of my coptic stitch sketch books really hold up wonderfully to a lot of "abuse".

Nature is sometimes just weird. But I love it!

I also mixed water color and goauche quite a lot.

...as well water soluble pen and a water brush with diluted white gouache I made myself, it creates wonderful effects!

To the left whit gouache with a water soluble black pen and on the left only water colors.

I love her! With the pink eyes and the mix of details and lose colors! This is the direction I want to go to more.

By the way: The best water color sketch book I have used until now is really the handmade one with high quality water color paper. I use the back ides for mixed media and the right side only for water color. If you are struggling with water color sketch books, I really can recommend binding your own one. Saves a lot of nerves!

Thank you for joining us for this month's theme challenge and please have a look at everyone's creations! :)

Guests:

Cat

Sarajo
Sarah

Team Members:

Cathy

Claire (you are here)

Jen

Sue

Donnerstag, 31. Januar 2019

"Moon" - Art Elements Theme Challenge

This month's theme for our montly Art Elements challenge was "Moon" chosen by Lindsay. It was a wonderful theme for me mainly for one reason (and yes, you can laugh ;) ) - A moon is round. A circle... and circles are an elementary part of my work, especially my abstract mixed media work.

I am still trying to recover from the bad cold I got during christmas. The coughing is still bad and my lung is hurting. Don't worry, I went for a check to the doctor, got a lot of strong drugs and still waiting for the test results because my doctor just let them test... everything?

At least a lot since it seems that I have an atypical version which can untreated end bad. I am taking it slow, take the tram and bus instead going by bike, don't carry anything heavy, and at work I am mainly sitting at the computer.

But I am so thankful for the strong drugs so I won't cough as hard and the pain goes down. It could also be that I am not a good patient... being ill annoys me way too much!

So I also took it slow with the theme challenge.

I had a lot of ideas for earrings and monoprints using a resist technique and vintage moon motives... but I didn't stress myself, I can always come back to these ideas.

I enjoyed playing with different techniques and materials, being abstract as well as whimsical or simply playing with paint.

With every single sketch I learn a little bit more. On my to-do list is to create big, really big abstract paintings one day. It won't be anywhere soon, but the desire is there.

I will need more training before, to better find the balance between complexity, depth, and simplicity. It is already there in parts in some of my work but I am still not there.

I don't know why but there are abstract paintings that stop me right there. That I could look at for hours without tiring. Where paint and structure, color and composition evokes some feeling inside me.

Once in a gallery tour I saw a painting that felt so alive, I almost could smell it. Cool and rich, earthy... Sadly I never wrote the artist name down and one of the times where I really would have loved to be rich, so I could have bought it.

I love painting animals and flowers and hopefully in the future also more people, it is what I enjoy... but my abstract work is more personal, you will find me in there, it is what I need to create.

And there will be a giant painting... with a circle! ;)

Thank you for joining us! Please have a look at all the wonderful creations :)

Guests:

Cat

Art Elements Crew:

Jen

Samstag, 29. Dezember 2018

"White" - Art Elements Theme Challenge

This month it was my turn to host the Art Elements Theme Challenge and I chose the topic "White". Although I love to work with neutral colours, this was a real challenge for me! I found a lot of wonderful inspiration (just have a look at the challenge launch blog post here).

Also I had a kind of head start since it was also my turn for a blog post at Art Elements in the first week of december that I used to explore the theme (have a look here). A tiny wee voice in my head tells me I should be lucky for that or I could have crushed the theme challenge I host myself ;)

After creating some monochromatic paintings with acrylic paint for that blog post, I switched to water colour. I really enjoy learning and exploring and right now water colour speaks to me. I think it is the combination of the free flowing paint and the control that can create such wonderful expressionistic work. I am still struggling to balance too much and too less details and sketching in general. But as much as I see the mistakes in my own work, I also see and feel the progress I make.

It could be true that I own a little bit too many Schmincke Hoaradam paints... but another part of me want to have them all! (still not there yet) Also when working with water colours, one realizes really soon that it is not only about the colour itself but how the pigments inside react. Colour shades may be quite similar but the physical properties of the pigments can vastly differ, how they move in water, how transparent they are, how the react with other pigments (yes, water colour has a lot of chemical theory in it), how they interact with the surface...

...I thought for some time I had too many shades of yellow, orange and red. Now I am rather like, for this I need exactly that paint! Or.... no, I don't ever want to miss this paint because there is no other like it!

I am also becoming more and more an advocate for high quality material. No doubt a skillful person can create wonderful work with any kind of material. But it like with high quality tools. The material works with you and not against you.

In the past I was tempted to get and try all kind of companies and materials. A part of me still is (and still doing this although not as much anymore) but I have to confess that I get also more and more disappointed.

Of course, I am not always buying the most expensive material but it also depends on what I want to create and use it for. For example I use different acrylic paints to antique my polymer clay work, to paint, or to use it formonoprints on gel plates. But even then I am taking care to use an acrylic paint of at least medium quality in the binder.

Okay, I started rambling again. I have a bad cold for a week now, survived christmas only with a lot of "drugs", and am so tired due to not being able to sleep... and tomorrow will be the next big family celebration. I tend to ramble if I am tired ;)

But if you would like to get a little bit deeper into properties of paints or other materials, just write in the comments what would interest you. That could be a good inspiration for a blog post.

Back to the theme challenge. You see I had a lot of fun sketching and painting white animals.Most of the time the didn't stay pure white but rather became somehow studies of shadows. But in nature a lot of white animals are also not true white. Even snow has a blueish tint especially on sunny days since it reflects the sky. This was what I learned in this challenge: How colorful white "spaces" in nature really are!

I also want to show you some of the ceramic work I made. Okay, I only show you the pieces that are fitting in this theme. They were not done especially for this months challenge but rather intended as christmas presents... but I let myself get inspired by the theme! Normally you would see way more orient blue in my glazes ;)

Clear glaze in white clay on the outside, opaque white glaze in the inside (the transparent glaze crackles easily and can only be used in a thin layer, I prefer a thick and close glaze layer where it may come into contact with food!).

I played combining different textures... and was so tempted to keep it for myself. *sighs* The next one... or I may take this one back if it is not loved!

Find the one that doesn't fit ;) My brother and my sister both wanted plates from me for christmas.

My favorite one! Nothing beats the beauty of nature...

This texture was made with a dried corn cob. I love the organic texture and can't wait to see how it will turn out with colour!

Just love! The contrast was made with black underglaze. It is so expensive but I prefer the results...

This tiny wee bowl was made with a laser cut paper dragon fly. I love that you can use any kind of material to create texture and images in clay!

I also made a new tiny sketch book with upcycled cardboard I got from some packaging. Since this was not usable with water colours I played with pens and pencils!

The eyes and the moon are painted with metallic markers but it is difficult to capture the shine.

Oh, and a last sketch I made during a telco at work...that went on for ages! I coloured it in when I was back home.

I am so thankful for all who participated in this month's theme challenge especially doing this beside holidays in most countries and the usual end of the year craze! I was not expecting so many and can't wait to have a look at all of your creations!

Please have a look and we see us next year again! :)

Guest Artists