03/20/2007
F&W : Sponge-wipe background
Here's a quick and cool background technique.
This spread was painted with acrylic paints in yellow, red-orange and reddish brown, in that order. For each color, while the dollop of paint from the tube was wet, it was spread and wiped with a dry craft sponge. Each color was allowed to dry to the touch before the next color was applied.
(Blog note: Alive and well, but I've been engulfed in a huge endeavor, leaving very little time for the usual pursuits.)
23:15 Posted in Blog , Project:F&W , Technique-Papers | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this
01/24/2007
blog : Of mice and men
The new topic for Artwords is "wind." I've begun a new spread in my Big Black Book (unblogged as yet) for it, but I doubt it'll be finished in time. I'd really like to join in with participatory groups like Artwords, Illustration Friday and others. But my god, how short is a week!
22:05 Posted in Blog , Group:Artwords , Group:IllustrationFriday , Project:BBB | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this
03/30/2006
Still kicking...
Today I put the final touches onto an altered board book that I put together for my mother-in-law's birthday. There'll be a party gathering this weekend which I'd only learned about 2 weeks ago. So while I've been quiet here for those weeks, I've been very busy working on the book.
Happily it's now completed, and I can turn my attention to a bunch of other things that have been neglected while I worked on that...including a very interesting project for another family member which is about halfway done but had to be shelved while I worked on the board book. Photos and scans to come on both of those projects.
I continue to collage 2 cards each day, but haven't scanned any for the last two weeks. After this weekend, things should quiet down some and I plan to have a mega scanning session and get some stuff posted here again.
[Edit 04/6/06]: The daily gluecards from March 16-27 are now added.
[Edit 04/12/06]: The daily gluecards from March 28-31 are now added.
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03/15/2006
Update : What is a gluebook?
I've added a new link, a very cool quote and some additional explanation about media to my "What is a Gluebook?" article. I also rewrote some of the other stuff for clarity. Aside from potential link modifications in the future, I think the article is in its final form now.
Technorati Tags: art journals, collage, gluebooks
13:09 Posted in Blog , Gluebook/DailyCollage (general) , Informational | Permalink | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0) | Email this
01/18/2006
Brief blog update
Busy. Very busy, and I've had no time to post.
My available time is going toward the projects of A&A, CofA, AltTxt and Daily Collage. I've also begun a lettering project which quickly grew beyond what I expected of it; more on that to come.
[edit 1/23/06]: Grabbed some time to get things rolling here once more.
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11/04/2005
Library book sale
FINALLY! At long last, the local library held their annual book sale. I only had about an hour since I had to cram the time in between a bunch of other things, but I made good use of the time I had. I picked up hardback books of various sizes that begged to be altered and others (hardback and paperback) that wanted to donate text and pictures to the cause.
If I'd had more time available, I would have bought even more. Or, if I'd just reached and grabbed, I would've bought more. As it was, I first flipped through each book that caught my eye, with definite ideas about whether it would be a book to alter or one to deconstruct. If I couldn't think of even one "maybe" use for it, I put it back on the table.
Flyers posted around the room announced that hardbacks were $1.00 and paperbacks were $.50. The total of my sale came to a mere $20.50, and I exited with two sacks of happy books both large and small (I'd brought my own paper bags for carrying the goodies.) The condition of the books range from clearly used (children's items and mass-market paperbacks) to excellent (nearly everything else).
I don't think there's any way for an altered artist to lose when attending a library book sale. The enormous stack of books I acquired will absolutely keep me busy for many months to come...maybe even until the 2006 sale!
09:25 Posted in Art:Books , Art:Shopping , Art:Tools , Blog | Permalink | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0) | Email this
10/25/2005
Requiem for a pen
Less than a day after writing about my Angels & Aliens project, the Pentech GelGrip pen I was using for the sketching ran out of ink while on duty. To finish the drawing, I grabbed the Penstix micron pen that I'm using in my altered text book (which I haven't described here yet), but the micron gives an entirely different writing experience. It's more of a "final lines" kind of pen, not really for "sketching."
So, while I managed to finish this particular spread with the micron, it really is not at all suitable for drawing. With any luck, I'll find a suitable replacement soon, perhaps as early as tomorrow. I don't think Pentech makes this particular type anymore (I'd bought it many years ago), but maybe there'll be something similar.
It's just so sad to have the demise of a worthy pen. At least its final gasps went to a good cause: my art. ;)
[edit 10/30/05]: A new pen has come to my rescue. It's a Bic Smoothie retractable. They call it a "ball pen" (not a ballpoint), and it writes like a rollerball. Feels good to use and happily doesn't bleed through the A&A paper. :)
Technorati Tags: altered books, art journals, pens
14:30 Posted in Art:Preparation , Art:Tools , Blog , Project:A&A | Permalink | Comments (2) | Trackbacks (0) | Email this
10/15/2005
Temporarily missing photo albums
My photo albums are currently unavailable as BlogSpirit recovers from a senseless act of internet violence. BlogSpirit has done an amazing job thus far of getting almost everything back online quickly, with no loss to postings. Just a few photos gone astray yet, but photos are easy to replace.
Meanwhile, all gluebook entries for September and October can still be viewed by using the categories in the left column.
[edit 10/17/05]: The August and September photo albums have images again now.
[edit 10/18/05]: The October photo album also has images back now, plus the newest ones.
All is well. :)
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08/04/2005
Blog Sweet Blog
August already, and I haven't made any entry since July 27. Well, it doesn't mean I haven't been working, in fact I've been quite active with the art (and purchasing additional supplies for it). The days have been very busy, even when the heat rose to nearly 100(F) degrees. I've been painting, folding, pasting, sealing, priming, deviating, experimenting...and trying to remember to take photos all along the way. They'll all show up here at some point.
Cutting Rubber
I also spent a few hours each day for about 4 days applying mounting cushion to rubber, then cutting out the stamps of the rubber. Back in time unmounted stamps would've been laughed at, but today, they're at least half the market. The disadvantage: you can't really use them until you get them mounted first, either to foam or cushion or wood or something, and that means buying extra materials and cutting them out yourself. The advantage: storing and organizing them is as simple as a three-ring binder, plus the unmounted stamps are generally half the price of the mounted versions.
Sentence Clipping
Another interesting activity: I've been going through a book I decided was worth sacrificing (since it's glue-bound and paperback) and snipping out interesting paragraphs, sentences and phrases that seem to stand on their own. I get a kick out of reading these clippings completely out of their original context. (Example:In fact, they're still appearing all over the place. Doesn't that just spark ideas? Who or what has been appearing all over? Are they friendly or threatening?) As I clipped, I put the clippings into a small box to keep them together, but I realized it was going to be very difficult to find any particular one when it came time to use them. I needed to store these somehow in such a way that it would be easy to review them plus easy to pick one out as needed.
I found the solution in a stack of stuff on the corner of my work table. It's one of those "magnetic" photo albums (which aren't any good for keeping photos). It had been sitting there for many years, totally ignored, waiting to be noticed at just the right time. I added the clippings into it and presto, I can see all the clippings at a glance, and picking one out to use simply involves pulling up the plastic oversheet and removing the clip.
Good to know those "magnetic" photo albums are good for something after all.
15:10 Posted in Art:Preparation , Art:Shopping , Art:Tools , Blog | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this
07/21/2005
Artist's Treat
Awesome, simply awesome. One of my purchases has arrived containing a totally awesome item that I didn't even know existed until a few days ago: clear gesso!
I made my acquaintance with gesso (as a primer, sealer, adhesive and medium) back in the late 60's, and we've been good pals ever since (with a little over a decade apart while I explored digital art). For all that time, gesso was available in one variety: white. During my digital hiatus, gesso spawned a brother: black. That was news, but not all that exciting because gesso has always had the capability of having a base color mixed into it. To be able to buy it in black was a mere convenience.
But clear--! My creative muse simply sings for this development! Imagine applying gesso over something like tissue paper without changing the visual qualities of the paper. Particularly in terms of altered books, imagine applying gesso to a book page and having it strengthen and seal and provide a ground without a visual clue to its presence!
Oh, the ideas that spring up just from contemplating the possibilities of this delightful treat!
14:55 Posted in Art:Shopping , Art:Tools , Blog | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this
07/10/2005
Green blog
Today, my blog is in green. Not by choice. Apparently it takes several hours or a day for design modifications to display. Whatever. As long as it's legible. If the green hurts your eyes, come back tomorrow; maybe it'll be different by then.
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07/09/2005
Blog beginning
Today, I begin this blog. This first post is just part of learning the BlogSpirit setup. When all is established, I'll begin the actual writing.
Enjoy the blue and white. The design doesn't change (even when it tells me it did). Good thing it's a pleasant blue.
Silver
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