Tag Me!

Sometimes I find that the harder I try and focus in one area, the more real life starts pulling me hither and yon.

Case in point, it should NOT have taken me so long to finish this current tag for the Sketchbook Challenge. But there were little things like trying to keep up with my online class and FIND things in the studio, distractions such as FOOD and COOKING and then having electricians in to redo all my studio lights.
The good part of that is now they are bright enough I only have to have half of them on. Of course the downside is I can see all the dirt and crud in nooks and crannies which remained well hidden in dim shadows. (there is something to be said for mood lighting.....ahem.....)

At any rate, for those who want a story, in New Orleans the tombs are quite ornate--not all but depending on your personal wealth you could commission someone to build a fine family tomb complete with caveau beneath to accept remains after it was time to push to the sides previous generations and newer caskets be laid to rest.

One of the common motifs is the inverted torch, symbolic of life being extinguished. I photographed several different versions of this while there, but the one depicted was by far the most beautiful. It was the difference between the stone mason and the sculptor.

The drawing started with the watercolor wash, was built up with hard drawing pencils, gesso, and Prismacolor pencils and finally received a bit of both black mica gel and pearl mica gel. With age and humidity, the stone the tombs are made of take on a patina both dark and dirty and tidbits of shiny highlights.

A good view of the under texture from gesso, then the addition of layers of colors and finally the mica gels.

This was a more difficult piece than I anticipated; I have used the image in so many works that finding the *new eye* to really see and interpret was hard. I found myself walking away in frustration several times.

Overall though, I am happy that this varies a fair amount from the photo and took on a life of it's own. It has it's own story to tell now.......

I think maybe the next thing I'll include in the tag book is a crawfish.

Because after photographing it, I can EAT IT!  ;-)

It's hard work drawing AND being witty, or so I think.....don't burst my bubble.

I have no *odd-thing-in-my hand* photo this time, not that I don't have an abundance of odd things within hands reach, but decided instead to leave you with a lovely and colorful Winter sky, as the sun had sunk below the tree line and everything was lusciously shell pink and blue.

Pax....

Dirty Artist Secrets---or---Scribbles That Turn Into Art

Here is the lowdown; I will do a thumbnail sketch on anything. For a short period of time, when I had *safely put away* (read that, totally LOST!) the previously featured sketchbook, I just used the small lined notebook I was carrying with me. No pen for the most part (altho the first pages are the exception), just a pencil and cheap paper. I love those small notebooks with the gaudy-bright colors that I pick up at the dollar stores or Big Lots. Hey, the $$$ go further!

(c) AMHL 2010

I think this is college ruled paper, so that gives you an idea of the sizes......small, small, small........

(c) AMHL 2008

 Notes to self with a scribble. No idea where I was going! Script in Strata?? Clueless now! Was thinking about something......

(c) AMHL 2008

These are ROUGH, to the point of barely being recognizable. Yet, on the majority of the sketches/scribbles, they developed into finished pieces. Someday I should shoot the sketch, complete with size (tiny!) and then the remaining pieces of art I have. Images may repeat; the pages all looked alike as I was putting them into composite photos last evening after a LONG day....LOL!

(c) AMHL 2008

(c) AMHL 2008

Basically, these were the closest thing to sketchbooks I kept for a long time, interspersed with *to-do* notes, phone numbers, things I can't make head nor tail of....in fact I had several scribbles that I am assuming was a sketch at one time but it sure is not now.
Some morphed into pieces where the core idea remained but the finished product was incredibly different from the beginning scribble. (the two directly above, Frida and Jack Kerouac, took on lives of their own)
And now back to the sketching at hand:

I like this as a photo, just because. One of the things I am constantly reminded of is how sketching with colored pencils requires a different eye for reproducing colors. It is the matter of separating in the mind the color you are looking at and then rebuilding it with shades that just seem unlikely. It is fun.
A close up:

Another thing I discovered quickly is my eyesight is really going down the tubes and most of the work was done with glasses OFF as I could see better. (scary!) Which naturally produced an unhealthy amount of eyestrain which transformed into headache.
I continued working this tag last evening, and while I will add a bit more color, it is for the most part done. I worked in a little fine black mica gel for dirt on the background and will use artistic license to leave the inverted torch lighter than photographed.

 

The mica shows a little better in the close up.

I ended up with a fair amount of texture from the gesso, and while the background wash was darker than what I wanted, serendipity again walked in and put wash lines in the right places! Sometimes, things just WORK. It roughened the fine pencil lines more than I would have liked but you play the hand you're dealt.

Art is an adventure!

I am off for a non-artistic day of shopping, etc and will be thinking about the next tag and maybe photographing one of my collage sketchbooks.

Okay.

I guess I really *do* keep sketchbooks.

They just are not like what everyone else does. That's okay.

I tend to waddle along to my own little drumbeat.

It's a good road I walk on!  ;-)

Pax....

Distracted, Delayed, deMenged! -or- Where The Sketching Posts Went

Yesterday's winter storm in progress....cold....snow....more snow.

I should know my world in January in Indiana well enough to know that trying to do one thing is impossible. I mean, just one thing. Like sketch. Or get a blog post up in a timely manner. I took all the photos of my old *thumbnail/scratchy* sketchbook and shoved them into the computer. This morning I got them into groups so that this post would not roll on forever.

A little background; I started this sketchbook probably 15 years ago. There are some sketches that turned into fiber art. I have no idea if I have photo reference of those pieces. Well....SOMEWHERE.....but I don't know where. So off we go!

 

I still favor the size of this book for rough sketches; it is a mere 3 1/2" x 4 3/4" and is perfect.

PERFECT.

No intimidation.....it's tiny. If you screw up, it's just a little bit of paper. I always have used a Sharpie for work like this, though I go back in with ballpoint or pencil for fine notes. The ink runs too much for me to read later.

You can see the odd assortment of things sketched~~some with a visual guide like the Ampeg  sticker (no, I never got an Ampeg amp....that sticker was as close as I got to one of those *to-lust-after* bass beauties....) and some things I just scribbled. The last photo is significant because those sketches turned into art quilts and were the start of my shrine series that did so well. I never did sketches once the series was started; it was enough to get the general idea down and run with it. One fed the next.

Other oddities; leaves from my Japanese Maple under a piece of contact paper, pictures from quilt catalogs glued over the bleed-thru, and my original *Anne-tangles*. For those of you who might not have believed I was surprised when these became all the rage.....this is why. Been there, tangled that.

Anyway, the CURRENT sketching project had a slight delay due to a SNOWSTORM that decided to deposit itself in our State, thus, quality time with the John Deere (waaaaay too much) and the beginning of my Michael deMeng class which I highly recommend to everyone with a desire to learn new art technique and for those with a sense of humor because the man is a riot!

First, I will show that I actually got the gesso on the previous tag....whoooo-hooooo!!!!! (insert sarcasm)

And then the books everyone needs, whether you're taking Michael's class or not because they are delightful and fun reading, plus amazing artwork.....

 

Somehow I don't think he would mind that I had a little fun with the photo....

Okay, there is no odd thing in my hand photo today because yesterday That plow was the odd thing in my hand all day, and I am doing good to type this morning.

But I do have e-mail Spam humor. As I live and breathe, this was the header:

Jamaica Awaits Me!

And I it.

Not happening......I can barely get to the mailbox.

And now it's off to studio land, to try and accomplish something while I sit and look out at the gloom and grey of the continuing snowfall.

No more plowing.

Jamaica awaits me, ya know!

Pax....

Tagging Along.....

Nothing like a migraine and then a day of catch up work to get one behind on a project, eh? Thought I would give you a peek at the bedlam I am working in right now, which really, is enough to give any semi-sane soul a migraine. (the remnants of said headache are lingering...)

 

Yes, I am still doing the Sketchbook Challenge~~I have managed to keep my quasi-focus and have some nominal progress to show. I am thinking the next post I do (while working on this drawing) will be about an old working sketchbook I kept. It may be mostly photos. Not sure. But I think it is important to point out what I really work from, and how for me, this is to produce a finished product.
Well, last time I was mentioning about tinting a white page before use and I did the same again for this tag.

 Except, somehow, the color got a little darker than I had wanted. Working with black in a wash is always iffy at best. I have had them dry to faint greys and then sometimes to charcoal.....not my intended colors. 

The same here, a little too dark after I get the outline for the drawing on. I can barely see it, but I love-love-LOVE the other color in the background, sooooo......

Out comes my favorite weapon in my artist's arsenal; GESSO!
All I will have to do is give the area to be drawn a light wash and it will be ready to accept pencil and also let the background color show through. Funny, it just now struck me that I cover up the white to draw, then I cover it too much so I drag out the white again. Oh well. I can change my mind, right?  ;-)
Now I have to do another *odd things in my hand* photo.

Jan over at Laughing Dog Arts and I have commented on how artists are the original recyclers. We occasionally joke about things we save and save......and SAVE.....which is not necessarily a bad thing! This glass container is what I always turn to when I need a tidbit of *something* for texture or to finish out a little piece. It is full of all sorts of oddities and broken pieces of dried and stamped paperclay items, twigs, an odd shell. I love poking through it when I need a little extra. Occasionally it is not the Genie Jar I think it is and doesn't yield up the answer, but the time spent sorting generally is enough mental zen-time to figure out what I want to do.
Okay, off ye go.
Make art!


Pax....

A Happy Artsy Sight! (The Sketchbook Challenge Continues...)

Artsy JOY!!!

Well, I have not fallen off the artsy bandwagon yet~~will miracles never cease!
In continuing with the small tag sketch book, I finished the drawing on the LaFitte image, waxed some lovely laid paper and did title pages to slip in between the covers. The amount of medium used on the pages left them with a bit of *tack* and I wasn't sure if they would, over time, adhere to the sketch pages next to them.

 Over cautious, I know. But when your first sketch page is something you really LOVE, it's worth the effort!
Ever since our first visit to New Orleans, I have loved the massive Live Oaks of the South. I collected acorns and have used them sparingly in my work, my dear friend Silke sent me leaves from the behemoth trees to use in other artwork, thus the first sketch of things I highly prize is the acorns of this grand lady, growing on limb.

 I started with a gessoed tag, gave it a loose wash of color to get rid of that scary, frightening *WHITE* then began working with Prismacolor pencils, white gel pen and a 2H drawing pencil.
For anyone with *White Page Syndrome* I highly recommend doing a light wash of acrylic or watercolor to stain the page. Even if you are unsure what you will be drawing, the color automatically tones things down and lets the mind settle into the job quicker. 
I lucked out and found that some of the movement of the paint was close to the twists and turns of the limbs, leaves and acorns.

I have not seriously drawn in a long time and all I could think of was, I feel like I am illustrating a greeting card......go figure. It wasn't that I did not enjoy the process, it is just that I have not FELT the process in so long.
I am happy with how it has progressed; I may not do a whole finished piece~~it may stay as it is. I don't know. I will leave the gessoed back plain, to include text, thoughts, etc later.
And now for the *odd things in my hand photo*.......

This is the *wishbone* or breast bone from a duck! Doesn't it look like a toothless jawbone???

You guess!
I'll disclose this one later!
And yes, my studio is full of the most peculiar items. Including the artist that there in resides! LOL!!!
Now go make art. ;-)


Pax....

Sketchbook Challenge--Adding More.......

St. Louis Cathedral, viewed straight on through Jackson Square

I think, with this challenge, the high point for me will be tinkering with methods I do not usually use. Take for instance transfers from transparencies. I tried this ages ago and had a horrendous experience. Well, to be honest, I had SLOP.

So I pitched the pack of transparencies into the ever growing paper pile and computer supplies and forgot about them.

Until making the tags.

I really wanted images for the front and back and somehow, those transfers kept bubbling to the surface. Thus, I took a deep breath and tried them.

Tag with soft finish transfer and remaining image on transfer plastic.

St. Louis Cathedral turned out excellent. I had done a nice wash of earth and sky color on the tag and all I had to figure was where I wanted to place the transfer. I opted for a little further toward the bottom to get the feeling of the image sinking into the soil; everything built in NOLA is slowly sinking. It's just a fact of building on waterlogged soil. I was pleased with both the colors and the image on this tag! Yes!

So then I was a bit too cocky, and when trying to transfer the image of Jean LaFitte's Blacksmith Shoppe (a tavern serving exceptionally potent drinks......exceptionally...) it decided not to transfer worth a HOOT. 

The transfer plastic shows how little effectively went on the tag, though the amount of red left is interesting.

I had a very vague image on the tag, which I had colored with sea and reef colors, and the remnants of the image still stuck on the transparency plastic. Okay, the unavoidable is happening. I am forced to take out Sharpie and gel pen and DRAW.
Hey, Anne, it is supposed to be a sketchbook.......hmmmmmm......

Yes, this building really sags. BAD. And you don't need a few drinks to see it either.

An aside.
You may think that LaFitte's is drawn cockeyed. Truly, it is not. The building sits at angles that defy logic. It is one of the remaining original structures from the very very OLD Vieux Carre, from the time before the massive fire that destroyed most of the city. The plaster has fallen off the brick, the timbers have sagged with time, the roof has not one straight line.
I probably have given it a bit of a facelift.......
Anyway, back to the tags. These will now be the front and back. There is still a bit to do on LaFitte's rough drawing, but that will be finished. The area where the soft gel transferred the image takes ink fairly easily, but the parts without it are much more difficult to draw on. And it is not easy to see where one ends and the other begins. Nor do I remember what all I used on the background..... I also edged out the tags with colored Sharpies, so areas where the white primed ground showed through are now covered and part of the design.
Totally unrelated to ANYTHING in this post, another *odd things in my hand* photo.

I should super-glue these to my forehead.....

I did a little work on the bench grinder with these crab claws and now have a perfect set of horns for some mixed media project, somewhere down the road. They were just too good to throw away. But I think they need to sit in some baking soda for a while as they still smell like, well, a CRAB.
So this has covered sketchbook pages, a Pirate bar and reuse of a dead crab shell.
Things are just normal here at El Milagro......yep. Life is good!

Pax....