Recent Collages

Not too long ago, I made an edition of drypoint prints. At the time, I also experimented with some chine colle which, by the way, I totally failed at. The image just didn’t print on the paper plus the chine colle didn’t exactly adhere to the base paper. I took this failure and cut it into 6″ squares to use for my collaging. The 3 collages you see here were all made from my chine colle failures.

“A Proposition for Women”, 7-10-12, 6″ x 6″, mixed media on paper

“After Hours”, 7-12-12, 6″ x 6″, mixed media on paper

“Spicy Nachos”, 7-30-12, 6″ x 6″, mixed media on paper

Life Drawing in Watercolor

This past Tuesday night, at my life drawing session, I decided that I was going to work in watercolor. I wanted to work more loosely than is typical for me. To make this happen, I did not sketch the pose in pencil first, instead I focused on painting the shadow/darker areas of her form. Because our model, Lisa, had short black hair, I also found it helpful to paint in the mass that was her hair. From there, I would add in the various values and tones to complete the figure. Each of the paintings was accomplished during the 20-minute pose.

Where Has the Summer Gone?

It has been quite a long time since I blogged….it has been a busy summer for me with lots of traveling and exploring the western states. On my travels, I didn’t make much art, but I did take hundreds of photographs that have the possibility of being used as reference images for future artworks. I have made a few collages based on places I visited. The ones below are just a sampling of the flora and fauna that fascinated me on my journeys.

7-1-12, “Deep in the Woods”, fabric and paper on board

7-2-12, “Berry in the Woods”, 6″ x 6″, acrylic paint, fabric and paper on board

7-3-12, “Pink in the Woods”, 6″ x 6″, acrylic, fabric and paper on board

More recently I completed a collage and a watercolor of a man surf fishing at Buccaneer Beach in California.

7-19-12, “Surf Fishing”, 6″ x 6″, acrylic and paper on board

7-20-12, “Surf Fishing”, 11″ x 14″, watercolor

I have another watercolor in progress and am contemplating starting an oil painting. Next week is a short week at school as I have meetings on 3 days. I have been making plans for the different classes that I will be teaching and am actually looking forward to being back in the classroom. I will have to make a point to work on art in the evenings once school starts. I need to get some better lighting in my studio so that I can make it happen.