... or I'm sure it is somewhere in a sunny place. LOL
I didn't do too much art during December, too many other things going on and no motivation, so I've had a bit of a creative break. Who needs that kind of break??? ha ha
An artist on youtube, Jane Davies makes various videos and sometimes they are just short ones to show some sort of technique, so that is where I took this idea from.
Just so you'll know, these that I am showing were not meant to be finished pieces of art, they are just showing my first tests to see how it works. When she shows the technique, she was looking at it as more of a way to include another layer in an abstract painting, mixed media with paint and collage or the such. Of course it can be used for any way anyone would like to use it, but she wasn't showing it solely as using it alone to form a piece of art. She also said she did not make up this technique.
Also, I know these photos are less than stellar. I took them late last night as I went along and pictured taking better photos of them this morning in some natural light, but this morning has refused to provide decent light as it is cloudy and rainy, so, at least you can get the jist of it all.
This is the first one I played with.
The process in a nutshell is, to put some color on your paper or canvas (or whatever you choose), not too thick, but before it can dry, you go over it with another color. Then you take a pipette of some sort, fill it with water and make a design or some shapes. THEN, you take a flat edged scraper and pull it across where you have put the water and if it works right, it will have loosened some of the top color and will expose some of the color beneath. One other thing is that you need paper towels or the such handy as when you scrape across the water, it will pool in front of your scraper and you will want to have something to soak the excess water up where you stop the scrape. That part was also a fun experience, trying to see how to control that.
I was fascinated with the way it worked and the shapes and color combinations that it left, something that in my opinion, you would never be able to totally control, no matter how may times you do it. (I could be wrong on that.)
Here is a photo that shows the pipette I used. This plastic is soft on the large bulb end and lets you squeeze it and then draw up water into it, but any type could be used. I thought I might like something with a smaller open end to help the water not flow out of it so fast, but that is a research item for the future, if there is such a thing. There certainly isn't a lot of control.... some.... but not precise. I'm sure that part would get better with practice though, even using the kind I did.
This was my second play page. My least favorite, but then, like I said, it's somewhat hard to predict what you will end up with and if you were only using them as the beginnings of a background of a yet unfinished piece, the least liked one, could eventually be the base for the end piece you like the best.
This was my third one. I love the colors on this one. I was experimenting as I went by putting dark colors down first or lighter colors down first, to see where they would go. This one had some really happy spots in it.
A closer up of one area. The upper left corner is washed out, again the product of me taking the photo at night under a strong art light, but for real it was brilliant all over.
The effects of doing this kind of reminded me of batiking designs that are done on fabric, where a design is made on fabric with wax and then the fabric is dyed a color, then more wax is added in another part of the design and it is dyed a different color and over and over till the desired end. It is no quick task, but makes some beautiful fabrics or art pieces.
Anyway.....
For the last piece I played with in the wee hours of the morning, I changed from the pipette as a tool for the water, to a water pen. These are hollow, soft plastic tube type things that have a tip that screws on the end that has a paint brush on it. They have different shaped tips. I wanted to see if the water could be controlled any better with them. I still wasn't trying to be totally specific on the design.
This photo is after I painted the layers, put on the water, but before I used my scraper to scrape the excess water off. I kind of liked it this way and thought that sometime later, I might try one on an individual paper or canvas without taking off the water. It would take longer to dry of course, but just a mental note as something else to try. These were all being done in one of my mixed media sketch books.
....and THIS is after I scraped the water off. It's pretty humorous I think. I don't know what that is, but I think it's dancing.
I was having fun and didn't want to stop experimenting, but I looked up and it was 3:30 AM.... Whert???? LOL.... so I had to quit and go to bed.
So here I sit on a yucky weather Sunday morning, writing my post while my curling iron is heating on the vanity in my bathroom, waiting for me to spiff up my hair, so the cloudy raining mess can destroy anything I do to it when I go out the door.....I'm not sure why I'm wasting my time, but I seem compelled to do so.
I stepped out on my front porch to take a photo to show the gray morning. It actually was a little darker than this, but my camera is always making it's best effort to brighten up the photos somehow. I stood there on the porch in the 40something degree temps, listening to the unseen rain quietly patter down. Serene.......... but YUCKY!
In a few moments when I push PUBLISH, I will then play with my hair and get myself dressed to go out to Mom's. She and my Sibs are celebrating my recent birthday with lunch and a fun visit. I like it when my birthday lasts a long time.
"THEY" (those weather people) said a few days ago that the super cold snap was going to be covering this weekend and I wasn't looking forward to getting out in that, but I have been amazingly blessed that they were wrong about the timing and instead of being 11 degrees today, it is now supposed to be in the mid to upper 40s all day and then dropping over night. I hope they are wrong and it doesn't get as cold as they say, but if it does, we are in for a deep deep freeze and who knows whatever might go along with that.
That's it for now my friends.
I hope you are doing well and that your hearts are happy.
