The Super Bloom is still going in SoCal! On the trail are poppies, daisies, alyssum and now the mustard grass is in bloom. My process was an iPhone photo, then a drawing with color and then collage in Photoshop.
I finally attempted to do a drawing completely in ballpoint pen (I faced my fears of messing up). Thank you to my friend for donating their face to this cause, very much appreciated. The drawing isn't 100% accurate, I think we can all agree on that, but a decent first try.
The idea for this portrait came to me when I was looking at a packaging of soap - it was very glossy and it looked like it could look like pearls. As well as the soap packaging, I used white ink mixed with acrylic paint (for opacity) on black paper.
I generally make marks on something every day, but I'm really TRYING to do it purposefully in one single journal at a time. Here is a successful attempt from that particular day. I also have super ADHD, which means I pretty much never go up to my actual studio and only use what's out on my desk, because out-of-sight-out-of-mind.
My husband is finishing "...just one more episode of Law & Order: SVU" but Jane needs sleep... (shared notebook with my grandkids, hence the always-present random marks.)
More ballpoint pen experiments. This is with a Bic Round Stic (12 for $1.49 at Staples!) on just a bond paper. Making progress with this medium, methinks!
Chromatography is used in chemistry to dissolve a mixture and place it into a "mobile phase," which allows the solvent to carry it and its components up the paper. It shows the layers, exposing deeper, hidden tones and colors, something only seen when a solvent of the same polarity is used. It's odd. Life feels a bit like that, and I'm seeing the colors separate for the first time. It's all there, everything that's been hidden in the inky mess for the past however many years. And now it's smeared. Bold. Clear. But blurry. What's on me and what's on you? Where do we go from here?
I seriously can't have this prompt without drawing my sweet Sad. (Don't be mistaken, she only LOOK frail. She has steel bones and a manipulative streak a mile large)Red the webcomic https://herebevoodoo.com
Igor Stravinsky (1882–1971)
“I get up at about eight, do physical exercises, then work without a break from nine till one,” Stravinsky told an interviewer in 1924. Generally, three hours of composition were the most he could manage in a day, although he would do less demanding tasks—writing letters, copying scores, practicing the piano—in the afternoon.
Unless he was touring, Stravinsky worked on his compositions daily, with or without inspiration, he said. He required solitude for the task, and always closed the windows of his studio before he began: “I have never been able to compose unless sure that no one could hear me.” If he felt blocked, the composer might execute a brief headstand, which, he said, “rests the head and clears the brain.”
- From Daily Rituals: How Artists Work by Mason Currey
"And I Can't Get It Out of My Head"
Watercolor
I feel like I may be cheating since the song I was inspired by is not so simple, but I'm pleased with the result. To be completely honest, this was the piece I needed right now.
The past week has been interesting for me, I've found myself in a peculiar slump. There's not one thing I'm thinking or worrying about, it's a constant buzz of thoughts streaming through my head. Sometimes I can get the buzzing to quiet down, other times it gets overwhelmingly loud.
I've always found art to be a release, it fills in the blanks when I can't figure out how to make my words work. Lately, it's been more of a challenge than usual, but I think this piece says all I've been wanting to say.
