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!

Triple Threat Tuesday, a purple surprise!

My inspiration for this week’s color palette is from my recent gluebook (here is an example of an older one that I posted). I like finding inspiration there because I haven’t really done anything final with the pieces in there and it’s a great source for color schemes. This particular collage had one lazy little line of purple and as you can see, I used it to my advantage. Making color palettes with found papers is one of the most challenging and rewarding things I have done lately. If you have never tried it, you should. 

I wanted this week’s main collage to mimic the way I art journal. I used the text from the gluebook image, “on rare occasions” and ran with that. I also used my classic “patchwork” and “quilting” technique to bring in more of that handmade feel. I hated the collages yesterday, but they look nice scanned. I really thought the purple was overwhelming but it’s not really when you consider it’s a weird gritty hue. Plus, it reminded me of my Color Collecting challenge for the month of May! Now if I could only figure out watermarking and cropping… That digital editing stuff is for the birds and we all know I’m a fish! Happy Tuesday, and I hope you are making something awesome today. Use my color palette and send me your artwork! I’ll post it! 

Also, if you are in the color palette making mood, join Brandi’s Color Palette Blog Walk and meet other color-lovers! And don’t forget to read this awesome interview I did yesterday for Monday Motivation.