Tuesday, January 18, 2011

hand book, etc.

oil pastel, watercolors, colored pencil, gouache and casein paint in pocket hand book

i finished my pocket moleskine a couple of weeks ago, and have been working in a pocket sized hand book since. i went to buy another moleskine, but saw that they have a prop 65 label on them because the covers have a known carcinogen in them. good grief! i love moleskine sketchbooks but i feel a responsibility to support businesses that aren't using stuff that harms people and the environment, so i bought a 3 1/2" x 5" hand book instead.


this is what it looks like - very much like a pocket moleskine except with a cloth cover. the paper has more tooth that the sketchbook paper - no comparison there. i like it for watercolors and colored pencil, but wish that the pages were a little thicker. paint doesn't run through to the other side, but you can see where dark colors are on the other side of the page.

colored pencil in hand book journal

watercolor, colored pencil, and gouache in pocket hand book

because the sun is so low and it's often cloudy, it's not easy to take photographs that actually look like the original. sigh... especially of images like these, which are barely there to begin with.

watercolor, colored pencil, gouache and casein paint in pocket hand book

i put a layer of white casein paint down on this page first. love doing that...

watercolor, colored pencil and gouache in pocket hand book

watercolor, gouache, and casein paint in pocket hand book

most spreads are something like this - a mix of pogo prints and paintings. the page on the left has a layer of casein paint laid down first, and then i painted on that.


the little table to the right of my art table used to be covered with containers of acrylic paint; i've put those away because i'm not using them now - i feel like i can get the opaque color that i want with gouache and casein paint. this makes me happy!

tom ~ oil pastel, watercolors, gouache, and casein paint on old book page

tom was painted on black casein paint - his skin is oil pastel, and i added some watercolor and white gouache on top of that, but if you click you can see brush marks left behind on the casein paint. as a ground, i can't say enough about white and black (or any color!) shiva casein paint.

here's a link to a page by john molnar, who painted with shiva casein paint. there's a video too that's not especially informative about casein paint, but it does show his casein paintings.

a couple of other things...

this is the week that michaels has the 40% off coupon for your total art supply purchase... if you don't get their coupons, you can go to their website to sign up. the coupon applies to everything in the art section - the one with paints, pencils, pastels, etc. in it.

anne bagby now has a blog! she just put up a video about printing stripes with acrylic paint. and she's been talking about working on yupo - sharing her discoveries. i'm a tremendous admirer of anne's work and would read what she writes/watch what she does no matter what medium she's working in...

* * *


mlk arriving home after receiving the nobel peace prize in 1964. via tumblr

"I know that love is ultimately the only answer to mankind’s problems. And I’m going to talk about it everywhere I go."

~Martin Luther King

XO

16 comments:

  1. holy moly Lynne, I am so bummed that Moleskin has a carcinogen in them!I have loved those books for years! But now they are made in China instead of Italy. I wonder if the carcinogen is new with the new owners? I love their smooth thick paper for pencil shading.

    As I write you I can hear a coyote way off in the snowy meadow and I keep stepping out doors under the moon to listen, wondering what it may be up to.

    I love the MLK quote you have shared! love it.

    Thank you for sharing your wonderful art, great links, a glimpse of your studio space.

    I got some St. A paper today, the string is not embedded in the paper, that was just on the one they used for the sale (odd).

    xx

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  2. Fabulous informative post, Lynne. Thanks! Bummer about Moleskine books, which I have used and loved for years. Good to read your review of an alternative. I recently ordered casein and anxiously await its arrival in my post office box. best wishes, sus

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  3. I love seeing where you work .... messy , nice !!!!

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  4. LH, you have done it again. I bought my pocket book and some casein paint! LOL you always inspire me! Can't wait. I put it on my husbands card...little does he know he just bought me an early birthday present!

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  5. Hi Lynne,
    again so much nice things you offered ... I like the guy with the green hat - he must have fertile thoughts when flowers grow out of his head. ;-)
    Nice to see your working place also. There are so much things to discover - a rich world.
    And Amelia - such a cute cat. Uaah and again the pogo prints - they won't go out of my head. ;-)
    You woke up my desire to start a kind of sketch book also.

    Wish you further creative moods

    XO
    Nicole

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  6. Great studio corner, great hand book (you know I am partial to those), and great links. Thanks for the share!

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  7. Wonderful effects on "tom" painting. Beautiful work!

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  8. i love the look of your work area and the paintings you have been doing!

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  9. tom is wonderful! Love the peek at your work space. Gee that is very disappointing about the Moleskines. Now I don't want to use them either. I already have 2 of the Handbooks and I am playing with sketching in watercolours in them. I agree I wish the pages were a bit thicker.

    Hope your enjoying the full moon. It is clear in victoria tonight and the moon is spectacular!
    Hugs

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  10. LOve your new men, especially Tom. Gotta check out that casein paint and Ann Bagby. As always a deliciously engaged, enthusiastic post. Makes me want to run into my studio and start work, but alas it's midnight!

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  11. A wonderful post! That purple haired soul reminded me of Joyce Carol Oats for a flash of a second?! Love your dancers, and yet to get to that last phrase! Oh Yes. Oh yes.

    thanks for the links.

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  12. I just love the barely there paintings of jesters? they are fabulous! xxo

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  13. You've given us so much here again! Thanks for your art, and your insights, and the links. I keep going back to look at Tom - he's amazing!
    xoxoxo

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  14. I bought a handbook ages ago but haven't used it yet because of the extra tooth. I love the smoooth moleskine pages, but that is kind of creepy. I don't know now, might have to make my own.

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  15. i love your purple-haired person, and the one on the top of this post. And as always, your art room!!! And your sketchbook. I got a little one at borders that says sketchbook on the cover and the paper is thick. I'm still getting the hang of pogo printing! Hope you have a wonderful week, and I will see you on tumblr... roxanne

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  16. I accidently deleted your email so am answering here. Yes, I agree that moleskine sucks for watercolours. shocking. You have inspired me to try my handbook.... soonish.
    xox

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