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My sister came over for a visit and to use one of my computers. While she was working, I started sketching the cover of a magazine (the model biting her lip).  I used a large sheet of Epson archival matte paper, only because it was handy in a nearby printer.  The paper has a lovely finish — similar to a Bristol paper — and the Pentalic Aqua pencil that I also had nearby worked very nicely on it.  Why I placed the first image where I did is beyond me; I suspect because it was initially a doodle that I kept at as she kept working.  Because there was so much white space, I decided to add another model (the top right) and then another (center) and finally the one on the left (which is my favorite of the bunch, although more so the head/face than the shoulder area).  While I don’t mind the color, and I did like how soft the pencil is to work with, I wondered how it would look without the color. I photographed the drawing, and put a Photoshop black/white layer adjustment on it.  I’m not sure which I like better. Here’s the result:

On Saturday I took a class at The Center for Book Arts on W. 27th Street in NY on paste paper printing taught by artist, Lynn Gall.  Also in the class were Benedicte and Shirley! We worked right through lunch, creating and having a blast.  The Center is very cool, and I’ll add a post soon on the exhibits on display (and we stop at FIT to see a couple additional exhibits.

Our instructor, artist Lynn Gall

Shirley, Benedicte, and others hard at work

Shirley, me, and Benedicte having an excellent day

Some of the papers I made

and more …

and more

Benedicte and I both took home a container of paste mixture, and I painted more Saturday night and Sunday, until I was out of mixture. (And, yes, I totally over did it yesterday, and my poor back was screaming for me to stop!)

If you’re interested in making some papers of your own, there’s plenty of information online, including this page from Lorna Aaronson’s here.  I’ve photographed the sheets I painted and already started playing around with them in Photoshop.  The piece on the bottom is a paste print over a digital image.  I have some digital images that had one problem or another, such as an ink color running out or a funky print because the printer needed a head cleaning.  Rather than throw them away, I tend to keep them for possible use in a collage or something else. In this case, I tried a paste print over the digital image. Additionally, I photographed all of the prints and started blending them in Photoshop.  You can really go to town on this stuff!

The following are some of my favorites.

The above is paste printing on top of a digital print.

The first butterfly and the first flower I photographed in NJ this season. Hopefully it’s the start of many more to come.

My self-imposed goal of painting Budz on a regular basis was completed.  It’s primarily watercolor paints.

I did this last week. It’s all still a struggle. Even so, I’m learning.  Happy June!

My latest watercolor of Bud-Z. I based it on a photo taken during a very sunny day, and I once again struggled with painting the shadows. Practice, practice, practice. I know, but it’s slow going.  Digital painting often seems so much easier for me, but it really does all come down to practice!

Meanwhile, I’m putting together some of the tech-related columns I’ve written over the years with a goal of updating some where needed and then putting them together in some kind of an ebook. What do you think? Any interest?

I’m behind in posting. I did these around the 22nd-23rd of April, but I didn’t have a chance to post until now.  Each are primarily watercolor, but they each also have a bit of acrylic and gouache in them.  This past weekend, I was in NYC for the Parkinson’s Unity Walk.  I’ll post more on that in the coming days.

I’m also a member of 8 That Create. Our first group theme is “Empty Spaces,” and you can learn more about the art created for the theme by reading the blog here. Once my Unity Walk work is finished, my next priority is finishing and writing about my piece. Unfortunately for me, I’ve been battling a bad back which has been knocking me for a loop and zapping my creativity and energy.

Here’s the latest of Bud-Z. I started this one yesterday, but I could only work on it so long as my back was still bothering me. I’d paint a little, leave it, return a few hours later, and so on. At this point, I’m going to call it finished.

I photographed Bud-Z while he was outside on the deck. Something caught his attention, and he looked like he was ready to pounce into action. My hope was to capture that feel. It was also very sunny out, so the deck looked bleached out and there were lots of shadows.  The above is how I started — that is, with a pencil sketch and then working on the background and some shading. It’s what I mainly did yesterday.

Today I added more detail, but I also managed to change the angle of his snout which was annoying/disappointing, and I was unable to correct it. Frustrating, but so it goes. I also ended up using gouache in areas of his neck fur because I struggled to get it as I saw it.

While I am enjoying the process, I have a bit of a dyslexia issue which can be a source of  frustration/aggravation when it creeps up. It’s something that doesn’t just happen with groups of letters, but I notice it can happen with shapes and shadows. I can get stuck as I wait for my brain to process something because I just don’t see it as I should. It’s humbling stuff. I try to recognize if it happens when I’m tired, trying too hard, or what. I cannot find a pattern to it. Rather, it just happens and it leaves me like I’m stuck in a record scratch and need a shove to push the needle forward (I’m dating myself with that reference). The good thing is that, at least for now, I’m being patient and not beating myself up too much about it.

Tonight I did yet another drawing of Bud-Z. This is watercolor, but I made a mess of it so it’s now a hybrid with acrylic paint mixed in. There are some areas I like. For example, the fur coloring on his back, which ended up close to his actual coloring (happy accident). There are other areas, like the white on his face or areas on his hind leg, that I’m not crazy about. However, before I go right through the paper in trying to fix it, I’ll stop. I could digitally fix it, but it’s just a sketch (I keep telling myself), leave it alone (I keep telling myself), move on. I can get so crazy obsessed in fixing one more thing, one more thing, one more thing.  Oh the stories I could tell about stitches put in and stitches taken out. No wonder I like Photoshop so much, with all of the multiple un-dos (and painting on the iPad has un-dos, too!).  Even now, looking at it, I want to fix this and that (eyebrow isn’t thick enough in one area, face is. Nuts, I know.

Jerry’s Artorama in Lawrenceville, NJ is having a sale tomorrow and Saturday. 30% of brushes and paints. I should get some new brushes. The majority of my brushes are for painting fabric. They are wide, not particularly good quality, and I go through them quickly to cover large areas. While I have a some good brushes, I find myself struggling with getting a fine enough point to do things like putting a hairline curve of a highlighting color on his eyeballs.  Yes, I think I’m going to get some new brushes.

I seem possessed with drawing/painting lately. Here’s yet another of Bud-Z. This time watercolors on 140 lb cold-pressed watercolor paper.  I generally like the smoothness of hot-pressed, but I thought I’d play around with the roughness of this paper.

Another watercolor that I did of Bud-Z. It’s painted on a base of acrylic and gesso on paperback book pages hand sewn together (part of The Hours journal below).

The new cover

This is an extra copy of one of my favorite, albeit somewhat depressing, books, The Hours by Michael Cunningham, that has been used as a kind of sketchbook/journal. Many of the pages are stitched together to give more support for paint.  Other pages are left alone.

Although I started this book some years back, I haven’t worked in it for a while. However, a few weeks back I rediscovered it and (as my bad back is preventing me from doing anything too much these days) decided to work in it again.

I made a new cover for it that’s based on a digital collage I made using a photograph of a clock I took in London and a drawing. The image seems particularly appropriate being the book’s title and my ever-awareness of time ticking by. I scanned the collage, recolored it (the original close is blue), printed it on fabric, added some paint and stitch to it, and collaged it onto fabric/paper to make the cover.

The following are some of the pages in the book.

Some of the pages are plain, some painted, many are stitched together using either a running or a blanket stitch and perle cotton thread.

These pages are dated 2007.

Also from 2007. This came with me on a trip to California, hence the bag from In N' Out Burger.

Recent sketches of Bud-Z

Another recent sketch of Bud-Z

He looks like a cutie here, but ...

This expression gives a hint of how he can be a handful.

Some of the pages are stitched on the top and bottom.

I’ve been in a journal-making mood lately. In that regard, I bought some very old hard covered books from a nearby used bookstore for 25 cents each.  I removed the pages from one to use as a journal cover.  Then I collected a bunch of stuff that was sitting around in my workroom for too long —  a bunch of watercolor and drawing weight paper that I colored with Procion MX dye and acrylic paints, a piece of painted tyvec, and a piece of pretty decorative paper — and got busy making the book.

I used a machine zig-zag stitch to attach paper that could fold in and out.  To do this, butt one paper along the side of another, but not snug to the edge.  Set the machine to a wide zig zag so that you can catch the side of each paper, and sew up the edge.  I saw that type of fold-out page in a book made by my friend, Beryl.  Great idea.

The book has a really good feel to it, and the paper is hungry for different types of media.  I haven’t decided whether to do anything to the cover.  I like that the cover is quiet.  For now, I’m leaving it.

There are lots of good book binding tutorials on the web.  Sue Bleiweiss has many free, full color, downloadable PDF tutorials on how to make a variety of books, journals, and other goodies.  You can find them here.  She sells some of her beauties, too. There are loads of instructional books.  I have some listed here.  If you’re looking for a good online course, check out Diana Trout’s Rescue Book Journals Online Class.  She shares lots of good information, and the class inspired me to gut an old book to make this new one!