MOON FACE COLLAGE SHEET

I made myself a collage sheet of vintage moon faces and thought that I would share.  These are a little rough as I am just learning how to make them.  Enjoy!

BLACK AND WHITE JOURNAL

I am currently working in a black & white journal that is patterned after two different journals that Teesha Moore showed us in the Artstronauts Club.  I made mine 6"x8" with 21 fold-out pages.  All of the collage and pen work will be in black, white and grey on grey paper.  I can't tell you how much fun is is to make these journals.  I have made five so far and I am sure that I will make more as they make lovely gifts.

I still need to make the closure for three of them.  I'm not sure if I will use ribbon like the one shown or do something different.  Hmmm…decisions, decisions!

Journals made with double-sided scrapbook paper.

Black, White & Grey Journal

Sneak peek at journal in progress.

Sneak peek at B&W journal in progress.

I know, I know….I started another journal without first finishing the one I was working on.  Actually, I do that often.  I become interested in new and different things before I am finished with the projects that I am currently working on.  I guess that keeps me from becoming bored…but not to worry...I'll return to the old projects and finish them up someday!  Then they will be new projects all over again.  Anyone else do this?  I know I am not alone...so come on…fess up!!!

Until next time!

Hugs,
Ginny

SMALL COLLAGE ON CANVAS

Michael's had a sale recently on their gallery canvas so I picked up a few for gift making.  I love the way the canvas looks when the sides are painted but I don't like, so much, that the canvas has "give" when you try to adhere the paper...but the smaller sizes seem to work well enough.

With that said, I completed two 4" x 4"collaged canvases for a friend's Birthday.  I used Liqutex Acrylic Matte Gel Medium for adhering the paper but wasn't satisfied with the wrinkles when they dried.  Even with the small size, it was difficult to put enough pressure on the surface of the canvas to adequately burnish the collage pieces.  To remedy this, I thought that I would try applying the gel medium directly to the top and sides of the completed canvases by using a pallet knife…making sure to spread a generous coat to fill the valley's that the wrinkles made.  I read somewhere where that this can be done to give the appearance of faux encaustic.  It worked!  Now…if I had only thought of applying a coat of furniture wax to the surface, I am sure it would look very much like encaustic! Next time!

All the collage pieces are from magazines, books or found objects (tea bag).

Of course…after I completed these two little ditties, I found wooden like signs (made of MDF) at Michaels that would be perfect for collage and that were a fraction of the cost of canvas.  $2.00 for a 4"x4" or  2"x6", $3.00 for a 5"x7", and $5.00 for a 5"x11"!  (They had additional sizes too.)  And...I had a 30% off coupon for the total purchase!  Whoop Whoop!  You better believe that I loaded up the cart!

You can see from the photo that they have a beveled edge and that the inside of the back is also painted.  One of my friends suggested that the inside back could be used for making a diorama.  What a great idea!  Also, wouldn't these be great to adhere several different sizes together to make a cute display box?  Oooooh…the ideas they are just a churning!

Until next time!

Hugs,
Ginny

I HAVE A LOT OF CATCHING UP TO DO….

WOW!  I hadn't realize that so much time has past since my last post.  Not that I haven't been busy working on lots and lots of creative projects…but I have been busy...and do I ever have many new and different things to show you!

Let me start with my "Teesha" journal.  I have completed two more pages and only have twenty more to go.  I'm a little over half way through but I had to set it aside temporarily in order to work on gift making for the many friends and family who have Birthday's this time of year.  I'll show you some of those gifts in a separate post but first,  let me show you the two completed pages and their before and after shots.

Completed collage

Collage before pen work

Completed collage

Collage prior to pen work.

There you have it!  Two more completed pages in my "Teesha" Journal.

I welcome questions about the supplies used or the process.  I love to share..soooo...just ask!

Until next time….

Hugs,
Ginny

STEAMPUNK ANYONE?

I love Steampunk!  I don't know why it doesn't find its way into my art more.  It appeals to my love for old Victorian things….the clothing with gowns of leather and lace, corsets, petticoats and bustles…suits with waistcoats, tails, top hats and spats….Oh MY!  I love it all!  Real and fantasy!

I also love the post apocalyptic gadgets such as gas masks and machinery made from found objects.  It brings back memories of playing with an old respirator/face mask and goggles when I was a kid.  I am sure that it didn't come from the Victorian era (I'm not THAT old!) and that it was just something that my parents used when they built the first house that I ever lived in but I can pretend that it dates back to earlier times.  Anyway….here is my first attempt at Steampunk art.

Until next time….

Hugs,
Ginny

THERE ARE NO LITTLE THINGS….

"There are no little things.  Little things are the hinges of the universe."

Fanny Fern

I watched a Teesha Moore video on the Artstronaut Club site and saw where Teesha used Faber Castell Gelatos to shade her drawing so I thought that I would give it a try.  So with my set of  Gelatos that I picked up for $3 bucks in the children section of JoAnn's, I set about to mark my page.  I selected metallic purple to go around the head and some of the border.  Not too bad!  I liked the look so much that I thought that I would try my Caran D'Ache Neocolor II crayons also and they did a decent job too!  Wow!  More tools to experiment with and use in my art.  I'm beginning to feel like a mad scientist!  lol

Let me give you a tip about where to buy the Gelatos without breaking the bank. Buy the children's sets (10 crayons) if you can still find them.  (I noticed that they had a few sets left on Amazon.com)  The children's sets, made by Faber Castell, are called gel sticks and are identical to the Gelatos but at a fraction of the cost. Different packaging but the same stick inside the box.  They don't come in all the variety of colors that the Gelato sets do but the colors are pretty awesome just the same.  Especially the metallic ones which have six colors in the set (gold, silver, purple, blue, green and melon).

In case you are not familiar with the Gelatos they are delicious little lipstick like tubes of water-soluble  crayons that can be used with water and a brush to give a watercolor look or straight from the tube to make marks like a crayon.  You can even shave bits of the stick into a mini spray bottle with some water and make your own sprays.  They really are very versatile.  I used them in my collage straight from the stick like a crayon and then rubbed them a little with my finger to smear them.

What do you think?  Does this sound like fun?

Until next time,

Hugs,
Ginny

"STOP IN THE NAME OF LOVE…..

It's been about a year and a half since I started meeting once a week with a group of friends who happen to be like minded about their art.  Most of us met at Yoga class.  The yoga class is made up of over 60% creatives.  Coincidence?  Anyway, I didn't mean to get off track.  I started to explain how important belonging to an art group is to artistic growth…. besides forming wonderful friendships, your art friends can encourage, inspire, trade tips and techniques, offer constructive advice and keep you focused on your art.  But most important…you learn from each other!!!  This is true whether you are involved in an on-line Facebook or Flickr group, an on-line class or if you meet in person in a classroom or with a group of art friends.  Art friends are best!!!  Yay!  Rah Rah! Rah!  (The "Art Friends Are Best" cheer.  lol)

I just love my art friends!  Without them I would be stuck somewhere trying to decide what to do next.  Add more color, shading, highlights, embellishments, etc…..

Take for example my collage of the girl with the globe head.  Of all the collages that I have done, it is perhaps one of the least inspiring.  I don't know why but I had a hard time getting started.  So I did what I always do when I feel that way…I put pen to paper and added some dots here and there.  If I "prime the pump," unusually one thing will lead to another and before I know it, the collage will begin to take form.  But this one….I got all the way to the point where the background needed some patterning and stopped!  Then my friend Judy pointed out that she would like to see the lines from the grid below the flower continue through the background.  Something that I hadn't thought of.  (This is where the harps play and butterflies are released in the universe.)  Anyway, I added some lighter curvy lines and fell in love with the piece!  Something so simple but yet so powerful…it was the glue that tied it all together!

Collage before embellishing

Let me tell you about some of the challenges with this piece. You can see from the before picture that the collage lacked color and vibrancy.  Except for a little pop of red and yellow, the collage is pretty much monochromatic….brown and tans.  Also, the collage pieces themselves seem dull….so the first thing that I did was to liven up the collage pieces with pops of neon gel pens and Prismacolor pencils.  I added highlights and shading to give them depth.  Then I added some cool tones with the touches of blue and the green vine.  I completely colored the face and hands using Prismacolor pencils and lastly, I added shading to the background using a dark brown Prismacolor pencil and a red Faber Castell gelato.  The light tan curvy lines were painted with a Molotow Paint Marker.  I love these markers, they write on everything and are permanent when dry!!!

If you have any questions about the techniques…please feel free to ask!  I love to share!  Or….maybe you have a technique that you would like to share!

Until next time!

Hugs,
Ginny