Wednesday, October 14, 2009

reach

mostly oil pastels and colored pencil, some acrylic, and a very little watercolor. 5 1/2" x 6 1/2"

i painted a few faces last week but mostly i worked on The Doll... i'd wanted to send her off last tuesday but she just wasn't ready.


i put her on the easel to pose about halfway through... her face was mostly painted so i wrapped it with saran wrap to keep it from getting messed up. what? you think i've got issues with this doll?! hee! i'll wait until my mother's gotten her before i post a finished picture. i wasn't totally satisfied with the way she came out, but mostly...


this is an image transfer of my mother's senior picture from high school - it's on a card that i made for her. i looked in this book at barnes and noble last week and picked up a few pointers about paper and gel medium transfers. the first one was to sand the back of the paper once the gel medium is dry, and the second was to spray it with a mister before wiping the paper off (i had been getting a piece of muslin wet and wiping). the mister idea coupled with sanding works well. the other thing that i did differently is that i sanded it with a piece of 400 grit sandpaper after the image was dry (after taking the wet paper off). this left me with a smooth, clean image. so, i really feel that progress is being made on the image transfer front...

mostly watercolors with a red acrylic background. i used a black colored pencil to outline the face and eyes... approx. 4" x 6" (oh, and pieces of old wallpaper under the squares of muslin)

oil pastels and colored pencil with a very tiny amount of caran d'ache crayons and koh-i-noor pastel pencil. 5" x 7"

i've been having a good time with oil pastels. this face and the top one were done almost completely with oil pastels. on both faces i only used watercolors in the eyes and lips... i also drew this face with the china marker first so i'd have to stick with what i drew - i want to loosen up more and erase less. i just got 'the power of your other hand' (thank you vivian for the heads up!) which is about drawing with your nondominant hand. i am so interested in this as this is the way that i usually draw.


i've only been out walking one day in the last week - i think it was maybe the day of the moon bombing, and between that and feeling generally tired and quiet, i didn't walk far once i reached the dry stream bed i'd headed for. walking upstream was out because it was uphill, and downhill was good but then there was walking back... so i went a few feet and laid down and looked up at the trees.


i took a picture of my traveling colored pencil kit for you. pencils, a paper stump for blending, a 'blending pencil' (i use it on the cheeks if nowhere else), a pencil sharpener, and a piece of muslin. the muslin is great for wiping off the wood before you draw on it. it works like a very fine sandpaper.




i drew the face and then this heart on a log. while i was drawing the heart the tiniest jumping spider i've ever seen jumped on me. he was the size of the head of a pin - oh he was adorable and what a jumper! each jump was about 5" long (!!!) - i wanted to take picture of him but my camera was laying on the ground near the trees. in the course of trying to make sure i didn't squash him


i dumped the pencils on the ground and he got away!


on my way home i stopped to feast on the scent of lichen on juniper, and oh what a feast it was.


other pics of the week... the bright white is the moon and all of the other lights are from a sawmill. i was snapping pics right and left - this one was the result of hitting a big bump in the road, which i thought was particularly serendipitous...


the candle by my chair... i'm fascinated with taking pictures in low light settings...


i took a pic of my art room from another angle... i measured it so i can tell you exactly how big it is - it's 4' x 6'. that's smaller than i thought! the biggest painting on the back wall is jesse reno's 'we must reach for what we cannot see' (yeah, i'd probably buy it for the title alone). i left the pic big in case you want to click and have a look around...


my easel now... i've got an 8" x 10" piece of muslin on there and it seems as big as a billboard! but i'm feelng the need for more room... the purple squares on the left are pieces from an old yoga mat. i put them under the legs of the easel to keep it from scooting around... those oil pastels require a lot of smushing you know...

and finally, thank you for your thoughts and suggestions a couple of posts ago - i appreciate them!


If I could say it in words there would be no reason to paint.

Edward Hopper



XO

25 comments:

  1. Look! See what I have been missing while wandering all over the place! Your beautiful beautiful paintings.

    What an art room. I am inspired to claim the downstairs room as my own Wool Room. Yep. Yep. That's what I'm gunna do.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love this wandering post - so much to take in, indoors and out. Glad the image transfer book is useful as I have just bought a copy but have yet to start exploring.

    ReplyDelete
  3. what a wonderful journey you take us on every time Lynne! loved the peek into your Art room too.. thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I love visiting your blog, these beautifu, rambling posts...giving us glimpses of your life and your art...lovely to share some of your world from over this side of the globe. So enjoyed your studio and your little travel art tin.
    Those oil pastels work so well...amazing, rich smushy colours. Especially love the deep indigo/purple in Reach and the botanical images you are using.
    Looking forward to seeing your mum's doll finished.

    Jacky xox

    ReplyDelete
  5. Love to come visit and see what you have been doing. Always so interesting!

    ReplyDelete
  6. ahisma

    .
    those faces... calendar girls each! Classic.

    love the !

    exoblessings, etc. into every particle of day and night, blood thought life!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hi Lynne,

    Your posts are a feast for the eyes! So many beautiful things to look at!!
    I have an oil pastel question for you? Do you protect it with anything when you're done. I've googled this and asked at the art store....I can't get a straight answer. The Sennelier oil pastels dry but never completely..... they always remain workable..... I need them dry girlfriend......lol!

    ReplyDelete
  8. LH, Another wonderful colorful post I really look forward to them. Love your new art pieces! Thanks for the tips on prints and gel medium! I love your latest musling pieces, so colorful as always!

    I have a stupid ? for you...about those paper blenders, how do you get the color left over off of them so that they don't mix with other colors? Do they peel, I am having trouble trying to peel mine?

    Love seeing you workspace...my areas, wherever I am, end up being about 4 x 6 with my mess and after my body enters the room...ugh. But your area looks like fun!

    ReplyDelete
  9. ok...so I thought you said smaller posts??? now I will have to come back again and again, because there is so much to talk about! your work is just amazing, and using your non dom hand is brilliant, and art room and lichen on trees!!! mmmmm I am swooning!! xo

    ReplyDelete
  10. I love love LOVE(!) the faces you paint! And your art room! I loved looking around in all the nooks and crannies. There are wonderful splashes of color and inspiration everywhere. In your work space, outside as you take us on your walk, in the sky, in your candle-lit room. Oooh! I love this post.

    ReplyDelete
  11. always love a glimpse into your world - so much going on - the faces are wonderful and I really love the idea of using our less dominant hand - some of the most interesting marks have come from doing this - when I find myself zeroing in on a piece and tensing up for those last little touches, I change hands! :)

    ReplyDelete
  12. How clever - your photo transfer. I'd be to scared to give something like that a go. Can't wait to see the finished doll. Will it look like your beautiful mother? x

    ReplyDelete
  13. i love this post !
    thank you
    xxoo

    ReplyDelete
  14. I love the primary third eye head.... I feel as though I have spent the afternoon with you! -J

    ReplyDelete
  15. SO we get a tour of your vigorus studio.. looks very active.

    And the first portrait is so strong...hard to get the dark part blended in so well..loving this new stronger line you have.

    You have shared what seems like a whole day.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Hi Lynne: wonderful, wonderful faces, all of them, including your 2 prior posts - they are just beeeutiiiiful : ) thanks for the peek into your art space, now I can picture you humming along with BobbiD and just groooving to what you are doing, ha : ) the book on transfer work loooks interesting, hmmmmmm ; ) I bet your mom is going to LOVE her dolli - can't wait to see her finished and allll dollled up, ha : )
    XOBlessings (up&down&allover) Sandra in AZ

    ReplyDelete
  17. hey loani! yes, well i've no doubt you've seen quite splendid stuff in your wanderings... and do show us your wool room when you get it ready...

    hi ann... yes, i think you will find the book useful - she covers a lot of different techniques... very happy that you enjoyed your wanders here. : )

    thank you vivian... i love seeing your smiling energy here.

    jacky, yes, these oil pastels are rich and smushy - i love that. as for my mum's doll - well i will show one little picture, hee! i wasn't quite happy with the way she turned out, but felt i couldn't work on her one minute longer... i love seeing your side of the world... xo

    hi yvonne, thank you for coming by and for leaving your thoughts and kind words... i appreciate them...

    m., i MAY have gotten carried away with those exclamation marks...

    word verification is 'wingen'... exo and endo blessings be wingen their way to you... xo

    thank you, manon... so i already e-mailed you about the oil pastels - now all that's left is for you to start your own line of supplies. ; )

    janine, i love your question about the paper blenders 'cause the answer to it involves muslin, heh... what i do is keep a piece of muslin nearby and i wipe the color off of the blending stump onto it. i rub until no more color comes off, and then i'm ready to go. that's another reason that muslin is in my colored pencil box. i don't know about the unwrapping thing - i think i'm challenged in that area anyway. i've got my china marker so screwed up i have to sharpen it with a crayon sharpener. i have *totally* messed up the unwrapping feature. xo

    hee, cat! well ya'll said go with the flow, so that's what i'm doing... ; ) and thank you!

    angela, i'm glad you had a good look around the art room! don't you love to do that... i do! thank you, thank you for your nice words!

    yeah, jeane, the hand thing is big... and it's amazing to me that there can be so much difference in the energy of what each hand creates...

    hi jasmine, well i made a copy of my mother's picture - the original is safe from my experimenting, lol! and no, the doll won't be anywhere near as beautiful as my mother. ; )

    kathy! you are so welcome - thank you! xo

    thanks jayne, very pleased to have you spend the afternoon with me. : )

    lol, grrl, my vigorous studio... vigorous is a nice word. yeah, i'm liking the new stronger line too... xo

    hey sandra, yeah, that's me singing bobby d. for sure... the one that gets stuck in my head the most is 'you're gonna make me lonesome when you go'. oh! i can sing that for days! check out the transfer book at B & N (or someplace like that) and see what you think... as always, thank you for your joy full words... xoblessings zooming...

    ReplyDelete
  18. Your Mom must be over the moon with her doll.

    I love how you do faces Lynne.

    Love Renee xoxo

    ReplyDelete
  19. What a wonderful journey! Love seeing you art room and the new beautiful paintings.

    ReplyDelete
  20. fantastic full rich post lynne! love all the new images.
    i've been doing pretty much everything with my non dominant hand lately, and have been wondering how my brain might be ignited by this new 'charge' of activity! I loved l.c.'s book, thanks for the prompt to dig that up.
    leapin' spidy - how the heck does a tiny thing like that propel itself 5 feet! can you imagine how far that would be for humans to leap, proportionally?!? we could meet and visit in just a few hops :)
    your studio space proves how great things come from small packages. love you, k

    ReplyDelete
  21. Lynne,

    What a sonderful post! I had to come back several times to absorb it all. Your transfer is gorgeous! I find it takes a lot of trial and error with them. Using your non dominant hand really has me thinking that I must try this as well. I like taking over thinking out of the art equation. I love your portrait on the background of muslin squares. It adds so much interest and texture to it. I want to try this too. And I had to laugh at you spilling your pencils to avoid hurting the spider. I am always rescuing spiders that fall in my horses water trough (an old bathtub) Every morning I scoop them out. :)
    Thanks for all the ispiration!
    Hugs

    ReplyDelete
  22. Oh it was fun to see your cozy space - it is small but filled with wonderful toys right art hand !
    Love to think of you heading out to the trees and logs with your little colorful kit. You must look every part a woodland creature !
    Thanks as always for sharing your lovely corner with us !

    ReplyDelete
  23. Wow Lynne, your blacks and reds... so bold and strong... the first reminds me of the moon... I think she is still in your thoughts (?) and the faces with the reds are so exotic to me. Your mother is lovely and your newest tree face is the most beautiful, I think...
    I'm still watching the wind blow here and have been planning to write you all day. I wish every week we had a three day weekend.... I love the way you notice everything in nature, even the tiniest of spiders... I collected seeds and leaves for my class today... I am going to have the kids take them apart and glue them on a grid sheet... and make leaf rubbings... and... I am starting to feel more free I think... have a beautiful week dear one... roxanne

    ReplyDelete
  24. Love the doll! She came out great! :)

    ReplyDelete
  25. Your posts are always so much fun, full of goodies! Love your overflowing art studio. You lucky girl to have that fabulous Jesse Reno piece! I have a small one of his that you would probably love--a tree with a face on it. So many wonderful pieces here--always a delight!

    ReplyDelete

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.