Day 19- An Old Love

Blue Grotto

Acrylic Ink on Yupo, 5 X 7

After working and struggling with Alcohol Ink I decided to go back to an old love of mine, Acrylic Ink on Yupo. I used to do a lot of these just for the fun of watching the ink move around on the slick Yupo. I add water to the surface first, drop in the ink, move it around, spray it, drip it, and then just let it do it's thing. After a big piece dries, I find the things I like in it and just cut that section out. Or, working on a small piece, limit the colors and watch it develop. If I'm feeling less adventurous, I allow layers to dry and then can paint one on top of the other. I think I prefer it to the alcohol inks because it dries more slowly and I can manipulate it more. 

Day 18- Tangled Woods

Tangled Woods

collage. ink, and acrylic 5.5 X 7.5

This one was a struggle. I started it as a collage on Thursday,I was not happy with the result so I covered it, partially at first, with acrylic, then I tried some stenciling and finally ended up with the negative trees stencil. At that point I needed something to focus on so I put my stand-by bird stamp in it. I still don't like the pink on the lower left but have decided to move on. I'm hoping for better results for tomorrow's post.  

Day 17- Alcohol Ink Note Card

Wish I Were Here

Alcohol Ink Notecard

It's one of those days where I wish I were somewhere warm and sunny on the beach. It's a little cool for me today but I'm sure there are plenty of tourists who are loving the beach today. 

This alcohol ink painting was done on transparent/translucent Yupo so you can see the color of the card through the painting. It's fun to try them on different colors to see which one enhances the painting the best. 

Day 16- Drama Queen

Drama Queen

Acrylic on paper, 9 X 12

I was working on a collage and I didn't like the direction it was going or the results I was having. This morning I saw a picture in the Wall Street Journal that just inspired me to get out the acrylics and see what I could do with it. This isn't even close to the detail in the original picture but I was just going for the shapes and the colors which were so dramatic. I think I'll try it again, usually that doesn't work for me but I'll do it anyway, just to see what happens. It was really fun to paint and though you can't see it there is iridescent gold in the yellows and oranges. 

Day 15-Butterfly Kisses

Butterfly Kisses

Collage, 5.5 X 7.5

Now we're half-way through the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge. I think we're getting into the swing of painting everyday, but getting them posted everyday seems to be the hardest part of it. 

This collage is altered magazine pages, painted papers, printed papers, acrylic transfer and acrylic paint and medium on 140# watercolor paper.

Day 14-Balance

Balance

Collage, 3.5 X 5.5

We were at a beach in Maine last year where there were many stacked rocks. Some people do them as a type of meditation. The rocks are irregular in shape and it takes concentration to get them to balance. You need to breathe and be patient. Not unlike balancing life; breathe, be patient, put things in order, the big stuff first then add the smaller stuff. Some days the pile is short, some days it's tall. 

This collage was made from altered magazine pages, art paper, hand painted paper, acrylic paint and medium on watercolor paper.

Day 13- Upper Level Disturbance

Upper Level Disturbance

Alcohol Ink on Yupo 4 X 5.5

I think this is a weather term, or, I made it up! But on days when the weather doesn't turn out exactly as promised and it rains (or snows) on your picnic or parade, it seems like the forecasters like to use the these weather terms that sound really good. "It rained because  of an upper level disturbance over Montana." So this is my version of what an upper level disturbance would look like. What appears to be white and light gray is really a metallic silver ink that doesn't show up in a picture very well. 

Day 12- Kitty's Picture Window

Kitty's Picture Window

Alcohol Ink, Acrylic, Stamping and Pen on Yupo

I ended up using a studio full of media for this little 5.5 X 4 painting. The background started out as an alcohol ink which I've been playing with to see what it does. I thought it looked like trees in the distance then decided to make a kitty looking out of a window. She needed something to look at so then came the tree and the little bird stamp. To define the window sill I used black Sharpie, and to make the kitty opaque I ended up using white acrylic and Sharpie outline. I'm learning a lot by painting and experimenting every day.

Day 11- Messages

Messages

Collage 10 X 10

This collage is made mostly from altered magazine pages with the exception of the paper with script on it. I love putting script in my collages, it's unreadable up still recognizable for what it is. It lends a human touch to an otherwise abstract piece. It is all coated with gloss acrylic medium before being adhered by heat to the paper underneath. Acrylic is added to the torn edges and there are touches of red from an Inktense pencil. If you look closely you can see some dragonflies which were added last. 

Close up of dragonflies

Day 10, Gulf Sunset

Gulf Sunset

Acrylic Ink on Yupo, 5.5 X 7

Day 10! We're 1/3 through the month already. Amazing. I love sunsets. I love painting sunsets. Sunsets down here in SW Florida are wonderful, always changing, never dull, and can be a whole variety of colors. I think it's the humid atmosphere that must make them so beautiful. I really like the way the ink moved on this piece. I'd like to say that it wasn't an accident, that it was my skill but I cannot. I don't think I could duplicate this if I tried. 

I really appreciate the comments, they are very encouraging. 

Day 9, Georgia On My Mind

Georgia On My Mind

Alcohol Ink on Yupo, 7 X 5.5

Some artists are following as theme as Leslie suggested, I am not, obviously. I guess it's because of my random personality type, I get bored easily if I do the same thing every day. This is a rather experimental alcohol ink piece. I'm trying to get the stuff to flow before it dries, which seems to happen in about 6 seconds. I put down a layer of blending solution, then the ink and got some movement. This reminds me of the close up flowers that were painted by Georgia O'Keeffe, hence the title. More experimenting with this medium ahead.

Day 8 What Cats Think 2

What Cats Think 2

Acrylic on paper 9 X 11

My cats all spent a lot of time watching birds outside so I think they must think about birds. This is a companion to the one I did for yesterday's post. It has the same colors and similar stamping in the background. It was fun getting off the serious track and painting a couple of whimsical things, I think I'll have to try some more along that line.

Day 7 -What Cats Think 1

What Cats Think 1

Acrylic on 3003 paper

9 X 11

Of course I have no idea what cats think but this may be what they think, especially when they hear the can opener. We are one week into the Challenge; I'm already having a struggle trying to think out of the box and do something different that I don't usually do. Painting on this paper was so different and difficult compared to the Yupo. Yupo was so much easier to lift paint since it lays on the surface and doesn't sink in. Even with layers of acrylic it seemed like it was sinking into the paper, drying too fast and hard to get down to the layers underneath. So, it was a good lesson for me and fun to do something whimsical.

Day 6, 30 in 30 Challenge, Bright Future

 

Bright Future

Acrylic on Yupo, 9 X 11

This gal sees a bright future ahead, she's optomistic and ready for whatever life brings her way. It's painted in the same way as yesterday's painting with acrylic over alcohol ink on Yupo. These two paintings came together pretty easily for me. The one for tomorrow is giving me some difficulty but I will be like this painting and think positively. 

Thanks to all who have made comments, I really appreciate it. 

JOY! 30 in 30 Challenge, Day 5

JOY!

Acrylic and Alcohol Ink on Yupo

9 X 10

One of my goals for this year was to put more figures in my paintings. I had to let go of the need for perfect proportion, face my fears and just do it. Letting go brings joy, fun returns to the process. I think I had more fun with this than I have had with painting for a long time. It started as an early attempt at alcohol ink on yupo that I cut in two and started layering acrylic on top. I stamped and removed paint so that the colors underneath peeked through. I put in a figure shape and painted around it. I used a stencil for the rays and for the pattern on the skirt. 

Complete Triptych, Day 4 of 30/30 Challenge

Triptych 1

Triptych 2

Triptych 3

Each Collage 4 X 6

The Triptych series is now complete. It is matted and framed at 25 X 9. I did all three at the same time so that the colors and compositions would be compatible. Each one has a visual element evoking the sea. The two on the ends with seashells, the center one with a fish. I think it was a challenging learning experience to make them similar enough but not copy cats. I'm pleased with how they turned out and I will try to do more of these in collage and in painting, too.

Triptych, #2. Day 3, 30 in 30 Challenge

Triptych 2

Collage, 4 X 6

The second collage in the Triptych. These collages are made from various papers, a gold tissue paper, hand painted tissue, altered magazine pages, ink jet copies of an acrylic paint palette and copyright free art papers. When you begin doing collage you start to save everything. It's amazing the things you see that you might want to incorporate into a collage; packaging material, single earrings, fortunes from fortune cookies, candy wrappers, old book and music pages, bags from boutiques, and even paint palettes. Everything is altered in some way by being painted or stamped. 

I loved the range of colors on a piece of palette paper from a painting I had been doing so I let it dry and now I make copies of it on my printer to use in collage. See the bottom section on this collage. 

Triptych 1-30 in 30 Challenge Day 2

Triptych 1

Collage 4 X 6

There's nothing like a challenge to get the juices going. I enjoyed an afternoon in the studio today working on several things. No sense doing just one when you have the paints and brushes out. This series of three has been in the works for quite awhile and waiting for the final touches. The three collages will be in a vertical frame with three openings in the mat. I'll be posting one a day, adding one each day so by Sunday there will be all three. I'll post a link to the blog that has the challenge as well. It's fun to see the several hundred artist's works that are posted.

A Bright Beginning- 30 Day Challenge #1

Poppies

Alcohol Ink on Yupo 8.5 X 10

I wasn't going to take on the 30 Day Challenge again because of the loaded calendar coming up this month but if I don't do the Challenge I won't paint at all. Even if I don't paint and post every day I will still do more than if I didn't participate at all. The hard part is getting the digital copy ready to put on line. 

This is the largest alcohol ink painting that I have attempted. I started it before Christmas and finished it today (I think). Some fellow artists gave me some positive feedback on it which gave me courage to continue to develop it. The light centers are metallic gold which doesn't show up in the photo but it does seem to add a bit of sparkle to the original. 

Out With the Old

 Butterfly Card

Bird Card

I'm back from our Christmas trip to visit family in Arizona and wanted to finish up the year with a blog post. These are two more alcohol ink experiments on which I stamped. I found that it will take some practice to get the stamp done correctly on these. Since they didn't turn out too clearly I outlined them with silver pen. I think it helped but I'm not sure. Perhaps black would have been better. 

Some bloggers that I follow; Myrna Wacknov and Karen Knutson, both wonderful artists, are setting about to have goals for the new year. It got me thinking that perhaps, for growth, some goals would be a good thing. Myrna says they are not goals unless you write them down. So, with that in mind I'm going to venture forth and commit to some goals of my own. Here I will just state my artistic goals, personal goals will be a more private thing, but I will write them down, which is goal #1.

#2 is to explore of placing a figure or face in my abstract works.

#3 is to work in a larger format, beyond 12 X 12. This for me is very ambitious. I like the instant gratification of small collages and paintings.

#4 is to join and participate in the local Fine Craft Association, something I've said I would do for the last 2 years but haven't done. 

I think 3 art goals are enough for a beginner in writing down goals. Kind of scary for my personality type. 

I signed up for the 30 day Challenge again. What was I thinking?? My January is going to be crazy but if I don't challenge myself, I won't be creating my art. 

Blessings in the new year to all! May your goals all be accomplished and dreams realized.