... and then you threw an octopus at my window.

Been working on a variety of things, none of which are complete. Possibly as a consequence of multi-tasking? But paint has to dry, dammit! Here's one avenue I've been treading... dabbling in a combo of ink and watercolor that has been entertaining me.

Basically, the technique is to draw some lines/forms in non-waterproof ink, and then fill or not-fill the spaces with watercolor paint, which draws in some of the ink. It's a little blurrier than I'd like in some places, but some bits of it work quite well, I think. The top one is smallish, maybe a 5"x7" paper, and the top one is like a page of notebook paper size. I think I'll have more use for this technique in the future, I find it both satisfying to do as well as pleasing to have done. These are good things.

A Sad Day

I had to return the scroll saw, it was crap. I need a good scroll saw. I am very disappointed.

first cut

first cut
Originally uploaded by oferchrissake

Got my new scroll saw today. Did a very basic cutting exercise to start with. This took about an hour, more or less.

Obviously, I need practice. Less obviously, I need better saw blades. I started with a new one, and it was dull before I got to the harder cuts (on the right)... which means the harder cuts were now harderer. Meh.

However, I'm really looking forward to getting into the rest of the introductory exercises (I got a book about this, The Scroll Saw Workbook by John Nelson ), and am working through the skills, so I can start making neato things. If you look closely, you'll see a resemblance between what I've cut, and the picture on the front of the book. I drew my guide lines by hand, though, because getting copies made just seems like so much work. And I won't be cutting out any damn bunny rabbits.

Will need to get some better wood, though, this 3 ply stuff is OK, but not great. Probably working harder than I have to and dulling blades faster than necessary because I'm not using plain old pine planks.

12 meters/€20

I stumbled into the clearance room at Ikea and found a bin full of fabric ends and pieces. Off-cuts, samples, etc. In all probability, had the prices been half what they were, I'd have ended up with twice as much fabric. These are the prizes, and I already have plans for a lot of it, but there is something about a bunch of random fabrics that just makes me want to Make Stuff.

coming out of cold storage

The design on the right will eventually emerge from the collection of swirls on the left. And you will be amazed.

AMAZED, I say!

The concept sketch for the next painting...

Aww, crap.

Whoops. I made a picture of this last week, and didn't realize I hadn't posted it. Until now, when I just posted the update to it, only I was updating something I hadn't posted. Anyway, this one is older than the other one. And, yes, it is in some ways better.

You know there is an expression, it takes two people to finish a painting.... one to paint it, and another to shoot the sumbitch before he f's it up...

Just sayin'.

A Painting

Another picture of this thing. I learned a lot about how I should have done this, if I wanted it to look cooler. Enough that it has become difficult for me to be excited about finishing it.

The lighting is weird in this (there is a fluorescent tube above it, so the top really pops and the bottom seems dull), but the color actually is funky in the middle (the sections that seem too-blue actually ARE too blue).

However, in the interest of science, and having a better painting next time, I'm going to finish this one. The knot is monochrome, but it's going to get some highlights and low lights. The background will probably get some of the same. But... different.

"It's Art, you wouldn't understand...." (ha!)

And, I'm on the fence about outlining the knot with black. That was the original plan and I probably will do it because of that. But I figured out how to make it super cool without that. Next canvas, I guess. I picked up 6 of these 50cmX50cm squares on Very Discount last week, they were €3/each. I had been thinking of doing a set of 4 related paintings (Diptych, Triptych... Quadratych?) But I can decide about that after I've done the next one in this flavor, but will all the learning experiences applied. One of the things I'm learning about is effective use of low relief with acrylic paint. Most of my other paintings have been very flat (no relief) which robs them of depth, even if I painted some shading/depth modeling into the composition. This one has much more texture – I'm still getting the hang of that – and is a better painting for it.

Finished that Box!

There is not much to say about this, except... here are the pictures of the finished box. I took one from each corner, so you could see how the pattern lines up. This is the size box for storing an adult male Maine Coon cat, apparently.
I probably won't do another box with exactly this design, but I did learn lots of useful stuff I can apply to my next box (there are 3 more to paint, so lessons learned are good things).
I probably would have preferred to paint the corner hardware black, for instance, but I wasn't sure what to paint galvanized metal with, and the handle hardware was pre-attached, so it seemed like a lot of hassle. And I got to a point where I really just wanted to get it FINISHED instead of having it hanging around my workspace any more. But maybe next time I will think it is worth the hassle.
I have not yet put any little roller wheels on this, and I haven't worked out a lid for it. Heck, I don't even know what I want to store in it yet! I did put a bunch of couch cushions in it when I vacuumed last, and the giant ridiculous cat has been pretty conscientious about moving all of his toys from where they are stored, into this box. So I think it will be pretty functional around here. And I like it! I probably will wish I'd put another coat of a sturdier sealer on it, and I might do that later, including the inside. Or I might leave this one alone and subject my next project to all that hard earned wisdom...

Someday this picture frame will be mine, oh yes!

The calendar I am working on framing is a lovely limited edition hand-printed card calendar from Wondermark creator David Malki !. I ordered it a couple of months ago, and passed on the stand he'd chosen for it, because international shipping and shortages of horizontal surfaces around here, not to mention the risk of cats eating all the corners off seemed like clues to let it go.

However, now that it is here, and even on the 2nd month, I find that simply matting it and putting the matted month on the wall doesn't really cut it. I want a fancy frame. One might even say... a ridiculous frame.

So I've been goofing around with some ideas.

I waffled about whether to carve the frame (from what substance?) or simply paint it on a flat surface, with high and low lights to imply depths, or... what?

Still really don't know. I *think* this would look pretty bitchin' in a dark wood carved and polished way, but I am not a wood carver and might be very much mistaken. (The first time I tried a complete stained glass composition, I basically came up with something that had all the hardest cuts, irritating joins, and a ridiculous number of individual pieces. I may have a talent for biting off too much.)

Anyway, these are what I have so far. All sketches and all the wrong size and proportion for this particular object.

Again, some things are easy in theory and more complicated in execution. If you are or know a bored wood carver, please be in touch!

















It doesn't help that I could probably keep drawing this over and over without being absolutely sure that I have arrived at The One True Design.

Here you can see why I was playing with the white balance... I'm getting yellow paper in the pics, but it's mostly-white in reality. Anyway, this is a pattern I designed a while back when I was playing with ideas for the storage crates. Wanted to see if I could work up a nice knot-repeater. And I have! But then I got distracted by the other thing (the one I've already posted a few pictures of in-progress). I got REALLY distracted trying to work out how to line this up so several crates with the same design could be placed next to each other and having the design's lines meet up no matter which way you turned the crates. I'm not sure I'm that cool, though.

Fear not. I have 3 more crates! 4.5 if you count the one that is already built, and its lid.

Sometimes when I do a design, I struggle and thrash to get a line Just So, and eventually either concede defeat, or erase the mofo out of spite.

In this case, I *thought* I had the lines right where I wanted them, and then as soon as I put my pencil down and hung the thing on the wall, I immediately saw where I'd gone wrong.

Maybe I'll re-do this with the lines in the right places. Maybe I'll actually DO SOMETHING with this design. But since I have no concrete plans for doing a project with this, my incentive to re-draw it with the lines right is also somewhat reduced.

Sorry about the color scheme. I was playing with white balance correct in my photo editing process, and sometimes it glitches and tells me one thing while actually doing another. This was supposed to be red, and it looked awesome. Oh well.

OK, so I lied.

Weeks ago, I made a noise about uploading some pictures of my recent design projects. And then I didn't do it. This should come as no surprise to anyone who has been keeping up with this blog...

Anyway, I took a bunch of pictures today, and as it always does, that made me want to work on some projects I'd done designs for and not actually made an object with.

The picture here is a sheet of embossing foil that I've drawing a bit of knotwork on/into. It's far too flimsy to do anything with, and also I've poked a bunch of holes it in with my embossing stylus. (Not to be confused with an out-of-ink ballpoint!)

Anyway, while I was playing with that, I figured it might be fun to make some kind of low relief thing like this, and then fill it with wax or plaster, making a small shiny object. I did some trials, to test the level of detail and so on, and even poured wax in, and got some small shiny objects out. So there is definitely more coming on that front. However--there are no pictures of that trial run, because I tossed all the 'evidence' in the trash. Scented votive candles are not the right source of wax for this kind of thing.

This was sort of meant to be a bookmark or something, but I'm not satisfied with it, so, it's probably going on the vast heap of Projects Which Taught Me Valuable Lessons About Something.

Progress on the storage box

I'm still working on the box to store art supplies in, it's taking a lot of layers of paint, but is starting to come together. Couple more bits of paint (white and color), and then a couple of layers of polyurethane so it is sealed and relatively defended from dings.

And then! Assembly. With little wheels. And a lid. And more pictures.

Framing for fun

One of my current projects is a frame. I got a calendar this year that needs one. Here is the rough sketch. It will probably not look so much like this when it is done, but this is the concept I'm starting from.

Have not yet decided whether to make it brightly colored or monochrome.

Juxtapoz saves the day!

I was poking around the bookstore this morning, looking for something to improve my mood and restore my faith in the goodness of humanity. And, there it was! A Kehinde Wiley painting on the cover of Juxtapoz.

I believe I've spouted about both Juxtapoz magazine (my favorite art mag), and Kehinde Wiley (a kickass painter who combines concept and technique to come up with some incredible portraits). But, if you somehow missed that, here is another round.

It is not my way to say "Go buy this thing," but in this case, I'd say this issue of Juxtapoz would be a good investment. Juxtapoz has connected me with some artists I'm really drawn to, who have become part of my set of influences. Mark Ryden, Stanislav Szukalski, Kris Kuksi, Brandon Bird (I think? Can't prove it), and many others.

In any case, even if you don't care for Kehinde Wiley or Juxtapoz, I guaranteed you know someone who does. Buy the issue, and keep it on your coffee table, on your bookshelf, or in your guest bathroom. You will soon learn who among your friends has great taste in contemporary art.

underway

(Click for large) I don't really like posting pictures of stuff that's not done, but this is taking me so long that I find I'm probably going too long between updates. I do have a couple of designs I've been working on, that I will get pics up about this week, but this is what's mostly filling my time and drawing table. It is a wooden storage box for art supplies. I am planning to put little wheels on it, and a lid, so it can also be used as a footstool, and be shoved out of the way when it is in the way. I like furniture that is both interesting to look at and can have some function beyond taking up space.

This isn't really 'art' per se, just a project I'm working on. Home improvement, I guess? Tired of keeping my art supplies in cardboard boxes in the corner of the living room.

Additionally, this is part of my effort to get more done, and less thought-about. I keep reminding myself that if I hate it, I can paint over it, or sand it off, or just throw it away. So I might as well finish it. In case I like it. I get very annoyed with myself for wanting to do something, and then planning it to death, trying to figure out how to make it perfect.

I might not know art...

let the colors swirl around you...
Originally uploaded by cynicole_b

But I know what I like. I like this picture.

Yo Dawg...

Almost every time I run errands, I pass a framing shop. They have a rotating stock of framed art in the windows, and this one caught my eye more than anything else they've had there in the last 18 months or so. I peeped it every time I walked by for more than a month before I realized, hey, I could just BUY that. And look at it at home... it is like magic. This is a print -- I believe it is etched.

It's about 18"x16" or so.

Legit!!

Hey, I just realized that my e-mails from here have been getting dumped into the Spam folder. Sorry if I missed your comment, I don't even know how long that has been going on. Hopefully fixed now.

After Prisk

From the Bamboo Forests of the Night

From the Bamboo Forests of the Night
Originally uploaded by Patrick Gannon

I know I've said it before, but it (obviously) bears repeating: Patrick Gannon's cut paper artwork is The Bomb. If you haven't, go check out his Flickr stream. If you already have, go look at it again. He posts new stuff pretty regularly, and it never hurts to go back and see the older stuff again.

i dunno lol

I picked up some colored foil last week, and this is what happened to a bit of it today. Dunno what to do with it, but it was fun and looks kinda neat.

Wait for it....

OK, then. This is nearly done. There is one patch of blue that needs to be finished, and one patch of red. (I was working on this on my trip to Vienna, and ran out of those 2 colors.)

I kind of hate the green blobs on the right side, and they were NOT part of the original outline. See what I get for my troubles? I may well pick them out, too. The red net is better than I thought, but still not ideal. Etc, etc. Always a critic.

... and then what? I don't know. Stretch & frame? Sew it on to something else, applique style? See if I can get one of my friends who's done textile art to incorporate it into something grander?

There are a few things I would do differently, now that I've done them this way (thanks, learning experiences!), but that's OK. There will be a next time, and I am definitely getting the hang of some of the techniques. As soon as I finish those last two little bits of missing colors, and probably pick out the green blobs, I'm going to (a) get a color-correct photo of this, and (b) put it to bed. Maybe I'll just start a big collection of smallish, irrational embroidery pieces, which will be of great interest to archaeologists and psychologists in some long-distant future.

In other news, when I was in Vienna (Austria, the rest of this paragraph won't make sense if you think I'm talking about some other Vienna), I stopped by the Museum für Angewandte Kunst (Museum of Applied Art) and lucked out: They had a huge exhibit in their textiles ward on Ottoman embroidered textiles. Clothing, furniture ornamentation, bath towels, and so on.

Last time it was fashions made from recycled materials, and although a ball gown made of grocery bags is certainly Something To See, it has a little less immediacy to my own projects. Although I *do* like to reuse common materials, especially if they are meant to be trash. Nevermind, I think you get the point.

Not only did I see a tremendous collection of inspiring designs and workmanship, but learned a few nifty things. I now know where the term "bath sheet" comes from! It was a great exhibit. My only regret is that old fibers can be very delicate in many ways, so the pieces were behind glass in a dimly lit room. But that's OK, it was worth every minute of squinting.

Here is a link to the museum page for this exhibit. I'll update this later if I can find their English language version. There are a couple of pictures there, and a bit of descriptive text. Also, the MAK is awesome for being free to the public on Saturdays. MAK really is one of my favorite museums, both in focus and operation. [eta: in English]

The Slow March of Progress.

Or, Slowgress, for short.

And then you threw an octopus at my window

And here is the current work in progress. What is it? I don't know. I drew the design out, in a fit of responsibility/optimism. I started stitching in the middle, and plan to work my way out. I have an idea how the colors will go, and maybe the textures.

I'm sure there is too much to this design, and I might cut back on my plan to fill it all in (as I am doing with the bit that's already been sewn on), but who knows. The odds are pretty good that I'll get fed up with this and abandon it before it is done, as well. But for now I am quite hopeful, and some day would like to think of some more rewarding application and design for this stuff. Until then, I will be happily picking away at this hoop.

By the way, when I say I've been fixated with this, I mean just that. I've done almost nothing else for the past 3 weeks. Obviously this is a time consuming activity, and I'm probably slower than a person with more experience would be. Or, maybe the problem is that I go too fast and end up with mistakes and so on. I've never been one to let a little thing like that slow me down.

The Little Gloves That Couldn't

The thing about perfunctory research is that sometimes you begin the project and realize you're screwed. So it was with the gloves. Not only was my design for the gloves faulty in oh-so-many ways, but also, I kind of got carried away with the decoration on the gloves. The left on in particular. Also, the right glove. Oh well, it was fun anyway.

3rd Time, not the charm

The lower/right was totally freehand, as was the black bit on the left. The green marks at the top (with blue stitching over some of it) are the design I thought I wanted, but after doing some with the blue, I realized the lines were far too close together, and I let it go as a waste of time and thread.

Also, I got the crazy idea that I would make a pair of gloves to wear while I work (on paper stuff) because I hate the feeling of paper on my hands.

... so this was left behind, and the gloves were started. After a truly perfunctory amount of research into the manufacture of gloves.

2nd Go

After that first set of stitches, I decided to do something a little more cohesive--a general design picked out in white thread, and then filled with a variety of colors and techniques. I drew a little bit of this with a pencil, which got graphite all over my white thread. After that, I just went totally freehand, sewing the design directly on the unmarked linen.

But then after many, many, many hours of poking away at this, I decide it might be a little too ambitious. Especially as my skills with certain more complicated stitch patterns were lacking non-existent.

This was abandoned in favor of a few smaller practice bits. Sometimes I get too excited about a new thing, and forget that I'm new to it, and don't need to shoot the moon the first time.

By the way, if you click through to the larger size of this picture, you should be able to enlarge it even more from there. Possibly to the point of too much detail. The yellow sort of diamond-shaped bit shows particularly well my lack of awesomeness at this point.

Latest Fixation: Embroidery

Sometime in the past few months, I got hooked on the idea that embroidery and other sewing-related activities might be fun and visually entertaining.

(In case you ever wondered, my Big Artistic Mission is "make stuff that is interesting to look at"...)

So, I picked up one book about embroidery, and was handed the book from a starter kit. Between the two, and an 8 hour transatlantic flight, I was able to pick out a few tentative designs. At the very top (12 o'clock position) are the very first stitches I made. It pretty much had to get better from there...

squidsies

I hope the boy doesn't outgrow them before I get them into the mail...

Tote Bag, hand decorated

This was a fun project. My mother has been asking for a tote bag with a design from me on it, so I made her one.

Today's Drawing Exercise

This one was a bit more fun for me. The assignment was to make some ink (or coffee, or tea, or whatever) blobs on a page, and when it was dry, look for things for the shapes and spaces to become. I'm probably not done with this, I didn't do much with the negative spaces, mostly worked with the positive shapes. I'm amused by it, and will probably do it again. Just for fun. Ever do your homework twice, just for fun? :)

the death march of progress

I had to take it off the easel and put it back on the wall to start liking it again. There is something about staring at a painting very close up that ruins it. Unless it's a Persian miniature watercolor, which this categorically is not.

On the other hand...

Actually... the same hand. Hopefully no more hand drawing for a while. By which I mean, oh, ever.

Baby Squid Baby Shirt

Forgot to say, by request, I worked up a larger version of the Squidly design that's better suited to larger printing. Probably there will be an even larger one later on, but if you know someone whose baby has some kind of Lovecraftian flair, this might be the perfect gift item.

It is a SKILL, not a TALENT.

I can't tell you how many times I've heard that life drawing is a fantastic talent to have. I agree, it would be a fantastic talent to have.... if it were a talent. Which it is not. It's a skill. It can be taught, and frankly, it's not that hard to learn. I suppose it's possible that talent could make it a little easier or faster to learn... but it's also possible that talent makes it MORE difficult to learn, because it seems like it should be easier for an artistically talented person.

For me.... it's more difficult.

Here's why: For a lot of what I like to do artistically, practice isn't a big part of success. Yes, I get better as I do things more often, but in essence, I like the first try, too. This is not the case for life drawing. I get very frustrated with my life drawing skills, and I know it is because I don't practice. I've taken classes, I've read really excellent books about this. I've done a ton of professionally designed exercises. And yet.... I still suck if I don't have step by step guidance. And it's because I don't practice enough.

What you are looking at up above is (left) a drawing of my own hand I made 3 weeks ago, and (right) a drawing of my hand I made this morning, following the explicit instructions in a book by Betty Edwards called Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain: Workbook. If you want to learn to draw, check out her books. They are excellent. The workbook is a really good hand-holder for those of us who are unbelievable slackasses about the practice part of it.

and so it goes

The big painting has reached a phase where, although daily changes can be seen, they are increasingly subtle. So today I am posting one of my favorite bits, something I just started blocking in yesterday: The Upper Left Corner.

It's not much to look at now, but someday it will be a real highpoint of this painting.

... or so I hope.

Peeping the Sketchbook

It's been a while since I posted some random pics of stuff in my sketchbook.






.