Not all those who wander...continued

My previous post and painting were all wrong.  I realized what the problem was.  Once again, I was trying to mimic "popular" styles, which are fine in the process to figure out how to do certain techniques and all.  But it wasn't right.  It looked too industrial and modern for me. So here is my First Try.
I painted over the canvas with sepia and did some distressing techniques.  Using a Hobbit styled font, I hand painted the words.  A couple spots bother me, but I will fix them later.  I will totally redo the bottom.   I may not get to touch it up for a few days.  Plus that may give me some more ideas....

Even though unfinished, I feel more at peace with how it is coming out....

I added some gold leaf paint, but the photo was awful due to lighting, but it looks cool...

Not All Those Who Wander Are Lost

For many reasons, the largest being that our house is on the market, I have been truly uninspired lately.  You can't really have a messy place when you are selling a house.  And now, I am not trying to sell anything, so I tried a few different drawings, doodles, projects and just can't get into them.  However, last night I had this epiphany that I should do a painting with text or a quote.  Sooo....

Now, for the true LOTR fans,   I realize the true quote is "not all those who wander are lost".  But I felt it may have been too cluttered with the extra word.  I probably should have used a smaller font, or different type of letters, I don't know. Tonight I may paint over the whole thing and try again. Remember, I am uninspired at the moment.  Now to pick up the trail of debris left by my three wonderful kids.

Vincent Mercaldo - Painter of the Old West

      My father inherited 3 watercolor paintings from his great uncle Vincent.  Vincent Mercaldo was an italian immigrant who was a professional artist in NYC.  My mother told me they were "cast-offs" and his best works were in museums.  I haven't found out all the details of his life yet, but from what I could gather online, he painted, photographed, but was important mostly because he gathered a great collection of photographs and paintings of the Old West. He owned photos of  Annie Oakley and Wild Bill Cody, among others.
     Here are some pieces of his collection  Vincent's Collection .
 
     Ever since I can remember, these paintings were hanging in my brothers' rooms.  Then I asked for them when I had my own kids.  My brother Luke had already been given the larger of the three (which I think is the only signed painting).

These are the two I own.  I think they were preliminary studies for his paintings.  The painting below is Luke's.  It was by a window during a storm and has suffered some water damage, which I am going to research to see what can be done.  I may just scan it and see if anyone with photoshop skills can help me get a clean digital copy.

It is really cool when you learn about someone in your family's past who has had similiar loves and interests.  The Mercaldo family has had its share of excellent musicians, even a few recordings, but there are less visual artists.  Plus, this inspires me to search out some western landscapes to photograph and paint when we move to Texas!

Angel Oak Tree and other pastel paintings

During the past couple of days I have attended a watercolor/pastel workshop.  I am really going to miss the Cabarrus Art Guild when I move.  The people who I meet through the events and classes are amazing.
My goal was to not only learn more about the medium, but to push myself creatively.  Lately, a lot of my paintings have been "flat".  Lacking something.....magical.  So, I thought that this was a great opportunity to try to rediscover that essence. During the workshop we learned some techniques with layering pastels over watercolor backgrounds and acrylic washes.  It is a great technique for a watercolor that is not working out "right" , you can fix it with a layer of pastels. 

I have always drawn trees, probably since I was 7 years old.  I love them.  But until recently, I did not know about the Angel Oak tree in South Carolina.  A friend was telling me about it, and it is an amazing tree, and it is extremely old.  And it is the #2 most photographed tree in America.  I heard that some developer is trying to cut it down to put a housing development there.  Can I just say, that would not happen in tree-loving Vermont.  How could anyone think of hacking down such a beautiful triumph of nature?   Here is a pastel sketch on canvas paper of the Angel Oak Tree. (not totally done, but I am at a point where I do not know yet what I need to do to finish it)

The next is a seascape which I attempted with a black gessoed background and rougher texture.


Another seascape with warm hues on a sanded paper.

 My favorite technique became using pastels on a metallic background.  This originally was supposed to be the essence of water or a waterfall,  one of the other artists at the workshop suggested this composition with the sun on the bottom.  I think it works.

 A gold background with mountain...

So say we all... (art journaling)

Lately, I have been working on pages in my art journals.  It is a great outlet, since I can't get things too messy around here (our house is for sale).  Also breaking my toe last week has caused me to be more stationary than I am used to.   Art journals don't require anything more than the book, pen, or pencil, and you don't need a lot of space to work.
For me, I have put aside my acrylics and been working on my nemesis.... watercolors.
The paper in my journal is handmade (not by me) and reacts so uniquely to the paint.  I am really liking the affect.

BSG fans may appreciate this page...

Below is a page inspired by Kandinsky's composition paintings.  In a recent class, I had my students look at a few of his paintings and create their own similar piece of art.  This is my interpretation.  I guess I was craving olives...

New Blog

In an attempt to be more organized, I am creating a new blog for my rambling thoughts about songs, books, movies, and everything else.  This will allow me to keep my main site focused on my art, art lessons, and art history stuff. 
My new site is:   http://rambling-meditations.blogspot.com/

Altered Art Paintings - (Art Teacher Files)

As a private art instructor, my latest "project" with my students has been an altered art painting with text.  The original idea was to use sticker letters on a shiny paper, such as a map, and paint over the whole paper white, dry, then lift off the letters to reveal the map or print.  It was basically what is called a "masking technique".  However, I decided to change it.  I didn't have the letters, but I have a lot of stencils and letter stamps.  I wanted to use what I had.

We began during our first session by using acrylic paints, and the students altered and painted the backgrounds using various texture and painting techniques.  They particularly enjoyed laying bubble wrap and textured paper towel in the wet paint.  

The first painting below, was completed by using letter stamps with black acrylic paint.

The second student used stencils, sharpies and vintage music paper to create the letters.

 The Boyfriend refers to a popular song, so the sheet music worked well.  Although, I am not a Justin Bieber fan, allowing the students to bring some element of what they love, and then transform it into art, brings students into a deeper experience with the process.  It helps them "connect".
Any words, phrases, lyrics, quotes could be used in a project like this.  The letters could be made out of wrapping paper, maps, sheet music, old cookbook paper, the possibilities are endless.   The letters were glued on with acrylic matte medium and sealed with matte varnish.
Both of the students were very happy with their pieces and are going to hang them in their room.  

ideas for sword painting or drawing

A while back, I was sketching in my altered journal.  What I love about altered books and visual journals is that there are no rules, really.   That particular day, I was sketching swords.  I love swords.  From history, fiction, movies...  and I was trying to remember sword names .  Afterwards, I went back and added paint, and silver leaf pens.  I think most of these swords are from Lord of the Rings and Arthurian legend.  Swords are always named, that is fascinating.
There is an ancient Celtic tale concerning a sword named the Sword of Light owned by a god named Nuada.  It is also called the Sword of Truth.  Nuada loses his left hand and as a result can not rule due to the imbalance the loss of a hand causes.  Magically, he is given a silver hand, and with that gift, balance is restored, Nuada is able to rule once more.  I didn't realize at first how much this tale is mirrored in Star Wars with the young Luke Skywalker and his Lightsaber and electronic hand.

The sword of Light is the archetypal sword of a king which inspired both Excalibur of king Arthur and Aragorn's Narsil.  Which leads me to this painting by Alan Lee of Isildur after his sword Narsil is broken. 

Often, visual journals are a jumping point for artists.  I want to create a painting based on a sword.  Possibly with a Naiad (water spirit) or a dryad (tree spirit). Of course, the Naiad concept, the Lady of the Lake protecting the sword, has already been done.  Still, it could be done differently.  A sword being connected to a tree, that is another idea I like a lot. 

I like this painting of Gandalf with his sword Glamdring.

And this Russian artist's woodblock paintings are cool.  Here is the Sword of Light held by Luke Skywalker in an awesome mix of medieval folk and science fiction modern art.  

 Of course, there is the Accolade by Edmund Blair Leighton, a pre-Raphaelite artist.  I have a large print of this painting in my dining room. 
















And one more by Alan Lee of a lesser known tragic hero from the Silmarillion.  His story ends in a depressing double suicide, but his sword was awesome, and he stands up against Morgoth and does not relent his hope in the supreme good of the Valar and Iluvatar.  And this illustration is beautiful.  After further pondering, I think I need a real sword in order to draw/paint the real essence of the weapon.

Using photographs for reference is fine, but  limiting.  They simplify a three dimensional object onto a two dimensional plane, and a good part of your subject is simplified too much as a result. Some of the essence of your subject is loss. And drawing from observation trains your eye and pushes you as an artist.  It is more difficult, but the end result is worth it.   Mental note:  MUST go out and sketch and photograph some dogwoods.  They are blooming and are absolutely beautiful. 

whiskey painting and botanical gardens

 This past Sunday afternoon, I attended a Cabarrus County Art Guild meeting (I LOVE saying I am part of the GUILD!)  A member from the official society for Whiskey Painters of America was there to do a demo.  We all had the opportunity to create our own miniature painting.  Whiskey painting is a style which was developed in the 1940's by a guy who would go to a local bar after work with his friends.  He always carried a tiny set of watercolors and some paper with him and ended up making it a daily occurrence that he and his friends would paint, using whiskey instead of water to wet the paints.  The whiskey reacts with the paint different than water, creating a vibrant hue and dries a lot quicker.  It totally changes the process.  I do not have whiskey (you can use any hard liquor) in the house, or else I would have created several more paintings by today.  I am not overly happy about the above pansy painting, but I guess its good for my first try.

And speaking of pansies, have you ever wondered why "pansy" is used to describe a weaker person?  A pansy is a very hardy flower surviving much colder weather than most other flowers.

And speaking of flowers, my friend and I visited the botanical gardens and greenhouses at UNCC today.   It was a GORGEOUS 80 degree day today.  The flowers were starting to bloom.  In a couple of weeks, I plan to go back to take pictures of the rhododendren which will be in full beauty.

 The above flower is a wildflower we use to find in the woods as a kid.  If you pick it, red liquid pours from the stem, we called it bloodroot, but I haven't researched the proper name.

 These are all from the greenhouses.  There are some really extraordinary tropical and desert plants grown there.  The big root, I just thought had a cool shape.

I have no idea what this is, but it looked edible...









It was a great day to ramble about.

King Arthur and The original Doodle Artist - Aubrey Beardsley

Although I was planning on writing about my recent whiskey painting workshop (which I will), or about my thoughts concerning KONY 2012, I am writing about Aubrey Beardsley.

Aubrey Beardsley is one of my favorite  artists , because he illustrated Le Morte D'arthur.  Beautifully.   And since we have been watching the BBC series of Merlin, it just seemed to work.
Merlin is a great show.  At first, it was the goofy, funny, non serious side of Arthurian legend.  The fourth season is becoming more dark and serious. Camelot, started out that way and is very intense (and I like that too.). Either way, it works because every writer since the beginning of Arthurian legend has done their own take on it.  There are so many variations of every tale, all from before modern times, that it is difficult to say any one is right.

Beardsley was a young sickly man, who died extremely young.  He became sick with tuberculosis at six years of age, and died at 25.   THAT is what makes him extraordinary.  He had 25 years and became an influential artist.  A man whose work will last for centuries.
He was commissioned to illustrate Le Morte D'arthur.  He was influenced by the art nouveau movement, as well as Japanese woodblock prints.  He came into contact with Oscar Wilde and illustrated Salome. What struck me is the original sketch of the cover of the book.  Yet another reason for me to love his art.  I love peacocks and feathers!






Anyway, Aubrey Beardsley WAS the original zentangle doodlist.  He created illustrations with awesome design, and punched the values by adding values, designs, doodling.... i love it.


His spiritual life is rather interesting.  After drawing some rather "scandalous" illustrations, he converted to Catholicism, and demanded for his work to be destroyed. .Interesting Info 
His request was refused, and it is all still "out there" today. Of course, by today's standards, they are rather tame, being pen and ink. 



So, if you are looking up  his work, there may be some nude illustrations.  But, his depictions of the scenes from Le Morte D'arthur show a sense of fluidity and fantasy, which add to the mystique of the legends.