Denise Love: Multi-Media

Denise Love began 2Lil'Owls Studio around 2012 and she is super involved in making textures. She'll use anything, and beware of falling in love with all the products she demos. I've taken one of her projects and reduced it to elements that a watercolorist would have on hand. Here is her project using Klimt inspired stencils and color cubes for color inspiration.

Color cubes was created by colored pencil artist, Sarah Renae Clark. There are two cubes filled with cards...similar to the recipe cards we used to get....500 cards in all. Each has a different color combination, and were meant to give you inspiration for new color combinations. Here is my blog on them:

https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/8812132386157895665/2726572765071031629

I mention this because Denise Love is on a mission to use as many of those color combination cards as possible, and she mentions them in her video.

In this video, Denise is creating designs based on Gustav Klimt. She has some stencils with similar Klimt designs. She used different acrylic paints, but I tried the same type of project with watercolor and some other thing I just happen to have. (some of my own stencils)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhXMy1WyE5A

This project involves 3 basic parts: creating a base; stenciling on some gold paint; and "making marks" that unify the piece.

The first step is to tape off a 9 x 12 piece of watercolor paper into 3 sections. Then paint, mostly dark colors. Use any texturing techniques you like: scraping with a credit card or comb, salting, masking, bubble wrap, etc. I even drew some lines and words with watercolor inktense pencils. Then dry it.

It might look a mess. 

Choose some stencils that you think will go together. Tape the stencil down if needed. Stencil gold acrylic paint over  the painted sections.

Each gold can look quite different. We chose between 2 different acrylics, gold gesso, and interference gold. 

(NOTE on stenciling: I used what I cal a "spouncer." A round sponge on a stick. Found at Walmart or any craft store. You can also use a sponge. If it is dry, dampen it and get as much moisture out of it as you can. You just want it damp enough to pick up the paint. When you pick up the paint, bounce the sponge on a paper towel to get the excess off. Too much paint will bleed underneath the stencil and make it blurry. Also, bounce the sponge or spouncer...don't wipe it across the stencil. You might practice if you have never done stenciling before.)

When that is dry you can do mark making with black ink (Posca paint pens, sharpies, ink, or paint). I gave out some zentangle design ideas to get people started thinking. You can choose to make them very individual, or you can unify the 3 paintings by making marks that connect them. I don't know whether to call this "mindful" or "mindLESS".  The purpose of the marks is to draw your eye through the piece and unify it through pattern. It looks like a totally different piece when you are finished.

You can also use white pen (like gel) or white ink to create your lines and marks. (In the one below, I used neurographic designs and a stencil with numbers, one with tree bark, and another random one)

Remove the tape for the BIG REVEAL.

This was so fun, I just had to show everyone's projects. Thanks to

those who sent them to me. I'll post others as they come in.

This is Allie's...not complete yet, but doing a mandala theme. She used Posca pen and Sharpie for the black. Also some colored Posca to bring out some colors that got lost.

Robin's first try. She used some floral stencils. I just love the colors.

She even put glitter pen on some of it. 

Robin is working on this second one. She painted 3 different distinct stencils using gold interference. For her marks, she used two other stencils (using a Sharpie) to bring it all together in a unifying pattern. Almost done! Can't wait for the big reveal!

This is Barb B's. So pretty! Reminds me of an iron fence. The purple and turquoise work well with the gold. You can see some of the imprint of the dry wall tape in it.

Barb G. cut hers up into three pieces. The music theme ties it all together.

 Carol's are super bold and didn't need much in the way of line and pattern.

There's a little jewel in the very center! The white screen look in the third one is drywall tape

laid down before any painting was done.

Frances used super bold watercolor paints from Plaza. They were on a little tablet, (sorry, don't know the name) and the intense darks worked so well with the gold. She also used a music theme.

Shirley took a totally abstract approach. Her original had more whites showing. I could look at this a long time. I love how you can get so many different interpretations of this project!

Jackie's had lots of whites and harder edges, and the gold wasn't doing it. 

So she used a stencil and marker to bring it all together. Loving the movement of it.

Judy's had a more pastel background and gentle feel to it.

Vicki loves color. She started out with lots of orange and added some

bright red and purples. It looks great.

Thanks to all who sent me their work!

Ellen Crimi Trent:Mini Monday Madness

 Ellen Crimi Trent was born in Massachusetts and graduated from the prestigious Pratt Institute in Brooklyn.  First she went into designing children's wear before deciding to become a freelance print designer. She branched into licensing. She leads art tours in Europe yearly. She now has a YouTube channel and Patreon. You can definitely hear that Eastern accent when she speaks!

Ellen's Patreon has a sketch level for $3 a month, another level for $6, and one for $12. 

The $6 level includes sketches and references and her YouTubes without any commercial interruptions. 

She started doing Monday Mini Madness, painting small, about 4" by 4" or on special cards made by Stonehenge that are 2.5 by 3.75 in. (These are available at Blicks or Jerry's for $1.99 each. Amazon is a bit more, since you have to buy 12) I enjoy referencing her when I want to get some ideas for making cards. (Although she does have a lot of regular sized painting projects).

Painting small has some distinct advantages:

   You aren't using a lot of paper or paint. 

   You have to focus on the most important parts of the painting. There's not a lot of space for        special effects or techniques. 

    And it doesn't take a lot of time. It's great when you don't have a lot of time to paint but still     want to keep your brushes wet. 

   It's good for experimenting with composition.

Usually with her minis, Ellen will tape down two cards, side by side, and teach both pictures in the same video. Often they follow a similar theme. Here is a link to some of them:

hot and cool flowers mini

https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=Py8ZOWzSJhQ

abstract landscape mini

https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=mk5OxZWufoU

Each mini teaches about an art concept: hot and cool colors; painting loose; negative space; etc.

When I did mine, I wanted to have a theme. I took a walk in our local park by the river, Lesko Park, and took some photos and made mini paintings from them. 

I prepared the paper by dividing my 9 x 12 paper into squares (4 squares and 2 smaller rectangles). I taped off each to give me a border around each one. I drew a scene onto each square. (Top left to right: bird feeder and iris buds, spring blossoms, large, and a lady walking her 2 dogs. Bottom left to right: house with pink tree, small blossoms, and blank.)

The bird feeder scene was inked off with permanent micron. The large buds only have a bit of Miskit on the stamens. The house scene has Miskit loosely sponged (or use paper towel wadded up) over the pink tree. The small buds were completely covered in Miskit. Each one to show a different process.

Bird feeder: Ink and wash is one of my favorite ways to paint! If this were a larger piece, I would be using several widths of water proof ink. I used an 05 Micron for this size. I just washed in a sky (opportunity for practicing clouds or sunsets here). I washed in some yellows and greens for the stems and leaves. It had to dry to do the bird feeder, but it dried pretty quickly. Besides ink and wash, I wanted to show using an "underpainting." I painted all the shadows with a cobalt blue. (Mine are on the right side of the feeder) when that dried, I washed over it all with burnt umber and some ochre. Instant shadow! You can add whatever details you like after that, such as a little color in the iris buds.

Small blossoms: This was a demo on negative space. While Miskit is on the buds, loosely wash in some blues and yellows to create sky and some greens by the flowers. You wash color over everything, including the stems. This has to dry completely. Then draw in some leaves or stems. Mix a darker green. Then paint AROUND the newly drawn leaves and stems, to make them stand out. If it is to be sky, use a darker blue around it. Be sure to blend the new color into the background so you don't have any hard edges except around the leaves. You can do this several times, going darker each time. 

Remove the Miskit and paint in the blossoms. If you want white blossoms, just paint in blue in the shadows. 

House and pink tree: There is just a bit of Miskit where I want to paint the pink buds on the tree, and maybe on the tiny flowers around the house. I applied this with a crumbled up towel (or you can use an old sponge) so that there would be little spaces and not just a big solid white space. Paint greens around the background trees, grass, etc. The background trees should be a little bluer or duller than the foreground. The yellow green should be in the foreground.

Paint the house any color you want, but the left side should be a darker versions of that color to suggest it is the shadow part. (in mine, the light source is on the right, shadows to the left) While painting the house, be aware of the perspective, especially doing the windows. They should all slant the same way. Paint in the roof and windows if the area around them are dry. 

To do the pink tree, remove the Miskit. Be sure to leave some of the white. Wet some of the white and drop in pink dots. These wet ones will give a softer look. When dry, add some darker pink to give volume to the tree. Paint in the trunk and a few branches. 

I didn't have time to do the larger blossoms. On it, I only used masking fluid on the tiny stems. The flowers are large enough to just paint around. I wet the entire background and dropped in colors I liked: cerulean blue, yellows, etc. I wanted a very loose background, and all the attention to be on those white buds. I wanted white buds, so just painted the shadows a pale cerulean with a little burnt sienna in it. I painted the centers yellow (wet in wet), and painted in the stamens with yellow, making a blue shadow under each stamen. 

The other picture is a woman I saw walking her two little dogs in the park. The sun was casting a pink reflection on the river, but the river was a muddy color from all the rain and mud. 

Mini sketches:   

Progress photo: House pic still has Miskit on the tree; small blossoms Pic has just the first color wash.

Progress photo: House pic has blossoms on tree. Blossom pic has negatively painted leaves and stems.

Still has the masking.

Last Progress photo: Large blossoms are finished. Small white blossoms have Miskit removed, and are ready to paint any color you wish.

Karen Rice: Abstract City Skyline

Karen uses cut up credit cards to create abstract designs. One of the easiest and most fun is a city skyline reflected in water.

For class, we created a loose sunset and reflection, then let it dry.

Then we practiced making marks with credit cards. You need to be sure your paint is right from the tube. Just three of four colors you really want to try together. On mine, I tried it on rough paper, hot press, and cold press. 

On the practice, we wet a strip across the paper where the horizon line would be. Then we practiced pressing the card edge into the paint, making marks, scraping across, making semi-circles, all kinds of marks to indicated buildings. Then we sprayed the bottom of the buildings and allowed the paint to drip down, using a wide soft brush to drag down some drips to look like reflections.

This one was one rough press paper.

After our "sunset" wash had dried, we did the same thing to that. I was born in St. Louis, so I wanted to create the Arch on my skyline. This was on cold press. I think I needed more practice doing an arch.

Here is Karen Rice's tutorial:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GokfkBPIj2M

She makes corrections after it is dry, sometimes using gouache (opaque watercolor) to create 

lights. 

Karen has a lot of YouTube's with this process, including some seascapes and landscapes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Hs_tsT-5ag

She does have a Patreon, and I believe it is $6.50 a month. 

I like the idea of adding things in the foreground: sailboats, a shoreline, docks, ships, etc.

Have fun with this!!!!

Karen rice florals

 

Karen Rice is a YouTube artist from London, UK, and over the last 30 years has accumulated a large following. Her tutorials on YouTube tend to be 14 to 20 minutes, and her patreon ones are longer and more complete. Patreon costs $6 a month. For $4550 you can join her group painting in Portugal. OK, I wish.

Karen is known for using a sharpened twig for branches, stems, and veins in flowers. She is also known for creating abstracts using the edge of a cut credit card. This week was focused on two ways she does florals. One is by masking out the flowers and doing a very loose and free background. The other is a wet into wet technique for flower petals.

Below is her tutorial for poppies in a field. Basically, she used masking fluid to mask off the poppies in the foreground and stems and grasses. I don't love Miskit, so I used contact paper instead for the larger flowers. If your paper is 100% cotton, you can use masking tape/packing tape/contact paper for this.

There are two methods of applying contact paper. You can cut the shape out with scissor and then rub it onto the paper, removing any air pockets and sealing the edges. OR you can put a square over the area you want---cut it gently with a craft knife--then remove the parts you don't need.

If you want to dry with a dryer, use a low setting only. Heat will adhere the masking fluid or tape to your paper, and make your life miserable.

After any masking is dry (contact paper doesn't require drying time), you wet the entire paper with a large brush and brush in quinacridone gold over the surface. While wet, apply some dark muted green and scrape in some grasses and stems with a sharpened twig. SPATTER red over the page. Choose a few spatters to enlarge and turn into background poppies. Let it all dry.

Remove the masking. Paint a light wash  of warm red with a little orange in it over the poppies and score some petal veins and crinkles with your twig or bottom of paint brush. Leave some whites. Paint in stems and any more grasses you may need. With dark purple or blue, paint some black on the bottom of the poppies, and moisten that area with water to soften the dark into the petals and onto the stem. For buds, I like to use a green with some purple dropped in. 

For stems I made a line of green on the right side of the stem. While it was still wet, I dropped dark blue every two inches or so. (I personally don't like to paint more than 3" of one color without breaking it up). Then I ran some clear water over the left side of the stem, and allowed the paint to soften and move to the other side, only lighter.

Here is the link to this YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Mg0syCZY7U

The other flower we tried today is cosmos. What I hope you take away from this was using wet into wet techniques. Cosmos can be any color, so you can use anything you like. 

In Karen Rice's tutorial she used just one color of pink for the flower petals. I prefer using two similar colors (lemon yellow/gold yellow; cool pink/coral; cerulean blue/cobalt; etc.) to give it variety, but that is up to you. She is just trying to keep it simple and not introduce too much at one time for beginners. If you do use more than one color, be sure each petal has those same colors in it.

I demonstrated the two main ideas here. One is called "flooding" the paper. You take "creamy" thickness of paint and apply it to the tips (or to the center) or dry paper,  then "flood" the area with clean water. In flooding, you start where there is no paint and push water toward the painted area before it has a chance to dry.

The second way to do it is to wet the petals with clean water, then drop in the color. I always drop it in where the darkest part will be and let it move toward the lighter parts. In either of these ways, you can "draw" veins in by using your twig or end of paint brush...start where the paint is darkest and draw it down the petals to create a vein. ALWAYS do veins toward the CENTER when doing flowers. 

(She will explain what she means by "creamy," but it mostly means thicker than thin and transparent, but not like straight out of the tube. The paint will not drip off the tip of the brush, but releases nicely on the paper.)

In this picture I allowed some petals to bleed into their neighbors, and others to look more separate. I also dropped in a different but similar paint color to add variety. I added the yellow center while the top petals were wet so the yellow would bleed into them, but left it dry on the bottom, leaving a fleck of white. 

In the picture above, you also see some lighter areas that have been "lifted" while the petals was wet. To do wet lifting, wipe the moisture from a clean brush, and let it soak up the color while wet. If the petal has dried, "lifting" involves wetting a clean brush with water, and gently rubbing over the area. Then pat it with a paper towel or tissue. 

Keep looking at the final photo of the cosmos. You will see some petals with "lost edges." We talked about lost edges when we did the goldfish. It prevents your picture from looking outlined, and can give the effect of distance. The first flower on the left has two petals with lost edges, one on the top and one on the bottom. It is achieved by gently loosening the paint at the edges so they are not hard and defined, but fade into the background a bit.

Here is Karen's YouTube on cosmos. You can get her reference from the YouTube, but it is from pexel.com. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T52C2Pb4VF0

FOR DIRECTIONS FOR APPLYING CONTACT PAPER AND MISKIT SEE THIS:

https://dearingcampbell.blogspot.com/2018/04/using-miskit-and-other-means-of-saving.html