Work In Progress

This week I've been working more with watercolors. They are cool when they do what you want, but I'm finding there's a huge learning curve! I normally like bold colors and prefer acrylics when I paint, but I'm determined to try every lesson in Monica Zuniga's latest workshop. It is really stretching my comfort zone on a few things but that's good.

I thought I'd show you a sneak peek at a work in progress. I've been working on this painting for days now. I have to let it sit for awhile and then I go back to it. There are some areas of the face that need a lot of work but this little bit looked okay to show. I have another watercolor painting going right now, too, but the light was too bad tonight to get a good shot of it. I can't decide whether I like it or not. I'll have to look at it again tomorrow in the daylight.

I've also started another encaustic painting. I've got about four layers on it but it's all just white encaustic paint and medium. I can't decide what I want to do with it. There are a lot of techniques I still want to try; I just need to decide which one I'll use for this painting. ;)

So, that's what's going on behind the scenes. Slowly making some progress and then just waiting to see what comes next. I hope to have some sort of finished piece to show soon!

Permission To Dance

This is my latest encaustic: "Permission To Dance". It's 9" x 12" encaustic on wood panel. I think it's interesting that I'm into this pink/yellow/green mode with my color choices now. These aren't the colors I'm normally drawn to. But looking over the work I've done this past couple of weeks, my Muse seems to want to play with them.

This piece was a totally new departure. It's painted entirely in layers of Pan Pastels and encaustic medium. The incised lines and dots are filled in with oil paint. I read on Linda Womack's blog (love her encaustics!) about her experiments with the Pan Pastels. She said she wanted to try an entire painting using them. So did I after seeing her results.

I recently ordered a bunch of new colors and decided to see how they would do with the encaustic medium. Dreamy!! Plus, it saves on the cost of encaustic paints if I can alternate between the two. This opens up a whole new world of possibilities! I will definitely be playing more with the Pan Pastels in my future ecaustic work.

On another note, in Monica Zuniga's "Inspire Me" workshop I did this painting on watercolor paper. I call it "Roses For A Blue Lady".

Again with the color palette! But I enjoyed playing with watercolors for this piece! This portrait was painted entirely in watercolors, white acrylic paint and watercolor pencils. Loving the results I get with that combination. Then I just added some collage material, napkins, stencils and acrylic paints in the background. I LOVED her last lesson and she just posted another one for drawing/painting dolls. Anyone who knows me knows I have a BIG soft spot for anything to do with dolls. So my attempt at that may be coming soon.

That's it for today. Just finished the encaustic piece. Hours fly by when I'm playing with these! The whole afternoon is gone but I love the results.

I Stand Alone

This is the latest encaustic piece I'm working on. I may still add some more medium to it. It's called, "I Stand Alone". I did another shellac burn with this one but this time I used Bronze Metallic pigment. I got a little too much on it, but I'm learning. I think overall it turned out pretty good.

This was the first time I used the encaustic gesso before working on a piece. I put on three coats of the gesso, sanding between coats. Then I applied two layers of encaustic medium, a layer of white encaustic paint, the image and then three more layers of encaustic medium. The image was printed onto rice paper and adhered with the medium. I love how the rice paper sinks into the wax. Easy to adhere!

I'll be practicing more with everything this weekend. I'm wanting to incorporate different elements for the collaged pieces. Right now, both pieces with the shellac burn are mounted in my living room and I'm enjoying them!

Feeling The (Shellac) Burn

We are havin' some fun now! I finally got up the nerve to try the wet shellac burn technique. Of course I waited til hubby was out of town ;) . I've been itching to try this since I saw it in the book "Encaustic Workshop". There are a lot of techniques I want to play with in that book.

So what you do: You coat your board with a layer of encaustic medium. This is an 8" x 8" x 2" wood panel. Then you dab on some shellac with a paper towel. I found through trial and error that you put on quite a bit of shellac to get the look I wanted. Then, while it's still wet, you sprinkle on some metallic pigments. This is a Pearl Ex pigment in the shade Duo Blue Green. I love the metallic pigments of Pearl Ex. Then you kind of rub the pigment into the shellac a little bit. Next you take a match or torch and light it up. The flames shoot up immediately and you can either blow them out or let it burn itself out. I waited until I got the look I wanted, then blew out the flames. It makes this crackling sound while it burns. I LOVE the results! I also embedded a bronze charm in the wax. I call this, "Excavation".

Here is a closeup of the piece. I'm trying to get a good shot where you can see the metallic pigment powders shining through. You can't really tell from the photos but it's an awesome effect:

Here's another closeup. The blue dots on the edges are embedded into the shellac and they shine through. I wish I were a better photographer.

The dark brown areas are where the shellac was burning and it gives off this gorgeous brown/amber color.

I definitely want to do more of these! There is also a technique called the dry shellac burn. You let the shellac dry completely and then you take your torch to it. It won't go up in flames like the wet burn does, but you'll get the circles burned like you see here. You have more control over where you want to place your burning on the dry technique. I'll have to try that one too. :)

So that's what I played with today. I have a few more encaustic pieces I'm working on and will post those soon. I've also been taking a Plexiglas workshop and will show something I painted for that.

Dreaming

Dreaming...more like daydreaming! Dreaming about all of the things I want to do, dreaming about having the time and the skill to do them. Ahhh...hopefully, one day all of it will materialize.

I love these two photos I have in my archives. One is of a ramp going out toward the water and the other is a sunset on a water scene with a figure walking along the beach. I merged the two and put them on a background of merged CitraSolv papers. I love staring at the water and dreaming...that's what these images remind me of.

It's funny, the images that can attract me at any certain time. For some reason lately I've been drawn to any images I see about the circus. I'm not necessarily crazy about the circus; I don't think I've ever been to one. But just the right images have piqued my Muse's curiosity and we are experimenting with a few things. Once I get a good sketch down, I'll try to incorporate the encaustics.

There was a great circus theme in the last issue of the Anthropologie catalog. One image in particular caught my eye. I did some manipulating with more CitraSolv backgrounds, some funky blending modes and finally a few filters and ended up with this:

There's something brewing in my head that I want to nail down and put on the canvas. Hopefully it will make itself known soon. The circus theme is a perfect one to experiment with. I'm itching to try a few techniques that I've been reading about in the encaustic workshop book. They all involve shellac burns using a butane torch. Scary, the thought of me with a torch (even a small one). But I'm going to try. I found a nice little torch at Lowe's and now I'm set for the experiments.

My brother and sister are coming in today and staying through the weekend. Maybe I'll talk my sister into playing in my studio for a while. ;) I haven't seen them since Christmas so I'm really excited that they are visiting.

When I've had a chance to try my hand with the torch, I hope to have something worthwhile to show. Wish me luck!

Day Into Night

Here are two more encaustic paintings I've been working on. The painting in the top photo is called, "Day Into Night". I also incorporated one of the many images I've transferred onto pieces of muslin. I'm still not getting the look I want with the wax but I'm learning more as I go along. I keep forgetting to heat my surface first, then add the wax. It will just take a while to get used to it. I also had to get some different brushes. The bristles were still coming out of mine, even though they were supposedly "natural" hair brushes.

This next one was another experiment with adding encaustic medium to a CitraSolv page. I tore part of the CitraSolv background page and adhered it to black cardstock that I'd already glued down on the clayboard panel. I then added the encaustic medium to get the smoky, cloudy look. Finally I just flicked on different colors of encaustic wax paint and added the flowing color at the bottom. This was for a challenge at Art From The Heart.ning. The theme was "In Darkness".

I thought this section of the CitraSolv background was so cool. It looks as if there is a figure partially hidden behind a curtain. It's just the way that the inks melted onto the page partially obscuring a person in the photograph. I like the "ghostly" look.

I said when I posted this to the group that I could identify with the figure hiding behind the curtain. The title of the piece is "Hiding In The Shadows".

That's it for now. I'm hoping to have another couple of pieces ready soon. I've been experimenting with different techniques. Some have worked while others...I'm not quite there yet.

Experiments In Encaustics

I'm finally able to start experimenting! I received my encaustic medium today so now my kit is complete. The top photo, "Sunday Morning Mist", is my first attempt at using the encaustic medium. There's that cloudy look I'm after! I am going to have to get some detail brushes. The chip brushes are fine for slathering on paint but I need some smaller ones too.

Since I didn't get the medium until today, I have still been playing with the paints. Here is "Wild". This is a different look than you are accustomed to when you think of encaustic. I LOVED the demo of how to do this on the FineArtStore site. They sell the encaustikos brand of products and a little thing called the pen tool. That's what I used to paint this one:

You get a lot more detail with the pen tool (and a very fine point nib). You have to dip the pen into the wax paint and then make your strokes. It's kind of like writing with a calligraphy pen but you don't fill the pen; you have to dip it each time into the wax and then paint. Takes a lot of patience but I'm getting better at it. I like the looks you can get with it. It's great for blending the wax to get just the right shade. I'm working on a bigger face right now but it will definitely take a while.

These next two were just done on 3.25" x 7.25" basswood. I wanted to start out small. The first one is called "Pink Attitude". I wanted to get the feel of the wax paint and practice mixing it on the palette. At the end I just splattered white wax all over it. I also used an image I transferred to muslin. I used the wax to glue her down.

The last one is called, "Bleeding Heart". I used another image transfer on muslin and painted over it with the white wax.

I'm getting used to working with the wax. I have some other colors on order and hope to get those soon. I also have to work with a window fan as my exhaust system. That means the window is up, holding the fan while it blows the air out. I've had to bundle up while working! At first I was just using the ceiling fan but after reading the hazard warnings I decided to do as they suggest. We are going to get an exhaust fan for the window and then we'll be set. In the meantime I'll keep using the window fan.

Encaustic: My New Adventure!

After much anticipation, I finally received my encaustic kit! Yay!! However, there were a couple of things missing. :( The kit is shipped directly from the manufacturer so sometimes that will happen. Happy to say that DickBlick made it all okay and is sending the missing parts: the encaustic medium and one more paint color. But in the meantime, I can still play.

Here is the basic setup that you receive (minus the brushes). You also receive the book, "The Art of Encaustic Painting" by Joanne Mattera. That will be a big help. This morning I stopped by the library and picked up a couple of other books on encaustic techniques so I'll have lots of things to try; at least those that don't require the encaustic medium, anyway.

On another note, here are a couple of the latest digital pieces I made using more CitraSolv backgrounds merged together in Photoshop. I am wanting to incorporate these backgrounds into my encaustic pieces as collage material. I know I'll need the encaustic medium for that, so that experiment will have to wait until the medium arrives in the mail.

This first piece is called, "The Road Home". I am wanting to make a similar piece in encaustic:

This next one is called "Tunnel Vision". You may remember the man from one of my very first CitraSolv papers. I told you I'd be using him in my art! ;)

So I'm off to play. I'll check back in a few days with my progress. I've also ordered more colors of the encaustic paint. They have some yummy colors out there! I'll experiment with mixing what I have here and see what I can come up with.

Blue Marilyn

I must still be in my Blue mood. I seem to be using a lot of it lately. This is "Blue Marilyn". It's another torn-paper collage portrait done in the Warhol style. I added a few things to this one, though. I still used all CitraSolv background papers torn into different shapes.

When it was "finished" I stood back and thought there were just too many competing colors and patterns in the background. So I took out my Shiva paintstiks and blended out the background just leaving the image of Marilyn. I like this much better. I wasn't sure how the Shiva's would do over CitraSolv paper and I had to fight the fear of ruining it. I just plunged in and did it. Then I added some pink Shiva's here and there along the border to give it a little more contrast.

Here is the Andy Warhol portrait that I used as my model:

I didn't stick to the colors that he used but I did sketch her onto the canvas pretty much the way she looks here. The challenge was tearing strips to fit into the sketched shape. I did end up just painting her teeth. I thought about using the papers but couldn't get a good color to look right.

I've been working on this non-stop for a couple of days. It's 12" x 12" canvas panel that is 1 1/2" deep. Now, on to the next project!

Moody Blue

So I was playing in Photoshop again and wondered what would happen if I ... merged some of my CitraSolv backgrounds together to create new ones? I don't know why I hadn't thought of that before. I love the results!

Miss Moody Blue...love her hair! That vibrant blue is what comes from using different blending modes, hues, saturation levels on the merged backgrounds. It's almost iridescent-looking. I have a special background that I'm using to merge a lot of these with. Here is a subtler version of the blue merged with two other backgrounds:

I call this one, "Threshold". So now I have even more versions to play with!

Lots of things going on behind the scenes here. I'm working on another torn-paper collage, Warhol-style, but that's all I'm going to say about it for now. You'll have to wait until it's finished. ;) Hopefully, that will be in the next day or two. I was asked to enter the first Warhol collage in an Andy Warhol contest. How cool is that? There are some awesome entries so far but it was nice to be included!

That's all for now. Just wanted to share these new finds. More to come shortly.

Soul Searching 2: Minor Adjustment

I kept looking at this thinking that the bottom area needed something...so I added the definition of "Soul" that I tore from an old dictionary. Now I think it's finished! ;)

Soul Searching: Citra Encaustic?

This is my latest discovery: CitraSolv backgrounds plus beeswax mounted onto 6" x 12" plywood. I love encaustic art. Someday I want to try my hand at it. Right now the cost of the materials needed is too prohibitive for me. So I started thinking about what I like about encaustics: the wax layers and the cloudy look on parts of the paintings.

Thanks to Suzi Blu and her Petite Dolls Class I had worked with melting beeswax onto paintings that were mounted on plywood. I thought I would try that with the backgrounds just to see what effect I would get.

The page I chose to work with wasn't quite 12" long to accommodate the length of the plywood. So I cut a strip from another similar background and mounted both to the plywood. Then I just melted the wax over the piece. Some places I had more wax buildup than others to give a more opaque look to the finished piece.

I had this charm that I ordered from Judy Wilkenfeld's wonderful Etsy shop. I knew I would use it in something special one day. So I dug it out and she fit perfectly in the little area near the top. I even used the beeswax to attach her. After she was attached, I figured out the title for the piece: "Soul Searching".

I really like the look of this. I'm not sure the photos really do it justice. Here are a few closeup shots that I took with the light hitting it at different angles so you can see the wax on the piece:

The cloudy areas are where the wax built up.

Here is the original CitraSolv paper cropped to the area in the photo above. You can see how adding the wax changes the look of the paper.

I love working with the beeswax and until I can do the authentic version of encaustics, I think I'll stick with experimenting this way!

Andy Warhol: Torn-Paper Collage

And now, something totally different! This is a torn-paper collage of one of my all-time favorite artists, Andy Warhol. As an added twist, I only used torn pieces of my CitraSolv background pages. It is a little abstract (ok, a lot) but I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out.

This is the final week of class in Misty Mawn's Portrait Workshop. I hate to see it end :( The lesson this week is on self-portraits. I have managed to dig up an old photo of myself and will make a sketch based on that. I certainly don't want to sketch how I look now (maybe when I'm braver). ;)

Before tackling that assignment I thought I would complete another one I hadn't gotten to yet: collaged portraits. Andy Warhol painted a lot of portraits...so I thought it only fitting to make one of him. Here is the original sketch I used as a model for the collage:


I had a lot of fun doing this one. I wanted to keep the color palette pretty narrow; mainly lights and darks. The example that Misty made was just black and white, using only text from magazines. The highlights used the white background, black text and the shadows used black background, white text pieces. I would like to try something like that next time. And then maybe something using more color. I like the way the CitraSolv papers tear into strips. It's very easy to work with.

There is still the lesson using the black pencil/white paint on a portrait that I haven't gotten to work for me yet. I'm determined to get something decent from that technique. It will just take me a while to get the right combination of paint/water to mix with the pencil.

And I'm working on my second page for the digital altered book. I already like the "canvas" I have to work with: the top of the page has the heading: artist's studio. Sounds like a good starting point!

Another Digital Altered Book

It's been awhile since I've done one of these. For those of you who don't know, Artella offers what is known as "digital altered books". Here's how it works: there are 10 pages from an old book (including the covers) that have been put into digital form. You buy the packet and then alter each page as you would a traditional altered book; only you do it digitally. When you have finished altering your pages and covers, you send your files back to Artella. They, in turn, will convert your digital files into a finished digital book that you can enjoy. There is a feature that lets you turn each page with your mouse, and you can even hear the pages as they turn!

This is where all of the digital elements I like to use come in handy. You can alter the pages to your heart's content! You don't have to keep any of the book text at all. Just "paint" over the whole thing if you like.

I've done three of these so far and had forgotten to put the links to them in my sidebar. They are there now under "My Digital Altered Books". Click on the link and it will take you to the Artella site where the books have been converted. My user name on the Artella site is "Isabella" so that's why the author of all my books has that name. ;)

So today I'm starting another one. The book is called, "A Romance of Two Worlds" and I have just finished page one. I always save the covers for last. I did keep a few snippets of text from the original page and then digitally altered the rest of it. So, every now and then I'll show a page from this project. It's been fun paging through the books again. I can see such a difference in my digital style now versus then. I've had another year of experience working in Photoshop but it's fun to re-visit older pieces.

Artella is hosting a digital altered book contest and the entries have to be completed by March 1. Digital art is something I really enjoy and can do pretty quickly so I should have no problem completing the 10 pages. The other three books I've done have been a lot of fun. Check them out!