The burnishing process with coloured pencils…can be, well, tedious and hard on the old hands. Like any artist worth their salt, I have art-calluses on my hands and fingers; and burnishing ALWAYS contributes to said calluses.
But the final effect is worth any subsequent pain; the depth of colour and the seamless movement between highlights and shadows isn’t comparable; and so…I think I can, I think I can, I know I can, I know I can.
#fml
Just hiding out in my studio…
(unfinished)
“An artist is always alone – if he is an artist. No, what the artist needs is loneliness.”
Henry Miller
All sealed in resin; turned out well for some curbside rubbish…
All finished; I think I beat my own record for the number of layers in this piece.
So I’ve been studying how you can manipulate your right-brain processes, thru vigorous training. Focusing on your right-brain helps to develop your fundamental skills: line, space, perspective, proportion, light, shadows & values, and of course the Gestalt.
You have to paint what you SEE, not what you think (read: deluded…) know!
It is desperately horrid. You have to keep your gaze on your subject matter for as long as humanely possible; with barely a glance given to the paper with your actual drawing upon it!
It’s quite a difficult feat; it’s, dare I say, even a touch painful…
It’s quite a weird experience; as an artist I tend to beautify my subject matter; however, when you’re drawing with your right-brain, it isn’t stemming from the traditionally creative part of the grey matter…and so, you draw, and hone the technical elements of your artistic
skill-set.
…and that’s way I am, now, the proud owner of a wonderfully hideous self-portrait. Yay me!
Roadside rubbish for the win!!! Found a frame for a cute little table (minus the tabletop…), on the side of the road.
So, being an artist, I got all arty and came up with this little idea; books all jigsawsed and butted up together; to create the flat table-top I measured the height (thickness) of the fattest book (6.4cm), whilst lying on its’ side…this will be the height of all the books, creating the flat surface required for a functional table…I then measured the height of all the other books; whether they’re laying flat, or standing on their side.
If the measurement was over 6.4 I subtracted 6.4 from the highest number; if the number was lower, I subtracted the measurement from 6.4. The corresponding answers were the directions for attaining the flat surface. Subtracting from a higher number = cutting the amount from the bottom of the book. Subtracting from a lower number = elevating the book, by the number attained, to the 6.4cm height. Some of the books required a substantial chunk removed, leaving a large enough piece, that it could be used as a subverted book piece.
Lovely. Nothing like being able to use all the parts, of the already recycled resource.
Once the enormous amount of trial and error, Nope…okay, I’ll be honest, the complete fuck-ups, cock-ups and bloody insurmountable amount of blunders…were conquered, or at least hidden well; I now have to seal everything, twice, or the porous books will absorb the resin. This will not only stain and warp the books, but it will require a lot more resin to complete the project! I will seal it with MODGE PODGE…wish me luck! I’ll post the finished piece.
Layer, upon layer, upon layer; seriously! I don’t know when…how, to stop…my.life.story.
Just. Say. No.
Just having a little play with some of my, ‘I-might-use-it-one-day’ artist hoard…
Grae Hastings 