a drum roll please.......

So... this is the new color. My first sighting in the wild is the Winter 2015 cover of Artful Blogging by Stampington and Company. This isn't your Gramma's wine color. That was deeply maroon back in the 1970s. Marsala is muted, not very vibrant at all compared with the last 5 years.

I love the cover of the magazine. It is a restful color. The one splash of blue color hints at one of the 7 color schemes pantone has suggested for this new sensation. But....

There is always a but.

But I don't know about it. I suppose it could be a new black with its neutrality. And yet... I just don't see it being a color I am going to like in the long term. Of course I don't have to like every single color that comes along. If I did I would go mad from the choices. I just don't see it mixing with the aubergine I have been collecting. And it is only going to be Christmassy if everything else stays in white, silver and some frosty shade of blue that is nearly white.

of course I could be wrong.

2 in a Series

In the last post I showed you a bit of graphic design by asking a question in the center and answering it in options lining the border. The difficulty right now is that Blogger© is taking some license interpreting color that it has not previously taken. So assume this is indeed a Tardis Blue™ background and we will proceed.

Open Picmonkey and select the Edit Photo option.


Select a the Overlay feature and upload a photo. I selected a watercolor mixed media of a piece of my own typographic interpretation (keeping it in the theme). Edit it by erasing the background watercolor paper. As an overlay you can not adjust the exposure. Had this stayed the way it was edited (Blogger, you need to behave) it wouldn't even be necessary because the colors were naturally compatible. Here the watercolor looks washed out.
Place it on your background and then click the Combine Layers button. This will let you add text in the next step without accidentally moving the overlay and creating havoc later.

Now select the text feature and go to town. Remember to select text colors with the eyedropper so that it is compatible with your work instead of trying to fiddle with the slider tool in the color spectrum. WHAT. A. PAIN. The eyedropper is selected via the long box alongside the color spectrum the default is either black or white and changes as you run through colors so that you can see what you are sampling. When you have a color you like, a code will appear over that box. Copy and paste this if you are using multiple text boxes and need the colors uniform.

SPECIAL NOTE:
When using more than one typeface, try to keep the visual clutter at bay by using two, no more than three different fonts. Good formulas to remember are:

•  Serif + san Serif
• Display font + Serif
• Display font + sans Serif
• Script + Serif
• Script + san Serif
• Serif + Display + sans Serif: if you absolutely, positively have to use more than two fonts.
• Serif + Script + sans Serif

Avoid Script + Display in any combination just to save the hassle of scrolling through Picmonkey's vast font selection. Scripts and Display fonts can be really clashy.... like cheerleaders on opposing teams. This option rapidly depletes patience.

In the event that your styles are too similar, or compete for attention more than you had anticipated, a good fix is to keep to one font and change the letter size or use ALL CAPS for some of the words. In a full on graphic design package like Photoshop­™ you would have access to the fancy features like kerning to help your text stand out. Picmonkey is great, but it is limited in range so these are good shortcuts to keep in mind. And you won't have the bold or italic functions with some of the fonts that are available. Picmonkey won't let you make the chaotic mistakes that Photoshop rookies make because they put limits on what some of the fonts will do. Photoshop is made by people who assume your professors taught you right, so a newb with Photoshop can make some glaringly unfortunate typographic choices.

Tutorial: Difference Mode

So there are a million things that you can do with the Picmonkey photo editor. But most likely I will just use it to do the same things that I always do. That is called personal style. I feel like a fake trying to do things "grungy", "gritty", "hip" because that is not me any more than trying to do things "goth" or "emo". I have a style and that is all there is too it. The trick is to figure out how to make your style show with the tools that you are given. And figuring out how picmonkey's tools work can be a fun adventure or a lesson in frustration. Just in case you are not into adventure I've made a tutorial to show you how to get the look that I did.

A word of caution though: this looks like a complicated tapestry with color splashed in a random, willy-nilly fashion. But the key to pulling this off is actually restraint. I've limited the palette of overlays to one color way (two shades of the same green) and I've only used texture templates that will keep the colors within a narrow bandwidth on the color wheel, keeping in mind that orange and blue are opposites. This is where the highest contrast should be. It keeps things interesting. If I were to throw in lots of bright opposites it would get confusing. So where there are elements to add depth I've kept close on the color wheel with neighbors (the blue violet and the teal green). It sounds confusing right now but as we go along it should be clear.

So first:

Upload your original work to picmonkey. I have a few flaws with the photography, primarily the hot spot in the top left corner. The first choices I make with be to diminish it's presence. Sadly though the crop feature, while most expedient would destroy one of the main elements. The photo is crooked so I will adjust that with the straighten tool in the rotate menu. Adjusting the exposure with the auto adjust isn't going to do a lot to make me happy with this either. So now I know that the textures menu is the key to fixing my poor photography. Onto step two.

The left side of your screen is where all the main menus are. Under each tab is a drop down menu to edit your specific choices. And this is where the fun begins. I didn't know that I wanted to go in this direction until I started playing with the various modes. Once I hit on Difference I knew that I would have to be a bit more explorative with the textures. You might make other choices based on the work you are editing. These are the choices I made.

 

Step 2

• TEXTURE> EDIFICE: select water mark set mode: difference set saturation 38% set fade 20%. This flips the temperature of the painting to its opposite on the color wheel. Cool spots are now warm. Warm spots are now cool.
• TEXTURE> SMUDGE> PAPYRUS set mode: multiply set saturation 120% set fade 16%. The three choices that lead in the direction I wanted to go were Papyrus, green marble, or the red milk paint. I chose PAPYRUS. In this application I got a tartan weave that I wanted to preserve. And it expanded my palette by turning some blues to a teal green and some of the reds to violet. An added benefit is that the top part of the lekythos took on a batik feel and some of the details faded a bit. 

Step 3

• THEMES> WITCHES> ANTIQUATE> DAMASK set mode to lighten, set saturation to 154% set fade to 0%. Then use the erase tool (look for the brush button on the drop down menu when you first  open the ANTIQUATED menu. Erase parts with the softer setting of the large brush to retain details in the lekythos. You want the damask pattern to sit in the background and draw only a little attention while adding in some background texture that was lost when the original flipped in step two.

Now save. SAVE SAVE SAVE! This is key. At this point if you don't save you won't be able to fix any future mistakes easily. And it will be easy to make mistakes with the next step. The next step mimics the process of masking and over stamping. We are going to bring in a few of the details from the original.

 

 

 



Step 4: Overlay the original. Open the Texture menu. In a nondescript button right at the top is a button that says "YOUR OWN". Click and open the original. It will appear on your screen in a teeny tiny version. Grab the corner and pull until it is the same size as the one you are working with.

• Fade this to 80% to place it over the same spot. This will be a bit tricky if you had to straighten the original as this one won't be able to be straightened. Once placed, fade to 49% to work with the eraser.
• Select a soft brush setting and use a large brush. Keep the jar and flower intact. Erase everything else to let the background you just created come through.
• Shrink the brush setting on your eraser and go into the center of the flower to bring the background through there as well. Use the soft setting so that the petal edges aren't harsh on the outside. To get the center of the flower to be sharply defined, increase the hardness while using a smaller brush size. I also nipped into the petals a bit where they are shortest around the center  at the bottom to add some contrasting blue into the petals. Not much!
• Now set the mode to HARDLIGHT and the fade to 63%.
• MERGE LAYERS ( the button for this is across the top of your screen next to the setting gear)
• SAVE!!!!!!!

Step 5: Embellish

• Open the OVERLAY menu. >RIBBONS select an appropriate design. When this menu opens you will be shown a color select menu. Click color one to open the color picking menu (looks like an eye dropper) chose a color from the image you are working on. As I said, keeping it simple I chose the green. When you select it there will be a set of numbers highlighted in grey next to the sample box. Save this by using the control C function. This will let you keep choosing the same green for subsequent overlays. THIS IS IMPORTANT!
• Keep color 2 transparent set fade to 15%. Erase parts over the jar and flower. Allow some of the ribbon to go under the flower to keep the illusion of perspective through layering.
• OVERLAY> CORNER> select one you like. Place and resize according to your image. Set the color by pasting the numbers you just copied into the place where all the zeros are. set mode to overlay. Erase where it overlaps the flower.
• repeat with another corner, place at the top in a smaller size.
• OVERLAY> LEAFY STEMS give the flower some stems using the same technique and colors as with previous embellishments.
• OVERLAY> BURSTING BLOSSOMS> select one. Paste the color code, set fade. Erase parts that overlap the petals.
• SAVE!

Step 6 Edging.

• EFFECT> DARK EDGES> select color. set size 40% set intensity 30%
• TEXT> sign your work. Use a keyboard short cut to create the copyright symbol: Make sure the NUM LOCK is engaged, hold the ALT key and type 0169. Release the buttons and the symbol appears in the text generator box. Add your name, select a color, size to fit and then save.

Easy right?

 

Well..... that overlay with the original image is going to be a pain in the ass. I had to do it about 3 times to figure out how that was supposed to work. Fortunately I had begun with the intention of doing the tutorial, in part to help me remember how I did this, so I was careful to take notes.

 

I hope when you sit down to play with the editor that you will find it a bit easier going. I found that it was easier to concentrate when I put some music on. My choice for today was to put Vampire Weekend's "Oxford Comma" on repeat. It also makes writing easier. I don't know why.

 

Have fun!

 

 

Digital Art is Quick Success

It's like my mom always used to say, "You can't do for one without the others screaming." So instead of going to bed when I got home, which would be the smart thing to do. I made a banner for this blog. With luck I can show you the progression before I dump the scraps from the computer. Keep your fingers crossed that I kept a good record of my work.

You were supposed to keep your fingers crossed. Of course I only saved twice.

Well, at least you can still see what I did. After cropping out all the background crap from the watercolor, I added some filter layers which put a wee bit of a spotlight focus on the forward most plum.

Then I added some overlays from picmonkey's postal collection. Each "stamp" was hand tinted to color match the plums, faded and the eraser tool removed the marks that fell across the plums so that the fruits would continue to stand out. Then a layer of blood splatters tinted to look like spilled paint because that is the idiotic thing that I did in the original painting which I've not known exactly how to work around. So... play up the mistake. And since the blog is called "spilt paint" it seems to make a lot of sense.

After that the corners and the text were the only things to do. Except... I wasn't exactly happy with the flatness. So I added a drop shadow and fiddled with it. Picmonkey lets you adjust all of the shadow elements just like a regular photoshop program. With the color picker tool I was able to keep a harmonious color scheme. Because of the choices I made I was able to make it look like the kind of hand stamped cards I used to do, using double sided foam to add depth. This gave the effect of the stamped postal images being stamped off onto the "scrap" which instead of being thrown away became the matte for the main image. That was a framing trick we employed at work to avoid the waste that otherwise might pile up while making sample cards to send to clients.

I even thought this would be a cool print without all the officious poop that has to compose a blog header. I was quite happy with it at that point. More than I have ever been with the original. Though I do think that I am being quite hard on myself. And should probably stop.

Reblogging: A Change in Policy

Originally, when I started this blog is was to be just for my own art. Spilt Paint was to be about my work and selling it, promoting it the best that I could. It occurs to me that I have been very shortsighted in a way. And by focusing on myself and my work, I've cut out a vital part of what being an artist is: the things that inspire us.

I posted that cartoon from Rhumer. And today I am going to link to a blog that I have been following. And the reason for that, aside from it being well written and an important message to other artists, is because of something that Amelia said:

Being an artist isn't something one does in 3 years anyway. It's a LIFESTYLE; a way of being; a mode of ongoing thinking and existing ad infinitum.

Art is a lifestyle. If van Gogh's life and death, taught us anything it should be that. Artists are essential to the human condition: feeding the soul, healing wounds, being there when there is not an earthly person to depend upon. Since artistic endeavors look so much like play and not much like work artists tend to take a lot of abuse from the people who could most benefit from our passions. And becoming a paid artist is a lot harder than one could ever imagine.


So I am linking to 101 Bird Tales article here. http://101birdtales.blogspot.com/2013/09/how-to-diy-art-school-education.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+101BirdTales+%28101+Bird+Tales%29 and telling you all to go for it. Unless you live in the frozen tundra (which is now melting under your feet) you are not too far away from a resource that will let you develop your natural talents. I am close to the tundra in that there is not much that is close to me that I can afford to attend on a regular basis. But I do have the power of the internet and the gift of serendipitous discovery: I can manage to fuel my imagination.

But I can not do it if I am only focused on myself. Look at every artist out there. They belong to some kind of a community. My friend Michelle is constantly in contact with other artists. They feed her and she feeds them. I do not know it musical artists do the same thing... I assume at some point they must, Sting and Dominic Miller being one example. But I do know that without constant immersion in art the well begins to run dry.

That is most likely the root of my current dry spell.... in addition to a profound discomfort in working conditions. There are things still brewing, fleshing out the Unverwundbar and Unendlich inspired pieces is taking a bit of time. Honestly, I don't usually plan pieces so carefully. I mostly work with a slight concept and work the kinks out as I go. This time is different. Still.... I need more art to fuel my own ideas because that is how the process works.

So I think it is time to spice up the Spilt Paint blog with a bit of the things that I find inspiring. I see being immersed in all things BBC has given my writer's imagination some fire for creative thinking over at 6°. So it is time to see what I can do with this one.

Start to Finish: Box #3

And the jewel of box number three...

Let's start at the very beginning, a very good place to start. The preliminary sketch. On the left is a box of Tazo brand tea with the late 90s packaging design, a Martha Stewart mug from K-mart, the bowl to the Martha set and a dollar store vase that I thought was kinda cool. This is the most factual representation of those four objects. The "draw what you see not what you think you see" portion of sketching.

To the right is the homework assignment. One of the casualties of the box, this somehow was folded over and bent into an ugly curve. This was submitted for the monochromatic project. As you can see, I changed the packaging and made it anonymous, added fruit to the bowl which decided the color tone, eliminated the dimensional designs on the case and kept the mug about the same as the original sketch.

It made for great homework but not for frame-able art as in the picture below. Four is really not an ideal number of objects for a still life. It is generally accepted that odd numbers make a perfect composition. I won't bore you with the scientific reasoning. It is just so. Thus, I decided to pull a grape from the bunch and bring it far enough forward to be it's own object to give me five. The composition also needed more diversity in sizes. The other objects are too similar in size to be interesting without a straggler.

I especially like how the details in this close up turned out. And I love the macro function in the camera. Have I mentioned that lately?

The eyes don't always have it

Sometimes one encounters problems with art that are subtle and easily overlooked. And sometimes they are glaringly obvious.

Meet the glaringly obvious:

 

 

 

 This is my first attempt on the Italian vase. I saw this and remembered how excited I was to have successfully captured the painting on the vase, the dimensionality of the fruit and branch and the reflection of the vase in the whites. The whites are so hard to capture. But then when I stepped back I saw the gloriously epic FAIL!

The left side of the vase is squished and again the cherry right next to the vase is competing for the same space! Agh!!!! IT's a thing!!!!!!!!

Oh plus I hate the bright azure blue. It is too lapis. and the green doesn't even begin to match the intensity of the blue and none of them are the right tone for the colors in the vase.

Better Art Through Chemistry

 I found this blue while cruising through the Blick catalog. It is a fairly close match to Indanthrene blue which I like for getting deep rich colors. I need a really full ranged blue for mixing colors. And I think that this will be it.

Doing a little research to see if my assumption that it is related to the quinacridones that I love, I found some interesting facts about this quirky little blue.

For one thing, the science behind all the chemistry that makes these colors is complicated! And a bit frustrating. There is a lot of information to wade through that is so far over my head that now I have a head ache. But the trivial stuff is kinda interesting

• this pigment is oxidized anthracene
• it is a building block of Alizarin Crimson
• this blue chemical is the agent used to BLEACH paper
• naturally occurring in aloe and rhubarb, some fungi and lichens as well as some insects
• used to make hydrogen peroxide

Who knew!

 

 

As with all new pigments added to your personal palette, it's always best to make swatch pages so that you can see how your new color reacts with the colors that you are already familiar with. You will quickly discover which combinations make mud and which ones make a vibrant new shade. With your own custom color swatch book you have a true to you resource. Your own light, your own hand gives you a much truer idea of how your project will come out than relying in an online resource which is subject to the quirks of the computer screen of the originating computer and yours own screen.

 

This is a sample of Anthraquinone Blue mixed with the first of many new colors for me

 



Progress

And another couple of layers go down. With the new additions to my stash of tubes, I added some Opera to the poppies near the top. Some of my poppies were a pale pink but not very vibrant. So when the Opera came... woo hoo!

And with a little Perylene Maroon, which is my goto for a deep red, the pomegranates really start to pop. I am especially pleased with the pome crown in the back. It actually looks like a real pomegranate and it feels to me like I've done something that the Masters would encourage.

One day I will do a tutorial on the texture I used. I used to do a pointalist approach but that is so tedious. This technique is much easier. But you have to have patience with yourself and let the layers dry well in between applications.

I haven't done anything with the poppy in the foreground yet. I really like the subtleties there and don't want to overwork it. But it does need to come out a little bit more.

Just like Starting Over....

When it isn't working it isn't working. You just have to suck it up and start over. Take the good, ditch the bad and have faith that you learned enough last time around to do better this time. Art skills and life skills really are not that much different from concept to execution.


first attempt

2nd attempt



Water colors: fantasy pomegranates

So I started working on some cool toned watercolors. It was a rather abrupt shift from the fall colors. But once the cool weather set and the snow fell... well it was time to whip out the frosty blues and greens with a bit of purple. I wanted some really quick projects so that I could crank these things out and start working the cafepress angle. No, it won't be ready for this year. I'll  have to plan a year out I guess.

And I want to get better at using the liquid masking fluid. So here it the first few steps:

• the drawing
• lay down some liquid mask. I used Windsor & Newton
• while that is drying prepare you color palette. This one is Cobalt, Cerulean, Antwerp & Indanthrene blues, gamboge yellow, Permanent Violet, Dioxizine Purple, Phtalo violet an Purple Lake.
• Next lay down the colors.

The unfortunate thing about this photograph is that the lighting is so bad right now (it's 11:45pm) that it took a lot of editing to get it to look anything but yellow. But you get the idea.

This is the second interpretation. The first one I did I liked a lot. But it was more realistic than I wanted for something that is totally colored in an unrealistic palette. I did like the first one. And because the layout was exactly what I wanted, and I knew that I would want to do several variations, I made a carbon of it so that you could see them side beside when I am done. And here is a peak at the previous fantasy pomegranate portrait.

water color on Strathmore paper with Tim Holtz tissue tape, gold foil pen
 

I think you can see that they are the same composition. The colors are brighter below because I took those photos in the daylight. Natural light is wonderful! I have some Michelle Ward stuff coming soon. And I think that I want to use some of that in with this set up too. Also contemplating a totally overboard canvas with a transfer of this watercolor and an onslaught of scrapbooking/rubberstamp tricks that I love. And maybe something will finally go back to Somerset Studio.

I can't believe it's been 7 years since I last submitted work.

Photography

macaroons from Simply Cupcakes in Traverse City MI

Photography is just not as easy as point and shoot for me. Thank God for editing software. I need photoshop. There is only so much that I can do with the editing software in my media player. And nothing good comes of the paint program. Yep... need photoshop. The thing that photography helps me with is improving my already pretty good sense of composition. And the macro function just makes me love learning how to take better photographs all the more.

And yes, these were pretty tasty. I don't know if I am going to be a forever fan of these little guys. They did make for a nice treat.

Courage

Necessity being the mother of invention or maybe innovation, I used the Twinkling H2O of Starry Night to add the greys to our bird friend.

They are watercolors that have mica powder in them so you get the best of transparency and glitter without any of the mess. And the best  part of the H2Os is that the effect is very subtle. In the picture it looks grainy and not smooth. But that is the glittery watercolors. It looks like much better in person.
I added the grey to everything but the pantaloons.

Crows, grackles or whatever name you give them are irridescent in the sunlight, glittering with a radiance that seems too good for the cheeky little sca vengers. And I was terrified that adding darker colors over the jewel tones was going to destroy what I started. But it has turned out so well!

I also used the H2Os to draw out the claws and finish the talons. As the painting is drying the colors are deepening. I wonder how many layers of the Starry Night it will require to get the right effect.

Then the next step will be to finish dressing the bird. (pun intended) I had thought that I would do some sort of a belt. But I'd rather skip it and make a collar with a gem in it. I'd been thinking gold. Silver would be the best choice though. To keep things a bit dark and mysterious, I think.

The Next Great Studio Purcahse

I do not know when this will happen. But it needs too. At only 92.00 I can't NOT get this one. It is the Leechwood Convertible Easel from Dick Blick. It looks like a great thing to have. Especially since I only have small spaces to work in.

If I ever get anywhere with a lot of space then I can have a couple going at once right?
Well... spent today sick as a dog after being sicker than a dog. All I managed was to unpack a few bags of supplies and set out to deal with the Poe challenge at Somerset Studio. Do not know that I will make the deadline. But will endeavor to do so.

I started out the same way that Mr. Trapp had us set out to study a poem. I made a thick margin down the right hand side of my page to make notes later. Then set out to copy "The Raven". I did not remember this poem being so long! Anyway. After the poem was copied I went back and wrote in the large margin the key things from each stanza that stuck out to me. And added any other pertinent notes from the treasure trove of information tucked into the nooks and crannies of my mind. Boy are there a lot of crannies!

Next I made the sketch.
What I want to do is going to require a great deal of math on my part. Harlequin windows for my interpretation on the latticed window through which the bird entered. YIKES! All kinds of math involved in this. I am not happy about it. But I can not think of any other way to get some kind of movement into the piece. And... it gives me lots of opportunity to bring rubberstamping into the project. The other thing that I am worried about is the process that I have decided on for setting the leading in the window.... could be problematic.

Anyway.... I'm off to ponder, weak and weary,
over many a quaint and curious episode of ghost hunting lore.....

Organized Chaos

My head is in germanic heraldry and mayan glyph mode. And while it has a foot on two different continents it is tryingto figureout how to organze a mobile work station in the car. Jsut get the essentials in there so that I can work when ever I want to. But that it not likely to happen... I'm thinking so much that action is nearly impossible. I also have things to write... fiction and non fiction.

I've been so still throughout the Winter that I'm short circuiting when it comes to taking action. I don't know what to do first. But it is good to have something to do.

Takes my mind off of the troubles while in the process of fixing those. And it is a process. I am looking at all the prescribed workshops that my job counselor has me registered in and I'm booked solid for a month. Yikes!