MOVE!

I came in to class Friday with an immediate purpose.  I had to paint my final balloon top, paint shadows onto the balloon, paint Noah's portrait three times, AND make a background all before 1 pm Saturday.  Not only that, but I was holding out hope to begin another project entirely(Eileen told me I was not allowed to start something new until I had resolved my three prints- if I was even going to get to make three.. smart lady.  I was determined).  When you begin your week at aTi, you think you're going to have time for everything, but it went by in a blink of an eye and now I needed to play catch-up.  

Painting Noah!

I finished my final balloon quicker than each of the two before, and started mixing the colors for Noah's skin tone.  Having not painted with anything but watercolor in a very long time, let alone a portrait, I was a little nervous.  I finished my first Noah painting right before lunch, and took about 6 pictures of it before I printed it because I was afraid it wouldn't look the same printed off the glass.  Much to my surprise and delight, it printed clearly and actually looked like him! 

Notice how this image is a reverse image of the final product below

I paused for lunch and was thrilled to not eat soup for the first time this week.  I was finally feeling like a healthier human again.  Lunch discussion centered around personal websites and sharing student experiences with the community.

I finished my second portrait of Noah around two o'clock, when my phone died.  Since I wanted to be able to see the shadows of my reference photo so the balloon would look more realistic, I ran to get my charger.. and then what?  I didn't want to try painting my final Noah without a good reference and I didn't want to leave the week at aTi with only two completed images after I had already made 3 balloons.  I quickly painted over the sharpie line drawing on the back of my plexi glass with the hair color I had made for Noah.  I could at least make a graphic image of him.  I loved the result.  It was beautiful, and I liked it way more than I thought I would.  I think I may have even liked it more than my portrait.

By the time I had finished my line painting, my phone was ready to go and I began working with the transparent base to create a shadow color.  I began with a grey blue color and adjusted it so when it was mixed with the beveled knife, it looked almost turquoise, but when I did a "draw down"(thin pull of the ink on a scrap sheet of paper so you could determine the actual color when printed), it looked like a perfect shadow tone.  I painted the shadows in stages on each of the three pieces, starting by inking the entire balloon and then pulling away ink reductively each time before starting the 2nd layer, where I could create further shadow and definition. 

I finished the shadows and went to dinner with Judy, another workshop participant.  I loved talking with her about her collaborative monster project, and wrote down a ton of notes once again.  She had chosen to complete both her Chipboard and Monotype pieces based upon the same subject matter of a memory of her mom.  They were beautiful and I was amazed by her sense of style.  I kept telling her how much her work reminded me of Eric Carl illustrations.  Each piece was so playful.

           

It was just after dinner when I received the most exciting news.  I had sent out a message on a whim to a coworker asking if she had a press I didn't know about, and it turns out that she has a small table top press!  I cannot wait to see how it works!  After dinner, Judy came back to the studio with me to finish her final Monotypes.  Next came probably the most fun part of my balloon image, the painting with water.  I mixed a blue and a teal green color to create the waves of my background and a more saturated ultramarine blue mix for the sky.  I loved the feeling of painting with the water, and the look was so perfect for the background of my image.  Every brush stroke seemed so expressive, and every line came through.  I was so lucky Eileen came back to check on us in the studio at this moment because it hadn't occurred to me that adding the water would change the drying time and, therefore, the printing quality of the ink!  I printed my first background and loved it, but knew I would need to work quickly for all of the colors to come through on my other prints.  

This is the line painting I referenced in the last post; and the first attempt of the water painting technique.

I finally finished my backgrounds(for the most part) before leaving the studio Friday night.  I could not believe the experience was almost over.  I was already talking with Judy about what classes we may want to take at aTi next year.  We left the studio very late and my mother, asking where I was, told me "If you started a master's program, Anthony(my husband) may never see you again!".  I absolutely love being in the studio, making art, thinking of ideas, and learning.  I remember in college finding it hard to pull myself away from my artwork in any studio when I got "in a groove" and this is still true today.  I am so happy that my husband, friends, and family understand and embrace this side of me, and I am thankful that they have encouraged my time and experience here.