I have been very busy and have some art to show for it since my last post. I'm also currently taking a Chinese Brush Painting class and learning the proper wrist movement. With the strokes, I try to do the breath technique as I'm completing each stroke....it seems to help me a bit. I'm just not very adept at loading my brush with ink - it's either too much or too little. Most of the other students there are now taking their 3rd session and their work is very nice. I'll just be hopeful and maybe I can take another session or two.In order to build up a portfolio/resume, I'm signing up for every contest and show I can handle with the most current show called "Catnip Connection 3" at the Spanish Village Art Center in Balboa Park. It's an all-media exhibition honoring cats, with part of the proceeds from the sales going to the Feral Cat Coalition. I based my cat portrait after an ATC I did for a Spring Pat of an applehead Siamese kitty. I applied all the new techniques I learned from my colored pencil 101 session with the CPSA. With the ATC kitty, I liked that you can see my sketchy pencils marks. With the entry, however, I did not allow any pencil gestural strokes to show by use of heavy burnishing. When I first lightly sketched in the kitty, I got a plastic sandwich bag and used a ball point pen to draw directly on the plastic over the sketch where the whiskers would go. This left a nice indent so as to remain white while all the color layers were being built which I thought was pretty cool! I've matted and framed it in French white mat and silver frame....though I'm not sure if that's too washed out. I may need to either get a chocolate mat or maybe a simple black frame. I'm sure hoping it will be juried into the show and it would be icing on the cake if it sold.
I've completed a whole mess of cards, mostly on the IATC site where I've caught up with amount I have in A4A. I experimented a bit with a new and different medium - my old airbrush! I was back cutting stencils and using my #1 needle in my airbrush, and then sprayed these glamour girl celebrities and added more detail with blue colored pencil. It has been awhile since I airbrushed - I really like the whole effect and Ava Gardner, I think, is the best one; it was hard letting those cards go! I took a couple of "Whimsy" classes with Art Trader and really enjoyed it. I don't think I can be completely whimsical just yet. Eventually, the lessons will seep into my brain and the style will completely come out with another piece of art. I did try to be a bit more whimsical with the Mermaids and the Nature Goddess' and I liked the way the Moon Goddess turned out. With the "What's My Style Pat" - it was interesting and fun trying to immulate the other artists and play more with markers. I also did some trades and Raks which I'm favoring more and more these days, because it's only just one card instead of 4. I guess I'm getting lazy or need more time to do other things. I am planning to do a set of Buddhas on 12x12 canvas either in acrylics or oil. The ATC above is the Golden Buddha, a self-enlightened Buddha. I like how the acrylic colors easily blended together and the card is so much better in real life than in the photo. With both the Golden Buddha and the Tornado, I put a bit of gold glitter - a very subtle effect and fun to play with in the light.
Sorry about the sizes of all these images. My pc crashed in May, and although I have a new one, I'm still learning how to use the new programs. I'm just not up to par yet and had to revert to some old ways to get these on the page. I need to learn how to group my photos and do layers in Corel. I use to be able to do it in my old Adobe Photoshop, but I'm lost in Corel.
