Mop Up and String

A few more journal pages.

 Fierce: This background was a mop-up page and I didn't know where to start. So I took a note from a different page I had finished. I just put down a singular focal and didn't worry about the background. See my problem with these mop-up pages is that I think I have to do more to the background to make it more cohesive. Or they seem too busy to put anything over the top. So I rather like this way of dealing with this type of page. I particularly like how the painted outline looks like a looming shadow.

It was hard to get a good photo of the swords in her hands as they are metallic stickers and just reflected all the light.

I didn't intend the lettering to be anything special but it really looks like someone finger painted it on there like you would war paint.

Pyramid at Night:  I was having a hard time deciding whether this one was finished. I feel like it is. Again another mop up page background.

String Theory:   I decided to try that string technique I keep seeing on Facebook. You dip a string into paint, lay it between two pieces of paper, and pull. I was skeptical about the results but it really didn't turn out too bad. I thought it was a good way to use my acrylic inks that I haven't been playing with recently. Decided to go abstract on this page.

These last two photos are the opposite page. It hadn't occurred to me that the opposite page would be painted as well. (Like DUH. I may have been having a hot flash at the time.) Not sure what I'll end up doing with this page but just wanted to show you how the string technique looked all on it's own.

Just a note that the blog may slow down a bit over the next month or so. I have compiled a list of Halloween projects that I want to start working on and I'm pretty sure not much else will get done. But keep checking in, I'll be sharing any non-Halloween stuff as it gets accomplished. And next week with be a few more 6X6.

-Wy

TBTH: January 29, 2015

Here's my Throwback Thursday Post.

Go take a look at it if you want more info on how it was done and some close up shots.

This is the finished result:

What I found so fascinating about this page is that I made the background with ink pads. I used Colorbox ink pads in the three primary colors to create the rainbow. Because the Colorbox pads are pigment ink and the pads are foam and squishy, they can easily go through a stencil without any other applicator.

I always try to make sure I have a set of primary colors in the media that I like. If I'm trying out a new media, I'll get red, yellow, and blue with which to experiment. If those colors work out, I may expand into other colors that aren't easy to mix. This is why orange is always last on my list of colors to add to my "collections". Orange is a color that is easily mixed...so is purple really. It's green that I can never really match. If I don't mix enough of a green, then I'm hard pressed to get the same shade again. But orange and purple aren't so tough. Hmphf...go figure.

Anyway, hope you enjoyed the time machine today. You don't have to wait for a Throwback Thursday, you can explore the blog and all it's past posts. Or search by the label, there are some suggestions on the right.

-Wy

A New Eye

Creative makers will find this familiar, no doubt.

I have advised this to many and have had this advice passed on to me from many.
"If you aren't sure whether you like it, get new eyes."

It means to set that project aside. Get up from the table and go for a walk. Check in on your phone for a minute. Start something else. But under no circumstance do you go back to that project. Not until you haven't looked at it for awhile.

How long is awhile? That depends on how creatively stuck you are. If you feel you've just begun, then take longer than if you feel you're close to finished. (that's my personal policy) The point of setting it aside is to reset your mind frame and develop a new way to look at it. It works when writing, too. Write it all down as it comes to you, then push it aside for the day. When you come back tomorrow, read it through and edit as necessary.

Let's face it, some days are better than other for creative minds. If it's true that we are our own worst critic, then let's shut off that negative voice for a bit and get on with something else. Once we're out of that "moment", we can go back to the piece with a fresh pair of eyes. We can see things in it that we didn't when we were in the "moment"...we were too close.

That is this piece:

This work has no title. It started out as an experiment in using my fluid acrylics. I was influenced by the melting crayon trend. I had no intentions of making anything with this but as it dried, I was taken with it. I loved how the drips had slid down the paper and how the colors had slightly mingled on the overlaps. After going back to it, I figured I could use it for something because I liked it so much.

And herein lies the sword...that double-edged weapon of yore. I liked it so much that it became the one project that I never seemed to be able to complete. I could stamp on it, collage, or perhaps add more color. Every idea I threw out, I choked on. I couldn't lift my hand to mess with it.

So I took the advice of many. I set it aside.

And there it stayed for a very long time. I would see it when ruffling through handmade background papers and pause. Should I use this? No, a very soft voice would whisper, don't walk that path right now. You'll get lost.

I finally pulled it out earlier this year where I finally decided that it needed nothing. I had never used it or embellished it further because it didn't need it. I realized that I was happy with it just as it was. I enjoyed it because of the white space and small speckles. I was happy that the primary colors were still distinctive and yet mingling with their neighbors. I liked it in all its abstractness. (and I admit to not liking a lot of abstract art)

I even like the fact that it has no title. I can't think of what to call it and that rounds out it's artsy perfection.

What will become of it now? It will become a month in a calendar that I am planning. I actually have a prototype made up but am still struggling with cost as well as final details.

Sometimes art just pops up before you. It appears right under your nose. You can only see it with New Eyes.

-Wy

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