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Author Archives: leslie
Technique Today: Eyes and Faces
I have been asked again and again about drawing face. How to do it, what to do, what media, etc… I wrote a post with tips on faces and while that holds true, this post is about solid techniques you can use to draw faces.
If you ahve a problem viewing the videos here on my blog, click the titel at the top left of any of the videos to open it up in YouTube.
Technique Today: Drawing and Sketching
No joke, I love to draw in my art journal. Sketches, doodles, all sorts of neat stuff can go in there. But what to sketch, how to sketch? Hopefully, these videos will help give some guidance.
If you have an issue watching the videos here on my blog you can click the title of the video (top left of each video) and it will open up in youtube for you.
Technique Tuesday: Contour Line Drawing
One of the best things I ever decided to do in my art journal was to devote myself to drawing. For about a year I devoted 20 to 30 minutes a night to drawing in my journal. I drew ewverything and anything from stacks of bottle caps to used tea bags to every piece of fresh fruit that came into the house. Sometimes in the 20 to 30 minutes I'd make 5 or 6 quick drawings othertimes I'd work on one. Anyway, contour line drawing does something in the brain (we aren't sure what yet) but it's been linked to all kinds of good things. (Check out Grandma Layton.) Take a moment when you are watching TV to go draw something. *
If you are having problems viewing the video here on my blog, click the title on the top left of the video and it will open in youtube.
Art Related Videos
I’ve been watching a bunch of things on Amazon Prime, Hulu and Netflix. It’s been too cold to do much outside. Anyway…
I watched Exit Through the Gift Shop which you can find here:
I also watch Ghost Army, a nifty documentary about artists in WW2 in a special division of the US Army. My friend Greg had mentioned it to me and I was finally able to see the movie. Nifty.
I’ve watched a load of trash TV as well… I won’t mention them here.
Happy new year to all my friends!
Techniques Today: Composition Book to Art Journal
I love compostion books for all things note taking. I use them in school for class notes, ideas, and doodles. Their sturdy stitching lets them live in my bag and survive. These make great art journals. Here are a few videos to give you some ideas on what you can do with them.
If you are having problems viewing the video here on my blog, click the title on the top left of the video and it will open in youtube.
Art is a Reward
I’ve been rewarding myself for reading articles for my January class by letting myself paint after I read. I’ve been working small lately so I decided to change things up and work big.
To do this I cut open a paper grocery bag, squared it up, then used my create-a-color leads in my E+M holder to work on some BIG automatic drawings.
After the auto drawing is completed I hit the paper with white paint plus one other color to create a scrubby textured background. I don’t try to fill every spot of the background, rather I brush until the brush is empty of paint. (I’m also listening to music while I do this, so each brush stroke works with the beat and sound of the music.
After I get a base color down I start to layer in colors onto the drawing itself. This image is far from finished, I’ll work a bunch more on it to get it to a point that I can call it done.
I was inspired by watching “Exit Through the Gift Shop,” a nifty little documentary supposedly about Banksy but really more about Mr. Brainwash. Neat stuff. i initially thought I might like to create these as a paste up but now realize that it would be a crazy amount of work to paste up on the free wall. So i’m still thinking of something I can put on the free wall, I think it’ll be something like this, likely on paper and not a stencil. Anyway, great movie and these are a lot of fun.
Review: Princeton Art SNAP! Brush
When I paint with watercolors I buy Princeton Art Company red handled synthetic rounds. Why? They hold a point well, survive my abuse the longest, and hold a great deal of paint. Lately I’ve been working with acrylic, and my usual view of working with acrylic is that I should buy the cheapest brush available because I’ll eventually abuse it by leaving paint in it for too long. i’m an acrylic brush destroyer. BUT! lately I’ve been working on things with small details that need a fine point… I’ve reached for my watercolor brushes… I’ve not destroyed any of them YET!
When I picked up my “Congrats, You survived your first semester of grad school” gift a couple of weeks ago I also snagged a new brush. Princeton Art company has a new line of brushes called “SNAP!” The rack had 2 sides- one with long handles and the other with short. On each side was a range of sizes at a set price point. 2 and 4 rounds and flats were $2.99 and 6 and 8 rounds and flats were $5.99 and so on. I snagged a #6 round with a short handle and white taklon bristles.
The brush is good looking, the handle is painted green and blue and then coated in varnish, leaving some of the natural wood visible. It’s pretty. (in the image below the SNAP! brush is shown with a #6 Princeton Art red handle water color brush as well as a Robert Simmons' Sapphire. Do not buy the Simmon's sapphire brush, it was over priced and has been a horrible brush frm the get go. I could go on and on about how horrible it is, but I'll just leave it at, don't buy.)
I’ve been using the brush for about 2 weeks.Thus far I’m very happy. The bristles are snappy and spread the paint well. The point has survived my use for 2 weeks. This is a miracle. I tend to kill points quickly. The white taklon has stained with red and blue pigment but that’s expected with the colors I use.
Anyway, I’m very happy with this brush at this price. They are available in multi packs as well, also at a set price and very fair price- I saw a mixed group of brushes for about $11. (I wasn’t able to find a decent Amazon link for this product, they all had $7.50 shipping… for $5 items LOL.)
The images below are some faces on can lids. I used this brush for all of the image. Check out the fine detail you can see in the faces. Again nice point on a #6 round.
(These images are available at my Etsy shop. Faces on can lids!)
As a side note, with the introduction of these snazzy brushes and the new Catalyst tools I think that Princeton Art company is going after the mixed media market in a big way. These new lines of products are perfectly situated as affordable and USEFUL tools for mixed media artists. They aren’t doing it in a cheesy annoying way either. rather than flooding blogs and youtube with annoying ads (or getting bloggers to shill for them (looking at you Brother)) they have introduced their great products and are letting artists use them and spread the word for them. I like this method, it doesn’t pander to us, or put goo artists and bloggers (looking at you Brother) into positions where to get to use or keep a product they have to copy and paste crappy copy that doesn’t fit the tone of the blog into their blog. You see, when a product is good, like the Catalyst wedge, it doesn’t need advertising copy forced down the throat of the blogger (again, looking at you Brother). A good blog post will write itself, that includes good and bad aspects of the product. /rant.
Techniques Today: Printing Things
I'm a huge fan of printmaking and printing things. Years ago I took a monotytpe/print class and I was addicted to the process. However without a press true monotype is impossible. I learned about making gelatin plates at some point over the years and Jane and I tested it out a few years ago. SO MUCH FUN. While this post isn't specifically about gelatin printing (gelli is a brand name of a product) it's about printing in all it's fun filled glory. Oh what fun can be had with a brayer and some paint. Or some plastic sheets and ink.
If you are having problems viewing the video here on my blog, click the title on the top left of the video and it will open in youtube.
Found this lovely vid via Diana Trout's amazing blog.
Of course no post on art journaling and printing would be complete without a few videos by the amazing Traci Bunkers. She has an awesome book.
Make your own permenant gelatin plate aka gelli plate.
You don't need to have a "gelli" brand plate to print. You can make your own perma-gelatin or you can try a silicone sheet or foam sheet. I picked up a couple of silicone sheets (Used in lockers as message boards) at staples and they work VERY well for gelatin printing. You could also get smooth silicon baking sheets and use them to print. Ther are MANY possibilities.
You can plan out a gelatin print as well.
Printing can also be done by making your own stamps.
Review: Princeton Arts Catalyst Wedge Tools
Phew. My semester, the first semester of my grad school adventure is over! Grades aren’t in yet, but in one of my classes I’m pretty sure I snagged an A. As a sort of congratulations to me gift I snagged a lovely Catalyst tool. I went simple and got the basic wedge. 
(The color of the tool is more of a cool gray than taupe, can't get the colors right on screen.)
Catalyst tools are hefty silicone tools for spreading paint around a page or canvas. the full size tools are chunky and have a nice heft in the hand. The “handle” side of the tool is comfortable and conforms to the hand. The large size is just right for spreading a great deal of paint around a page. It’s about an inch wider than an old gift card on the wide side and half the width on the narrow end.
With that in mind, the tool I purchased (W-06) is easy to manipulate and control. With a short session of use I was able to use it to spread a thin even layer of paint or leave a rough uneven layer. I was able to adhere antique paper to the page with gel medium without damaging the paper and leaving a perfectly even layer of medium.
I’ve used a variety of other tools- from the procaulking tools (pretty good) to rubber potter’s ribs (not so good) and none have come close to being as useful as my beloved old gift and credit cards. The Princeton Catalyst tool is the first to approach the versatility of the old plastic cards. The first that allows for thin and thick layers. The first that gives me a similar look to my spread of paint over a page, and the first that let’s me manipulate mediums in useful ways.
The final great thing? With a bit of water acrylic paint and mediums simple slide right off the tool, leaving it’s surface as clean as the day I bought it.
The tools are available in a variety of shapes and sizes. they have a series of mini tools as well as on handles. The handle tools look like funky spatulas. Some have edges that aren’t smooth but have a series of divots in rounded or triangular shapes so that you can scrape shapes into your paints. While I have less of a use for those, I do think they would be VERY useful in mixed media work.
I’ve seen the tools in a variety of places, and at a variety of prices. It seems they are between $5 and $8 and the MSRP is $10 for the large wedge tools. I paid about $6 for mine at Artist and Craftman. Which I see as a fair price for the tool. I’m probably going to look into getting the other smooth shape in the future, as well as some of the tools on handles.
Here are a couple of cradled boards I’ve picked up and have started to paint. I’ll be adding something else to the middle, probably a face. But you can see how perfectly the tool worked. The way the paint spread is very similar to my usual tools. Very happy. 
