Focus on Painting: Flat Background in Watercolor ZenZone Episode 4c
This week’s ZenZone Project, Episode 4c is the background on the Lilies…read more
Axully, Vicki Ross! Blogs on topics that capture my attention, that I love to share, or that catch my fancy!
Posted in: beautiful
This week’s ZenZone Project, Episode 4c is the background on the Lilies…read more
#4b “Lilies Watercolor” is released on August 23, 2020. https://youtu.be/KkzaSUYMmnY
ZenZone #4 “Composition Lilies” is released on August 16, 3030. https://youtu.be/Pmp4IUrRN2k
ZenZone #3a “Shower Girl” Part One of Two. https://youtu.be/Jm2NKNR2T44
Join the group! Sunday, July 26, 2020 https://youtu.be/x7sApMWbfTs
I filmed this demonstration for ColourArte, home of Twinkling H20's and Primary Elements and Silks, AND the new Vivids! Read More...
I am a Video Creator for ColourArte Products, and am experimenting with them in some simple, easy to replicate paintings...Read More
While looking for my prismacolor set...you'd be surprised at what other things I've found during the search...I came across this calendar from 2008 that was filled with high quality full page prints of notable Arkansas artists. It was a project of the Govenor's office and was signed by Ginger Beebe, former first lady.
Storage is a premium, and everything has to have a reason for taking up space, but this was too good to pitch. I brought it into the studio for some creative thinking. Fifty-Two weeks/pages, and my art could be in there along with the others who only got one page.
I did a video talking about my process, although basically I painted over the calendar pages and picked up a brush for the first exploration. There are some current images below because I add one or two a day to the book. Enjoy!
xxoo
Some of my mixed media artists are beginning to explore new media, including encaustic. I offered to share a few tips about working with it.
RULES:
Some of my encaustic art can be viewed here:
I've written several blog posts about processes.
http://axully.com/axully-blog/2014/8/27/soft-pastel-collage-and-encaustic
http://axully.com/axully-blog/2014/9/11/origami-and-encaustic
http://axully.com/axully-blog/2014/8/27/delft-encaustic-and-collage
xxoo
My evolution as an artist has brought me full circle. Almost every painting I did for 13 years was suitable for framing and competitions. When I figured out this mindset was doing me no favors, I drifted into mixed media. That art community was having so much fun...and the products designed for them were fascinating.
I had to completely change my direction, it seemed at the time. Playing? Not in my vocabulary. Turns out that was exactly what I needed to add. I've had a ball, and now have four+ journals going...when one dries, pick up another, turn the page and keep on going. I've been studying techniques learned in workshops and from tutors I always meant to delve into.
Attendance in a class or workshop is great, but you cannot learn in a few hours what a particular tutor has taken a lifetime to perfect. You have to go back to your own studio and practice until the something different becomes part of your vocabulary. I did so much study I never took the time to do the real work.
Slowly, I picked up watermedia again. Always liked doing faces, and now have a journal devoted to watercolor figurative works. Here are a few:
xxoo
Wicki is guest designer today on StencilGirlTalk!
What fun Wicki is having! This process is a more illustrative one, and requires much more time than I originally thought. BUT, it is very enjoyable and the mixed media materials are like being a kid again!
Gold, Glitter, Magic, Oh My! And somewhere between the worktable and photo she gained an angel kiss on her forehead. hmmm. curious.
You know, funny thing is...many subscribers have left this blog since I've started exploring mixed media, bookbinding, journaling, etc. Too bad cause they are missing out on a lot of fun. I can already see how learning whimsy is going to help with my regular painting. Besides, just another stop on my art journey. Life Book 2015 by Tamara Laporte
I've found such warm, PARTICIPATING artists on Google+ who are a delight to interact with. You don't feel like you are preaching to the choir as with 'fine art'. Join us! I'm Vicki Ross, (on google+) and will steer you to some of the groups.
xxoo
I've not been able to play with my colors in a week or so. Ran-DEE's dad moved to an assisted living facility, and he had to clean out their apartment. Whew.
That took him over a week, even after his sister cleared what she wanted, and our auctioneer moved the big stuff. Left Randy with all the toilet paper, laundry soap, magazines, etc., over 20 picture albums from 1940's to present, his dad's tour of duty in Korea (many pics of barracks...2x3" b/w faded images). Over 100 small framed family pics that had not been unpacked since they moved from their house in Little Rock five years or so ago.
We are both guilty of hoarding to a certain degree, so our place can't hold their hoarding too. However, it was a pleasure going through most of it since they lived in Japan when Ran-DEE was 7-10...and Teiko still had family there. The Japanese cards and papers! Even the envelopes were saved (stamps already cut out). A huge box of odds and ends from her sewing room in Little Rock. I've got enough elastic to last a lifetime. Teiko worked at Hancock Fabrics several years and must have bought ends and pieces of stock. I'll be looking for an innovative way to use those, for sure.
Big sacks of embroidery thread and spools of sewing thread. Postcards, 1920's b/w images from Japanese descendants, tchotzkes, genealogy files, medical files from 2000 detailing every letter, empty envelope, surgery and doctor visit Wesley had. THOSE were easy to recycle!
Anyway, I got some treasures! Have removed every picture from every little frame, all ready for donation to our Helping Hands.
The answer to GUESS? Waterproof pads. They measure 24" x 24" -ish, and are GREAT for studio work. The bookcase was made by Wesley, and will give us some much needed vertical storage for books we have, as well as all those scrapbooks of Teiko's. Insluded in those was a book of pictures of our house that isn't with us anymore...and some pictures of Sarah we didn't have.
That was the toughest part of the going through, for me anyway. I'll share more of the Japan ephemera later...great fodder for art. I will digitize the images and use those, passing on the originals to Betsy Ross Noble.
I'm ready for color and my studio! Bring it!
xxoo
This was easy. What is more beautiful than a William Bouguereau painting. No blood and guts or anguish. Useful? Maybe not. Solid, definitely. And Beautiful.
This word became more difficult as I started to write about it, probably because it is so obvious to me. I have no words to describe Bougeureau's paintings. In my opinion, his work is never "out of drawing", and his compositions well thought out and delivered to tell a story. Skin tones: luscious.
This little babe was watching the parade, part of the Carnaval de Sergines in France (March 2007).
Click on her image to see a brief clip of the event.
Such a beautiful example of childhood innocence...reminded me of a Bouguereau painting.
She is doing what countless others have done for over 100 years: watching the parade, all dressed up in her costume.
SO, why not experiment with those skin tones, just for fun! Very thin glazes of oil, dry, wet-sand, over and over. She attained a good glow, I think. Do I want to paint like this all the time? Probably not.
"Sergine Princess" 18x12" Oil on Panel, © Vicki Ross
Some art trends seem to focus on shock value, making you think, or draw your own conclusions about why the artist chose his subject and how he presented it. To me, making me think, is not always beautiful and I don't understand living with some of those concepts. I can barely look at them in museums and galleries!
I lean to realism, and paintings that tell stories. With Attitude, what on earth is she focused on? Angry? Curious? You decide.
So, now you have the full explanation at how I arrived at the Vetruvius Triad: Firmatasis, Utilitas, Venustas. Axully's slogan is: Solid, Useful, Beautiful. Long way to get there, but there it is!
xxoo