Day 15 - Reaching Unprecedented Realms of Productivity
I suppose I will start chronologically.
Last night I was working on a new wearable art / collage / fiber art piece. Lately at night I've taken to relaxing by hand-sewing little creatures or t-shirts. I've been hording bits of cloth for as long as I can remember, and it's only in recent months that I've begun putting them to use. So last night I started a patchwork snake design that will eventually be sewn onto a green t-shirt. This is Artwork #24 -
I'm using a combination of different kinds of cloth and felt. The eye of the snake was made with a little mirror that I cut off of an Indian vest that I had bought on Ebay several years ago. After the design is sewn onto the shirt, I will use yarn to create a flickering tongue. I'm going for a bit of a bohemian patchwork look with this one. I like sewing stuff late at night because it's repetitive and relaxing and doesn't require thought like my paintings do.
So that was last night. Today I took some pictures of my studio to share:
There's my messy wall, the chair where I sit when the magic happens, and my long table filled with art supplies. You may notice on the far bottom left one of the paintings I posted on this blog. I thought I'd show you the makeshift "easel" that I rigged up using 1/2" thick foamboard and a piece of wood:
Because I don't have a real easel and I'm too cheap to buy one (for now), I use this thing to prop up my works on panel. This board is really light so I rest it on my knees while I'm sitting in my chair and it works out well.
Here is a close-up of my art supply table:
That place where you see the remote is where I keep my palette when I'm working. So, that's my studio in a nutshell.
After photographing my work space, I decided to go outside with my colored pencils again. It's been awhile since I've done this, so it was nice. I forgot to take pictures though, so I'll do that next time. I worked on a frog drawing that I started awhile ago (this is Artwork #25):
This guy is hard to draw because of all the little subtle details in his face, so it requires a good deal of concentration. Unfortunately the sun was really beating down today so I only lasted an hour before I came crawling back inside. I decided maybe if I pace myself by working on him for an hour a day, it won't be so dauting.
I also took some pics of the 16" x 20" abstract (Artwork #10) that I finished yesterday, so here it is:
And here is a recap of the painting's progress:
And yes, there's more... this is getting to be a long post, isn't it? I finished 3 more of the small abstract ACEOs (Artworks #19-21):
These ones each have metallic accents of silver, gold, turquoise, and copper, which don't really show that well in this scan. Like Jordan suggested in her comment yesterday, I plan to reconnect these when they're done to show you how they started and what they became. I have three more to finish, which I should be able to get done tomorrow!
Whew, this has been a very long post! Aside from working on all this artwork today, I also managed to accomplish quite a few business-related things, so I'm feeling good. And the night is still young, so I've still got lots more time to work on more things. Today is Day 15, the halfway point of my 30 Day Artist journey! I'm pleased that I've managed to keep up with the required number of artworks, and it has been a very prolific 15 days. I'm looking forward to another two weeks!
Well, the next best thing after having a really productive day is to spend the next day relaxing a bit. I worked at a slower pace today and took care of a lot of little miscellaneous things.
I forgot to show pictures of the second toy still life (Artwork #12) that I finished yesterday, so here it is -
I finished the last two of the mini abstracts (Artworks #22-23):
It took me a few minutes to try to piece them back together. Here they are as a group:
I thought I'd also show you how each individual one evolved:
Working in this way has given me some new ideas for potential abstracts in the future. I liked working on them individually and then piecing them back together again, even though they're not meant to be displayed in that way. Perhaps I could try a painting in which I complete an underpainting and then section it off and focus on each section as its own individual unit, so that there is some obvious relation and flow, but more dynamic because each section which be treated differently. Hmm...
I also started the underpainting for a commission for a blue monkey painting:
I want to create this painting in a whimsical style that will draw heavily from Indian miniatures in terms of the treatment of the landscape and night sky. This is Artwork #26 and it is 5" x 7" acrylic on panel. It was commissioned by a friend to fit into a neat old Indian frame.
I was thinking about the rooster drawing a lot today and wondering what to put on the left side. I sketched out some ideas and even messed around with ideas in Photoshop but nothing has really struck a chord yet. I'd like to finish this piece soon.
So that just about sums up today in terms of artmaking. Yesterday was so energetic that I think my mind needed today to relax and get refreshed. I think it's only possible to remain in the creative state for so long before you need a rest.
Another lazy day. I spent the afternoon with a friend, and afterwards I felt really tired and unable to concentrate on artwork. I tried, I spent about an hour painting, but didn't really get anywhere. This is what I accomplished, a 5" x 7" strawberry painting (Artwork #27), still a work-in-progress: I kind of like the stark white background. I'm not sure if I'll leave it like that or give it a color. I tried some possible color schemes in Photoshop:
Any opinions? I think it might be more striking if it's left with the white background, but I do think the pink is kind of nice.
I also did a digital piece from one of my doodle sketches (Artwork #28):
He's cute. I wish the gradient in the background had come out more smoothly, but oh well. Sometimes I think it would be nice to paint some of these doodles that I make, but I think I like the rawness and simplicity of the pencilled lines. I especially like that juxtaposed with the fancy slickness of the added colors and backgrounds in Photoshop. It's a nice constrast.
I worked on the snake fiber collage (Artwork #24) some more last night:
It's coming along nicely.
I think I'll chill out tonight and try to go to bed early, so that I can be refreshed and energetic tomorrow. I'm looking forward to having another productive day!
I spent the earlier part of today cleaning, organizing, and taking care of miscellaneous things that needed to get done... the kinds of things that have been piling up for a couple of weeks now. I finished the snake fabric collage, but I forgot to take a picture of it. Tonight I'll sew it onto the shirt so I'll share a pic tomorrow. I decided to go with the light green background for the strawberry painting (Artwork #27):
The background is done and the green leaves are done, I just need to fix up the bottom part of the shadow and finish the strawberry itself. Although I liked the strawberry in front of the stark white background, I felt it made the painting feel a bit cold and clinical, whereas the feeling I was going for was cozy and welcoming. I think the light green background helps achieve this and provides a nice contrast with the blazing red of the strawberry.
I started a new 8" x 10" phonograph painting (Artwork #29). I decided to try a new technique with this one. First I laid out several strips of blue painters tape (the kind that peels off really easily), then I outlined a phonograph over top of it with a pencil. Then I very carefully cut along the outline and peeled the tape away:
Then I mixed together red paint, light modeling paste, blended fiber gel, and glass bead gel, and used a palette knife to scrape the mixture over the surface of the painting. I scraped it over the sides too, because I want this to be a 3-D work of art. Then I carefully peeled off the tape while the mixture was still wet:
It takes awhile for this stuff to dry, so I set it aside for the rest of the day. Tomorrow I'll paint the interior of the phonograph silhouette with my usual funky abstract designs. Depending on how that looks, I may or may not add some more embellishments to the red background.
I also laid the foundation for another 5" x 7" acrylic on wood panel painting (Artwork #30):
This piece is very textured already. The bottom part is comprised of a mixture of glass bead gel and light modeling paste, and the top part of made from light modeling paste and several layers of paint. This is going to be a cute painting of a teacup in a whimsical setting. I'm going to use the same technique as I described above for the phonograph piece, only in reverse, because in this painting I want the teacup to be the raised, textured part. I'm not sure if it will work, but I'll try! It will be hard to get the tape to stay flat over the bottom pink part, because it's already raised due to the bumps of the little glass beads.
So that's where I'm at right now. I've got a lot of paintings started, so I'd like to start finishing them. Maybe I'll focus on that over the next couple of days.
I meant to be a lot more productive today, but it turned out to be a semi-lazy Sunday. Sundays are good for that though. I was up until 4am last night putzing around and finishing the snake tshirt. So I had what most people with regular schedules would probably consider a late start to the day, but it works for me. I enjoy nocturnal creativity, but I try not to be too nocturnal because I'd still like to participate in the rest of the world as fully as possible. Plus I know that when I go to England and France I won't be allowed to be nocturnal, so I suppose I should live it up while I can.
So this afternoon I tried to draw outside but it was so hot that after 15 minutes my brain was mush so I decided to read for a little while instead. I'm reading Life of Pi and I'd like to finish it before I leave the country. I'm about halfway through right now so I might succeed. I only lasted about half an hour outside before the heat and intense sunlight made me drowsy and a bit sweaty so I decided it was time to make another attempt at productivity.
So then I came inside and tried to do some art. I varnished the rest of the mini abstracts from earlier, and then I got hungry. I decided to make a semi-decent meal, so I concocted something resembling a curry, but I didn't have any curry powder so it tasted a bit bland. So I spent a lot of time preparing food and then eating, something I hadn't done in a while. Lately I've been rushing through meals, making quick sandwiches and stuff. I usually get into that kind of routine when I'm really busy, like now. But it's nice to slow down and be able to spend an hour preparing dinner, so today I lent myself the luxury of doing just that.
So then after dinner I tried to do some art when a friend called. I hadn't really gotten to talk to her much or see her much since she lives an hour away, so I enjoyed having a long phone conversation, like the kind we used to have many years ago when we were younger and less pressed for free time. I'm trying to squeeze in as much quality time as possible with my friends before I leave. So that was nice.
So then I was finally able to do some art, but not too much cause I needed to come out here and write my post for the day. So here it is! I know I rambled a lot about non-art stuff in this post so far, but I wanted to demonstrate how a well-intentioned artist can get easily distracted. Some days were just not meant to be as productive as others. The night is still young though, and after writing this I intend to go work some more.
So here's the snake shirt (Artwork #24):
I think it turned out rather well. I'll have to wear it and get someone to photograph it and maybe I'll post a pic. It looks better when it's worn cause you don't notice the tiny wrinkles that you can see in these photos.
I put tape on Artwork #30 and outlined a silhouette of a teacup, then cut it out:
I scraped over it with a layer of light modeling paste, ceramic stucco gel, white paint, and iridescent gel medium. Then I peeled off the tape and this is how it looks:
Here's a side view so you can see the thickness of the teacup a bit better:
It will take awhile to dry, so tomorrow I'll start painting the teacup.
I worked very briefly on the phonograph painting, starting to lay down the colors:
So, that's my day for ya. I really intended to go do some more work after posting this, but I'm starting to feel hungry again...
I'm feeling productive and refocused once again. I've painted for about 4 hours so far today. I worked on the teacup painting:
The teacup is done, I just need to figure out what to do with the background. I like the simple crimson dots on the bottom, but I'm not sure what to do with the top part. As you can see I experimented with a few different ideas. But I'm still not sure. Part of me feels like the big flowers are too big and clunky. Maybe some medium-size flowers would work. I think I'll probably paint the background black and then paint it crimson again and start over.
I finished the phonograph painting today:
I'll take a better picture tomorrow. I'm moderately pleased with this painting; as an experiment I feel it was a success. I think it would have looked better if I'd have used a more delicate line when doing the funky abstract designs, like the ones I did for the set of mini abstracts. Instead I used a slightly bigger brush.
I finished the underpainting for the blue monkey:
Then I decided to pop it into the frame to see how it looked so far... and lo and behold it doesn't fit in the frame! Grr... I assumed that the frame had a regular 5" x 7" opening, so I did this painting on a 5" x 7" wood panel. But the frame is old so it's not a standard size, and the opening is a tad too wide and a tad too short. So I'm not sure what to do. If my friend has a tool that can cut an even line through wood, this piece might be salvageable. If not, I'll have to start over. At least I didn't get too far before discovering this.
I also worked on a painting that my dad commissioned. I can't show pictures of it because I'm giving him all the rights to the artwork, which I wouldn't normally do, but hey, it's my dad. The painting is illustrating a scene from a short story that he wrote and he's going to sell prints of it. So I'll be working on this painting for next week or two but I won't be able to show pics of it.
So that sums up today thus far. I'm going to try to make some headway on the rooster drawing tonight. I have more of an idea of what I want to put on the left side now. It feels good to feel focused again after a few days off. I suppose the reason I slowed down over the last few days is because I normally take at least 1 day off each week where I don't create any artwork at all, at least not putting forth any major and prolonged effort. A full day off usually clears my head and refreshes my creativity. Since doing this 30 Day Artist thing, I can't really take that kind of break if I want to reach 40 artworks by the end of the month. It's been a good, insightful and productive month so far, but I think in the future I'll be relishing that day off!
Wow, I've made it through 3 weeks already, now I'm heading into the final stretch! Only 10 more days to go...
I finished the rooster drawing last night, finally!
I ended up taking the path of least resistance and making the left-hand side a continuation of the main patterns but with slight variations. For the border design, I reversed the colors so that orange became the color of the designs and crimson became the color of the background. At a quick glance it's not really noticeable. I continued the Japanese math equations all the way to the edge of the left side, and added a little color to the background to liven it up a bit. All in all I'm pretty happy with this piece.
Here is how this piece progressed:
I finished the teacup today (Artwork #30).
I ended up making a gold background with pink dots and a pink and pinker checkered foreground. I'll take a better picture tomorrow outside, along with the phonograph painting that I finished yesterday.
I also finished the strawberry painting today (Artwork #27):
Here is how this piece progressed:
This is one of the few pieces that I actually really liked as it was in-progress. I like the washy simplicity of the earlier versions. Because I am naturally inclined to work in really tight realism with special attention to minute details, I often find it difficult to loosen up and do quickies. I'm learning though.
So today has been a good art-making day thus far. I think I'll go relax for a little while and then start the blue monkey painting again. Actually I might make it a drawing this time. My friend and I agreed that I will do it on smooth 300lb watercolor paper, so I was thinking of using colored pencils and maybe watercolor over top. We'll see!
Because I don't have a real easel and I'm too cheap to buy one (for now), I use this thing to prop up my works on panel. This board is really light so I rest it on my knees while I'm sitting in my chair and it works out well. 
And yes, there's more... this is getting to be a long post, isn't it? I finished 3 more of the small abstract ACEOs (Artworks #19-21):
