Friday Favorites

I had hoped to get my first series of prints back from Critique so that I could show them to you.  I make no claim to them being fabulous but I am pleased with how they turned out.  I am now starting on my second series of monotypes.  I am getting really excited about them.  If they turn out anywhere as good as the concept in my head, I will be over the moon!

Here is my proposal for the next series:

"I propose to make a self-portrait series exploring the concept of weight loss. The process of losing weight requires the losing of one identity and the gaining of another which may or may not make up for the sacrifices made to achieve it.   For this journey, as sacrifices are being made, the work should be a bit minimalistic as opposed to rich and luscious but still be satisfying. Therefore, the artists who will guide my technique for this series are those who do not fill the entire surface with color but use a few marks to create that oh so important full feeling.  This technique leaves an empty background like the empty spaces between those smaller portions on the dinner plate.  One such artist is Jenny Waelti-Walters in her work Catching the Sun III.  A second artist is Assumpcio Mateu in her works Arbre and Les Quatre Estacious: Primavera.  A third and favorite artist is Joy Barth."

Friday Favorites

Robert Genn Twice-Weekly Letter  I have told you before that I have subscribed to Robert Genn's twice-weekly email that is sent directly to my mailbox--no muss, no fuss.  They are always worth reading but the Valentine's Day letter was a nice present I think.  He says that 5 skills all artist should master are 1) the ability to draw, 2) colour theory (he is from Canada and spells color funny), 3) abstract understanding, 4) composition, and 5) an emotional evolution (you own voice).  Now before you get on your high horse and say you don't need to know all the "rules," both Robert and I agree. But knowing the rules and understanding them allows you to break them more successfully.  For me it is the difference between looking at something I have made and wondering what is missing and looking at it and having a set of questions I can ask to fix it.  The letters are free. The link to subscribe is at the bottom of his webpage.

Keeping to that theme of 5 skills to master, is this great post by Jane Davies at the Sketchbook Challenge. 
She finds exciting small composition  in her work and then uses those small compositions to create new larger pieces.  I think is is a lovely way to work, especially as you are learning to identify what makes a good composition.  And, talk about developing your own voice! Starting with your own good work to build on?  I think that is great!

The Modern Quilt Guild has a week of pictorial inspiration on composition. This post is the introduction but it is followed by 6 days of good information that is worth taking a look at. The other posts are easy to get to by a clever arrow near the top of the intro post. You might not always approve of the composition but it helped me understand compositional principles.

Gloria Hansen shares with her readers a "quiet" book on  classical drawing.  Gloria lists the contents from the Table of Contents and I am quite intrigued by it.  My problem is that I spend far too much buying books and not enough time reading them but there is a DVD that goes with it.  Hmmmm...that might capture my attention long enough for me to learn something.

Jacquie at Tall Grass Prairie Studio shares her locations for color play.  I took a peek at both sites.  I will need to go back to have any idea what to do at either site.

I am off to quilt.  I got my sewing machine back from the repair shop several weeks ago but haven't had the opportunity to test it out yet. Today is the day.