It’s a Two-fer! Messing Around + Project Project Runway 13, Episode 12

This weekend I treated myself to a trip to the local “real” art supply store in the city and (among other things) bought some Inktense pencils. I’d never been happy with the results with my craft-store watercolor pencils, and had been itching to try the Inktense for a while.  Oh, boy — the color and the possibilities! My only disappointment was that I hadn’t acquired them sooner…

I didn’t have any immediate plans for this page beyond seeing what the pencils could do, but then serendipity struck in the form of Project Project Runway.  This week’s Challenge was to Create a look that is street chic, something  that can be worn everyday of the week, but is fashionable and progressive.

I reproduced my original art print in a reduced scale for the “canvas” short coat, worn over classic street-chic black knits: mock turtle tee, pencil skirt and leggings, and topped off with a cozy tomato red muffler in bulky mohair.  Operetta’s sense of drama gave the look real presence on the runway!

The judges were all impressed by the original fabric. Zac praised my good sense to let it speak for itself with a simple design; Heidi loved the colors and could see it over other things, from jeans to maybe even a gown; Nina used the word “editorialNo winners this challenge, only “in” or “out” — I think this look would have put me on the IN side of the equation.

Messing Around With Stuff I Found

I did some (more) organizing in the workroom over the past week. It’s a never-ending process, but I uncovered some (more) things I’d forgotten I had.

Case in point: a whole box of oil pastels, brand spanking new, never been used — 48 of ’em! I’ve been taking in the Dirty Footprints Studio Art Journal Wisdom workshop, and there it was — Day #4::Oil Pastel Love. Talk about serendipity — a little bit of experimentation was definitely in the cards!

Not sure whether this will ever become anything more than an experimental page, but I learned a lot. I want to do more with oil pastels (The colors! The blend-ability! The texture possibilities!) — and who knows, this could be the start of something…

Where did the month go?

My Daisy Yellow Creative Experiments for March tally:

CE #12: {3 points} Document ONE color of all of your paints and water-soluble crayons/pencils.

CE #13: {1 points} Draw a comic or cartoon.

CE #15: {2 points} Create an art journal page that starts with a map as the background.

CE #16 {1 point} Alter a recipe.

I set out to earn at least 6 of the 9 possible points for the month and ended up with seven. Since there’s technically a full day (plus a half hour) of the month to go, it’s possible I could earn another point before it’s over.

Out of Gridlock

 

[Map inset, Prismacolor fine line markers, Crayola washable Supertips markers]

For Daisy Yellow’s Creative Experiments #16, a page that began with a map.  In this case, a map of the amazingly orderly street grid of the city where I grew up.  I know some people who’ve never left and others who did but went back because other places “weren’t like Milwaukee”. I moved away over 25 years ago — I still like to go back to visit the people and the places, but all things considered I don’t regret the fact that I left.  And of course that thought inspired (another) haiku.

The Shower Strikes Again!

[My go-tos: Sharpie pen and colored pencil]

For Daisy Yellow’s Creative Experiments #13, a short, two-panel comic strip inspired by the sight of my bare feet and naked toenails as I stepped out of the shower.  Giving myself personal extra credit for the haiku thought- and speech-bubbles!

(And yes, my toenails now sport very red polish…)

Do ALL the Greens!

[Hand-carved squiggly-lines stamp & black ink pad / black Sharpie pen / every blessed green-colored paint, pencil, marker and crayon I could lay my hands on]

After cataloging all my greens for Daisy Yellow’s Creative Experiments #12, I started to think about all the different meanings — both positive and negative — for the word green, and used those thoughts to finish off the page. (3 more points for March!)

Creative Experiments — February totals

I was aiming for at least 9 points this month and ended up with 11:

• CE #9 — Red, blue and yellow pages at 2 points each (6 points)
• CE #10 — explored a whole bunch (technical terms) of  new-to-me creative blogs (1 point)
• CE #11 — carved 4 rubber stamps (4 points)

Looking forward to March Creative Experiments — setting my target at least 6 out of 9 possible points.

 

Blue and Yellow; Haiku, too

Combining a couple of challenges on these  — two more color-themed pages for Daisy Yellow’s Creative Experiments plus a personal haiku project.

This blue page started as an experiment in background painting inspired by the clipping tucked in at the bottom of the photo — liquid acrylics across the page, graduated from top to bottom, dark to light, topped by jabs of full strength colors; then a generous spray of water over the top to take the edge off. It turned out to be a bit too much water, so I took the opportunity to create a second page by pressing a clean paper over the top. I incorporated a square of that brighter pattern into the final page as a less literal depiction of the haiku’s “bolt out of the blue(s)”.

Working this tribute to my childhood favorite color (sharpie pen, all my yellow-named colored pencils, with a wash of yellow watercolor over it all to finish) caused me to confront the fact that  a big part of me wished for the pure happiness that it used to give me. 

Waste Not, Want Not

I’ve been playing with knives and gouges to carve 4 new stamps (CE #11) — crescent moon, stacked triangles, single squiggle and wavy-lined block. Over the weekend I made a test page to see how they worked together, and liked it so much that I had to take it all the way.  (pigment ink pad, colored pencils, sharpie)

Closing January on an Inspired Note

After considering several options, I’m going with this re-purposed (i.e., saved from the dumpster at work) clear-covered ring binder as inspiration journal. I like the way the top page shows through and becomes the cover — inspiration immediately visible.  I also like the idea of being able to bring change my decision about what page sits on top and becomes the cover. Since the CE required a cover and the start of a first page, here’s 2 pages — 1 for each. This will be a good on-going process for me — it’s already got me thinking.

So that’s CE #7 for 2 points — which means I’ve made my 9 point CE goal for the month.  On to February — I’m aiming at at least another 9 points.