Upcycled Affirmation Cards & a Book Review

I found fantastic inspiration in this book!

In Art Journal Art Journey, artist and journaler Nichole Rae shares her creative journaling process.  

The book includes a chapter on creating what Nichole calls an Inspirational Card Deck.  Using upcycled playing cards, Nichole collages typed & printed words, ephemera & stamped designs on the cards.  

I was hooked on the idea of making my own deck!

Nichole's book in hand, I visited the Pittsburgh Center for Creative Reuse, and purchased a fistful of playing cards, some old lined note paper, art postcards, and a variety of decorative papers.

Back in my studio, I took a dive into my collage box, and found painted papers, greeting card bits,maps and vintage office papers.  I collaged papers onto the playing cards, added affirmations and quotes I had typed up on my trusty Sears electric typewriter, decorated the cards with my own homemade stamps (made from corks & erasers) and washi tape.

Soon I had a deck of affirmation cards!

 I created a box sized just to fit them out of mat board and tape, and glued on some gorgeous decorative paper my dear friends gave me.

Now I have a little box of inspiration and uplift for myself.

These cards make lovely gifts to tuck into letters and cards to inspire those you love.

All of these papers, as well as the black-striped chartpak tape came from the Pittsburgh Center for Creative Reuse, my favorite art supply store!

The process was relaxing after a busy week, and I found the small card size made it easy to lay out a design quickly.

I hope you'll have a rummage for collage supplies, and create some of your own Inspirational Cards!

Color Journal Update

I have been working long hours lately, and find myself hungering for time to play with my art supplies.  One Friday evening recently, I tucked myself away in my studio with colorful markers and my watercolors.

I began with my Winsor & Newton watercolors in lemon yellow, Winsor blue and Hooker's green.  After those washes dried, I followed my intuition in exploring the positive and negative spaces of the page with Posca pens, Faber Castell black India ink pens, a white gel pen, & a set of inexpensive permanent markers. 

I have a voice within that says "Buy new art supplies, then you'll create masterpieces!"  

But I find that my old familiar pens and watercolors are friendly and inviting. And I can create endlessly with what I have.  

Why not dig out your favorite supplies and simply explore what they can do?  I hope you have a little play time soon!

Still Life Watercolor with a Ball Jar

The best subject to draw or paint is one you find fascinating and beautiful.  I use this Ball jar in my studio to hold water for my brushes, and I use it because I find it beautiful.

I wanted to practice painting its transparent, glassy, colorful form.  I began with a light pencil sketch, and laid in wet-in-wet washes of a variety of blues:  Prussian, Pthalo, and Cerulean. 

 I added in the cast shadow, and after the watercolor had dried, I added linework details with Faber Castell permanent black pens, and a Uniball white pen.

The final result was that I got to spend some time exploring watercolors and the way light passed through this gorgeous old jar.  I was pleased with the painting, but mostly, I was grateful for the time I got to spend creating with no other purpose in mind.

I find this sort of project to be healing and restorative after a busy day at work.  Peace resides in my art studio, and it feels grounding and like prayer to sit still and play with my art supplies.

I hope you spend some time playing with your art supplies soon!

Osher Figure Drawing with Amelia

Model Amelia started off our Osher Figure Drawing fall semester with a beautiful series of gesture poses that inspired the whole class.  Here are a few of my drawings of her artful poses.

Many thanks, Amelia!

Inspiration from an Old Stump

Out on a hike with my Nikon D-70s, I found this battered stump just as I was returning to my car at sunset.  The vibrant moss and the wild tangle of vines caught my eye, and I snapped a photo.

At home, I downloaded the file to my computer and set up my studio for painting.

I made a quick pencil sketch, and broke out my gouache paints.  Gouache is like watercolor paint, but opaque if you keep it thick. 

I love taping off the margins on a nature journal page, and then setting to work laying in the colors -- big areas first, then delving into the delightful details.

Of course, I picked out the details I liked and painted the rest in generalities.  At the end, that's the beauty -- we get to focus on the parts of the scene that inspire us.  We're not creating another photograph, but a painting.  And in that painting, we express our artist's eye & our spirit.  

May you get to follow your artist's eye and express your spirit soon!

Figure Drawing with Model Melissa

Recently, I had the opportunity to draw model Melissa, who created lovely poses, like this semi-reclining scene.  The diagonal lines, the artful use of a folding fan, and the beautiful shapes created within the pose, like her foreshortened thigh made this pose a delight to draw.  

Many thanks to model Melissa!

Vintage Art Supplies

What is it about vintage art supplies that thrills me?  I get swept away into idealism and nostalgia for the materials I remember from my childhood, when I spent endless happy hours drawing, painting, and creating in a messy state of wonder. 

The price is usually cheaper than modern materials, and the quality is often much better.  And, I like to think that forgotten art materials feel pride and delight in being used for their intended purpose rather than being left to gather dust, or worse,  dumped in the landfill.  

They want to be found by someone who will love them and make art with them!

 

A week ago, I found a box of 72 Koh-I-Noor graphite leads at the Pittsburgh Center for Creative Reuse.  A half gross of professional grade 4B leads, just waiting to create amazing drawings! All for $12. A bargain!

At 3mm thick, the graphite leads wouldn't fit into any mechanical pencil I had.  An internet search led me to a vintage mechanical pencil on ebay, for $12. 

It arrived on Black Friday, and I excitedly ripped into the package, and loaded it up with a lead.  There's a magic to new art supplies.  With the winds of excitement blowing you along, you freely explore all the different types of marks your new tool can make. There is no right or wrong, just discovery and play.

And this is the best approach for art making with any supply -- no expectations, only explorations and experiments.

I began making sketches, and discovered that the thick lead created wonderful masses of tone when I turned it on its side (above).

I could sharpen the tip with a sandpaper sharpener or even a regular pencil sharpener, and get fine lines. 

The 4B graphite created dark tones, but also seemed quite strong and stiff, able to take a fair bit of pressure from the side.

I set out with my pencil and sketchbook, and found barnwood, winter weeds, and songbirds outdoors to sketch.

And at the end of the explorations, I had a journal filling with sketches, and a pencil that seemed happy to be back to work.  

I hope you get a chance to test out some art supplies -- vintage or modern -- soon!