Tag: swap-bot

Santa on Vacation… 6/19/2019

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I realize I am not posting as frequently as I was, and I offer my apologies! I gotta get back on my game.

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Supplies: Daniel Smith watercolor paint, and M Graham titanium white gouache, “Fluid 100% Cotton Watercolor 300Lb Ez-Block, 6X8” , Uniball Deluxe Micro pen, .5mm, black ink  and Uni-Ball Signo 207 Retractable Gel Pen, 0.38mm Ultra-Micro Point, Black.

First I want to mention these supplies. I LOVE THESE PENS. Why doesn’t the whole world sing of the virtues of these pens??? At least, the whole art world… There should be sonnets written about them, plaques in their honor, statues set up… I use them for drawing, writing, watercolor sketching, everything… the ink is archival and waterproof, and the ball point pens don’t skip or wear down for me. The retractable signo 207 ultra micro tip is such a fine tip… I love it! I got a few of these pens free from Office Depot, using some of their rewards points I had accumulated with my purchases. I don’t remember exactly what they were priced at, but I think these Amazon prices are comparable. (Definitely shop around, though… the prices on Amazon change frequently!) I have used the micro deluxe for two years now and am pleased to be adding the ultra micro signo. (The signo comes in several line widths, too, so really I could probably just get that in different sizes, and may do that next time I order.)

The paper is extremely affordable for 100% cotton  IN A BLOCK, and 300 lb to boot. I think it is a great way to try 300lb paper, to see if it is for you. There are more expensive papers I like better, but I’m happy with this for now and will order again. (They have pads, too… I’m not sure a block is necessary with paper this thick. It isn’t going to buckle on me with the amount of water I generally use. But I do enjoy the convenience a block gives, even if it is partly in my head)

Now, on to my art!

I have a swap* due out soon and my assigned partner loves Santa Claus (me, too!) (*www.swap-bot.com) But the swap has to be something I make, in BLUE. Blue Santa?? Why not? I started with this Santa at the beach, because we are hosting a Christmas in July event at work and will be having a storytime featuring a guest reader in July (Santa, on Summer vacation!) and we are at the beach, so I have Beach-Santa on the brain. I found a fun reference photo and went for it, using recently acquired paints I hadn’t tried before. Very granulating colors! Perfect for sand, not so perfect for ocean waves or sky… (live and learn!! Gotta use the paints to get to know them!) My Santa looks downright drunk (He isn’t! He’s basking in the warm sun) vs the photo Santa who looks just completely reclined… I’m not sure why, but I’ll figure it out.

My reference:

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(I hope I’m allowed to post that here… it says royalty free, and you can download the image for free…)

I started with pencil, unusual for me now, but I wanted to be careful about the size:

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Added ink:

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Then layers of paint:

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Some of that “granulation” is actually damaged paper. I used tape around the edge first, then realized I wanted no border. As I removed the tape, it pulled the surface of the paper off, especially across the top of the water, at the horizon. So. Yeah. Lesson learned, I hope. I thought it was unsalvageable. (Enter, my obsession with youtube!!) Recently I’ve been watching watercolor videos by Marco Bucci. Marco does beautiful urban sketching AND teaches lessons I actually understand! (Whether I retain them or not is another matter) One thing I have been interested to observe is his use of white gouache in nearly every sketch. (Yes, gouache, my old nemesis from two years ago). A little DING went off in my brain… so I tried adding gouache to my blues and repainting the water and sky. Guess what? It kinda worked. Not perfectly, but well enough that I’m happy I had added white gouache to my palette a while back.

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In the end, I decided not to send out this one, but to do something a little simpler. And bluer. (since it IS a “blue” swap):

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Rather different, I know! The line work was so fun on this thing. You can’t tell, but his buckle, tiny glasses, and also the buttons on his boots are shimmery. I’m going to include a copy of my sunbathing santa, too, if I can print a decent one. Which would you have chosen to send off?

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The Girl With Green Hair, 5/25/19

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I was asked to paint (draw? sketch?) a Girl With Green Hair. I had planned to make her very cartoonish, with exaggerated features, and maybe make her skin or lips/eyes green, too, maybe clothes as well, but I found a reference photo that inspired me (I did not see a name though, I’m sorry!) and decided to just do her like a girl. But with green hair. Not so unusual these days anyway.

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Baohong cotton watercolor paper

Uniball Air pen… I’ve gotten several new uniball pens I love. I’ll link them in future posts, but feel free to ask in the comments if you can’t wait and I’ll link there.

Schmincke watercolors: Helio turquoise, caput mortum, naples yellow reddish, perylene violet, olive green yellowish. and a touch of phthalo green, but I think that mostly washed away when I switched to the helio..

Ostrich Mail Art on Swap-bot, April 2, 2019

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Swap-bot.com is a site I’ve been active on for years and years… I swap art and handmade items (and other random fun packages) with people around the world. This is a swap for random ostrich mail art, basically anything we feel like making. I purchased an ostrich sticker and tucked it inside the envelope I painted (the paper was too thin for painting, but I did it anyway), then decided it wasn’t enough and painted a strathmore watercolor card (yeah… if I’d realized I was going to do that I could have used the envelope that went with the card, which would have actually handled the watercolor a little better! This is my level of organization and planning…) Then I enclosed the whole thing in a vellum envelope, so everything can be seen through its sheer sides, and my partner can re-use the ostrich envelope herself… and finally I added two artsy bird themed postcard stamps. I didn’t get a photo of the completed project because I had already added the addressed, which is too bad, because the whole thing looked great! It looked much better in the very slightly hazy envelope than out of it. I hope my partner enjoys it. I certainly enjoyed making it.

One of the things I’ve enjoyed about Swap-bot over the years is the challenge. Without swap-bot I don’t think I’d be doing art now. I wasn’t really doing anything when I started, and didn’t know what I COULD do, or what it would mean to me, although I enjoyed drawing and crafting. I often joined swaps that were outside my comfort zone, trying artistic creative things I’d never tried before, some that I’d never even heard of, and wouldn’t have  dared to try on my own. It’s also been a great place for a little inspiration if I get stuck, because I can find a swap with a theme (paint a cat on a postcard… create a zentangled page of animals… collage a journal page with a bird theme… sew (yes sew!!) a bottle cap pincushion… write a poem about the leaves…send a package based of only pink items… and on and on) The swaps don’t have to be at all artsy or creative, but those are generally the ones I prefer.

If you enjoy creating, and mailing things out, you might enjoy swap-bot. It takes a lot of time, and planning (regardless of how poorly I planned my card and envelope combo this time), but I’ve met some really lovely people throughout the years. It is a free site, but you really have to be someone who is happy spending a lot of time on details, and also not irritated if you send something nice out but get nothing back yourself (or get something someone put no effort into). I almost NEVER get “flaked” on, but I swap pretty exclusively with people I’m familiar with now, who have developed great reputations on the site. It takes a while to make those connections.

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By the way, an ostrich isn’t as simple as you’d think!!

Cephalopodic Solar System? (May 31, 2018)

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I am in an interesting swap on Swap-bot.com, a very fun artistic swapping site. I’ve made some amazing friends there and met some incredible artists, too. This swap will have 8 parts… each person will decorate 1/8th of every participant’s plain canvas tote bag, one at a time, as they circle the group. Anything goes. It should be an interesting tote bag I receive back! The swap is international, so a little expensive for those of us in the US sending to Europe, but at least the expense of shipping is spread out over a long time.

It turns out, staring at a blank canvas bag which will end up with someone I don’t know is rather daunting!! I don’t want to paint something she hates. I peeked at her profile to get some ideas, and saw “cephalopods” on her list of “likes”… I’m not sure how the planets came into being, I just thought they’d be kinda cool. So I ended up with an octopus either orchestrating, designing, or destroying the universe, depending upon your point of view, and current mood. 🙂 Or really, maybe just playing around with it.

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What do you think? I kinda love him. Her? I may need to try a larger paper version to keep. Or several different versions.

 

Friday Jan 26, 2018- a bit of Winnie the Pooh Mail (the ‘reveal’)

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A pen & ink bookmark I sketched for a Winnie the Pooh themed swap I was in earlier. I drew one image on marker paper, then copied it onto watercolor paper and added color with caran d’ache museum aquarelle watercolor pencils. (I actually made 2 colored bookmarks, sent to two people, but I forgot to photograph them before I had packaged the first one up!)  I used my xyron machine to laminate them, and decorated the envelopes a bit. Upcycled security envelopes folded inside out provided interesting backgrounds. I love swaps like this! (Yay, swap-bot.com!!)

Day 229 (Thursday Aug 17) slightly whimsical little treehouse

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I got this idea from Bored Panda’s page.

(even the idea to look up Bored Panda didn’t really come from me:  I had decided to do a little piece of art for a swap, and the person I’m sending too said she likes whimsical little houses. I googled whimsical little houses and up popped Bored Panda!) I don’t want to send it away now. I see some places to improve though, so I’ll get over it!

Day 4: Inchies

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Today’s submission: “Inchies”. This miniature tradable art form gets its name from… have you guessed? The canvas size. Yep, those are 1 inch by 1 inch teensy pieces of “art”, for a swap I’m in. Three inchies, any medium, any subject. Frequently inchies, I think, like ATCs, have a combination of art media… painting, drawing, collage, 3-D elements. I often add charms, or ribbon, scraps of a printed phrase from a book, fortune cookie fortunes to my ATCs (Artist Trading Cards, 2 1/2″x 3 1/2″)… really anything. But today I’m being an acrylic purist. My inchies are already a little busy for their size… I think adding any embellishment may overwhelm them.

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Acrylic paint on watercolor paper, each 1″x 1″. (Some of my squares don’t look actually square. A problem I’ve only noticed now, as I look at these photos.)

I followed this tutorial for the tiny trees (more or less). Very fun to paint. I’ll try a larger version sometime.

And this, because my swap partner loves cats:

I didn’t create the kitties on my own either. I got the idea here. I’m keeping a set of three trees and the lone kitty on the right.

What I learned:

-painting doesn’t have to be scary.

-inchies are an incredibly small work space.

-small spaces are (potentially) less forgiving.

-my current paper trimmer doesn’t cut a one inch square neatly. Two inches is its minimum. Hand cut future inchies, or purchase a better-for-inchies trimmer.

-simple curvy lines can make a cat.

-one inch paintings can take longer than you’d guess.

What I’m hoping:

-before the year is out, I’ll be able to paint things without following a tutorial and without stealing (ahem, borrowing) someone else’s idea.

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Day 3

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Watercolor cherry trees (one to keep, and one for a swap) (from a youtube tutorial Fine-Art tips with Leonardo Pereznieto… splatter painting technique “How To Paint a Cherry Tree in Watercolor-Splatter Painting Trees-Paint a Tree-Sakura” 

It took him three minutes. It took me… longer. But it won’t take you long, and it’s easy and fun. I’ll try these again another day and see if I can get them any better!

Prep your work area… paint gets everywhere. My table is tile so paint wipes right off. 🙂