Work in Progress

I am very excited by this new piece!

I went on a transfer binge! This time I used Golden's Soft Gel Gloss medium and Apollo ink-jet transparencies NOT QUICK DRY printed with ink jet images.

OMG what a blast. 

I was a bit manic and ripped thru my stash and stuck to my "mannish" theme and transferred like a crazy wine fueled lonely cat owning spinster. 

Holy Shit! 

I AM a wine fueled cat owning crazy lonely spinster!! 

teehee. I'm cool with it. 

I had to take a break from Mom and Dad's huge canvas. I just haven't been feeling it. I thought I would try and have it done by Mother's day but Father's day is coming up too. So is Labor Day for that matter. teehee.

So, this canvas is 16x20. 

When I was in Misty Mawn's class at Art and Soul, she demonstrated a transfer with paper and Golden's soft gel medium. Hereafter known as GSGM, ok? She brushed the gel onto the corner of the canvas, laid down an image of a tree with branches and leaves, burnished it for like 30 seconds. Lifted it off, and damn if the image didn't stay on the canvas. Regular cheap copy paper and an ink jet image. 

That NEVER happens for me.

NEVER. 

But she is Misty

and the Universe will not allow her to have crappy transfers during a workshop.

Which is how it should be.

I love her and covet her talent. 

So I thought I would try her technique. I have a beautiful catalog of men's clothing with the type of men that I have never met in my life modeling clothes and accessories that I've never seen an actual man wear. 

You know what I mean. 

So I started with a shirt image, love the stripes and the green background. 

As you can see I also used the same technique on ink jet copies of my own art in the upper left corner. Have you done that? You should. Scan your work in progress, not just finished. You can use these scans to do a different piece with the same starting point but with a different end result. Scan the finished piece and cut it up for your own collage. Use your work more and someone else's images less. 

I finally got to this place and it is Good.

I had to learn a lot, to get here, and thankfully I still have a lot more to learn.

Gosh, I am digressing yet again. 

So the next steps were covering the canvas, using the ink jet image transfers. BTW, I use an Epson C88, now discontinued, with Durabright inks, Apollo 7039 transparencies, and GSGM. 

Here's the proof:

The above image has the transparency laid down in the GSGM.Therefore the reflection. Below you see how the ink has transferred to the canvas and the mostly clear transp. is in my hand.

Compared to Misty's, my paper/gel transfer of the shirt came out crappy. You can see how distressed it is. Now look how clear the transparency is. I just have the most success with this method. Also, you can use Elmer's or Ace Caulk instead of the GSGM. I just happen to be out of it.

The only images that are collaged on (full thickness paper glued on with gel medium) are the man with the atom bomb and the Jesus Row. Everything else is a transfer. Just FYI. 
I got rid of that red transparency in the lower corner for now. 

Time to add the color!!

Painting in some details here and there...

So then I added some details like the hearts and golden halos and pencil in the atom bombs....

And here I'm fooling around with some possible additional transfer layers....like the ribs and the anatomical guy in the corner

yeah, I think I'm digging this...

Another choice....

I think I like this one below better....
I'm considering using TAP paper for this head transfer. I just purchased 5 sheets from Amazon for an outrageous price.
I haven't used it before but artists in my ink-jet transfer yahoo group
appear to love it. 
I'm worried about the heat of the iron
melting my transfers. 
Also, I sealed the transfers with
PYM 2
in order to prevent the ink running before adding paint. We're talking inkjet here. The PYM is probable flammable, right? 
I'm worried I'll set my eyebrows on fire. Hey, if that could happen anywhere in The Universe, 
it would happen at my house. Just sayin'.

So this is what I have so far, and I'm loving it, if I do say so myself. I am kicking around an Edgar Allen Poe quote to add also. Remember when I said scan your work and use it again? I struggled gymnastically to get all the areas of this canvas in my scanner. It was quite humorous. Well, before further embellishments make it too "finished" and not usable for another project, I came up with some cool possible backgrounds. 
This one below needs a focal point and some words and it could go in any direction at all....

A little more paint to push the shirt into the background and a focal point....

This one below is an ATC waiting to happen...

 This one below I feel Medieval about....I feel some armor, and a damsel in distress....

I will keep you posted!! I ordered some silk gampi tissue that hasn't arrived, I may wait and do his head with that. I'm concerned about losing detail and transparency, cuz I want the words and test patterns to show thru his face. 
blah blah blah.
Thanks for looking!! 
And Welcome and Thank you to New Followers!!
xoS

No Robert Johnson No Rock and Roll

Go watch this amazingly illustrated short video about Blues Great Robert Johnson. 

The illustrator is 

Christopher Darling.

Do it NOW. 

Please. 

Robert Johnson was born May 8.

If he was still alive he would be 100 years old this year. 

Learn this history of music, It's your history too.

Honor the Beginning.

The Legends who started it all,

but got so little of the credit

deserve your attention.

Can someone help me off my soapbox now?? 

teehee.

Thanks for indulging me.

xoS

http://www.nowness.com/day/2011/5/4/1439/robert-johnson-devilish-detail

Don't Mess With Mother Nature

New canvas. New Recipe. 

Ingredients:

ink jet images printed onto

Apollo transparency film,

 acid free tissue paper,

A bottle that sprays a fine mist 

filled with 70% isopropyl alcohol, 

acrylic paint, canvas,

collage images. 

Thoroughly spray the ink side of the image on the transparency sheet with the alcohol spray. Not dripping wet, just covered. Lay the image sprayed side down on the tissue. Lightly press image with a bone folder just to make sure image is in full contact with tissue. This step isn't even necessary every time, most of the time the tissue just sucks the ink right into it. Wait like 3 minutes, and pull up a corner to see if ink has transferred. If it has, pull off the transparency sheet. It should be clear. Below you can see how clear the sheet is when the transfer works perfectly.

Below is the 8x10 canvas collaged  with images from my stash and painted with Golden's heavy body paint. I thought it was too shiny, so I covered it with matt gel medium. Big mistake. Along the way I added glossy Soft gel medium and I liked it again!

Fooling around here with possible compositions.

And here is the finished collage:

"Mother Nature"

Prints available on my etsy site. 

Thanks for looking!

xoS

BIG CANVAS ENVY

20" x 48"

Clear Gesso

Goldens Gold Paint

 

Sketching out the design

with some willow charcoal 

Adding more Golden paint

What I have so far:

That's all for now, lots more layers to go. 

Happy Today, whatever your beliefs are.

xoS

If Mama Ain't Happy Ain't Nobody Happy

Mom and Dad bought this:

And they want a 20x48 inch painting

to match it. 

I got roped in.

Of course, it could be that I said

"Oh, I could do that."

So I gave it a try. 

Here is a vanity shot of the new laptop. 

Yeah I was too dumb to think of actually taking the candle stand...

so I worked off a photo.

I made 2 mock ups

Just in case.

I got all absorbed and forgot to take pics after the orange blob one. Oh well.

This mock up was on 6 1/2x16 paper so the proportions are similar to the desired size. 

Dick Blick has delivered the paint

and the canvas has been custom ordered.

I'll let you know how it turns out. 

The Colonel's Expectations +

Mom's Artistic Eye +

My Perfectionism =

What was I thinking!!!!

For those of you worried about copyright infringement, this painting will not be for sale, it is purely for my parents enjoyment.

And after I paint it for the third time, I will never want to see it again. 

Altho I will gladly make the acception for mom's dinner and dominoes nights.

Good stuff. 

xoS

OMG PHOTOSHOP RULES!!!

I am addicted. 

Yes, I think I would spend the rent $ on Photoshop classes! 

My computer was 6 years old and no amount of CPR could save her.

My awesome nephew Joe did his best though. I have a new Dell laptop cuz, well, I can't afford a Mac,

I can't afford this one either,

but who cares.

 Photoshop CS5 is the bomb diggitie.

Charge!!!

I'll be creating all the way to the poor house. sigh. 

The cards are cut up now, so I'll be creating with little strips of plastic on my next collage. 

But, I digress.

The backgrounds of these pieces were sprayed outside last summer on a HOT HOT day. I used Halloween webbing as a "mask" of sorts thinly stretched out on the paper

and sprayed my heart out.

I think they were dry in like 10 minutes
and I really saturated them.

Sorry but I went ape shit on the next one!!

Again, another sprayed/masked background. This one is my fav of the ones I did that day. 

So here is where the sad sad story is. I used the magnetic lasso to take this guy out of his background. And well,I lost the actual "guy". I'm sure I have him saved somewhere. Ridiculous, I know. But then I thought I could work with his shadow which is even cooler. So there you go. I am not a trained artist, altho I do subscribe to the school of happy accidents. 

Added some reddish leaf brushes here.

OOOOH AHHHH now I'm really loving the purple gradient layer.

And some cool white leaves on top!

So now these just need some witty words and I'll put them up on etsy, where they will gather dust and not sell.

I hope it's the economy and not that my work is crap that is too similiar to everything else and looks like a third grader did it. 

A third grader with a VERY expensive program and laptop.....

xoS

HOPE by TYPEWHITER

Altho simple

there is major emotion

behind "Hope".

An Hors d'oeuvre of Pain,

A Main Course of Purging,

with a Side Order of Remorse,

A Salad of Acceptance,

A Palette Cleanser of Forgiveness,

And for Dessert?

"Hope"

xoS

ANTI-VALENTINES 2011 Hey It's Still February

"Lucky Loser"

Ok, Ok, 

I know it's no longer Anti-V day.

But I've been busy. 

Learning Photoshop at Night school,

working and swimming, 

there is little time to create.

So if I'm still getting Anti-V ideas,

well, I'm going with it.

Here is another featuring Rene Lacoste.
The title is a real tennis term. 
google it. It's true. 
teehee.
xoS

ANTI-VALENTINES REVISITED

Just for fun

I'm going to post 

Anti-Valentines from past years.

Cuz, well, I haven't had time to create.

My first Photoshop class was last night.

I am HOOKED. Gone. Done. In Love. 

We spent an hour learning "selections". 

Old, tired after a day at work, selections

are not so easy. 

Keyboard Commands!! Who Knew!!

Hope you like the previously posted Anti-V's!

I'll post more oldies but goodies friday.

I'm off to practice selections. 

xoS

MORE ANTI-VALENTINES 2011

Broken At Love  

Anti-Valentine

This was so fun to make!! I adhered a vintage pic of Rene Lacoste taken from Vogue magazine

onto an image of a famous painting that I am too lazy to find the info on, spray inks, purell transfers,

transparency image, stabilo pencils, white gel pen, rub-ons. 
"Broken at Love" is a real tennis term also, which I think is like, super cool, dude.
xoS

ANTI-VALENTINES 2011

First Batch!!

 "The Horror" 

is a Purell transfer 

using Apollo 7039 transparency 

and an ink-jet printer. ATC substrate

is Illustration board which takes the transfer like a dream.I added a little color on the lady's face with my new Pan Pastels and pencil. I messed up the other side of the ATC so I cut around it and mounted it on top of a piece of last years homemade Anti-V paper, "Blood Streaked". cool, right?    

"Extreme Measures" also uses the Illustration

board/purell/ink-jet transfer recipe. Pan pastels for color and a rub-on and eyelet. The dymo words do not want to stick to the Pan Pastels. Crap with a Capital C. I love my Dymo. 

"Louise" has as a substrate altered baby wipe adhered to a baseball card. The wipe is altered with watered down acrylic paints and alcohol inks. Transparency pic of Louise glued down (actually a leftover transp from a failed transfer), a bit of sequin waste and some silly brads and flowers as embellishment. And as you can see the damn words are lifting here too.

More to come.....

xoSusan