As part of a Skillshare class again, Abstract Art With A Twist: Personalize Mondrian, I reexamined my misconceptions about Piet Mondrian. I’ve dabbled in other projects that played around with his look, this bowl in glass was one of my favourites. Continue reading
Just one of my small candy paintings but I wanted to play with acrylic mediums a little more, I know nothing about them so it’s all play and learn. It always seems like I’m starting completely fresh but before long, I find there’s things that I already know how to do. Continue reading
I’m not entirely comfortable with working abstract so, for me, that means working abstract for a while. I started, as I often do, with a class. And a painting that started as a light reflection became an examination of the ephemeral nature of my usual work and the value that is placed on my time when I’m painting compared to when I sew. On this basis alone, I would recommend the class. Continue reading
I’ve always been afraid of paint. My technique has only recently come along to a point where I can use the word “technique” and not snicker. But, of course, the way past any fear like that is to charge at it as much as you’re able until, sure enough, it starts to get a little better. Or, at the very least, a little less accidental!
I mentioned the fear of painting. Well, I don’t know if I would still call it that but it’s still definitely a hesitation. Taking that into account, THIS is a serious accomplishment for me. What you are looking at is an empty tube of Cadmium Yellow Pale Hue. I used it all. I actually painted things with it.
This is one of the things that I painted.
Just a few primary colours. Nothing to be afraid of here.
This was a quick little exercise that was pretty much no fail as there wasn’t a specific goal other than to see what it looked like.
Success!
This was playing with transparency a bit but I don’t know if I’m grooving on the acrylics. My painter friend swore that she wouldn’t touch acrylics after she tried oils for the first time but I kind of like them.
There was a sampler pack of acrylic additives at work, things like gel medium that you can use to add texture. They’re interesting but I don’t know that I’m curious enough to try them yet. Way too many other thing on the list first.
It’s supposed to be cold and rainy again tomorrow so I think I’ll hunker in and do some quilting. It even sounds warm.
I was playing with pastels and markers and acrylics today as a break after finishing Script Frenzy (Yay Me!). I needed something that didn’t involve typing or plot twists and this is what I came up with.
The actual piece is just the square on the left. The dark thing to the right is the mask and pattern that I used for the background and lines. The lighter fuzzier city line in the middle of the page was done with pastels in different blues, purples and black. Then I used a brayer to roll full test acrylic over the pastel mask onto the background. I made it a lot darker than I intended but live and learn. I was hoping that the blue came through a little more.
I moved the mask around and used it as a pattern to make lines with a permanent black marker. After that, I did a really watery acrylic wash in dark purple. It looks faint but that’s only because it’s seriously watered down.
The other one was done with just pastels and a torn paper mask. I was just playing with the warmer colours and seeing what I could do to make it look like a landscape. The really dark line near the bottom is the actual mask with the remnants of all of the pastels that I crushed into it.
I think tomorrow after class I’m going to play with my sewing machine. I’ve got some quilting that I want to take care of it and a few small fabric postcards to try out. Maybe some polymer? Has it been long enough?
I love screenprinting. This wasn’t screenprinting but it was close. The reason that I bring up screenprinting is because it is one of the few art forms that my perfectionism seems to leave me alone. It’s a great thing to be able to freely shrug my shoulders and have another whack at it without the Furies acting up.
I also have a tendency to get caught up in one place. Like my brain decides that the Martha Street Studio is the only place in the ENTIRE world that I can do screenprinting. In an effort to break that thought a liittle, I did the easiest, low-tech version that I could put together from what I had on hand. Just to see if I would balk. I totally didn’t (yay me!) so I’m going to try to graduate up to monoprinting on fabric. Eventually, I’d like to do my own batik in snake-y jade greens and clear dark aquamarines. Maybe even a few in the rich velvety reds. Yummy.
Yes, I’m a grown woman and I’m terrified of paint. I’ve been sewing my entire life (that I can remember) and I’m pretty fearless when it comes to fabric. I know how to fix pretty much anything that I could screw up. I know how most fabrics behave, more importantly, I know my machine like the back off my hand.
Paint… not so much. I have no idea which brush does what. I have no idea how to mix paints so that they are the colour that I want and not just the colour in the tube. I have no idea when to use lots of water and when to use lots of paint.
So I decided to work on my technique a little more in the hopes that it’ll translate onto fabric. This was a white peach that was tasty, tasty. I mixed the colours from primary red, blue and yellow. Throw in some Payne’s gray and white and it becomes the most humbling experience in a long time. Eventually I would like to be able to replicate the colours that I see in fabric. Practice, practice, practice (Slavik accent of course).
Jody Linn 
