Mural planning

For the mural layout I was thinking about last week I'm going to prime the walls and then block them out into framed sections.
Here's the hallway I have in mind. (Please excuse the clothing etc. We're in the process of setting up our "Artful Boutique" store in the gallery.

Once I've cleared the hallway and primed the wall I'll paint on the frames on and then when the whole group gets together we can each play in side the frames.

Kind of like the frames on these Mucha pieces:

Here's my doodle on the thought:

 

This is going to take some time to put together, so I'll start chipping away at it.

Step one. Go buy Kilz paint.

Last winter we had a little water damage becaus eof melting ice dams on the roof, so Kilz will be needed to really prep the wall.

The first "Art and Chill night" (does that work as a name?) will be on December 30th and that will probably be more of a "bring what you're working on and let's be artsy in a group" thing.

Either way. Progress!

Deck the Halls with Booze and Painting

The world is a great big ball o' stress right now.

Holidays, money, no sunlight and cold weather encroaching (for those of us north of the equator that is), and I'm seriously feeling it.

I know my friends and family are too so I've been planning on starting up an informal art night at the MAC650 Gallery in Middletown.  (Still trying to come up with a catchy name, let me know if you think of one.)

And to reeeaally kick it off?

I want to host:

Deck the Halls with Booze and Painting

Hehe. :-)

BYOB/snacks and and folks can join me painting a new mural on the walls in the hallways of NEAC. In the process I can help people learn some scenic painting techniques like, how to best hold your brush so you have great control and your arms don't tire as quickly.

I could even pre-plan the mural so that the various parts of it will need different techniques to be used.

I can teach things like

• how to paint a crisp clean line without painter's tape
• how to do paint wood grain
• how to paint shadows and highlights that really make the image pop.

Those should all probably turn into blog posts one of these days.

So, to prep for this endeavor I need to figure out a few details.

Drink and Mural Materials:

• Paint
• Brushes
• Paper Towels
• Water
• Cups or Buckets
• Drop Cloth
• Rags
• ladder
• step stool
• cardboard

Things to do before the day

• Pick a wall and prime it
• sketch out the groundwork for the mural
• Invite people (lol, that's an easy one for me to forget...)

So now there's the question of, what should the guiding idea for the mural be?

Normally when I attack the hallways with paint, I just kind of doodle on the wall and call it a painting, but it would be nice for this one to have at least a little planning behind it this time.

Hmm... here's my Pintrest board of inspiration:

Follow Jeanette's board Mural Thoughts on Pinterest.

 What do you think? Want to come paint with me?

5 Pro Tips for Choosing the Perfect Watercolor Paper

As black Friday deals swirl around me and all of the possibilities exist for me to buy buy buy. However, there is only one thing I want.

Paper.

I need to restock on watercolor and inking friendly paper and that stuff is expensive!

I'm not above drawing on non-traditional papers. Napkins, sketchbooks with filmsy paper, cardstock, the backs of movie posters (if you ever get the chance to draw with ink on glossy photo paper, do it. That paper soaks it up in such an interesting way.)

But sometimes, you just need decent paper to get your ideas out and have them be *clears throat* presentable. Especially if you are selling the artwork afterwards.

So here are my 5 Tips for choosing your perfect watercolor paper.

1) The Heavier the Weight, the Better the Paper

On the front of a package of paper you'll often find a number like " 60lbs." 

Ideally, for watercolor paper, you want to aim for 140lbs paper.

140lbs and higher can handle multiple washes without buckling.

2) Cold Press vs Hot Press

Either paper option is good for painting on. The difference is, do you want a smooth surface or a textured surface to work on?

When I watercolor I prefer the extra texture of Coldpress paper.

however

When I ink I prefer the smoothness of HotPress paper.

So, do you want clean, smooth, graphic lines in your work? Or a more textured/ grunge look? Up to you.

3) Blocks vs Loose Leaf vs Sketchbook

When you go out to buy water color paper  you'll notice it comes in three main varieties.

1. Blocks
2. Sketchbooks
3. By the Sheet

Each one has it's own benefits, and it really depends on what you prefer, but I'll let you know the main highlights.

Blocks

What are those?

Block watercolor paper is the whole stack sealed together at the edges by wax or plastic.

Benefit

It keeps your painting stretched and ready to work on. It tends to keep really wet paintings from buckling.

This style is my favorite because it is the happy medium between the quality of "by the sheet" paper and the mobility of sketchbooks.

Downside:

You do have to work one sheet at a time for the most part. You have to slice off the top sheet to get to the next one. So if you like to bounce around from project to project, this might not be the best choice for you.

Sketchbooks

Benefit:

If you like to travel a lot while you're creating, this style will protect your work with it's covers. 

Downside:

The quality of the paper tends to not be as great as the blocks or by the sheet.

By the Sheet

Benefit

This come is far bigger sizes than either the blocks or the sketchbooks, so you have the freedom to create something large scale. 

Down side

This tends to be the priciest option

4) Trusted Brands

If you have the opportunity to get your hands on these brands you can trust them. I've used them for years and have always been happy with the quality of paper.

My top choice for quality is always  Arches Watercolor paper.

I have yet to meet a paper better suited to my (often over-saturated with paint and water) style.

However, is it pricey. So I only ever buy it when It's on sale, or I manage to find a coupon.

The brand that Isn't as pricey, but still has great paper is Canson. 

I can't be as violent with my process on their paper, but it does hold up well and I always enjoy working on it. 

5)  Where to find this goodness

There are a few stores that are my go-to for art supplies, but here are my favorites, and you can purchase online if you need to.

1. Jerry's Art-o-Rama
2. Dick Blick Art Supplies
3. AC Moore
4. Micheal's
5. Joann Fabrics and more

-----------

Hopefully you'll find this helpful, and let me know if you have any other tips to add

XOXO

Jeanette

Learning to After Effects like a boss

My artwork from The Spider's Nest featuring the novel Pandora

I've been working like crazy to get the artwork done for the next episode of "The Spider's Nest" done, but all I can keep thinking about is how much cooler everything would be if it were even lightly animated. You know, motion comic style.

Zac Gorman’s Legendary ‘Zelda’ Comics Get Their Animated GIF

Because up until now I've always had to shop out any animating needed for the web-series and channel. But I keep hearing that after effects and photoshop aren't so different. So I've been hunting around for some tutorials on how to start using the program and I 'm posting my favorite ones here so I can reference them later. And hey, maybe we can become baller after effects artists together. Why not?

Also I found this really cool site that I'm posting here to return to once I've got my sea legs. Because I want to be able to do the things this guys does someday.

http://www.videocopilot.net/tutorials/

Call for Art

Hello Folks!

I'm co-curating a monster themed art show this October and I'm looking for artwork, so, contact me if you're interested in submitting ;-)

Pin up art

A little art for funzies :-)

MAC650 Figure drawing

Tonight was figure drawing night the the MAC650 gallery.

So, here's the first sketch of the night, a 5 minute pose done in watercolors. 

It was so nice to have a model this evening that was more on the plus side. I really enjoy drawing body shapes that aren't the general athletic build. There's a wonderful beauty in those extra curves.

At this point I was still warming up,  however I'm pretty happy with how the face came out on this one. This was a 10min pose done with watercolors.

This was a 10 min pose, watercolor with pencil on top. I was really enjoying studying her hair but it was challenging trying to get those curls of hers to look fluid.

Here's the 30 minute sketch. Watercolor on paper with pencil on top. At this point during the session everyone was gently teasing me about using so many colors ('cause really, what ego driven person brings watercolors to a sketch session? This one.) So I added even more, even though I was kind of ready to monochromatic.

So for the last pose I went grey-scale. This was a 20 minute pencil sketch with a teensy bit of watercolor added to smooth out the shadows.

I really need to start tracking down more drawing groups. Once a month just leaves me wanted to do more. That's probably a good thing though. :-)

Make. Art. Work. artists workshops this Saturday

Hello readers,
One of the many perks to living with a bunch of artists is I often get to hear about upcoming events in the art world without having to hunt high and low to find them. Today's tidbit is about two career strategy workshops for artists being presented by Make.Art.Work this Saturday, March 9th, at the university of New Haven.

From 10am to 12:30pm Jackie Battenfield will present a "Marketing Your work" workshop.

Jackie Battenfield is the author of "how to make a living doing what you love" and will be sharing some of her knowledge and personal experiences on the challenges of sustaining a career in the visual arts. This workshop will explore helpful networking and promotional tools, and how to develop a marketing strategy based on your art and goals.

Then, from 1:30pm to 4pm the "Working with Exhibitors "workshop will bring you an impressive panel of arts professionals who will walk you through how to work with exhibitors. The speakers will include directors and curators such as independent curator Deborah Frizzell, Helen Kauder of Artspace, Laura Marsh of the University of New Haven, Viera Levitt, University of Massachusetts and Sophia Gevas of Silvermine Arts Center. This collection of experts will share their knowledge including what they are look for in the artists when considering them for an exhibit, and obstacles that artists often make for themselves.

Tickets are $28 each or $56 for the full day. Boxed lunch tickets are an additional $10.
Visit www.makeartwork.org for more information and to register. They expect to have a pretty hefty turn-out, so they recommend pre-registering.

Make.Art.Work., Career Strategies for Visual Artists, is presented by the Arts Council of Greater New Haven, Cultural Alliance of Fairfield County, Greater Hartford Arts Council, with support from the Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation.

For more information contact Jeannie Thomma, Program Coordinator, at Jeannie@makeartwork.org

Projected

This Friday my fellow NEAC member, Marc Pettersen, will be hosting an exciting event showcasing his newest artistic pursuit- projection mapped animation.  In the atmosphere created by DJ Miah Love of Fake Life, animated projection work will transform the walls of our little gallery.

The event runs from at 8pm to 12am
An 18 and older event
It is a suggested donation of $5 at the door to get in
Cash bar all night long
And a 12' screen for video gaming

For more information, Check out the facebook event.

So, what is projection mapping anyway?
By using 3D mapping tools you can project onto any screen, irregular or not, and create any number of  video installations. Here's a very extravagant example:

This fundraiser will fuel the pilot projection program for after school activities in the Middletown area. The projectors, when not being used excite and educate young artists, will be used in the MAC650 gallery for neighborhood movie and video game nights.

If you would like to hear more about Marc's vision for projection mapping and how he plans to work with his students on further project check out his Kickstarter page: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/672086328/the-projected-world-experience

So come join the fun. We'll be dancing, drinking, and gaming on a 12' screen all night.

Here's a few more examples of projection mapping where you can see a little better how the software shapes it's projection surfaces:

A very art-filled night

It began with returning home to meet my neighbors having dinner on the back patio. I joined them and then Erika and I ended up painting a mural in the hallway. Then, instead of going to sleep like I should have, I stayed up for a couple more hours and continued to paint. The following images are from my frenzied night of impromptu art.