L is for Lucky Me

Sometimes, when the art work is going well, I feel lucky. Lucky to have the time, resources and ability to spend making art. This last run of word/picture drawings is one of those times. I feel like I've stumbled into something new, challenging, mysterious and interesting.

 

Today's piece is the next step in working on yesterday's image. I used Photoshop for the color. What fun!

 

 

I is for .... I

Initially my idea was to brainstorm possibilities for the letter I, but as I began to think, I pulled a sheet of drawing paper from a pad and wrote a large letter I in the center. Then I began to write the I words that were occurring to me, using the words to create the pattern.

This is not a new approach to drawing for me. I first found this in the work of Paul Klee, and have used this idea with my seniors to create a really beautiful project that told their stories in shapes and color based on their names and the things they value. But this was different.

As soon as I began to work with the shapes created by the words (all begin with I and are related to creativity), I changed course and started to add lines. The lines suggested a scene. I cropped out part of the image and began to add color using Prismacolor markers - thick and thin.

I loved the results, but was still inspired to go further, so I photographed this and brought it into Photoshop to continue playing. This is the result - words into picture. Get the idea?

Z is for Zinnias

YAY! I've made it through the alphabet, though not yet through the entire month. After 26 days I really feel like I am in a productive and creative zone, and glad to be meeting my own goal of creating and sharing something everyday for this month.

Today's work is based on a photograph of zinnias - it is done in Photoshop.

Once again, setting out to plan a painting, I have combined digital effects that result in an image that reads as a painting, and provides me with the guide I need to move to the canvas. However, once again, I feel like this stands alone as a work of art worth sharing.

I have always loved making computer art. I have decades of experience in graphic design using all kinds of computer art tools - CorelDraw 1 anybody?  But I used to feel guilty about using my tools to create "fine art."  Lately though, the more I experiment, the more images I create, the more my point of view shifts. I think art happens where and how it happens -

For me, using digital tools allows me to build my visual and my technical skills. They also enable me to accomplish another of my goals for this month - to understand how to abstract an image. As I play with Photoshop and Illustrator, I begin to see how to simplify, how textures and shapes combine to "read" as flowers, or seascapes or sunsets. Most of all, no matter where the working takes place,  I am LEARNING everyday and with every piece.

How do you feel about painting in Photoshop or other digital tools? How do you use them in conjunction with your art?

P is for playing, peppers and Photoshop

Today is Art Everyday Month, day 16!

I have had a busy day. I taught 18 kids in my Young Rembrandts class this afternoon and spent the morning prepping. 

There was grocery shopping, dog walking and dinner prep in the mix too. By the time I am getting around to making my everyday art, I am out of ideas, and out of energy.

But, I am determined to do something everyday, so I opened Picasa and started scrolling through my pix seeking inspiration. Last summer I had a huge harvest of wild looking peppers - I took many pictures of them, and even drew some. One of my favorite photos swam into my vision. OK - P is for peppers.

The pepper in the photos are bright bright red and green and shiny  - somehow the colors are not grabbing me tonight - but the wild curvy shapes are interesting. So, I opened the image in Photoshop and just started to play - there is lovely music playing in the background, and frankly, trying filters and effects on photos with Photoshop is my idea of relaxation. I think the results are relaxing too - and so different from the original image. They have gone from garden reality to undersea abstraction with just the clicks of a mouse.

Once again this brings me to the value of this challenge - I am amazing myself with the variety of approaches I have at my fingertips. I feel like I am stretching and building my art muscles each day. Today's image suggests an idea for a painting .... so, who knows what tomorrow will bring.

L is for the Love of Learning Something New

I am learning to paint in acrylics. Actually, I am learning to paint. Learning something new is just about my favorite thing to do - and learning to paint is a challenge on many many levels.

The desire to learn to paint began just over two years ago when I took a class in pastels. After a significant birthday I felt the need to prepare myself for a new stage in my life - one in which I had more time to create, and more need for a way to occupy my time with something meaningful and pleasurable.

From that time on, I was hooked on the fascination of trying to capture color and light and images in pastel, and later, in pencils and markers. As I worked, and experienced both moments of elated success and dismal failure,  I began to understand that each piece is a teacher. I often find myself staring at something and thinking - what did I learn? What did I do right? What would I do differently? How can I get better at this? Sometimes the answers are right in front of me, more often my growth requires outside assistance from articles, books, teachers, and my husband with his logical mind and eagle eye for details. But I have discovered one thing for sure - the answers and the progress and the learning lie in the doing.

So, now I am doing something new, something difficult, something exciting and frustrating. And I am learning - the list of what I am learning grows everyday. For example, I am learning about acrylic paints. The color names are a book in themselves. I read articles on the internet , look at the work of professional and amateur artists, and I take classes. But still, the real learning happens as I work, or rather, as I figure out HOW to work in this medium.  I am discovering that some paints are opaque, others transparent. Not all the tubes provide this information - though some do. Some colors mix beautifully with others, some, not so much. I am learning about surfaces to paint on, the best size for a piece, how to choose and arrange my tools and my paints, how to keep the paint from drying out, how much paint I need, ... I could go on an on (and I will, but not right now.)

One the toughest things for me is to understand WHAT to paint, because the images that lend themselves beautifully to pastels and color pencils do not always work in paint (and vice versa.) Though I often have ideas, I lack the skill to make them work.  So, one of the ways I am able to rehearse a painting is to depend on my digital tools for help.  I layout designs, try different strokes and techniques, play with color and shadows, and by doing this begin to understand where the light is, how the colors work together, how to adjust the proportions to improve the composition, and so much more. And sometimes, the digital image that results in just beautiful in its own right. The image above is one I used to plan a painting called Harvest - which is still not ready for prime time - but I like this  digital painting enough to share.

Now, I need to get ready for today's painting class. I can't wait to discover what I am about to learn.

E is for Energy

One of the things I have learned in my recent abstract painting class is the importance of naming your image. The act of giving your painting a name helps to focus the work.

So, before I began this painting, done in MyPaint, I decided my theme and name would be energy.

My teacher is right, having a word in mind begins the process of forming the image. As the seascape (one of my favorite subjects) began to emerge, the color choices and the brush strokes just flowed naturally.

B: is for I've Got the Blues

I've got the blues alright ... Blues as in ultramarine, cobalt, phthalo, and prussian blue.

One of the most intriguing aspects of working in an abstract way, is the discovery of acrylic paints. My pastels have always arrived in a box, or have been hand selected from a display - their name meant nothing - they were reds, or darks or greys or ... I loved the colors, but what counted was not the name, only the shade, the brand and the type. Now, as I am beginning to experiment with acrylics - a world of poetry has opened up. I love the names, but this medium is a total stranger to me - a world to discover. My limited experience is teaching me that some acrylics are thick, some are transparent. Some work well when watered down, some make me feel like Van Gogh as they swirl and ooze on the canvas. One thing for sure - they are a challenge for me  - so I often find myself using digital paint tools to think about what I might paint, and to practice the effects I have in mind (but not yet in hand.)

Which brings me to today's post. This painting was done with MyPaint, an open-source graphics application for digital painters. I was able to really focus on layering the colors to get the effects I wanted ... all the blues were there - and I played with them all, without getting my hands dirty.  Now, if only I can learn to do this with those lovely blues ...