Tuesday Tips and Techniques

PAINT WITH YOUR FINGERS!

Ahhh....there's nothing like getting your fingers a little messy once in awhile.

Change things up a little bit and put those brushes aside for a minute to paint with your fingers.  Read more  HERE.

Weekend Art-O-Rama - Part 2

Looking back through my journal, I really did create a lot of spreads!  I was very much into playing in my paints with my fingers.  I find it very freeing to put the paint brushes aside and to "become part of the paint." This particular spread was completed using my fingers exclusively.  I began applying black, fuchsia and cobalt blue craft paint in a random, swirly pattern all over the pages.  Even before the background dried, I began to see the face on the far right so I indicated the eyes, nose and mouth using black paint.  The next two faces followed, and while the black paint was still wet, I began applying white paint to better define the features and add highlights.  I don't know where these creepy images come from, but maybe someday I'll figure that out - or not!  I have titled this spread "We Three Creeps".

This next spread is one of my favorites from this past weekend.  Remember the "Junk To Journal" posts?  Well, I decided to flip through some of my treasures from the paint store and I came across the card with the pear.  I just love pear images and I've been saying I need to complete "the obligatory pear painting" for years now.  I thought I would cut the pear out and use it in a spread that would become a preliminary for my painting.  That was my intention anyway.  What I ended up with was a very whimsical character with a pear nose.

I applied these paint colors as the background in a random fashion using an old credit card.  While the background dried, I cut out the pear.  The moment I placed it on the page I saw a nose and proceeded to draw a face around it.  I was thinking about all the artists who painted pears and even googled a few "just to be sure".  After I finished painting the figure, I added the lettering and then wrote in names of artists who have painted pears. 

He still makes me smile when I look at him.  He's very European with his handsome mustache, beret and striped shirt. Is that an accordion I hear? Do I smell fresh baked croissants?  Nope - that would be my imagination manifest through inspiration, and I hope you'll let your imagination come out and play when you're in "Happy Creating!"