#ARTifacts - March, Rust & Cactus.

 #ARTifacts art journal page for March, collage mixed media.

 Rust experiments on calico.

Learning to paint Cactus in acrylic on canvas.
Just some of the arty things I tried in March.

Image transfer/mixed media

"This is what she wrote......"

 Image transfer on old book page with gesso undercoat & cobalt blue acrylic around the edge of the pages.
I found this image a long time ago in a National Geographic magazine.
When I paint I brush excess paint onto old book pages etc. As I did this I noticed the words " this is what she wrote" at the top of the right hand page....this page just so happened to be the one I had chosen for this image transfer........so this was my inspiration for this artwork.

Drawing over a dry watery coat of burnt sienna with pen, added some colour to the drawing with watercolour pencils.

 Collaged a paper border with printed handwriting on it onto the canvas board.

 Then added the book page with gel medium. When it was dry I added the corner collage pieces.

  Last of all crayon which I smudged with my fingers to soften the overall appearance of this picture.

(raylee).

Choices

Could have cleaned the fridge...... Chose to try out soft drawing pencils & crayons  in Moleskine art journal. The pencils are intended for land & seascapes, after doing a scribble test of the colours drawing  a face became more interesting to me. Mixed some crayon into the mix with lots of finger smudging to soften the colours. 

"Motion Drawings"......a bit of boredom busting while traveling in the car (as a passenger), Artline 200 pen on scrap of old book page. Holding the pen loosely allowing the bumps to contribute to the drawing lines.
(raylee).

Crayon, Watercolour Pencils & Pen Drawings & Doodles

Quick drawings & doodles on old book pages & over scribbles in a small sketch book.
(raylee).

Keep the Daily Flow Happening......

......Some days there are so many other things to do that art gets pushed to the back burner.
I decided in September that I would try to do something creative every day , even if it was only for a few minutes.
It is not always painting or drawing, sometimes a few rounds of crochet, sewing, or just taking photos, arranging a bunch of flowers in a vase.
Quick imaginary sketches on old book pages, or drawing over used sketch book pages are my favourites at the moment. Not thinking too much just letting a face appear.
 (crayon, pen & watercolour pencil).
Keeping a record of my daily bits of creativity helps to keep track of every thing I make/create.
(raylee).

"Does Your Mum Like To Knit Too?

having a bit of fun mixing the old with the new.
 it's hard to tell what these two are really saying or thinking.
i couldn't resist colouring that jumper with fluoro  pink & orange.
found a couple of old knitting books at the op shop.

layered the old photo from the knitting book over a page of knitting instructions from a new  magazine, painted with acrylic & water soluble crayon.

stamped a border using a cork &  fluoro orange acrylic....

went over the orange with some fluoro pink & olive  green stamped  with a hex nut & a palette knife.

the joy of wool?........i say the "joy of paint"!
(raylee).

Floral Horse - Mixed Media Art

a close up of the finished painting, the actual size is: 24"x24", or 60.9x60.9cm & how it looked in the beginning......

 

 ......floral collage on a gessoed canvas.......i used gel medium as glue......then used this  rose patterned block print  to apply the pink acrylic paint, when it was dry i put on another layer of acrylic in blue.

used charcoal to start the drawing over the collage & rose print....

 brought in colour with conte crayons.....

 ......started to blend & spread the colour with my fingers.....

........& continued with more layers & blending.....

.....then some more drawing over this to give some detail.

 the first photo (at the top) is the closest to the real colour of the painting......the last one was taken before i sprayed the finished painting with spray fixative.

the rose print  under the pastel crayon adds extra texture, & i have left a lot of the collage showing. i like to see the layers within the image.
thanks for coming to look at our blog......we hope you enjoy what you see.
(raylee).

Mixed Media Experiments

tried some conte crayons over acrylic......

......& pieces of dry acrylic peeled from the palette glued onto cardboard........just to see what happens......maybe something, maybe not?

maybe it's just for the birds!
(raylee).

Buried Treasure - Re-Posting a Mixed Media Painting

 this painting was entirely experimental........i have never seen an encaustic painting, only on tv & artist's blogs.
so when i came to a tutorial in the book - "Surface Treatment Workshop", explore 45 Mixed Media Techniques, by Darlene Olivia McElroy & Sandra Duran Wilson, queen of glue, & princess of paint for *faux encaustic* i gave it a try.

 first step: collage with torn green magazine paper on canvas......

added more collage & the image of the child......pressed bubble wrap into wet gel medium to create some texture & interest.....

 when it had dried added some crayon & acrylic paint........more floral collage.....then more paint glazes.....

 i didn't always like some of the colours when the paint had dried, so i just added a different colour until i was happy with it.
 i used transparent colours mixed with clear painting medium to make glazes as i didn't want to lose the layers.
as it was an experiment i didn't stress about it, in the end it all kinda blended together.

 pressed a rose stamp into more wet gel medium......then did the same with a leaf shape, added more layers of paint......

 each layer of collage, crayon & paint was covered with a mix of watered down gel medium, you can see it is still wet in this photo below......

 as each layer dried i continued to add more layers of  each medium until i thought it looked ok.

 i am not sure if it looks like * faux encaustic*, but i was happy with my first try.

 i can see layers going back to some of the collage,.....

& i like the texture created by this method.

so this is my contribution to "buried treasure" organized by Seth Apter, thealteredpage.
to see more please visit Seth's blog.
(raylee).

Day 365 Creative Challenge 2013 !!!!!

yesterday's collage - "pensive girl in a blue floral dress".......pen drawing on old diary page, colour added with nail polish, dress cut from magazine page, rick rack, lace & ribbon scraps, background is scrap book paper.

 for today, the last of the  *365  creative challenge 2013*,  i scribbled water soluble crayon over old diary page, stuck some torn strips of blue painter's masking tape along the bottom of the page for the water,

 tore pieces from these two previous pages to make some trees, grass, flowers & a roof.......put on some more crayon,  & brushed with  water.......

 to create " river house".

thank you to everyone for visiting & following our blog.
happy new year!!
(raylee).

Seven Days of Creativity for the 365 Creative Challenge 2013.......

.....four days to go!
these pages bring me up to date today......a mixture of cut & torn magazine paper collage, one from torn & crumpled paper  with some vaseline resist & acrylic glazing, & white gesso, Christmas wrapping paper , tags, ribbon, raffia & string.
red acrylic drawn over with water soluble black graphite.
  a print of a photo of a lady sitting on a bench scratching a ticket,  with a layer of black water soluble crayon rubbed over it.
the first & last collages are made from old national geographic magazines, 1986 & 1988. i found lots of photos with  textures from all sorts of different things.
(raylee).