Hump Day Hooplah

Monday night I was in a way. Do you ever just get in a funk? I was so deep in an art block bog, swamped with chaos and brainmush I nearly fainted! I did what I always do, cleaned my workspace up and re-organized the stuff so I could see straight. After working all weekend on my 3TT collages I thought a change would be nice. (I started so many secret projects this past holiday weekend! I was exhausted) I got rid of all the colorful stuff and went back to my graphite. I just wanted to sketch with pencil just to get myself back in the groove. Luckily, it worked and I am back on my A+ game. 

The photos above are just some quick sketches of guys with big noses and no eyes. Not sure what I’ll do with them, because they aren’t final or needed for anything in particular. I scanned the stopping point so you could see where my mind was. Can you believe it’s already the middle of the week, and the end of the month!? Crazy…

Triple Threat Tuesday #4, What’s Red and Black and White All Over?

This is my 4th 3TT and every time I do it, I like it better than the last post. This is definitely my favorite so far because it’s so visually crazy and stimulating for just 4 colors! It was difficult for me to stick to the criteria this week, and not use pink. Since red and yellow are usually my go-to colors, pink is an easy glue for color schemes. I really want to get out of this though, to appeal to a wider audience and also challenge myself. I used to only use limited color schemes, but grew out of that with the willingness to be more “free” with lines and expression. It felt really good to revisit old techniques. I also find that red, black, white, and gray are best suited with bold images and text found in glossy magazines. I used some patterned paper and the arrows you see are freehand, and cut out of construction paper to show some variety in texture.

I was originally inspired by sneakers (of all things!), and the crazy crackle my fiance suggested I try to reproduce. I immediately searched for all the red, black, and white sketches I have. Surprisingly, after watercolor and gouache spiderwebs and layers of lines and dots, I had a great “crackle” effect. As I starting pasting down my images and text scraps, I realized that I was having fun and it was coming out way better than I thought. Eventually, as you can see, the “crackle” disappeared. I save some pieces and will use them in some future projects. The main collage, 8” x 11”-ish, was dominated by black so I used the white and grays to make the mini one. The lesson of the day is to always remember where you came from. Use old techniques with new ideas and 9 out of 10 times you will get a positive result. Happy Tuesday!

#photofriday #3, Hidden Inspiration

I had so many ideas for #photofriday today, because I was up late last night thinking about the possibilities. The strange thing is, every time I went to take a picture of my ideas I wasn’t that impressed. I went out all day taking photos and saving them, uploading none. THEN! All of a sudden I am standing right in front of these weird, peeling, weathered letters that are bigger than my hand. I was instantly inspired, and realized that I have looked at these numbers a million times! 

After taking some time to really examine them, I began to appreciate them more than I ever had. The red is a bright fire engine red, and the metal that they are on is rusty and has the nicest oranges and ochres in it. I thought of gritty, urban alleys and graffiti. It also reminded of some of Michael Chase’s Area of Interest photography which I have always been a fan of. Beauty can be found in the most unlikely of places! I am really glad I took the time to take this photos. I already have sketches and pieces in mind for them. Isn’t is crazy how the most ordinary things can be so inspirational?