I’ve been making a ton of art lately. I was talking to a friend of mine about how the art gets in your head and forces you to consider it all the time. For instance I walk my dogs and think I should bring my camera in case I see something cool that I might want to take a picture of because it might possibly someday make a good watercolor. My dogs hate walking with me because I’m constantly staring at stuff.

For instance, down the street where the VW place used to be is a giant backhoe. It’s big yellow, blue and white with bold red lettering. I’ve shot a bunch of pictures of it, while trying not to trespass, and yet not caring if I do. Why? Who knows? Will I ever make art using the pics? I have no clue.

I go through phases like this where everything is intensely about art. Later I’ll have a phase where all I do is write but the writing is all about art. There are swings. It’s okay to have swings. It’s natural. Sometimes the swings are from media to media mostly it’s between art and writing.*

This dismal grey winter was a bit much and I’m glad it’s over. I’ve talked about spring fever with my art friends and we’re ALL feeling it pretty intensely this year. I have to wonder how other people are dealin with their spring fever, am I the only one who sees a giant increase in art making right now?

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When you go to school for art your professors tell you about all the stuff you are supposed to do, you know, the all important rules for making art that lasts forever. And then there are the rules of composition, color, design and everything else. Every professor has a set of rules that vary slightly from the other professors and of course their rules are the “right” rules. It’s all this hogwash that makes art school tiring and yet fun.

It’s good to learn rules about safety, like, don’t smoke while painting with oils. Holding your brush in your mouth is a bad idea, and generally speaking pointing your watercolor brush with your mouth is both grotesque and unsafe.

then there are the rules that my professor used to bark at me (with love) “Herger, preserve the white of the page!” “Watercolors should shine!” “Adding white to watercolor makes it gouache!” “Letting your gouache dry out turns it into crappy watercolors!” “Work bigger, fill the page with color, but for god’s sake preserve the white of the page.”

Sometimes the rules contradict one another.

Sometimes you have to ignore the rules.

Sometimes following the rules makes great art.

Conversely sometimes ignoring the rules makes great art.

That brings me to my Monday observations about my art making over the weekend. Jim’s barked rules have stuck with me. granted I ignore a good deal of what he said, after all I don’t approach a watercolor with a clear outline of color, order, and direction; instead I focus on light and dark and the colors I feel at that moment. I had a 40% off coupon to AC Moore and wandered in, planning to buy a depleted color and found myself not liking their selection, when I saw the Liquid Mask. I figured what the hell, I may as well try it. I haven’t used liquid mask since college, when I borrowed a friends for an assignment.

Dutifully I sketched out my subjects and then filled the areas of white with mask. I proceeded with my paintings as normal. I applied my washes and layered on colors. I applied indigo heavily and loads of payne’s gray. I let them completely dry…

Then peeled off the mask.

I hate the pristine white. It seems out of place with my messy watercolor technique to have these sharply white areas among pools of wet into wet color and layered colors. So I’m going to put pale washes of color over them, so they fit in.

See, sometimes the rules just don’t work.

AJ: Bones
Originally uploaded by annah_savage

How can you not enjoy the show Bones? And how can you not enjoy the bright fun colors of this AJ page?

So I'm a bad technical pen owner. I have a set of Koh-i-noor Rapidocraft pens that I've used all sorts of unspeakable inks in, waterproof inks that dry to a crusty gunk on the pen, sealing parts shut and making them difficult to clean. As a result, I tossed them in a drawer and.. forgot about them.

Fast forward several months later and I want to use them only, well, crusted shut and needing to be cleaned, badly.

I soaked the pens in a warm soapy sink for 30 minutes, softening teh crusty bits and allowing me to open everything up. After another 45 minutes of disassemply, squeezing water through with a bulb syringe, and scrubbing the pens are clean. They are not pristine, the unspeakable ink has clouded the clear plastic sections on some of the pens but not all.

I've inked them up with Noodler's Black. This bulletproof ink won't crust up and will clean off with ease should I forget my pen in a drawer for 4 months…

JD 10
Originally uploaded by sandravandergeest

I have no idea what this says but I love the gear shape.