Sketchbook Practice Lesson 2

This week we worked on circles, circles and more circles! I had more fun this week and really just experimented as much as possible with colors and materials.Definitely out of my comfort zone but I did learn a lot and there are even aspects of some of the pieces I genuinely like.

Activity 1 — Circle Practice
I experimented with different combinations of circles using a variety of materials.

I experimented with thin Pilot Precise Point pen,
a bold chisel-tipped marker India ink, oil pastel
and Prisma color pencil.

Here I used black, white and yellow ochre acrylic paint. I particularly like all the texture. I used large and small bubble wrap (thanks Jane--I love this stuff), bottle lids, the bottom of bottles and a large cork stopper. I used a Pilot pen for the small circle of circles.

I started to use more color here and a little layering. There’s acrylic paint, the black circles are from the chisel-tipped marker some cut circles from paper I made awhile ago, some circles cut from some tissue paper I have and an eraser tip. I added elements with gold Sharpie and Pilot pen. I used some bubble wrap again, some smaller corks. One fun thing--I blotted up some of the purple bubble wrap circles to take some of the paint off and the blotting paper was so pretty that I just had to cut out a circle from it and stick it on.

These are a combination of  black acrylic paint, some pilot pen, oil pastels and watercolor pencils. I used some of the same techniques as in the other pages but in different combinations using different materials.

Activity 2 — More Circle Practice

Here we worked with layering circles using 2 or 3 different materials.

I really got into this activity and did several.
For this first exercise I used water color pencils
and then went in with Prisma color pencils.

Here I made a mask of cicles then painted a watercolor wash over them. I went back in after the wash dried with more watercolor. I love the depth created where it overlaps the pure white of the masked areas and creates the darker outlines. Then I went in with my fine point Pilot pen and doodled.

Then I did a couple using Jane’s technique of black/white/gray circles in acrylic with oil pastels over them. I love this combination of materials and enjoyed it so much I had to do two! I’ve never really worked with oil pastele before and I love them. Also, on this first example, I layed down a base wash of Hansa Yellow Medium and Iridescehnt Gold Deep (Fine) that I had left on my palette from something else. It gives the whole pieces such a warm rich glow.
This is something I know I will do again.

Lastly, I just had to try the “sgraffito” with doodles. 
Can’t wait to do more of this. Love the texture.
I added additional paint circles and I really like the
effect when it crosses the scratched areas. Also including
a couple detail shots of some of my favorite areas.

And this is one I didn't post on the class blog. It was a personal page with two quotes I came across that helped me along the way. I think this is my favorite of all because it was just for me.

Actvity 3 and 4

Some simple circle compositions and more contour drawing. The mostly blind contours were one-liners of moving subjects. I used Chubbles the cat who doesn't move that quickly but it was still challenging!

 Tomorrow it's on to Lesson 3.

Jane Davies Sketchbook Practice Class

Well I've been diving into My Year of Living Artistically with an online class with Jane Davies— Sketchbook Practice. It has awakened all KINDS of demons that I've been wrestling with. Particularly loud and relentless is my inner critic. Very difficult for me to "have fun" and "just play" but I am working on it and enjoying the activities more and more as I slog through. It's a great experience but not sure I would label it "fun" quite yet. Old habits (and voices) die hard.

I decided to post my "work" here so I have a reference. I did not post the first lesson on the class blog but I did post the second. Posting only a small selection from the first lesson "Drawing Lines".

Line Exploration, Various Materials

India Ink Scribble

Prisma Color Pencil and Charcoal Pencil Scribble

Graphite Scribble

Pencil and Pilot Pen Scribble

Emotimarks–Anxiety

Emotimarks–Fear

Emotimarks–Joy

Emotimarks–Solitude

Blind Scribble w/Color Added 1

Blind Scribble w/Color Added 2

Blind Scribble w/Color Added 3

Below are two blind contour drawings followed by three seeing contour drawings of the same object.

So this was Lesson 1. I will post each lesson as a separate entry.

Newest Beeswax Collage

Here's the latest. For this one I used lots of my own painted papers along with the scraps, napkins, tissue papers and other miscellany I've collected. My most ambitious to date and the largest (12" x 12").

One of the things I love so much about this technique is that I can create rich textures by layering elements with varying degrees of transparency. It reminds me of old stucco walls with years  and years of paint layers showing through as the building ages over time. I am so drawn to the layers of history and experience that these walls hold and I feel a deep sense of soul.  These encaustic layers also create a sense of depth and soul for me; images and small pieces of stories revealing themselves beneath the layers that overlap them. Or overlapping the images beneath but never fully covering them. The sensual elements of melting the wax to fuse each layer to the one beneath it and the slight fragrance of the melted beeswax complete the experience for me.