Jen November 2nd, 2007
hmmm. The photograph is a bit dark - I’ll try to get a better one. But not today. 
Day 33 - Using a base wash of Turquoise (Pthalo) - LOVE this colour - and Transparent Iron Oxide - LOVE this combination of colours *slurp* - I then glued down the image. I wanted to create something that would emphasize the fist and frankly, being a product of those early Batman shows immediately thought of those BAM! and POW! graphics. So I drew some of those in. And used iron oxide as the main colour taking them right to the fist. Went in with full pigment turquoise to reinforce their strong lines. Iridescent Copper (fine) was used to pick up the bubbly texture. So simple. Yet striking.
Ross Creek Secret - In other news, there is a show/sale in support of Ross Creek Centre for the Arts today and tomorrow taking place at Argyle Fine Art Gallery in Halifax. If you’re local do check it out. All postcards are $50. The pieces are anonymous until you buy. Kinda fun. Some big hitting artists are taking part. Including me. 
Jen November 1st, 2007
Artsomofo is finished for this year and I have to say it’s been a fun experience - even though I haven’t fully stopped yet. Nothing like a challenge to keep you in the studio when you aren’t completely inspired. While I’ve only been posting these specific challenge pieces, I also have a bunch of other works started, things I’ve been procrastinating on and by just being in the studio, I finally got over that first hump. All this to say, don’t go away because after Sunday there will be a plethora of non-artsomofo works ready to be showcased. Onto today’s piece…
Hands #4 - Praying hands are a very strong image and I found it difficult to incorporate them into a cohesive piece. Each pass of acrylics, heat gun, silver ink and I felt less and less enamoured with what was going on. I started with a base of Pthalo Blue, Transparent Iron Oxide Red and Iridescent Blue. I quickly lifted the iridescent. NOT working.
And therein began the struggle. I added some Mica Stainless Steel which gave a grittiness I liked but still didn’t quite offset the rest. I needed SOMETHING to the right of the image and I tried a bunch of different things including a leaf stamp with silver. Not strong enough so I overlaid an impression with Art Print Brown which I loved on the hands image but didn’t like in the very place I was looking for something. More layering, drying, bubbling, picking up texture until I felt I’d overdone the whole thing. I may revisit this one tomorrow. Today? It stays this way.
Jen October 31st, 2007
Day 31 - Decided to change the shape of the image by cutting it as a circle, keeping the focus squarely (heh) on the pointing finger rather than on the elastic about to be let loose. I decided on Cad Yellow and Payne’s Gray as my 2 main colours, creating a wash of yellow on the right blending into gray on the left.
Keeping with the circular theme, I used sequin waste to overlay the texture on the wash backround being careful to mask over the image, fading from a light gray on the right to a darker, full pigmented gray on the left. Once dry I then over lay the sequin waste again and added some yellow to the right hand side circles only. I faded the yellow to Titanium white on the right as well.
I thought I’d like some text and used a transfer of handwriting but for the most part it didn’t work though you can still see some faint traces on the right hand side which I rather like. While quite a bit simpler than my last few pieces, I like how this one turned out. But then, I AM a sucker for circles!
Jen October 30th, 2007
Day 30 - In contrast to yesterday’s image of ethereal freedom, this one is definately about "constraint" - physical or pyschological is your choice of interpretation. I used a combination of Iridescent Copper (fine) and Metallic Copper from Modern Options for the base and then patina’d.
I added the eyelets prior to the patinaing process so they’d blend a bit more with the background. Mars black and some more iridescent copper to pick up the bubbly texture. I used copper wire woven in the eyelets to reinforce the chain/shackles in the image.
The bottom still needed a little something extra and I added some marks with my trusty Pigma pen (.005) but didn’t like them and wiped off with a damp cloth. I reinforced the left hand corner with the pen and I liked that. Then thought some words would work. I sat with my box of cut-ups until something jumped out at me. A piece of text from a book on entymology, it was "the body is transparent" part that spoke out, hence my comment about physical or pyschological constraints. A wash of watery copper and mars black sloshed on and wiped off quickly to blend the paper and Day 30 is done.
Only one more day of Artsomofo. How quickly this month has gone. See you tomorrow.
Jen October 29th, 2007
I was actually planning on doing "Hearts" as my final week but could NOT find any decent imagery to work with. Frustrating because I KNOW I’ve seen some great images but could I find’em? Nope. So "hands". Probably the theme was fresh in my head because guess what I did for a good portion of yesterday? Went through my entire blog archives and revived all the dead photo links. Can you say a waste of time fun? heh. And if you’ve been here long enough you’ll know I’ve done a few series with a "hands" theme over the years. Onto today’s work…
Day 29 - I’ve got the whole world in my hands … I love the gesture of the hands in this image - caring, gentle yet would allow the earth to fly away if it wanted. I actually attached the image to the bottom right hand corner but as I was working it was much stronger in the upper left - perhaps a nod to early kindergarten drawings?
I started with a wash of Burnt Umber, let it dry then added a wash of Quin Burnt Orange (qbo). I put down some painter’s tape - the old style paper kind, I find it works much better as a mask than the green or blue tape as it doesn’t harm fragile layers of ground/acrylics/paper - then washed some Antique cream (folk art paint) over the whole. Once the mask was lifted, I worked back into the rays with some straight qbo, as well as with some full strength cream on the ‘between beams’. I hold the paper in place while working to keep the edges clean.
I added Mars Black and qbo around the image leading into the beams. I smooshed some burnt umber into the textured recesses then a quick topping of cream. I think this is a really really strong image and a good start to another week.
