The Journey of One Mixed Media Piece

In my June 13th blog post, I talked about how my digital art world and my live mixed media art world collide on a regular basis. The journey of this next mixed media piece is a great example!

It started with a Gelli Plate print
I'm definitely in my "Blue, Green, Purple" art phase. All of my art right now seems to have those colors in them. So I grabbed those colors of acrylic paint and started playing with my Gelli Plate and textures again! (see my Gelli print blog posts on May 17th and May 23rd) This is what I got when I monoprinted to 140lb. watercolor paper and then scanned it:

Next up: Labels
Then, I printed out onto Avery labels. Not my idea, read it somewhere and thought it was a cool idea! I have lots of old labels hanging around and what a great way to use them! First thing I did, is scan the 12 labels into the computer and made new Mixed-Media Washi Tapes for my ETSY Shop.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/193361577/digital-washi-tape-painted-mixed-media

Washi Tape Uses
Just a quick side note: See my Washi Tape blog post, February 12, 2014. The bird card below was made digitally with the above washi tapes.

Back to the "real" world
Since I had scanned the original art, I was comfortable chopping it up. This was not always the case!! A friend of mine made her business cards out of some original mixed media collage art....I thought it was a great idea and this piece would be perfect for that. You can add your name and info anywhere you want.

Last, but not least
Here is what's left of the label sheet after I peeled the "washi tape" off. So, I have the 12 pieces of washi tape that I can use in my collages, journals, etc. AND, I have these cool pieces of stickiness that I can also use. I will be able to show you HOW I use them in a future blog.

Fun with my I-Phone

I have wanted a macro lens for my SLR for years, but thought they were too expensive. I happened upon a site that talked about taking macro pictures with my I-Phone. I thought, is this for real? I researched it and bought one that day.....the OLLOCLIP 4 in 1 lens. (there are other lens options: http://www.olloclip.com/)

The 4 lens package includes: Fisheye (wouldn't normally go looking for that kind), Wide Angle, and 2 Macros: 10x and 15x. Have I been having fun!!! Keep in mind I'm a big fan of "abstraction" and it takes a lot of practice with BOTH Macro lenses. I think the closeups of flowers are reminiscent of Georgia Okeefe's flower paintings.

CLEMATIS

For the best (non-blurry) shots they recommend a tripod. I just bought the "GLIF" for my I-Phone 4, they have an upgrade if you have an I-Phone 5. The "GLIF" attaches to your I-Phone and has the attachment you need for the tripod. I haven't had time to try the tripod....but, hope to on a trip I'm about to take to NC, and will blog about that when I get back! :)

THIS IS A DANDELION!

A SHELL

 I have learned a surprising amount about taking pictures with my I-Phone from this guy: http://iphonephotographyschool.com/iphoneography-websites/, but you can google "iphoneography" and see what you find!

The Computer is one of my Art Mediums!

These past few weeks as I've been journaling, designing, and watching YouTube videos.....it finally dawned on me. The name of my blog could imply that all I do is digital work. I actually named this blog first, before I changed the name of my ETSY Shop, "The Digital Stash" where I DO sell only digital art supplies... https://www.etsy.com/shop/TheDigitalStash

But, this blog is about SO much more. It's about the creative process....which for me has involved both live and digital processes since 1990 when I bought my first digital camera. For me, one feeds and inspires the other. So that's why I changed the design of the header, focusing on many of my artistic avenues, but kept the blog name.

If you think of the computer as an art medium, it makes perfect sense that it inspires me in other mediums and vice versa. Here's an example...

I discovered how to make really cool textured papers with a technique using "Citra Solv" on "National Geographic" magazines. This particular technique has been around for at least 4 years....going by the oldest YouTube video....but, I've just discovered it and OMG am I having a creative blast!

https://www.etsy.com/listing/192591932/abstract-inky-backgrounds-6-digital-85-x

So, I've made some amazing looking papers.....what's the first thing I do? Scan them! Before I do anything with them, including accidentally spilling coffee on them, etc.....I scan and save them for eternity.....yes! Now what? Well, I figure if I think these papers are amazing, other people will too. So I've been putting collections together, sort of by color theme and offering them as packages in my ETSY shop.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/192691075/inky-texture-papers-5-digital-12x12

I also made a package grayscale so they could be used as overlays with blending modes. I think I'll have to do a blog post on all the cool things you can do with overlays!

https://www.etsy.com/listing/192695159/inky-paper-overlays-6-digital-gray

And another way my inspiration crosses multiple mediums....I seem to be really attracted to the blues, greens and purples (have I ever NOT been?). So, the package of "Citra Solv" papers I put up today have those hues!

https://www.etsy.com/listing/192906074/inky-texture-papers2-5-digital-12x12

I will be talking more about this technique, the results and the uses for these papers (both live and digital) in future blog posts because this is my latest addiction!

A Good Addiction: Art Journals

FIGHTING FEAR
 Art Journals are a good habit for so many reasons, but what they are really helping ME with is my fear of my art not being perfect right off the bat and making mistakes. They have freed me to throw paint down intuitively and see what happens, if I don't like it.....I cover it up.

IT STARTED WITH THE GELLI PLATE
When I started playing with my gelli plate, I wanted to use the leftover paint on my roller after every print. Some of the artists on YouTube would roll the paint on scrap paper, etc. and then put them together to make a journal. But, I thought it would be fun to roll the paint right into the Art Journals. The paint does dry fast, but occasionally it's a bigger gob that takes longer to dry, so a few pages get stuck together. I could leave them stuck together or pull them apart and work with the cool looking rip which is what I usually do.

JOURNALS CAN BE THEMATIC

These 3 journals are really a journey of exploration as I experiment with shapes, designs and stencils on the gelli plate. One journal is any and all colors I want to play with. My second journal is just different shades of browns and blues which is one of my favorite color combinations. Another combination... I love even more....is greens, blues and purples. That is the theme of my third journal.  None of these pages are finished, they are just beginning and most have no inking, doodling or writing.

These 3 pages are from the blue and brown themed journal. I picked up a pack of plastic number stencils for $1 at the Dollar Store and played with those, along with the rubber comb thingy (forgot what it's called) and one of my favorite masks right now.....the female nude.

My other favorite mask is my bird. I need to make other birds, so I have variety. I have no idea where this page is going, but I love it so far. Pens used on the 2 pages below: Faber-Castell large white and Sakura gelly roll (love them!) in blue and black.

This page below is the furthest along. I grabbed this journal and my pens and headed to the beach. All of the pages have paint on them, so most are ready to be doodled and journaled on which is great when you're traveling. I like to make my own stencils and masks and the figure below is my "female nude" stamp. 

Art on the Fly

Almost all of the gifts I give are wrapped in tissue paper and put in a pretty bag. But, this time the gift was way too heavy and I put it in a sturdy box. I went to wrap it with good old-fashioned wrapping paper, but surprise....I didn't have any appropriate or large enough. So, I did what any artist would do and decided to make my own wrapping paper.

My first thought was tissue paper! I love tissue paper and I collect and save it like everyone else. I have family and friends trained to save it for me, too. :) I've done some really cool collages with tissue paper, but can't find the pics right now....pooh.

So I found 3 different shades of pink tissue and a fourth one that had a beautiful flower print. My next thought was ripping the tissue paper, gluing and overlapping it (with gel medium) because the tissue paper is so transparent and beautiful things happen when you layer it.

My bird stencil was right there on the table, so I grabbed it and made 3 birdies with white paint. Then I outlined them with one of my graphite pencils. The whole piece took me less than an hour and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. And the recipient of the gift had me frame part of it. Sweet!

Next time, I'll color in the flowers and leaves.....I need more markers! I think I'll be tissue papering in one of my journals very soon! :)