Sheep.

I
have used them symbolically in my art dating back to 1999. Somewhere in
the nether reaches of my studio I have a set of small hand carved
stamps, one is a small fluffy sheep the other is a small carver BAA that
fits perfectly inside the sheep. They measure less than one inch in any
direction. I need to find them.

The
sheep symbolize a couple of things in my art. First and foremost they
symbolize my own herd-like tendencies, the go with the flow laziness. A
tendency toward not asking questions which leads to the eventual
slaughter. Secondly they symbolize herd like people. Yes I know the
whole “sheeple” thing is a tired cliche that’s been overdone, but damn
it, I’ve been over doing it since 1999!

Generally,
when you see the sheep directed at myself it’s generally a directive
for me to go against the grain and think about what is going on around
me. When it’s directed towards others it’s with disgust at deeds or
inaction.

Lately
I’ve been dealing with some herd like thinking, that includes some
flack and stupidity. It’s caused me some stress and the inevitability of
some distance. I’d go into it more but you know, I can’t not yet. So in
my art journal it stays, eventually you’ll see more of these pages.
Lots more.

A few days ago I wrote a little post called “What is it?”
Basically asking what is art journaling. I’ve been asking this question on my
FB as well. I wrote it because I like the fact that my idea of art journaling
is constantly being challenged. I’m open to the challenges and thinking about
the different ideas others have about art journaling.

I know that what I do is a little different from what
many of the people on my ning site do as their art journaling, and I’m okay
with that. In fact, I think it’s what makes the site so great. We’ve got people
just jumping off the scrapping ship and into the messy creative world of art
journaling. I like to see them have their creative muscles awakened and their
brains made active with art.

Part of the reason I’m so open to the challenges and ideas
of so many different types of art journaling is that I think that the more
people who are creative and enjoy creativity the more likely we’ll see an
opening for creativity to become more valued in our society. Because, let’s
face it, outside of a few isolated pockets of art communities, most people will
tell you they don’t get art. Or worse yet, that they see no value in art. Which
makes me sad. What gives me hope is to see so many people (over 4600 as of this
writing) engaged in a practice that is about pure creativity.

Sure, I’d like to see more people doing the hard work of
journaling in their journal, asking themselves tough questions and then
striving to answer them no matter the answer, but for now I’ll take the win of
more people being creative with art.

PJ
made a comment about the luminous/vibrant color of my watercolors. I
thought I’d address that and consider a watercolor class in the future.

Watercolors are my go to tool for color in my art journal. I use them in a few specific manners to get bright vibrant shades.

First
let’s talk about the brands I use. I adore holbein, windsor and newton, cotman, and Dr PH Martins. I also enjoy using Sargent’s Watercolor
Magic liquid colors. As long as I’m working in my art journal I’m not
concerned with the colors being lightfast.

Secondly,
let’s talk about clean brushes. It’s important that you clear out any
color from your brush to get clean colors. Any spot of an opposite color
to the color you want will dull and muddy the color you are using. I
wash my brushes on a regular basis using plenty of soap. I like to use
generic shampoo as it generates a nice lather and works its way deep
into the bristles. I keep a couple of containers of rinse water on my
desk while I work, one generally is the dirty water container and does
the bulk of my rinse while a second is used to rinse the brush further.

Then
I prepare my colors. If I’m using dried or block colors I moisten them
in advance of use. I use either a spray bottle or a squeeze bottle to
add drops of water to the cake of color and I let it sit to soften the
color. As I work I add more water to lighten the color. If i’m using
tubed color I squeeze out a small amount and add water to it to create a
liquid. With liquid color I add a few drops to a palette and add water
as needed. Often times with tubed colors I’ll add the watercolor to a
cup with a lid and add plenty of water. This gives me a large amount of
liquid color that I can work with. Touching a wet brush to a dry cake of
color will only give a weak shade.

In
all cases I make sure my brush is clean before I pick up any paint or
dip into a cup. A small amount of blue or purple in the yellow will turn
it green or brownish, and take away from it’s bright color. If I’m
attempting to mix a bright secondary color I try small amounts of the
colors to create it. So if I’m looking for purple I add small amounts of
blue and red together away from their cups and being sure to clean my
brush.

One
of the hardest things for me to learn with watercolor is to USE the
paint and to not skimp. So if I’m covering a large amount of paper with a
single color I need to use more paint than I think I need. Also
watercolors ALWAYS dry lighter than when applied. When the paper is wet
my colors need to be darker than I want the end result to be. If the
color is just right when wet it won’t be when dry, I try and work a
shade or two darker than what I would like the color when dry. the great
thing about watercolor is that I can alway add another layer if I want
to darken the color.

So here are my tips for vibrant watercolors in a nutshell:

• Properly wet and prepare your colors before you need them.
• Clean brushes.
• Use more paint than you think you need, remember that watercolors dry lighter.

It’s
almost 1am and we’re in the midst of a blizzard, or so the weather
reports tell me. Well, that’s being a tad dismissive, we’ve got another
12 hours of snow to go, but so far I’m not seeing mountains and
mountains of snow. The wind is howling, snow is drifting and even my
dogs don’t want to go outside. Right now I’m regretting that 6pm cup of
coffee.

I’ve
spent the day sipping hot hot tea in an effort to unclog my sinuses
which finally appear to be on the mend. i’m not sure if it’s the hot tea
or the buffalo chicken fingers I ordered from the local pizza place
that I should credit. Maybe it’s time, who knows. I’m starting to feel
physically better. My sleep cycle is all kinds of messed up. I’m awake
when I should be asleep and sleeping when I should be awake. Of course,
that 6pm cup of coffee that tasted oh so good as the snow

I
spent some time reflecting on my art journals today while listening to
some good music. I flipped through the last year’s worth of my art
journals. I’ve got some good stuff recorded. I’m missing some notes I
took on business cards that held a lot of good class ideas. But overall,
I liked what I saw. I made a lot of progress artistically. My ability
to capture a lifelike and emotional portrait increased 10 fold. i’m
proud of the work I’ve done. I’m excited for the art show I’ll have in
August. This year holds a lot of potential for me.

The
thing is, it’s all up in the air right now. I’m not sure how things are
going to land but I’m sure it’ll be in the way it should be for me.

The
last few days have been interesting in that it’s revealed some artistic
and art journaling truths to me that I had previously not know or had
ignored. These will be shared here over time.

I've been practicing my calligraphy. I think I've told you the story of how when I was a kid I learned how to write by taking calligraphy class from my 2nd grade teacher. I had a really hard time learning cursive and was forced to spend lots and lots of time working on my penmanship, to little avail. My new, young, 2nd grade teacher, had read an article and some research on teaching kids to write via calligraphy and I became her personal experiment.

So, once a week I stayed after school and was taught some basic calligraphy. I ended up being pretty decent at it but my penmanship never got too great. In fact my handwriting is still referred to as chicken scratch and less kindly as roach droppings.

Sadly I gave up calligraphy in 8th or 8th grade since most of my peers saw it as dorky. Since I was already a geek I couldn't risk delving too far into dork territory. I regret that I gave up my enjoyment of calligraphy and worst yet that I've not had an additional 20 years of practice. I can only imagine what my black letter and gothic would look like if I'd only kept at it.

This post is less about that than the fact I took a dive in the parking lot of my DayJob and landed rather stiffly on my hand and elbow. The right side, of course, and now my wrist is slightly swollen, stiff and sore. Ice and an ace bandage are helping a lot. But writing is not comfortable and calligraphy is out of the question for awhile anyway. This is pretty frustrating for me since I've been making decent progress on my gothic writing.

The one good thing about this is that I'm forced to use less pressure when writing. The only good thing.