Yesterday's Fun with Sharpies

This effort was inspired by a photo of a model dressed in a period ensemble that included a tall hairstyle -- all influenced by Marie Antoinette.

I'm delighted with how this came out -- using the same process I've been working with lately. The substrate is 11" x 17" cardstock, and it has been colored in with Sharpies. Areas of the substrate have been left uncolored -- as they seem to enhance recognition of the face immediately and leads the eye to the mouth, gloved hand and necklace, then to the shoulders and eventually the other gloved hand at the bottom. The garment is challenging to see fully and may even be hard to see due to the added wavy lines that create the mosaic effect. Though one clue that may be helpful in discovering it -- is lace sleeves.

One of the things I love doing is playing with color for translucent filter effects. In this one, I'm especially partial to the green/blue translucent 'mask' over the eyes, the oval of pastels surrounding her face (the colors in the oval are mostly lighter than the area beyond it), and the other shapes where there is a discernible light or dark gradations of similar colors/color intensities.

The most work in this piece was choosing the final color to fill in the shape to the left of the face-- that is the dark pink. For this one, I auditioned different colors -- trying them out in the two shapes of white space you see on the left side and the area the dark pink is now in. That chosen color didn't come from a single Sharpie. It is a combination of light pink overlaid with the brilliant neon pink (as in the shape to the left of the upper gloved hand). The blend tamped down the neon color's intensity and felt like the perfect way to finish this image.

For working artists, how do you feel about leaving original surface areas visible in your finished work as has been done here?

Comments

Introducing 'Kaleidoclown'

For fun, I've drawn one of my own photos (yes, I was dressed in a clown outfit) and added a wild and crazy background to accompany it for today's practice effort. As part of sketching the piece, it was split into four sections with two opposing diagonal lines. In terms of color choices, I've worked with color gradations for some shape sections. Can you believe, there are five major shapes in this effort? There really are -- circles, squares, trapezoids, triangles and spirals. I think the substrate is Biengfang Watercolor Paper (140 lb.). The materials used were Ohuhu markers, Micron 01 pigment ink pen, some red Stickles glitter glue for the nose, and a white Posca pen (for white dots on the face and to highlight eyes) and a yellow one (for yellow dots in the center of the flowers on the hat). There was no intention in working on this piece other than to have fun...and based on how it looks, I'd say well done!. One thing I learned is that blending with the Ohuhus i

New Project in Progress

I'm working on a new project with multiple layers and shapes of different colored organzas. It is an interpretation of lighting on an ice rink...from a show I recently saw. There is a lot more stitching to do, but I like how its coming along. I'm learning organzas are not easy to work with especially when you layer them and have overlaid edges. The fabric also tends to ravel easily. This post also linked to http://ninamariesayre.blogspot.com .

Announcing new book - The Soliloquies of A Wayfaring Trio!

I'm so delighted with my new book -- that I designed, wrote and illustrated, and is now in print thanks to Blurb! 'The Soliloquies of A Wayfaring Trio' was a months-long effort this year. I had no plan to create a book when I started reading unpacked journals from years ago. Those journals -- started in 1979 -- was at a time when life was about to serve-up some dramatic changes including a solo move from the Midwest to the Pacific Coast. I wasn't writing poetry then. In fact, I had never written poetry before, and it was only through those journals that I started writing creatively. In 1981, that creative writing began with prose (one to four sentences in length). While taking a 10-month journey to Europe (1982-3), poetry in free verse form started showing up. An edited version of one of the poems written during that trip appears in the latest book and is titled 'A Day at Nea Kameni' (a location in Greece). Thereafter, and in looking back, new poems s

Cay Denise

Search This Blog