Learning

I think that one of the causes of my recent case of the art doldrums is that I've been using tried and true techniques, and frankly, I've been bored. This little piece is far from resolved, but just because of the new materials I'm using, and because I don't always know what to expect out of them and there is an element of discovery of process, I feeling a glimmer of hope that my current will pick up speed.

    When Covid hit, I switched the color portion of my classes over to colored pencils because they are clean and tidy to use and students have an easier time adapting to them. One result of that change is that I have enjoyed using them as well. 

     The colored pencils are changing how I work with color. As a painter, I use a very limited palette and usually mix the colors that I need. Mixing can be done with colored pencils as well, but often, there is already a pencil of the right color. I'm in the process of identifying the pencils that create the effects that I would normally mix.

     Another new element is the surface I am drawing on. On paper or illustration board, it can take a bit of hand strength to build up the necessary layers of color to achieve the desired tones and hues. This piece is drawn on drafting film, which is a slightly textured translucent plastic. The colors are much easier to apply, and they can be blended easily with rubbing alcohol. It is also easy to erase on this surface, so I am enjoying the freedom of making mistakes and correcting them until something good happens.

   The Tombows are great on this surface as well. Even though I would still love to have built in erasers on each pencil, the pack I bought came with a wonderful eraser tool that has a very thin drafting type eraser in a clickable pen form. Since I also like to work reductively, that little eraser is a big help as I discover this new process in the New Year.

    

 

Something New

 

Yuletide Dream

 Last night, I dreamed I was working at school and there was a big gathering of administrators. My paintings were up on the walls. When I looked again, they were gone, and no one could tell me where they went. A little later, I found out they had been moved so the gathering could show a film. I think it means that I need to stop watching so many movies and get back to my studio. If only it had heat 😰,

    In another part, I talked to a very tall man who looked a lot like Beto O'Rourke. He had stars inside his irises. When I looked more closely, I saw that it was his glasses, projecting images that the person he was talking to would like. The man he was with saw galloping horses. 

  Still, he seemed very kind, and asked me if I would come to dinner with him. I said no, but, looking back, I wish I had said yes. Because how often does a woman get attention from a kind man with stars in his eyes?

Grocery List

I know I just said that I was uninterested in figures, and then this happened. 

 

It's starting to be a habit

It could be because I spend so much time helping students develop formal skills, or maybe it is just a natural step in the progression of images for an artist, but this is another one that started out as a figurative design and ended up getting changed almost completely into something else.  Part of that was because it was so fun to play with the Tombows. I love how they feel on the paper, but, I will admit to ending up with a good old Ticonderoga, because of it's handy dandy eraser. I wish manufacturers would install erasers on art pencils. 

    Right now, just after turning in grades, it feels good to play with the lines and forms, making use of the rules I teach, but with total freedom instead of being restricted to reality. I wonder what this would look like with a color overlay? Maybe I should ink it and then give it a try.

 

The Next New Thing

This is not my hand, nor is it my artwork, but boy, is the technology used to print this model tempting. The level of detail is amazing, and the printers and materials used in this type of printing are not that expensive. That, combined with department money that is burning a hole in my pocket, is tempting me to take the plunge into 3D resin printing. 

     The one thing that is holding me back are the environmental and safety issues that come along with the resin and curing process. I'm just starting to learn about the printers and materials, but my understanding is that the resins are quite toxic in their liquid state. In a school setting where things you'd rather not have happen will happen, I'll have to figure out how to make it safe in our shop and also how to dispose of waste safely. 

    The good news is that after the resin is cured, it is harmless. Also, there are some brands of resin that are made from plant matter, so it should be compostable. (In our nice new Mantis Composter!)

     I still have a lot of questions and logistical issues to solve before I commit, but I have a feeling this Pandora's box has already been opened. 

     

 

Improvisation

Sometimes, it is comforting to not pursue an objective image. This one started out with a couple of recognizable elements, and turned into an exercise in obliterating them with layered forms. While I was drawing this, I was watching a documentary about a Muslim man on his Hajj, who happened to be gay. I don't know if the chaotic nature of this image is a result of that, or of some quality of my own life. It's probably both.