On The Bench - Obsession with Faces

Something about painting faces fascinates me! Female, Male, doggies & kitties, they all are becoming a great obsession to practice so that I can get better... I'm not wanting to become good enough to make faces that look like real life (my aesthetic is too abstract for that), just to get a better perspective on eyes, nose, lips, forehead, hair, etc., so that later I can abstract the heck out of them. :D

To that end, yesterday I stood in front of the mirror with a sketch pad and pencil figuring to tackle my own self portrait first. Wow, this can be an uncomfortable experience if you're not used to staring at yourself in the mirror, but who knows your special features better than you? And, it's a great way to be sure your model stays put while you work! After 10 minutes or so I had a nice rendering that I took to my computer and scanned. Now I can print copies in various sizes to use in my sketchbook for experimenting. Idea #1 tackled!

Several articles in the Winter 2014 Cloth Paper Scissors PAGES Mixed Media Art Journaling magazine feature drawing and painting women; go figure! (Pun intended :)

Jane Davenport shares in her article 'Hair-Raising Adventures', "The way to master anything...is to simply practice. Be willing to make mistakes. Put pencil to paper and let the lines flow." Then artist Monica Zuniga gives a great lesson from start to finish creating a journal page about herself in her article 'Illustrating Life'; starting with a sketch and building it up with watercolor, then she finished up with fun inspired imagery and journaling.

Reading techniques magazines and books always get my creative juices flowing, so Idea #2 was to look at faces in the magazine and online to create one woman's face and one man's face. (Actually, the man's face I did first and intended it initially as a woman's face, but decided to take it more masculine after seeing where the graphite and charcoal took me!) My Art Journal is the perfect place to play and experiment with these new projects and art materials.

I like to write what materials I used to create my images in the borders when trying out new techniques. The image on the left was painted on a smaller piece of mixed-media paper, then taped into the journal.

Idea #3 was to take the techniques I just experimented with, grab a Victoria's Secret catalog, and make a whole journal page with my new found confidence. Below is what I came up with:

BONUS - Here are the instructions for creating the journal page!

I started on a 9in x 9in square journal page that already had on it some practice calligraphy and a light blue wash of Ranger Distress Stain. The face inspiration and printed words came from a Victoria's Secret catalog. I sketched the face with a pencil then outlined with a Micron pen, added a light layer of gesso to the face and hair so the bottom calligraphy practice would still show through, re-emphasized the lines again with pen and Ebony pencil, then painted with watercolors. I glued decorated paper and the catalog quotes to the page with a glue stick, then outlined the quotes in marker. At this point I added a light coat of gesso on the other areas of the page so I could easily journal and stamp on the surface, wiping some of the white away with a damp paper towel to allow the calligraphy and color wash underneath to show through. To add drama, I outlined the face and quotes in charcoal and smudged them with my fingers, spraying after with a light coat of fixative. Next I wrote colorful words in Faber Castell Pitt big markers, outlining them in Micron pen, and used the same Micron pen to journal my thoughts. Last I stamped and embellished the surface. Yes, those are crystals on the hearts and liquid pearls paint along the bottom to add some bling bling and extra dimension to the page.

So glad I could share today's creative Art Journal inspiration with you. HAPPY ARTING! Tristina

On The Bench - CPS Inspiration

There's so much to be inspired by in the latest Jan/Feb 2014 Cloth Paper Scissors mixed media magazine!

Joanne Sharpe's article "Embrace Your Own Handwriting" MADE me do it; get out my pencil and markers to see what 'inner fonts' I would express. She says, "A journal is a must! Practice is essential in making letter art and it's important that you have a comfortable place to play, invent, and explore."

There are quite a few great creative and interview articles in this magazine issue, but the other how-to that made me get out my art supplies and start to play was "Graffiti Doodle Houses" by Jodi Ohl. I love Jodi's bright colors and mixed up imagery, so the artwork I created below is an ode to both her work and trying my hand at Joanne's personalized lettering technique.

Oops! Now I see I misspelled courageous. No spell check in journal land...

And the last excellent article to share with you from the magazine is from one of my favorite artists, Julie Fei-Fan Balzer, about finding balance when working for yourself from a home-studio. She says people, "seem to think that working from home might tempt me to lie on the couch all day. In reality, I have the opposite problem: I find it difficult to set limits and end the workday." Me too! It's so hard for me sometimes to pull away from the art bubble zone... then I hear my daughters whine they are hungry for dinner and I have to snap out of it! Julie gives some great hints about working with to-do lists and how to manage your cyber-life so it doesn't encroach on your much needed create time. That's my cue! Gotta run... ;)

Happy Arting!   Tristina

Gotta Make It!

There are just some days I HAVE to make ART! I know you feel the same way too... Here's a quick, simple and FUN way to get some creative on:

Today's art journal page

Snag a mixed media journal book like the above on AquaBee heavyweight drawing paper or Strathmore Visual Journal mixed-media paper, then grab the nearest Mixed-Media or Art magazine/book and start thumbing through for inspiration. Today's journal page is a combination of images from the recent July/August Cloth, Paper, Scissors magazine and Pam Carriker's book, 'Art at the Speed of Life'.

Cloth Paper Scissors magazine and micron pens

Use a waterproof pen like the Sakura Micron or Pitt markers and quickly sketch some images...remember, don't THINK too much, just relax, breathe and draw what you see.

Pelikan cake watercolors.

Fill a cup with water and use a small #6 round watercolor brush to wet and pick up pigment from dry color sets like Pelikan above or Koi. Both give great color and instantly satisfying results. Slosh on the color at will, even waiting for some to dry before going back in with more color. Keep the brush filled with water and use a paper towel if needed to sop some of the water out of the brush.

When done coloring, allow your page to dry (will only take a few minutes) step back and SMILE! Then, go about your day with that need to CREATE satisfied!

Happy Arting,  Tristina :D

Small Steps On Our Artistic Journey

I was in Los Angeles last week and was surprised & delighted to see an interesting way to display artwork... a large painted canvas was grometted and fixed to the outside wall of a building on Sunset Blvd. Beguiling!

In addition to my reading several artful books and magazines lately, I have become enthralled with watching videos on YouTube. There is such a wealth of sharing going on in the cyber-world...for FREE! I began my online quest to look up examples of artists using one of my favorite art supplies, PanPastels, in mixed media. WOW, it was a revelation stumbling across france-pappillon.com and Donna Downey's YouTube videos. Thank you so much to these artists for allowing me and our readers to be INSPIRED by watching the art unfold right before our eyes. If you are a visual learner, there is a bounty waiting to be had online; and in easy to digest bite-sized chunks of time from one minute to a half hour and more - enough to whet or satiate everyone's appetite!

It was fun today to play Donna Downey's "Listen to your inner voice" canvas painting YouTube video with lovely background music (it ran for almost a half hour) while I created the below mixed media painting (it's not done yet, but well on it's way):

At the end of the most recent Nov/Dec Cloth Paper Scissors magazine there is a lovely article by Soraya Nulliah about finding ourselves as artistic creators. It says in part, "Every small step leads to another place where the whole world opens up and is full of exciting discoveries and possibilities. Reading an inspiring book, signing up for a class, making time and space for everyday creativity - all of these activities will support your artful journey." So much wisdom is available for us out there if we just take those first steps, then keep stepping ahead on our artistic journey...

Happy Creating!  Tristina

Colorful Works in Progress & Leftover Paint Projects

WORKS  IN  PROGRESS

I am so inspired by the latest Cloth Paper Scissors magazine to CREATE! Little did I know the choice to use a 4 pack of Michael's 6x6 canvases for my latest multi-media creations would be perfect for the local Utrecht store's upcoming 6x6 challenge / show that I found out about today! Ahh, FATE. :) The canvases are not done, but here's a sneek peek:

The raised surface at the tops of these canvases are a layer of Golden Light Molding Paste into which I impressed various circle shapes from bottle tops to straws. After the molding paste was dry (I left it overnight), I used Caran D'Ache NeoColor II water soluable wax crayons to scribble areas of color onto the canvas and paste surfaces. Using a damp to wet soft paint brush, I activated the water soluable pigments and allowed them to slosh and mingle with one another. Note: I did rinse off my brush between colors and started with the light colors...working my way to the darker colors, so as not to create mud. Below is an example of a canvas where the top part has had water brushed on it and the bottom portion has not:

Next, I took various colors of Derwent Inktense water soluable pencils and followed around the grooves of the circles that I had made in the molding paste. After, I again used water and a brush to run over the pencil pigment which released their brilliant color into the grooves of the circles. I left all to dry overnight. The following day, I used Liquitex Basics Acrylic Paints to paint the sides of the canvases so that the colors on the sides would match the color swatch areas on the top of the canvases. The sides of the paintings dried in about an hour, after which I used bubble wrap, the plastic covering for oranges and a plastic pipe to put the additional markings on the top of the dried paintings using acrylic paints.

LEFTOVER  PAINT  PROJECTS

I can't stand to waste paint! Use every last drop of pigment SOMEWHERE is my motto!!! As I am painting and finish with an acrylic paint color, if there is paint left, I like to use it on paper and canvas that I make sure to have laying around my work area. Recently I had 2 journals, a wet/dry media paper pad and an unstretched canvas pad available to use on my worktable. 

To create quick paper and canvas pad backgrounds, I get my brush sopping wet, pick up some of the leftover acrylic paint and swipe it across the surface in an up and down and side to side motion, adding more water if I feel necessary to get all the pigment out of the brush. These create great, quick backgrounds to put other leftover paint on such as in these pages:

Another technique after adding the wet, sloshy paint to your paper or canvas pad is to press your brush full of water and paint along the top or side of a page and tilt the page up to get the colors to run. I recommend you put paper towels under the edge of your surface to catch the running paint. Remember, you can do the slosh and tilting in multiple directions for even more fun. Here are some examples:

This is on unmounted canvas so that I can sew through it!

And last, below is the beginning of a multi-media painting after using the dripping paint technique on paper that I had already used as a background when painting other small elements, leaving masking shapes behind  that add interest and bold colors to the back story:

If you have any questions about the above painting techniques, just leave me a comment below...

Enjoy a CREATIVE week!  Tristina :D

Inspiration From Latest Magazines

Been gaining inspiration from the May issues of Somerset Studio and Cloth Paper Scissors Magazines. Below is a sketch done this morning from my breakfast Pomegranate using Inktense watersoluable pencils and Caran D'Nache watersoluable oil crayons. This idea came from an article I read yesterday in the latest Cloth Paper Scissors to just draw the mundane things you see each day, with no worry as to whether the drawing is "good"...it just doesn't matter because it is in your journal for you!

Next, I have been doodling over the past 2 weeks in my journal as I read the latest Somerset Studio and their Art Journaling magazines. I am really interested in the human face...so practice a lot of faces from both sketches I see in the magazines and pictures of real people. I especially like the flower and circle doodle border on this one. I'm getting into the whole birdcage thing, too!

What is it that gets you inspired to paint or draw? Where/How do you find your subjects?

Thanks for sharing you comments and Happy Drawing!  Tristina :D

Submitted to The Sketchbook Project Today!

Front Cover

I finally submitted my sketchbook (and my 13 year old daughter's too) for The Sketchbook Project Limited Edition...they were due to be postmarked today and Devon and I just squeeked them in under the wire at FedEx at 7pm tonight! They will be scanned and we will be able to see them online in another month or so! Also, the Brooklyn Art Library, that sponsors the project, will be putting one picture or 2 page spread from everyone's sketchbooks that participated in a compendium book that they will be publishing later this year. Cool! To find out more about the project, go to www.thesketchbookproject.com.

It has been a challenge to work on my sketchbook these past few months because I'm working with a friend on designing a website for a new start-up company, but I took the weekend off and worked like a fiend all the way through till this afternoon to "make it work!" It's almost dry; had to send it with some butcher paper between a few pages to be sure they weren't stuck together when they arrive in NY in a few days. :)

Ended up that my sketchbook has 24 pages plus the cover. I used lots of different techniques that I have learned over the years from Cloth Paper Scissors and Somerset Studios magazines. Here are some of my favorite pics:

One of my Favorite Pages

My Favorite Spread

Before Journaling

After Journaling

Playing with Lettering

Happy New Year!!! Today was a very relaxed day for me...on purpose...so I could catch up on some reading and art-play. :)

I focused my efforts today on the Cloth Paper Scissors premier issue of "PAGES - The Creative Guide for Art Journaling and Bookmaking" since I know art journaling is something I am most likely able to sneak a few minutes a day in doing for 2012.

I was attracted to the magazine because of the beautiful pictures (I am a visual person who likes LOTS of color!) and it showed prominently on the cover that inside was an article about Graffiti lettering. I am fascinated with Graffiti (photographed skads of it in the Miami area) and take every opportunity to learn more about it and especially HOW to do it! See my efforts below interspersed with other inspiration from the magazine:

I used a combination of Utrecht alcohol based colored markers (with both a brush and chisel point) and Micron pens for the thin lines and calligraphy script (Micron Graphic #2 and #3).

Happy Journaling and Lettering in 2012!  Tristina

Latest Cloth Paper Scissors Magazine

It's always so nice to come home to the mixed media/collage magazine, Cloth Paper Scissors, in my mail box! After receiving the latest Nov/Dec issue, I devoured its pages like a hungry beast on the prowel for my next tasty morsel...

While reading through the magazine, I keep a sketch book handy to draw some of the images I see to lock them in my mind and play around with the ideas that inevitably arise from this exercise. Here is the sketching I did for this magazine:

Some of the pictures/words are drawn with my right hand (darker and more precise because I'm right handed) and some drawn with my left hand (lighter and more loose, child-like). I like to indicate somewhere on the page the magazine and issue that inspired the drawings. Also, in the top left hand corner you'll see where I started out, before drawing from the magazine, doing some loosening up exercises with blind contour drawing (looking at an object with your hand/pen on the paper, draw the object in one continuous movement - never lifting the pen from the paper - and not looking at the paper till done).

This issue of CPS contains an article on how to stretch a canvas yourself onto wooden stretcher bars. This is a great little article. Wish I had read it before attempting to stretch a finished mixed media piece of mine last year.

As I am very into working with encaustic wax, an article by Crystal Neubauer about using encuastic wax painting with plexiglass was particularly interesting to me. Crystal states, " Using plexiglass as a foundation for encaustic wax offers options that cannot be achieved with a traditional canvas." Encaustic wax can be applied to the front, back or both sides of the plexi, all giving different effects described in the article. One of the major advantages to working encaustic wax on plexi is the ability to achieve luminosity through the surface to/from the back of the painting that can not be achieved any other way. Fascinating! I have already applied a piece of hand-painted and waxed rice paper to the surface of plexiglass sheet, but had not thought to try working wax techniques directly ON the plexiglass. There are some spare strips of plexiglass sitting around in my studio that I couldn't bear to throw away...and now I know just how to use them!

Another excellent article by Wyanne Thompson that caught my attention is about pouring and painting resin in layers. Describes a way to paint acrylic directly onto cured resin and pour additional resin layers over top to get interesting floating effects. Super cool!

The paper mache'd, painted and embossed Bottle-Cap beads this issue shows you how to make with reclaimed metal beer bottle caps is da bomb! Also loved the story on quick and easy watercolor mountain range mixed media painting treats...looks like you can't make just one!!!

And last, but certainly not least, the Reader Challenge presented asks us to create a 4"x6" fabric postcard to mail in to their offices before January 20, 2012, some of which will be featured in upcoming issues of the CPS magazine and on their website. I'll be firing up my sewing machine and hot iron for this project soon. Check out clothpaperscissors.com for details if you would like to join in.

Happy Painting/Waxing/Sewing/Crafting! :D  Tristina

Zany for Zentangles!

I'm hooked! After having read an article in Cloth Paper Scissors magazine last year about the meditative qualtiy of working small tiles of white paper with black ink in repetitive patterns - called Zentangles - I tried the technique and fell in lust...

To take my art to the next level, I bought from Amazon.com a Zentangle's Basics book by Suzanne McNeill and have played around with the patterns for the past several months; stealing a few minutes here and there to add to my picture blocks as I could. Here are some of examples of what I created:

Later, when I was well addicted to making Zentangles, I went again to Amazon to peruse other Zentangle books that might be available. To my delight, there were many, many more books and even including colored Zentangles! I immediately bought 8 more Zentangle books, some of which have not even been published yet, so I can get them as soon as they come out. Just looking at the book covers inspired me to make the tangles below:

Now I have begun to work bigger and cram more designs onto a larger page of my sketchbook. Here is one of my Zentangles in process:

Next stop...going to get my Certified Zentangle Teacher (CZT) training asap so I can share my entheusiasm for this relaxing and VERY satisfying artform (that anyone can do, "one stroke at a time") by presenting classes in the Miami / Fort Lauderdale / Boca Raton area. :-D

To find out more, go to Zentangle.com. FASCINATING!!!

Happy Reading and Drawing,  Tristina

Got My R&F Paints Order and Submitted Artwork Today

I am sooooo excited! Today I both submitted artwork for ArtServe's (InSIDE)/Out Show and received my order of R&F Paints encaustic wax and oil stick paints. Here are pictures:

 The oil paint sticks fit nicely in the top drawer of my new paper chest on wheels from IKEA.

The box of squares in the right of the pic are encaustic wax bars.

This approx. 8x11 painting is done on a piece of reclaimed wood with a beautiful flower napkin in the background. The buddha I shot at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco last August as well as the image of the Tibetian scroll. Stamps are from Vietnam and were in keeping with the theme of tranquility. Name of the piece is "Prayer for Tranquility". 

Recognize this buddha? Yep, same picture as the one above, only I had it printed on a 24x30 canvas and I painted and collaged over the image. There's a big Swarovski crystal in the middle of his head! I wrote the Chinese characters and hand colored the paper on the right (I grew up in Taiwan and used to practice Chinese character writing in school!). Hair is covered in glass bead gel, which you can't really see from the picture. The name of the painting is "Serene Repose".

 I've been working all day on more artwork to be submitted to a Broward Art Guild gallery show at the Coral Springs Museum of Art tomorrow. I'll show you that work after they are submitted!

Spent a few moments today reading the May/June 2010 issue of Cloth Paper Scissors magazine. It is so chock full of excellent ideas, even in the advertisements. I realized I never did finish reading all the articles. I'm so looking forward to what fun I'll learn in those last few articles!

Tristina :)