2015 | Day 45

Day Forty-Five

Okay -- tonight I have been back at work on the (new version) Wolfy collage.  I added white Unryu paper to the mountains to represent snow, I layered several pieces of different papers in subtle colors to simulate clouds, then added a less subtle pink to give the clouds a little more color.  This is the first time I have added papers to a collage without getting the paper(s) totally wet with matte medium after each layer...instead I used a glue stick as I was cutting/tearing the papers and adding them.  I hope I got the areas wet enough tonight to soak through and let them do their thing.  I am happy with the mountains to this point.  You can see the flower-like patterns on the three that have it and it didn't dissolve when the matte medium was painted on.  I did give those areas a light, protective fixative spray when I first applied them -- it must have helped.  I still need to fix Wolfy's blue papers and I will go back to my old method of the paper being very wet between layers. I will just need to be patient now and check on the progress tomorrow.

The starting point tonight...I've cut new tracing paper shapes of the "snow" caps so that I can cut more white Unryu paper.

I also made two tracing paper clouds to match shapes between the sun and tower #1.

The first pale pink/sort of peachy Unryu paper for the clouds.

The camera is having a very  hard time "seeing" the colors I am seeing, but you can see the difference between the two clouds -- the one on the right has the pink/peach layer, the one on the left doesn't (yet).

There...now they both have a pink/peach layer.

An overlayer of white Unryu for the clouds.

I wish the camera could see the color coming through the white paper.

You can see it a little better here.

Aha!  I found some stronger pink paper...now for another layer.

Ooh -- I like it so far.

And now for the other cloud.

The clouds and snow caps in place.  I put them all on with a glue stick...I got them all super "wet" with the glue and rubbed the paper down as much as I could (without tearing it).  After this segment I will go back to my old wet-with-matte-medium method.

Okay -- this is how it looks with a lot of matte medium worked into all of the paper(s). 

A close up of the middle mountain...I really like how the blue flower-patterned paper turned out...and it didn't dissolve...yay!

I am quite pleased that the pattern is showing up.  I hope it stays like that after the matte medium dries.

Well, that is enough for tonight.  I need to look for the dark blue paper that I used to make Wolfy...he needs some patching up done.  Gosh...I hope I still have a little left.  I think I pre-tore a bunch of it and it is in a bag in a drawer...hopefully I can locate it tonight.

365 Day 238

quite cloudy in here tonight

Another night of free hand drawing clouds and carving them for my deep shadow box "landscape"/places/scenes.


I was looking at clouds while I was driving today. These are sort of similar to what I saw.





To get a smaller version of one, I drew the outline inside of the larger one.










Let's get carving! (Twink is already in the bedroom.)

















Tonight's cloud number one.








Cloud number two -- same cloud, reversed.

This is a different carving material for me, this pink stuff. It gives you a LOT more resistance when you are carving it, but it is soft and takes ink pad ink really well. I don't know how it will print with the brayer and nice paper and block printing ink.

These are all just quick test prints with an old ink pad. I really like it...I need to get some fresh ones to play with.



Clouds one and two, together.













Cloud number three.

This was a bear to carve because I had to push hard but be careful not to stab myself when the inside was getting cleared out.










Cloud number four.












Cloud number five.










A messed up test print of cloud number five -- but I really really like it. I wonder if I can do it again. It slipped or the paper moved or something.








The entire "landscape" set (so far).

365 Day 237

carving more "landscape" elements

Okay. Back to work on carving more elements for my landscape/place-in-a-deep-shadow-box project.

I gathered all my stuff together and went to plug the iPod into the stereo thingy.












And Twink arrived to "help" as soon as I turned my back.

Here he is choosing a piece of soft cut carving material.









Already starting to invade my space, here he is about to measure the size of the piece "we" are making.










Having been scolded and warned that he'd be put in the bedroom if he didn't leave my stuff alone, this is Twink pulling that "if-I-roll-around-next-to-these-things-and-they-end-up-on-the-floor-they-belong-to-ME" routine that cats do.



Final warning issued.



Twink reappears at the other end of the table.

Yeh.












The "okay, put me in the bedroom because I CANNOT leave your stuff alone" look.










Finally -- I get to actually carve something!

This is how I began this free hand cloud.









I figured I would be carving out all of the inside anyway, so why not play with the carving tool and practice some swirls and curves.












A little bit more taken out.













Even more taken out...but now I am kinda sorta liking the way it looks.










A totally just carved cloud...no lines to go by...I just carved it as the blade went along.



I'm calling it the moustache cloud.







Another free hand drawing cloud...but without inking it before I started taking the middle stuff out...what will it look like?









Uh...no.













That's better...but still needs more out.










Yep...definitely looks better with just about all of the material carved out.














This is actually the same outline of the swirly cloud. I stamped it on some blank carving material and carved it all out.








Hey -- they are sort of looking like clouds!










All of the elements (so far) for the "landscape" I will construct in the deep shadow box.

I want to make some more smaller clouds and maybe a couple of larger ones. I think I probably need a house or something, too.






I plan on doing three shadow box scenes because I can enter up to three for the show. I seriously doubt they will get juried in, but I am really starting to like this project. This is the first time I have tried to carve images that I drew myself (instead of magazine pics or clip art). I am looking forward to seeing this little grouping when it is done (and hanging in my house.)

KT Goodlove 189

come with us now on a journey through time & space



KT Goodlove is the collaborative collage series that Kettle and I make for Art-o-mat. Kettle paints on the block and then I add my paper bits. This is #189.

This is a block where Kettle left the background unfinished, so I used a piece of butcher/deli paper that I colored with alcohol inks and watercolors. I made a reverse mask of the cloud and fit my altered paper onto the block.

This is also one of those collages where my scanner does not pick up the true beyond-Barbie pink of the cloud. The paint also has a metallic element to it (not glitter). The actual intense pink is closer to the color of the cat girl's top than what shows up in the scan...it is really a great color.

The text comes from the opening of the British television show The Mighty Boosh.

KT Goodlove 186

I barely made it here.

KT Goodlove is the collaborative collage series that Kettle and I make for Art-o-mat. Kettle paints on the block and then I add my paper bits. This is #186.

On some of the blocks I make a reverse mask of Kettle's image and add in things to the backgrounds. For this collage I used a piece of butcher/deli paper that I colored with alcohol inks and watercolors because I needed to change the color of the plain painted background in order to make the cat girl's eyes blend in with the background color(s).

KT Goodlove 178

you can be happy

I love the flying collages. I can't always find images that simulate flying but when I do, I really really like them.

Looking at the painted block in its "before" state, I preferred it the way I scanned it. The collage made me turn it the other way.

KT Goodlove is the collaborative collage series that Kettle and I make for Art-o-mat. Kettle paints on the block and then I add my paper bits. This is #178.

KT Goodlove 167

Yes, I am still feeling a little lightheaded.

This block came to me with no painted background so I added another bit of alcohol ink & water color on butcher paper. I have a lot of it left over from another project and I hate to throw it out. I like how it is working on the blocks. I will probably use it for some of my Animal People as well.

KT Goodlove is the collaborative collage series that Kettle and I make for Art-o-mat. Kettle paints on the block and then I add my paper bits. This is number 167 in the series.