Today I thought I'd share a Make It Artsy segment where I demonstrate how to use tube watercolors and Grafix monoprint plates to create super cool monoprints:
And here is what some of the monoprints look like:
This is a fun process and really easy to do. I hope you'll give it a try and let me know what you think!
Thanks for stopping by!
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I was in the Target craft aisle last week (big surprise) and I discovered that they have released some heavy bodied tube paints under their house brand, "Hand Made Modern."
I previously reviewed their craft paints (not a big fan) in June 2016. Keeping an open mind, I decided to buy a few tubes of this new paint and give it a test drive. I videotaped my experiments:
And here are some of the experiments from the video:
(The stencils I used are called Number Scramble and Tangled Vine.)
You know there's a lot of brown in this color mixing chart, but I think the brown is quite attractive. There are several nice skin tones and definitely a few browns that make the other colors pop.
And here is the brand comparison:
Overall, good value for the price (about $3.99/tube at my Target). Not my favorite paints (mostly because of the smell), but nice bright colors and totally comparable to other craft brands.
Have you tried out these Hand Made Modern Heavy Bodied Acrylic Paints from Target? What did you think?
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I worked on new mixed media collage portrait last week. I didn't set out to create a portrait. I thought it might be an abstract painting, at first. This is how it started:
I didn't love it, so I cut it in half (one of the benefits of working on paper):
And then I decided to add some collage:
It just felt like a big mess to me at this point. So, I decided to paint a face on it:
I didn't like the face, so I scrubbed it off as best as I could.
And then I painted a different face on top:
Much better. Much more interesting. And interesting is always my goal! You can find this piece in my shop.
Thanks for stopping by!
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Before I get to today's blog post, thanks for all your good advice on my stamp block. I'm taking a few days to think about what I want to do about that flaw and I'll be sure to let you know!
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I'm teaching a class all about mark making at The Ink Pad in NYC on June 22.
So, what is mark making? I'm so glad that you asked!
Mark making is one of those art skill basics that we often skip over to get to the "more fun" making the picture part of the process. However, if you become a comfortable mark maker, finished art is easier to achieve. It's like knowing the color wheel or feeling comfortable with design principles. These are some of the building block art skills that every artist should be well versed in. In fact, I purposely placed the mark making class on Saturday so that students could go into Sunday's class armed with their new arsenal of art skills.
At the most basic level, mark making is about how you hold the brush (or pen or pencil or other art tool). Each of us is magnificently unique. You may not believe it, but it's true. The marks you make are your "art handwriting." In class, we'll be examining what you do naturally and exploring the ways in which those habits and impulses can be developed and nurtured and pushed further!
This is an example of a super basic mark making worksheet:
In class we'll be using these ideas to articulate each student's artistic voice. Part of having a clear artistic voice is having a distinctive library of personal images. “Personal images” sounds rather fancy, but all it really connotes is a collection of images or shapes or marks that one enjoys using over and over.
Whether you take my class on mark making or not, I hope you will take the time to learn a bit about how it can help your art along. This article on mark making is food for thought.
Once I started paying attention to mark making I noticed a big leap forward in my stamp carving designs and the depth and richness of my paintings.
Thanks for stopping by!
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On Tuesday night, I hosted the monthly livestream for Balzer Designs YouTube Channel Members. We discussed a wide range of topics from quilt binding to time management. I also did a bunch of art demos and thought I'd share the pretty papers that came out of those demos - showing how different mediums react under the same circumstances. Check them out:
For all of these art experiments, I used plain old copy paper. I think we often get caught up in thinking that we should use or buy "art papers" but copy paper works great for lots of stuff (and collages well, too!) and it's something you almost always have on hand!
This is the piece of deli paper I used to clean my brayer and stamps:
I will definitely be filing these papers away for use in future artwork! One of my favorite things about collage is mixing and matching papers that don't look like much on their own and yet they come together to be so much more!
If you'd like to join our monthly livestreams, you can sign up here for $4.99/month. I receive $3.49 of that payment and YouTube takes the rest. If you enjoy the blog content you read every day and would like to support me, this is a wonderful way to do that AND learn something new along the way!
Thanks for stopping by!
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