Art Journal (second today) . . . I draw angels A LOT. Here's another. Watercolor pencils (Caran D'Ache) on paper bag (from Chipotle, I think!) and taped into a painted Moleskine Journal page . . . I used Caran D'Ache watersoluble crayons for the scribbly background and pen-and-ink for the lettering, and Faber-Castell (FINE and SUPER-FINE) Artist Pens for the paisley flowers and the angel outlines.
STUDIO TIPS: travel paints
I take art supplies with me everywhere I go, because I'm an obsessive art-maker. (A friend told me I have an "artist personality," and we laughed, because it's not necessarily a compliment.) Though I mostly work in pen-and-ink and art markers these days, I do love painting. I love working in acrylic on large (as in "bigass") canvases, and I love working small and detailed. I carry this art journal everywhere I go, and I tape in different types of papers for different things (though this Moleskine book with the thicker pages takes watermedia fine.) I've been practicing painting and drawing food and drink, wine and cocktails. It's a challenge to show the food and drink realistically, but make it appetizing. Which is usually a goal for me, I'm not one of those Dutch painters who wants to draw rotting fish. Well, now that I say that, it's sounding kinda interesting . . . I've always thought food and drink are art forms - it fascinates me the way people come up with tastes, recipes, and visual presentation of their work.
So, I take art supplies with me everywhere, and I'm always looking for ways to make them travel-friendly. I save tins and tops of all kinds to mix paints in, and I saw a watercolor palette in a tin on Pinterest, where a guy glued half-pans into Altoids tins.
I wanted something where I could change out the colors, and this is the perfect thing for me. This is my traveling pomegranate palette - using screwtop wine tops, just placed (not glued) into a MYNTZ tin (from Trader Joe's.) The height is perfect (so that the tops don't slide around or up-and-down when the lid is closed), and the colors can be changed out at will. It's working great - I just squeezed gouache into the wine tops. That one hard lump of paint you see is a tube which was dried up - I just cut it in half and peeled back the tube. (DON'T THROW AWAY OLD GOUACHE - you can just open the tube up and make your own half-pans for travel or studio.)
Do you have any studio tips? They are always welcome!! Happy Painting, Y'all. :-)
Mighty Mighty Maya
Today's (first) art journal post:
Thought note: I love this photo of Maya Angelou (couldn't find the photographer credit, though) . . . her awesome hair. When I was growing up I always wanted hair I could corn-row . . . but I have flat straight hair. So, every time I see corn rows or dreads I think about that . . . and how we tend to want what we don't (or can't) have. Anyway, love Maya, love her work. Love her hair, too. Glorious.
Tech note: This is a small Moleskine journal, the one I take with me everywhere. I used gluesticks, cutouts, and Faber-Castell brush pens - this blue I used on the Maya page is my new favorite pen color - Indanthrene Blue #247. I LOVE THIS COLOR. (Is "Indanthrene" fancy for Indigo?) I just got some new colors at Utrecht when I did my Artist Trading Cards workshop there last Sunday. Yumminess.