#95: My student asked, so I figured, Why not? Experimenting with Brusho

In March, one of my students who LOVES to buy art supplies, brought me some Brusho and asked me to play with it then show her how to use it.  I'd never heard of it so I did a little bit of research and began experimenting, using the beautiful jonquils just then blooming in our yard as my subject.

Brusho is a powder that comes in small containers. You're supposed to poke a hole into the top of the container so you can shake the powder out to put it on paper.  It's highly concentrated and very intense, so not much is needed.  It can be applied dry to dry paper which you then spray with water, or dry onto wet paper where it spreads on its own.  It spreads more or less, depending on how wet the paper is.  The first picture was done to give me a chance to understand a bit about how the Brusho reacts in general.  I discovered quickly that the colors are vibrant to the point of glaring. I like a bit more subtlety in my colors.

Below you can see the small jars of pigment and the start of a drawing.  I used pencil to draw the jonquils onto watercolor paper then wet the paper and sprinkled the appropriate color Brusho into the various areas.

 I then re-drew my drawing using a Micron 01 pen, a waterproof, very thin-line, permanent marker, to re-establish the flowers and foliage.

 I decided to try to deepen the background to make the jonquils stand out more, but decided it was too much. I didn't like the mess I'd made so I cut out the flowers and put them on a black background.
I wasn't so crazy about that either - the contrast was too stark - so I put it on a very different, weird background - the red and tan striped paper. I painted a plastic cup around the flowers and splashed a bit more Brusho around the flowers and called it done.

#95
Spring Flowers
Brusho, watercolor, collage, multimedia

#89 - #94: Visual Journal meanderings

Before leaving for Paris March 22, I was experimenting with lots of patterns in my Visual Journal.  Some of the designs I saw on Pinterest, some in a book about Aboriginal artists, some I made up. Inspiration comes from so many different places.

What I love about my Visual Journal is that it's my place to experiment.  I choose to ask myself, "I wonder what would happen if I...?" then I proceed to find out. Sometimes the results are wonderful, and I'm really happy. Other times I feel disappointed and feel like maybe I wasted my time - though I also realize that isn't true - I'm learning something at all times if I just pay attention to the lesson!

This first drawing gave me the idea to create the pregnant nude drawing using these same types of strokes to indicate the curves of her breasts and belly. The second drawing gave me more ideas about the roundness of her body and how to represent it.  (I've written about that drawing here.)

#90

#89

These drawings were created through the following process: First I painted the white paper with brightly colored, jewel-toned watercolors. After it dried completely (that part is important!), I put tape down where I wanted the paint to show. Then I painted the piece with black gesso. After it dried completely (again, completely is the operative word here!), I pulled up the paint to reveal the beautiful "frame".  Then I created the white-lined designed.

The piece on the left, I think, is less successful than the one on the right, primarily because I didn't follow my own advice and wait completely until the watercolor dried, or until the gesso dried! Consequently the watercolor isn't as finely done, and the lines aren't as sharp.  I also used lines to demarcate the regions. I prefer how I did it in the second one - I think it looks cooler! It's helpful to try things more than once to really get the hang of it better!

#91 Version 1

#92 Version 2

#93
"Art is something that makes me breathe with a different kind of happiness."
That seemed worth creating a pretty page for!

#94
I got myself some fancy gel pens and decided
to play with them to see what they were
capable of doing.  I enjoy drawing on black paper with
gel pens as the contrast is so satisfying!

#74 - #79 of 100 Creations in 100 Days: Working/Playing Hard with Divine Inspiration

Working/playing hard today

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I feel as if I’m finally getting someplace I’ve been wanting to go for a long long time. Finally. Time makes a real difference. 

I have five small canvases I started working on before Paris. They’re all of Iceland. I painted them realistically, giving them all the tenderness I feel for the land. Recognizing what I have to give is not what Monet has to give. I don’t have those strokes. I have a tender gentle realistic stroke. 

Then I wanted to infuse the strokes with feeling, with the intensity I feel when I am there. With the light that is behind the clouds. With the energy in the ground. The pieces morphed. I had to start new ones. And/or risk a crazy change and assume I wouldn’t want to do it, wouldn’t have it available in my thoughts, if it wasn’t the right thing to do. It’s 12” of canvas. Who cares?

And magic is happening. I’m very pleased. I have decided to go to Iceland for the month of September. July is too expensive and too soon and I’m already obligated to teach then. 

Here are the pieces:

#74

Finished. I enjoyed the smoothness and subtleties of this. There are many colors in the grey, no black. And lots of colors in the white. And then I had to do this on a second canvas:

Same scene. More feeling. Disregard for visual reality. Attention to emotional reality. 

I did this image several months ago in pastel.  I'd been wanting to try it in oils to see if I could do more glazing and make the colors more luminous. It's one reason I wanted to start painting again - to try this piece again.  I'd begun it before Paris, but today, this is where I went with it...

#76  I love it. THIS is what I’ve been trying to express. THIS is what I want to say. 

This was finished. Then the others happened and I knew there was more to say here. How did I feel when I saw this scene in real life? What was going through me? I didn’t see the grey. I felt the heat, the love, the glory, the beauty. So then this happened. It may or may not be finished. 

Then there’s this which is saying what the photo says but doesn’t show what I love about it. I’m not clear what else to say here, so I’ll leave it for now. It’ll let me know.  

This one went through many iterations today.  Here's how it started:

Here are other iterations:

And the final one.  Maybe.  I'll see how it feels tomorrow.

#79

Obviously this is how I need to be living, what I need to be doing - painting all day, experimenting, listening. trying, looking, playing, delighting in color and texture and form and place. Now to figure out how to make that happen!

I hope your day is feeling equally divinely inspired.