MUTANT, A COLLAGE PAINTING IN MEMORY OF PLAGUE VICTIMS

I'm mad as hell about it, hate that 100,000 Americans could die from Covid-19, and countless others have already lost their lives in the pandemic.  I'm in sorrow, sheltering in place & hoping you are staying safe.

This artwork began on a vintage anatomy chart. 

It was a canvas-like scroll with rods at top and bottom.

I'll show some steps and techniques below. 

Original old medical chart.

Because the virus is rough, I added texture in places.

I didn't want the original warm tones of the figure (they were too pleasant), 
so I made a Dioxazine purple glaze. But I didn't like that either! So I went blue.

A cool blue wash (acrylics & water) for some of the

background, too, and white too. But I also wanted visual texture.

PAINTING TIP: Open a packet of de-oxidizer, desiccant or silica gel (sometimes found

in new shoeboxes). I sprinkled those tiny pebbles into the wet paint

and got a cool effect!

Close-up of part of the painting and collage elements.

I painted a cut-off tree trunk to symbolize all the lives cut short.

I collaged a cut-out eye, heart, and 3 birds into the piece. 

Owls and ravens are symbolic, too, of course.  

21" x 5.5'

Detail of ravens.

Arts and Crafts are Alive In Mexico!

I'm still smiling from a lovely week in La Paz, Mexico. Be sure to get there soon, while it's still relatively unspoiled. I stayed in a wonderful inn near the beach, and loved the basin in my room.

A work of art and fine craftsmanship!

Along the Malecon I saw this giant sculpture made entirely of discarded plastic bottles. What a great visual to remind us of the importance of reusable water bottles.

Shark Sculpture

I took a day trip to Todos Santos, where I found this marvelous wooden shutter made of twigs, below.

Weathered twig assemblage.          

Fell in love with  a ceramic mask, below,
and could not resist a Day of the
Dead magnet!                               

It's made of bread dough!

Ceramic mask purchased in a Todos Santos gallery.

Inside the Todos Santos Church

How to Use a Split Complementary Color Scheme…Lovely!

The split complementary scheme is a variation of the standard complementary scheme. It uses a color and the two colors adjacent to its complementary color. 



Split-Complementary Color Scheme



An example of such three colors are yellow-orange, blue, and violet. Another split-complementary harmony is blue with red-orange and yellow-orange. The split complementary scheme offers more possibilities than the complementary scheme, and yet it has strong visual contrast for a striking effect.

Tips:

1. Use a single warm color against a range of cool colors to put an emphasis on the warm color (red with blue-green and a greenish yellow-green, or orange with blue-violet and blue-green).

2. You might wish to avoid using desaturated warm colors (e.g. brownish reds, brownish oranges, or dull yellows), because this may ruin the scheme.

Capture a Spider Web in Your Art!

There are several ways to attempt this delicate technique. First, however, if there is a spider at home in the web, gently blow on it to encourage it to leave!



Spray the web with a dark color of spray paint if you are using white paper or canvas as a background. Spray the substrate with fixative, and bring it up at an angle behind the web. If using paper, curve the edges so the center touches the web first. Then carefully straighten the paper to acquire the silken creation, pull toward you, and let the paint dry. You can also try a white spray-painted web on a dark background.


Incorporate your successful web captures into superb spidery artworks!



Christmas Art! A Collage to Wish You Happy Holidays.

This 6" x 6" wraparound artwork can be wall-hung or placed on a tabletop easel. I used art papers, ink, and several acrylic mediums (in addition to the images, of course).
It was fast and easy to make. If you create something similar, consider a gallery-wrapped canvas. Tear or cut your papers first and arrange them without gluing, to check your composition. Then adhere them, and to the sides,too, and let dry. Add ink, crayon, or pen lines, etc., and let dry again. Finally, varnish the piece to protect it. Send me your own examples of this tute if you like...I would love to see them!

A Flashlight Foto...Try It Yourself!

Not exactly mixed media, this, but I DO use all my bad photos (the ones that don't turn out as well) as the substrate for paintings. I use clear gesso on the enlargements, and acrylics when the gesso is dry. It's sort of like paint-by-numbers, cheating but not really, since I took the photos.

NOW, here's how to paint with light!

You need a camera on a tripod, a cable release, a very dark room, and flashlight(s) with or without colored cellophane or a filter over the flashlight lens. You can use a colored filter over the camera lens too, if you like, but let's keep this simple, ok?


Arrange your subjects and frame them in the viewfinder with the room lights on. Then turn off the lights, begin the exposure,  and play the flashlight over the subject, moving it constantly to prevent hot spots. It's trial and error, so try one exposure at 15-20 seconds, another at 30-45 seconds, and another at one minute, perhaps. I usually set my f-stop at f-16 or so.
Any questions? Email me! And please become a follower and/or a friend...I need all the help I can get!