Category Archives: Inspiration

Wordy Weekender: The BoobTube

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I gave up watching TV over a year ago. I started to watch a few things on Hulu, here and there with sporadic intervals of watching everything at once. About 3 months ago I hadn’t watched anything for close to 3 months. I sat down with a hot cup of tea, my lap top and pulled up my queue in Hulu. I had a serious bunch of Sons of Anarchy. I really enjoyed the last few seasons and the first few episodes of this season. Anyway. I watched on episode and I found myself getting up  and doing stuff I like I do with movies I don’t get into. Then a really violent scene came up that involved some torture and I realized I couldn’t watch it.

I turned it off. The violence turned me off. I had no interest in watching it at all.

I deleted it from my queue. I haven’t looked back. I realize I prefer comedies, light hearted stuff, and adventure. I really enjoy shows like Warehouse 13, quirky and funny it explores mythical stuff from history and literature in an intelligent way.

Since I’ve turned off the TV I find myself more open to ideas and thought and the real world inspires me more.

Without TV my world is a little brighter. I’m so glad we turned off the “boob tube.”

Wordy Wednesday: Cult of Tutu

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I followed a link to an art journaling blog where I saw yet another female artist in a tutu. Afterward I tweeted the statement, “To be a mixed media artist do you need to wear a tutu? Or even like them? NO!”

To be blunt, I don’t get tutus. They are made out of plastic scratchy material, the same stuff the exfoliating bath poofs are made of and I can’t imagine they are comfortable.

I’m not saying I’m down on it, I just don’t get it.

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What I wear doesn’t define me as an artist. My clothing isn’t a statement. I’d rather my art make the statement. I’m a jeans and t-shirt kind woman; I like cotton, wool and other natural materials. I look for comfort while I create. I don’t need something outward to help me find my inner creativity. I know that some people enjoy costumes*and perhaps that is what the tutu is about. Using costume to find that inner well of creativity, capturing lost childhood insight, or perhaps these ladies really enjoy wearing a tutu. It is not my place to yuck your yum, but I can say that I don’t get it

I also have to wonder, other than Salvador Dali, would you see a male artist wearing something like a tutu? In part I’m somewhat uncomfortable with the idea that female artists have to dress up and play a part to sell their art. Peddle their wares like a carnie, “Win your lady a stuffed teddy bear here!” “Strong man competition, ring the bell, win a prize.” “Hooooot sausage and peppers, fried dough, cold lemonade”

Tutus and tiaras, 2 things you’ll never catch me wearing.

 

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Technique Tuesday: Faux Ink Wash

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A technique that I’m asked about on  a regular basis is how I get that watercolor effect with my ink drawings. First I start out with a regular ink drawing like the one below. If I know I’m going to use this technique I try and use inks that don’t dry waterproof, eternal or bulletproof.

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The next step is to use a waterbrush to pick up ink and move it around on the page. It takes a little practice to get the “right” amount of water and ink to get the value/tone you want but after you get the feel of it, it’s effective.

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Technique Tuesday: Refilling a Pilot V Ball Pen

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I’m pretty addicted to Noodler’s ink. It’s great for sketching and I really like the nice black line I get with it. One of my friends is not a fan of fountain pens. Noodler’s makes a roller ball that is really nice. I wanted to see if I could refill a variety of the pens I’ve got around the house that are half full or almost dead.

It turns out that refilling the pens with liquid ink is super easy. You’ll need the following:

  • A nearly empty liquid ink pen like a pilot V Ball, precise V or the like
  • A small knife or screw driver with a thin tip
  • Syringe
  • Q-tip
  • Rag
  • Ink of your choice, Noodler’s Bullet Proof Black is my ink of choice as I’ve had success

First open the pen up, you’ll notice that the part that the roller ball is attached to is plastic and slid into the body of the pen. You want to slide your knife between the plastic body of the pen and the black plastic of the tip. The black plastic thing is technically called the feed.

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Gently and carefully pry the feed out of the body. It will click as it releases. After it releases you should be able to simply pull it from the body of the pen. You’ll have a plastic ridged feed probably loaded with ink. Put this into a cup of water, don’t let it dry out. Now head to the sink and clean the residual ink from the body. I used a syringe full of water to spray all the ink out.

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Use a q-tip to dry the body of the pen. I use a small syringe intended for use on animals to refill fountain pen cartridges. I used this to measure 1.5ml into the body of the pen. Some pens only hold 1ml of ink. The B ball extra fine that I refilled held 1.5ml.

Once filled with ink you need to gently press the feed and tip back into the body of the pen. Don’t put pressure on the tip of the pen otherwise you’ll break the tip or make it scratchy. You’ll be able to see that the feed is pressed back into the body and hear it click in place. Some pens take more pressure to press the feed back in than others. DO NOT try to use the cap to press the feed back into place you’ll end up damaging the tip of your pen, leaving you with a scratchy pen.

Wipe up any ink that may have worked its way out of the feed and to the tip of the pen with your rag. Test your pen out on scrap paper. I’ve read a few articles online that suggest you can get around 10 refills into a pen before the roller balls give up and won’t work any longer. I think that the mileage will vary according to the brand of pen.

Let me know if you try this and how it works for you!

Flickr Find: Dale’s ATC

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I've tried ATC, I enjoy them for little sketches and fun doodles, but I'm not able to capitalize on the size and form the way some people are. Dale is one of those people. Her ATC are great. Check out the ATC below!

image from www.flickr.com

The Real Wordy Weekender: I *AM* Not a Brand

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I am not a brand.

I am an artist.

I paint.  

I draw.

I write.

I bind books.

I’m passionate about the things that are important to me: equal rights for all, sometimes politics, love, fairness, people being treated properly, and the list goes on. I’m not afraid to voice those opinions. I’m usually pretty direct about this fact. I don’t often mince words. I don’t see the point. I also don’t see the point in letting stuff build up until I can no longer tolerate it. I used to do that a lot and it got me nowhere. I’ve found that while it’s difficult the best things I’ve done are those where I’ve been the most direct.

I am not a brand.

I am not interested in protecting my brand. I don’t even get what that means*. I’ve gotten where I am today by being me. I’m honest. I’ll give the shirt off my back to the people I like and if I am forced I’ll give the people I don’t like my socks. I’ll forgive most transgressions after some time has passed. I believe in honor and integrity. I’ll stand up for people even if I don’t like them.  I confront issues head on, once I’ve vented and figured out a way to word it properly.

I am not a brand.

I am an artist.

I don’t believe in art world competition. I think artists, by and large do best by working together in a collaborative manner. I learn from you and you learn from me. When I teach classes I expect those people to come out of that class, take the information and add themselves to it. I ask only that they not publish exact documentation of what is in the class- ie please don’t publish my PDF files or videos. The art made in the class is the possession of the artist. The knowledge they gain is a stepping stone into bigger and better things. 

As a teacher I expect that all my students eventually surpass my skill. I’m not arrogant enough to think I’m the end all with art journaling. In fact I think that there is plenty of room out there for all of us who teach art journaling. We all fill a different niche. I don’t do “pretty girls” with their head tilted at unnatural angles or lead workshops on The Artist’s Way. No there are other people out there who do it better. I’ve done my fair share to help promote other sites, here on my blog, through the art journaling ning, and within the pages of the zine Art Journaling it’s all good.  Why? Like I wrote above I believe strongly that we work better as a team and as a collective. What I won’t do is participate in some sort of internet pissing match over who is the best because we all fulfill specific roles in the community. We all have our own specific space.

I am not a brand.

I am an artist.

I got an email telling me that someone (and others) thinks I’m hurting my “brand” by being me. You see if you think that you don’t get it, or me. It did make me think, which is good. The conclusion that I came to is that I can’t be anyone but me, trying to be something else would lose the honesty and integrity I’ve built this blog around. I will continue to be me.

I am not a brand.

I am an artist.

I paint.  

I draw.

I write.

I bind books.

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Technique Tuesday: Faces and Gears

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I've written about how faces and gears show up in my work. I was interviewed over here a while back and one of the images she used was a gouache on board that is, what Eveline refered to as "classic" Less style. And it's true. It is. Bright colors, gears and faces.

This is another riff on that same theme, 2 faces and a page of gears.

In this case I carved a rubber stamp for the gear and used a few dicuts as other gear type things. The faces are drawn in pencil, acrylic used to blend them and the dicuts are colored with ink before being glued to the page. Over all this is a very simple page but very much me.

 

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Flickr FridaY: ThermoMix

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ThermoMix
Originally uploaded by Laura Serra

 

Images like this remind me that you can see the beauty in the everyday object. the simple, ordinary, and everyday object can be transformed into art if you only look at it the right way. Maybe what you need to do is turn the object on its side and look at it from a different angle, or maybe you need to adjust how you view the world.

No matter this pic is a perfect image of how that works.

Flickr Friday: My to do lists are a mess

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My to do lists are a mess
Originally uploaded by featherbed

 

While this isn't my to do list (Follow the link below the image for more great pics) I am a to do list keeper. Mine are less pretty than this mess, I write in my chicken scratch with whatever pen comes to hand, they are multi-colored barely legible lists of things like "Don't forget the TP. Pick up milk. We need dish detergent. Find the broom*"

*True story, I can't find our "in the house" broom. No idea where I put it. Its driving me nuts.