Paint Out Loud

I worked on another spontaneous water-media painting today.  Come on in to the studio and I'll share the process!

 

 

Initially, it looked rather ugly, but I'm learning to roll with the process.  If I let that pesky inner critic of mine get the upper hand, I'd never get past the first step!  I sprayed some watered down watercolor over some stencils.  Then, I remembered Traci, our wonderful workshop teacher suggesting that we find different ways to make marks with common objects.  I took a bamboo skewer (the kind that normal people would make shish-kabob with), dipped it into acrylic ink, and dragged it across the paper to make star shapes.

 

 

Using Davinci watercolor in Indian Yellow, I painted some shapes with a size 8 round brush.

 

 

I chose three of my hand-carved rubber stamps, and stamped patterns using Caran D'Ache Neocolor II crayons to apply color.

 

 

As I developed this painting, I started thinking about what I'm about as an artist and a person.  Mostly, what you see is what you get with me.  I'm excited about making art, enthusiastic, and I believe in letting it show.  I'm not afraid of color (can't you tell?) and I want people to be excited when they look at my art.  No snoring allowed!  I want my art to exude joy.  Life has enough of its own troubles with adding somber, sad art to the mix.  I want to lift others out of that sadness, and make their hearts skip a beat!  The affirmations I've included in this piece reflect this philosophy.  I penned them with a Sakura Brush marker.  I love the Sakura pigma pens.  Once they dry, you can get them wet or paint over them, and they absolutely will not smear or bleed!

 

 

At this point, the piece needed something to help tie it together.  Since I've used so many warm colors in it, I decided to spray a watered-down wash of DaVinci Lemon Yellow over it.  It is the cooler of the yellows, and it served to make the other elements pop out more.  I then used a Bic Wite-Out Correction pen to "find the doodle in the doodle" as Traci says.  As I stepped back, I realized that it needed some cooler dark accents.  I used a Cobalt Blue Neocolor II crayon for this.

 

 

The last step was to use a red Sharpie pen to add more linework to the red flowers.  The best, however was yet to come.  Traci told us to take close-ups of selected pieces of the finished work.  As I looked at these photos, I began seeing all sorts of possibilities.

 

 

Some of them would make fabulous original note cards.

 

 

This would make a great framed print for the studio.

 

 

This would be great printed on a coffee mug for a favorite artist friend.

 

 

And wouldn't this make a cool cover for an art journal, or sketchbook journal?

 

Well my friends, it is 11 p.m. in Morgantown, and I'm about to turn into a pumpkin!  I'll be back soon with more fun in the studio.  If you haven't checked out Traci Bautista's fabulous online workshop, Doodles Unleashed yet, please do.  And while you're at it, why not visit Traci's blog, Creativity Unleashed?  It is an artist's garden of inspiration.  I promise you, you'll have a fantastic time and you will come away on fire for making art.  God bless you all, and I'll see you again soon!

 

Until next time,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Comments

[Renee]

Awesome Terri!!! I'm also taking Traci's class and love your work there!
I just followed your blog and would love it if you'd follow mine also...
happy painting today and always!
Renee

[tina]

I LOVE this! I'm pretty new to the world of Mixed Media art, but love learning it! I admit I'm having some difficulty getting messy, and that's funny to me because I don't mind clutter in my home so much, but to clutter up a painting is new to me. I'm still trying to find that free and devil-may-care approach with a blank piece of paper in front of me!.. Still, I LOVE to draw, doodle, paint, scrapbook, crochet, bake, and craft.. I love art in any form! I'm now a subscriber to your blog, and thank you so much for your comment on my Book of Days journal pages about "Time". After seeing nearly 20 people had looked at it, and not a single comment, I was worried just how AWFUL WAS THIS?!! (0; Thank you for giving my confidence level the small boost I needed here! Have a great weekend! ~tina