Well I did my first charcoal drawings in my Drawing I class and I learned it is super messy. I mean my shirt got wrecked, my pants got dirty, my arms, hands, everything. The charcoal is also very drying and my skin actually tightened up and felt uncomfortable during the three hour class. The professor said we could use gloves. I brought in a box of 500 gloves and donated it to the classroom's art supply closet.
After the charcoal experience in class I changed my clothing choices for drawing class. I wore black shirts or old shirts and dark denim jeans. We did some landscapes outside and it started to rain and my suede sandals got wrecked. So then I switched to my "rain sandals" which are the foam bottom sandals that water cannot ruin.
I had a hard time using charcoal around my house. I could not sit in bed or on the couch in the living room to draw. The kitchen table or outside was my choice.
As a result of black charcoal being such a mess to work with when given a choice of pencil or charcoal I chose pencil. However by the end of the class I was bored with the medium. I got a good feel for what the 2B, 4B, and 6B pencils could do so I was using those to do the various effects I wanted. Honestly though the charcoal is fun to work with regarding how it goes down on the paper and its ease of blending with a chamois.
One prof told us to use the same chamois for pencil and charcoal. After doing that the chamois seemed ruined and was not usable for pencil again. I don't like blending or the blended look so I am not a big chamois user anyway. I bought a second chamois that was just falling apart and leaving lint and bits all over my paper so I threw that in the trash. Then I bought a new one for the next semester though. We never did use the stumps to blend.
Oh and charcoal drawings will rub off over time unless they are fixed. Prof 1 told us to buy the cheapest hairspray we could find in an aerosol can, I got one for $4 in some brand I'd never heard of at the grocery store and used it. The spray fixatives contain neurotoxins so I prefer to stay away from them.
Tuesday, June 07, 2016
Monday, June 06, 2016
Art Materials Details Not Taught
The most surprising thing about taking a Drawing I class at my community college is that we are not really being taught about the properties of the materials and how to actually use them. The course started with one professor who was ill and the class was taken over by another professor. So with two professors it remained consistent that we were not being taught how to use the materials before we dove in.
With the first professor I started just asking aloud to the class, every question I had. The way I see it, as a student I am the customer and the professor works for me. I am there to learn and what is not being directly told to me I have a right to inquire until I get the information I want.
Prior to this class I had taken some workshops. Every workshop I ever took was very hands on and it taught every single thing you needed to know about the material in order to work with it optimally. You can even get this information free on YouTube in tutorials now.
Sometimes in the Drawing I class the professor would criticize an artwork during the critique and the problem was based in poor choice of either the paper type used or the drawing implement. For example one prof kept saying one student's work was too light and I finally butted in and asked her which pencil she was using and she said 2H. Then the prof said 2H is only good for architects doing fine draftwork of blueprints. We were never even taught which pencils are hard vs. soft and which to use. The second professor said near the end of the class that he likes 3B. I had been using 4B and 6B only and I found I liked the softer pencils. In the start of the class I wound up using google to search for some answers about what is the difference with the pencil's numbers.
Some homework assignments were so vague I turned to YouTube to get the gist of the art project we were tasked to do then I followed the tutorials online to do the work which was indeed what the professor wanted.
I was using a 300 series Strathmore drawing paper and I had trouble erasing charcoal. We should have been told with the supply list to buy a certain specific paper weight. Also some students were using sketch paper, they bought the wrong paper but the profs said nothing in class about this. Then in the critique some students said the drawing got messed up as it was falling apart when they tried to erase back to get to white (because it was too flimsy). We were never told that the different papers have different tooth and that matters for the texture. I figured out some of this by just using the materials. Actually the second prof near the very end did suggest that if we were doing our final project in charcoal we should use bristol paper. That was not on the supply list and neither prof even explained to us what bristol paper was.
These is a very basic art supply information. If that is not appropriate to learn in Drawing I, I do not know when it is right to learn it.
I also read the textbook cover to cover and these things were never taught in the text. The text focused on showing famous artists' work from history and telling about different types of drawing techniques used. It did not teach how to do the technique but it would say, X drawing by -- done in charcoal on ___ substrate or it would say chiaroscurro is ____ and here is a drawing done in that style.
Near the end of the class professor B mentioned how he holds his pencil. We were all fixed already on pretty much holding it as we hold a pencil to write with. Why was that not taught on day one?
The professors had a different focus on what should be taught in Drawing I. I'll blog about that in the future. I want to get some of this written out before I begin taking the Drawing II class so the information does not meld together.
With the first professor I started just asking aloud to the class, every question I had. The way I see it, as a student I am the customer and the professor works for me. I am there to learn and what is not being directly told to me I have a right to inquire until I get the information I want.
Prior to this class I had taken some workshops. Every workshop I ever took was very hands on and it taught every single thing you needed to know about the material in order to work with it optimally. You can even get this information free on YouTube in tutorials now.
Sometimes in the Drawing I class the professor would criticize an artwork during the critique and the problem was based in poor choice of either the paper type used or the drawing implement. For example one prof kept saying one student's work was too light and I finally butted in and asked her which pencil she was using and she said 2H. Then the prof said 2H is only good for architects doing fine draftwork of blueprints. We were never even taught which pencils are hard vs. soft and which to use. The second professor said near the end of the class that he likes 3B. I had been using 4B and 6B only and I found I liked the softer pencils. In the start of the class I wound up using google to search for some answers about what is the difference with the pencil's numbers.
Some homework assignments were so vague I turned to YouTube to get the gist of the art project we were tasked to do then I followed the tutorials online to do the work which was indeed what the professor wanted.
I was using a 300 series Strathmore drawing paper and I had trouble erasing charcoal. We should have been told with the supply list to buy a certain specific paper weight. Also some students were using sketch paper, they bought the wrong paper but the profs said nothing in class about this. Then in the critique some students said the drawing got messed up as it was falling apart when they tried to erase back to get to white (because it was too flimsy). We were never told that the different papers have different tooth and that matters for the texture. I figured out some of this by just using the materials. Actually the second prof near the very end did suggest that if we were doing our final project in charcoal we should use bristol paper. That was not on the supply list and neither prof even explained to us what bristol paper was.
These is a very basic art supply information. If that is not appropriate to learn in Drawing I, I do not know when it is right to learn it.
I also read the textbook cover to cover and these things were never taught in the text. The text focused on showing famous artists' work from history and telling about different types of drawing techniques used. It did not teach how to do the technique but it would say, X drawing by -- done in charcoal on ___ substrate or it would say chiaroscurro is ____ and here is a drawing done in that style.
Near the end of the class professor B mentioned how he holds his pencil. We were all fixed already on pretty much holding it as we hold a pencil to write with. Why was that not taught on day one?
The professors had a different focus on what should be taught in Drawing I. I'll blog about that in the future. I want to get some of this written out before I begin taking the Drawing II class so the information does not meld together.
Sunday, June 05, 2016
Why Draw In Pencil?
In my college Drawing I class we started off learning with pencil. It seems this is the norm. So why this is was a mystery to me until I started working with the materials then I understood.
1. Pencils are cheap. A high quality pencil is under $2. You actually don't need a huge pencil set to start. I favor the soft pencils so I worked with 2B, 4B, and 6B. Most basic pencil sets come with various H pencils, I have no use for them personally. Pencil sets are often about $10 or even $15 if you buy one that has an eraser and a sharpener. To me the best investment is a high quality sharpener, a kneadable eraser, a white eraser (rectangle shape), a chamois, a 2B, 4B, and 6B and a 2H if you simply must have that hard thing, perhaps for base sketches. You can get all that for under $20 which is low cost as far as fine art supplies goes. Therefore it's affordable for a college student or anyone on a budget.
2. Pencils are easily portable and pretty durable. Pencils do not melt. They do not shatter and break apart. All you need is some basic care such as not dropping them on the floor or slamming them around. They do well in dry weather and in humid weather, in heat or in cold. They do not dry up or erode over time, you can use a 50 year old pencil just fine. Not all drawing supplies are like this!
3. Pencils are clean to work with. The act of putting pencil to paper is clean so you can do this in a public place, in a car, on your couch, in bed, or anywhere else without muss and fuss. As you use the pencil it does not make dust that falls off onto the surrounding surfaces. When smearing around the pencil on the paper you should use chamois not your finger. The only possible mess is if working on large paper you may get a dirty hand but the graphite comes off quickly with plain soap and water.
4. Pencil drawings hold up well in storage. After making a pencil drawing there is just some risk of rubbing off onto the page next to it. Other than this no special storage is required. The pencil will stay on the paper nicely without special storage needs like chalk pastel or charcoal requires.
5. With one pencil you can get a lot of value shades in your drawing. The same cannot be said for paint. One marker cannot do a full range of value either. By erasing back to plain paper, you can get white without the use of a white pencil.
Cons:
1. It's hard to get a true black. You can use an ebony pencil for this or a charcoal pencil.
2. It's hard to get a tiny bit of white, erasing can be challenging for a teeny spot, so you can use a white conte crayon pencil if you must.
3. If you don't use a decent quality sharpener you will go through your pencil faster and you might not be able to get a sharp tip. Spend the $10 or so to get a decent sharpener at a fine art store.
Speaking from my own limited experience these are the benefits I see to using pencil to learn to draw with.
1. Pencils are cheap. A high quality pencil is under $2. You actually don't need a huge pencil set to start. I favor the soft pencils so I worked with 2B, 4B, and 6B. Most basic pencil sets come with various H pencils, I have no use for them personally. Pencil sets are often about $10 or even $15 if you buy one that has an eraser and a sharpener. To me the best investment is a high quality sharpener, a kneadable eraser, a white eraser (rectangle shape), a chamois, a 2B, 4B, and 6B and a 2H if you simply must have that hard thing, perhaps for base sketches. You can get all that for under $20 which is low cost as far as fine art supplies goes. Therefore it's affordable for a college student or anyone on a budget.
2. Pencils are easily portable and pretty durable. Pencils do not melt. They do not shatter and break apart. All you need is some basic care such as not dropping them on the floor or slamming them around. They do well in dry weather and in humid weather, in heat or in cold. They do not dry up or erode over time, you can use a 50 year old pencil just fine. Not all drawing supplies are like this!
3. Pencils are clean to work with. The act of putting pencil to paper is clean so you can do this in a public place, in a car, on your couch, in bed, or anywhere else without muss and fuss. As you use the pencil it does not make dust that falls off onto the surrounding surfaces. When smearing around the pencil on the paper you should use chamois not your finger. The only possible mess is if working on large paper you may get a dirty hand but the graphite comes off quickly with plain soap and water.
4. Pencil drawings hold up well in storage. After making a pencil drawing there is just some risk of rubbing off onto the page next to it. Other than this no special storage is required. The pencil will stay on the paper nicely without special storage needs like chalk pastel or charcoal requires.
5. With one pencil you can get a lot of value shades in your drawing. The same cannot be said for paint. One marker cannot do a full range of value either. By erasing back to plain paper, you can get white without the use of a white pencil.
Cons:
1. It's hard to get a true black. You can use an ebony pencil for this or a charcoal pencil.
2. It's hard to get a tiny bit of white, erasing can be challenging for a teeny spot, so you can use a white conte crayon pencil if you must.
3. If you don't use a decent quality sharpener you will go through your pencil faster and you might not be able to get a sharp tip. Spend the $10 or so to get a decent sharpener at a fine art store.
Speaking from my own limited experience these are the benefits I see to using pencil to learn to draw with.
Saturday, June 04, 2016
Why Start To Draw in Black and White (Grayscale)?
I didn't care a thing about drawing in black and white (grayscale) but it's what is done. When I started the Drawing I class I still did not know why that is the standard. I wanted to learn to see color and draw and paint in color. In the past in college back in the 1980s we shot in film and in my college class we used black and white as we did our own lab developing and the chemical process for developing B&W is far easier than developing color film. So we were told back then that's why we were shooting B&W photos.
What I have come to learn by doing is that there are two main challenges with learning to draw. (And learning to draw is a skill foundation to learning to paint.)
The first skill to hone is to actually see a thing for the value and shapes that it is instead of seeing the sum total of the thing. I remember doing nature study with my kids in our homeschool and we were looking at a dandelion flower and my son was six years old and he drew a daisy looking thing even though the flower in front of him was nothing near that shape. He was drawing a flower that he saw in his mind and memory, a generic flower shape instead of the shapes of the dandelion flower in front of him. When a person tries to draw a self-portrait they may draw two exact looking eyes when in reality one of their eyes droops and one has a larger eyelid.
The second skill is to see the values. I have blogged already about values and my challenge with learning to see value. I believe that drawing is taught in graysale because color is too complex and color matching or color mixing of paint adds too many variables to the situation. In order to draw something that looks realistic you must see and replicate value correctly and it is simplest to train your mind and eye to convert the colored world in front of you to grayscale then use the simpler drawing materials of one thing such as graphite pencil, charcoal, or an ink pen in one shade. Perhaps you use a sienna colored conte crayon to draw what in reality is a green tree, that's okay, Focus on getting the value right and the brain will see and comprehend the object for what it really is even though it's in a monotone drawing.
Now that I am learning to see value I realize things are not what they seem. The leaves in my garden outside are not green. some are almost black, some have light reflecting off that makes it white, and then there are the many shades of actual green. Some are yellow green, some are gray-green and some are deep green. When trying to learn to draw something in perspective and to draw a correct shape, and to draw with a good composition in the scene, by narrowing down from full color to a grayscale it takes one variable in the equation away so we can focus just on the other foundation of making art basics.
So even if you have no desire to draw in pencil, it's really the easiest way to start so that is why every drawing class startss off with drawing with pencil. I'll blog more about why pencil in my next post because there are some other good reasons.
What I have come to learn by doing is that there are two main challenges with learning to draw. (And learning to draw is a skill foundation to learning to paint.)
The first skill to hone is to actually see a thing for the value and shapes that it is instead of seeing the sum total of the thing. I remember doing nature study with my kids in our homeschool and we were looking at a dandelion flower and my son was six years old and he drew a daisy looking thing even though the flower in front of him was nothing near that shape. He was drawing a flower that he saw in his mind and memory, a generic flower shape instead of the shapes of the dandelion flower in front of him. When a person tries to draw a self-portrait they may draw two exact looking eyes when in reality one of their eyes droops and one has a larger eyelid.
The second skill is to see the values. I have blogged already about values and my challenge with learning to see value. I believe that drawing is taught in graysale because color is too complex and color matching or color mixing of paint adds too many variables to the situation. In order to draw something that looks realistic you must see and replicate value correctly and it is simplest to train your mind and eye to convert the colored world in front of you to grayscale then use the simpler drawing materials of one thing such as graphite pencil, charcoal, or an ink pen in one shade. Perhaps you use a sienna colored conte crayon to draw what in reality is a green tree, that's okay, Focus on getting the value right and the brain will see and comprehend the object for what it really is even though it's in a monotone drawing.
Now that I am learning to see value I realize things are not what they seem. The leaves in my garden outside are not green. some are almost black, some have light reflecting off that makes it white, and then there are the many shades of actual green. Some are yellow green, some are gray-green and some are deep green. When trying to learn to draw something in perspective and to draw a correct shape, and to draw with a good composition in the scene, by narrowing down from full color to a grayscale it takes one variable in the equation away so we can focus just on the other foundation of making art basics.
So even if you have no desire to draw in pencil, it's really the easiest way to start so that is why every drawing class startss off with drawing with pencil. I'll blog more about why pencil in my next post because there are some other good reasons.
Friday, May 27, 2016
Wanting To Learn vs. Mastery vs. Over-Shopping
Today I was in my art supply closet putting away some supplies and looking to see if I owned odorless mineral spirts (I do not). I am very carefully, slowly and thoughtfully selecting supplies to start oil painting with and do not want to overbuy.
I have a lack of knowledge but an overabundance of curiosity. I want to do things but lack the know how. At certain points in time I have had an excess of cash so have found it easy to purchase supplies that I never use. At other times I have been in the presence of discounted art supplies and was tempted as it was on sale or at an overstock store for 90% off so I bought it not even having a real plan to use it.
Right now my current debate is which oil paint brushes to purchase and how many. I had overbought synthetic brushes at great discount from Tuesday Morning. What good did that do me now that I am tempted to buy natural bristle brushes?
One thing I have learned from taking and finishing the Drawing I class is that really all that matters is doing and practicing. Art making is a process and you learn by doing. You have to do, do, do. When it feels scary or intimidating you need to push through and just do it as that is when you learn. The struggle and frustration and trying to fix a mistake or make a thing look better is how you learn and grow because you learn through trial and error and by correcting and improving.
With the drawing class I was able to use a lot of the previously purchased art supplies from our homeschool days. However I realized that by using sets of pencils that the ones I really used were a small number compared to the set so I have untouched supplies here. Lesson learned: sometimes you save money by purchasing a la carte even though seeing a set somehow seems to be a bargain or gives you the idea that it has all you need to help you learn that medium. Also I later found out that some of what I owned was crap that only belonged in the trash bin or a pencil that was repurposed for daily writing or maybe should go to the library for patrons to use to scratch down notes of book numbers.
My advice to myself and others at this point is this:
1. Explore possibilities by reading and watching videos
2. Choose a art method to try.
3. Use a limited supply list to try that medium. Buy decent paper and decent supplies but keep it to a small number. Avoid buying sets unless you have a plan to use 90% or if you would spend more buying basics a la carte.
4. Dive in and make art with that medium.
5. Avoid shopping until it is absolutely necessary. I found myself needing a better pencil sharpener and an eraser that actually worked, for example. When I ruined one chamois by accident I had to buy a replacement. Buy the smallest size paint tube to start.
6. If you are frustrated by your end product it may be due to you lacking art fundamentals such as how to draw in general, not undestanding how to represent value, scale and/or perspective, not knowing how to draw a face or bodies or people. Knowing color theory and helps with harmony, sometimes what is off or wrong is due to the color or too many colors being used. A decent understading of composition is necessary. Knowing to know how to use a material is self-limiting if you are frustrated with trying to represent something that looks awful in the end. Go back and learn the fundamentals so you can use that knowledge to make the art you want look the way you see it in your mind.
7. My new mindset is before you break the rules you can learn a lot by learning the rules.
By chosing to not overspend on art supplies you have no real plan to use, and therefore have no real intention of ever using, you are helping yourself focus on what it is you really want to do and how to spend your time.
The only way to get really good at someting is with practice and practice takes intention, time and energy. Get the smallest amount of necessary supplies with your money then spend your emotional and physical energy on making the art and on learning.
I have a lack of knowledge but an overabundance of curiosity. I want to do things but lack the know how. At certain points in time I have had an excess of cash so have found it easy to purchase supplies that I never use. At other times I have been in the presence of discounted art supplies and was tempted as it was on sale or at an overstock store for 90% off so I bought it not even having a real plan to use it.
Right now my current debate is which oil paint brushes to purchase and how many. I had overbought synthetic brushes at great discount from Tuesday Morning. What good did that do me now that I am tempted to buy natural bristle brushes?
One thing I have learned from taking and finishing the Drawing I class is that really all that matters is doing and practicing. Art making is a process and you learn by doing. You have to do, do, do. When it feels scary or intimidating you need to push through and just do it as that is when you learn. The struggle and frustration and trying to fix a mistake or make a thing look better is how you learn and grow because you learn through trial and error and by correcting and improving.
With the drawing class I was able to use a lot of the previously purchased art supplies from our homeschool days. However I realized that by using sets of pencils that the ones I really used were a small number compared to the set so I have untouched supplies here. Lesson learned: sometimes you save money by purchasing a la carte even though seeing a set somehow seems to be a bargain or gives you the idea that it has all you need to help you learn that medium. Also I later found out that some of what I owned was crap that only belonged in the trash bin or a pencil that was repurposed for daily writing or maybe should go to the library for patrons to use to scratch down notes of book numbers.
My advice to myself and others at this point is this:
1. Explore possibilities by reading and watching videos
2. Choose a art method to try.
3. Use a limited supply list to try that medium. Buy decent paper and decent supplies but keep it to a small number. Avoid buying sets unless you have a plan to use 90% or if you would spend more buying basics a la carte.
4. Dive in and make art with that medium.
5. Avoid shopping until it is absolutely necessary. I found myself needing a better pencil sharpener and an eraser that actually worked, for example. When I ruined one chamois by accident I had to buy a replacement. Buy the smallest size paint tube to start.
6. If you are frustrated by your end product it may be due to you lacking art fundamentals such as how to draw in general, not undestanding how to represent value, scale and/or perspective, not knowing how to draw a face or bodies or people. Knowing color theory and helps with harmony, sometimes what is off or wrong is due to the color or too many colors being used. A decent understading of composition is necessary. Knowing to know how to use a material is self-limiting if you are frustrated with trying to represent something that looks awful in the end. Go back and learn the fundamentals so you can use that knowledge to make the art you want look the way you see it in your mind.
7. My new mindset is before you break the rules you can learn a lot by learning the rules.
By chosing to not overspend on art supplies you have no real plan to use, and therefore have no real intention of ever using, you are helping yourself focus on what it is you really want to do and how to spend your time.
The only way to get really good at someting is with practice and practice takes intention, time and energy. Get the smallest amount of necessary supplies with your money then spend your emotional and physical energy on making the art and on learning.
Thursday, May 26, 2016
Attended Pan Pastel Workshop
I wanted a spring break vacation in March 2016 but my teen sons refused and begged to just stay home to sleep late and to see friends and relax at home. My husband and I are not willing to take chances leaving both kids home alone, they were 15 and 18 at the time. The older has been home alone but not both of them together and not the younger who has friends who drive. We just know that teens can have bad judgement and if it's not our son himself it can be peers. Also teens in groups can make bad decisions that a responsible teen makes when alone.
Anyhow, point being I needed an escape of some sort from my real life so I attended art workshops for half a day at Art Supply on Main in downtown Houston.
One class I took was an intro to pan pastels using PanPastel (TM).
In a nutshell the instructor explained what they are. They are a one size little plastic container with the pastel in it. Each pan is the equivalent usage of 2.5 sticks of pastel crayons. That can help you do a cost comparison. The pan pastels are applied using a sponge which is the same design as my eyeshadow.
I learned it's very important to swipe in one direction only and to do a few repeat swipes before using. The biggest mistake is to dig and scrub at the pan pastel, or to grind it. The instructor was very clear but a number of students ignored him and just wrecked the pan pastels by digging and grinding. All this does is waste material as the action kicks up clumps and spreads them all over the working area and it gets the pigment or color onto the sponge/brush in a mess instead of being nicely applied on the sponge/brush. The pan pastel at 2.5 sticks only is when used correctly! Also when you kick up flakes of color into the other pans it corrupts them. Honestly it's simple to swipe, swipe, swipe so I don't know why people choose to not follow directions!
We followed the instructor to try different colors and to see the high saturation of pigment. We saw the different use of the different shapes of the sponge "brushes" and then how to blend them at the edges.
The pan pastels are sold each separately or you can save some money by buying sets. Sets are grouped by type such as the common landscape colors and some sets are put together by certain celebrity names in the art and craft world using their favorite color palette. Here you can see crafting as a business as those artists are then using their online platforms to use an advertise their own product line. But I digress.
I faced the decision of whether to patronize the art store I was standing in or to buy at discount from Amazon. The sale price that day which realted to the art workshop weekend was just a bit lower than Amazon's everyday price so I chose to buy them at the store. I also bought some sponges. They do wear out so you need more than one in case it craps out in the middle of your current project.
The instructor focuses on portraits and lansccapes. He said everything you paint with crayon pastels, you can do with PanPastel.
PanPastels are nontoxic.
I thought I restrained myself well as I bought only a small set of landscape pastels and a blender the instructor said I must have. I bought a set of brushes that are of various shapes and I plan to start with the pastel paper pad I already own at home.
After this workshop I was busy with my Drawing I college class and here it is over two months later and I only now unpacked my shopping bag and put away the supplies. I stared a small bin in my Target ITSO organizing system for everything PanPastel related.
I also took a class on using the gelli plate which I will blog about separately.
Anyhow, point being I needed an escape of some sort from my real life so I attended art workshops for half a day at Art Supply on Main in downtown Houston.
One class I took was an intro to pan pastels using PanPastel (TM).
In a nutshell the instructor explained what they are. They are a one size little plastic container with the pastel in it. Each pan is the equivalent usage of 2.5 sticks of pastel crayons. That can help you do a cost comparison. The pan pastels are applied using a sponge which is the same design as my eyeshadow.
I learned it's very important to swipe in one direction only and to do a few repeat swipes before using. The biggest mistake is to dig and scrub at the pan pastel, or to grind it. The instructor was very clear but a number of students ignored him and just wrecked the pan pastels by digging and grinding. All this does is waste material as the action kicks up clumps and spreads them all over the working area and it gets the pigment or color onto the sponge/brush in a mess instead of being nicely applied on the sponge/brush. The pan pastel at 2.5 sticks only is when used correctly! Also when you kick up flakes of color into the other pans it corrupts them. Honestly it's simple to swipe, swipe, swipe so I don't know why people choose to not follow directions!
We followed the instructor to try different colors and to see the high saturation of pigment. We saw the different use of the different shapes of the sponge "brushes" and then how to blend them at the edges.
The pan pastels are sold each separately or you can save some money by buying sets. Sets are grouped by type such as the common landscape colors and some sets are put together by certain celebrity names in the art and craft world using their favorite color palette. Here you can see crafting as a business as those artists are then using their online platforms to use an advertise their own product line. But I digress.
I faced the decision of whether to patronize the art store I was standing in or to buy at discount from Amazon. The sale price that day which realted to the art workshop weekend was just a bit lower than Amazon's everyday price so I chose to buy them at the store. I also bought some sponges. They do wear out so you need more than one in case it craps out in the middle of your current project.
The instructor focuses on portraits and lansccapes. He said everything you paint with crayon pastels, you can do with PanPastel.
PanPastels are nontoxic.
I thought I restrained myself well as I bought only a small set of landscape pastels and a blender the instructor said I must have. I bought a set of brushes that are of various shapes and I plan to start with the pastel paper pad I already own at home.
After this workshop I was busy with my Drawing I college class and here it is over two months later and I only now unpacked my shopping bag and put away the supplies. I stared a small bin in my Target ITSO organizing system for everything PanPastel related.
I also took a class on using the gelli plate which I will blog about separately.
Wednesday, May 25, 2016
Seeing Value Part 5
When drawing I try to make the value the shade I really think it is. At this stage I tend to be too light overall. Then when I thought I was finished I realize that the values are not dark enough. I then look over everything again and go darker and then darker and darker.
I realized after a number of drawings that I had done what books talked about, starting from light and going darker. I didn't used to understand what they meant or get how to do it. I still don't know how to plan it out, for me it is just how it unfolds. It is not that I'm afraid to go heavy and dark it's just that I don't yet have the skill to lay it down so accurately at first. I am just learning so I take it lightly and it's easy for me to go in darker.
I don't like the make it dark and erase back method of drawing. I only do that when it's by accident or a mistake or if the pencil is too thick and unintentionally colors in an area that I wanted bright. If you are going to do a lot of erasing I have learned you need to use a high quality paper so it will cost you more money.
I realized after a number of drawings that I had done what books talked about, starting from light and going darker. I didn't used to understand what they meant or get how to do it. I still don't know how to plan it out, for me it is just how it unfolds. It is not that I'm afraid to go heavy and dark it's just that I don't yet have the skill to lay it down so accurately at first. I am just learning so I take it lightly and it's easy for me to go in darker.
I don't like the make it dark and erase back method of drawing. I only do that when it's by accident or a mistake or if the pencil is too thick and unintentionally colors in an area that I wanted bright. If you are going to do a lot of erasing I have learned you need to use a high quality paper so it will cost you more money.
Tuesday, May 24, 2016
Seeing Value Part 4
Now that I am getting better at seeing value it's really apparent when I see artworks that are out of whack with the value. It's really bothersome to me. I want to say, "If you really worked on your value your work would improve dramatically." I keep these thoughts to myself, it's not my business. This is especially true when the artist thinks they are fantastic already and they cannot see their own errors. (I will be the first to admit I have much to learn so I am humble and do not even give myself enough credit for what I am doing well, so I am not a know-it-all.)
Seeing Value Part I
I started the Drawing I class feeling a weak point of mine was seeing value and drawing to show value. The original professor was absent over half the time so we had another professor so the teaching was jumbled but I got two opinions on my work over the time of the course. By the end of the class in critique the students decided my strongest skill was in value and drawing value well. This shocked me. I am my worst critic and was thinking I was still not seeing value. But by now I do admit I am seeing it but the thing is to represent it in artwork you need to know your material and the substrate you are working on then learn the skill to get what you see in your head down on the paper or canvas. I've come to realize that any time a new medium is used there is a learning curve in how to use that medium to do what your mind wants it to, the fundamentals are there in your head so the work is learning how to use the medium. The substrate matters as does the application method in the case of painting, the brush matters too. Before making art was a big confusion to me but now I can see the smaller parts that make up the whole. It is not unlike knitting in that I can knit a great piece from a pattern but when I switch the yarn the whole thing shifts and even the needle material, even when the samed sized needle is used, matters and can change the outcome.
Seeing Value Part 2
In my sketch book one night while about 2/3 through my Drawing I class, I drew a female model's face from a photo in a magazine. I drew it a few days later and there was a big difference. I do see that I am now seeing value more. That shift is happening where I see value in everything I see. I remember when I was first taking a lot of photos. I was getting good at composition then this got in the way of me just enjoying the experience. I was at Epcot and all my brain was seeing was, "This would be a great shot" and "If I got in close there it would be an interesting abstraction." I felt my vacation was kind of ruined by my new ability to see. I was not just having fun with my friends and chatting, I had this commentary going on inside my mind. That is happening now with value. I don't just see the plants in the garden I am thinking in my head, "That's a mid point value and that side of the leaf is darker then there is a very bright spot where the sun is reflecting". I can't really stop this type of thinking from happening, it just happens. On the one hand this is good but on the other such thoughts are intrusive to just living and just looking around at my surroundings and enjoying just being in the world. I don't know if that makes sense to you.
Seeing Value Part 3
While folding laundry I watch Real Housewives to entertain me through that tedius mind numbing task. I was watching the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills reunion. If you are not a viewer, I'll explain that the women are dressed up with full make up and sittng in bright lighting on couches being interviewed for three hours.
While watching I was seeing their lips and thinking of the value and how to draw them. I decided to write this out in case anyone is reading this and is curious how to think about value. The exception which I will not talk about is the overly modified lips of one of the housewives. For the rest of the women with natural lips, they shared a common value scale.
You can google images of the reunion show to compare what I am explaining if you like.
There are three main dark areas, the top of the lip line, the bottom and the deepest value is the line where the lips meet. The top lip is darker than the bottom lip. The upper lip has a reflection or shiny spot where their lipstick relfects the bright lights. For the bottom lip under the darkest line is a light stripe and then below running the whole length is one shade darker in value caused by the shadow. The bottom lip also has a bright spot of reflected light. In all there are at least five shades, if not six, plus the brightest white reflected part. There is cast shadow in the corners of the mouth on the face and also below the lips on the face. Each woman's lips are a bit different with which value goes where, depending on if their lips are plump or flatish and of course the shade of lipstick matters.
This is what runs through my mind now when I am trying to just watch a TV show to unwind or to pass the time while folding laundry.
While watching I was seeing their lips and thinking of the value and how to draw them. I decided to write this out in case anyone is reading this and is curious how to think about value. The exception which I will not talk about is the overly modified lips of one of the housewives. For the rest of the women with natural lips, they shared a common value scale.
You can google images of the reunion show to compare what I am explaining if you like.
There are three main dark areas, the top of the lip line, the bottom and the deepest value is the line where the lips meet. The top lip is darker than the bottom lip. The upper lip has a reflection or shiny spot where their lipstick relfects the bright lights. For the bottom lip under the darkest line is a light stripe and then below running the whole length is one shade darker in value caused by the shadow. The bottom lip also has a bright spot of reflected light. In all there are at least five shades, if not six, plus the brightest white reflected part. There is cast shadow in the corners of the mouth on the face and also below the lips on the face. Each woman's lips are a bit different with which value goes where, depending on if their lips are plump or flatish and of course the shade of lipstick matters.
This is what runs through my mind now when I am trying to just watch a TV show to unwind or to pass the time while folding laundry.
Monday, May 16, 2016
Art Skills I Lack That I Want To Learn
This is a list of art skills that I felt I lacked in January 2016. I hoped that taking Drawing I at the community college would help me with some or all of these. I learned that some of these are the focus on entire classes done in year three and four of a traditional bachelor's degree in art. I was unaware of the formal structure or arrangement of topics and how they are traditionally spread over a four year degree. I have no clue what is done in a master's degree program. I assume at this point it's a matter of depth and degree and specialization. Anyway...
1. Transferring color to black and white: this is a major problem for me. This is why I love color photography but hate B&W. I cannot translate the color in front of me to B&W so I have a hard time figuring out if a color scene will be equally appealing in B&W. This was a problem when I took Photography I back in college when I was 18. I got an Incomplete in the class as I was afraid of the first time doing a critique which was the final project so I had an A going into the final and then got an I. But I digress...
2. Value: I cannot see value and knew nothing of the value scale. When I see a clump of trees and branches and sky and grass and clouds, I have no clue how to see and assign value so I can render the scene in grayscale, black and white.
3. Color blending: I have no clue how to blend colors from basic paint. I know nothing of the color wheel except very basic ideas such as complimentary colors and which are primary and secondary. I don't understand which are warm and which are cool.
4. I don't know a single thing about oil painting nor do I have any desire to do it. I know some of it is toxic and there are fumes and I don't want to be made sick by my art materials. I am unsure if I can do this in my home safely.
5. I own acrylic paints but don't use them for real painting. I don't know why acrylic is looked down upon in the art world. I don't know the pros and cons of acrylic or how it compares to oil.
6. Watercolor Painting: I love the look of watercolor and want to learn how to do it. I had written extensively about a lof of reading and a little trying I did by myself. My challenge is this: I didn't understand the paint enough to know how to mix color and match color. I don't know how to make non-muddy looking paint. I learned that you have to work fast and with confidence but I don't know how to do either. I don't know the brush and the medium enough to work with it boldly. When they say to build color up I don't even understand how to layer and get it right. I did not like waiting in between drying times before adding more layers. I prefer to work nonstop until I am tired or the thing is complete. I do not own a proper easel.
7. I don't know how to use graphite pencils properly. I don't know the differences in the types and when to use each.
8. I know nothing about charcoal.
9. I have no clue what conte is.
10. I don't really know what type of paper to use with which medium and why. What is the difference between sketching paper and drawing paper? Should ink drawing be on a different paper than graphite?
11. I love the look of chalk pastel paintings but am concerned with storage, how to store them so they do not rub off. Also it seems messy and I am not sure I want that mess made in my house. Are their airborne particles that I could breathe in and make me sick? I don't want to be made sick.
12. When I see a painting up close it does not look like what I see from far back. How does an artist make an image that is pleasing to the eye from far back but when up close applying the paint it looks a mess and incomplete? How do they know how to apply the paint so it looks great and appealing from a viewer's distance? This is a great mystery to me.
13. I want to be able to at least crudely draw a face so it looks decent, and a human body and hands. This I cannot do at present.
14. I want to be able to draw and paint in perspective instead of wonky looking buildings and weird alignments. I know nothing about perspective.
15. When drawing or painting I want to know how to paint with proper scale, depth and perspective, how to draw the close thing so it look closes and the farther away thing so it is perceived as being in the distance.
16. I don't understan the idea of starting with painting dark and then working up to light. I can't pick apart when I see in real life to translate to layers and values and working like that. When working light to dark I don't understand how the paint looks on top of the other layers and how to achieve the final color I want. I assume this takes practice but I am afraid to even start messing with paint.
1. Transferring color to black and white: this is a major problem for me. This is why I love color photography but hate B&W. I cannot translate the color in front of me to B&W so I have a hard time figuring out if a color scene will be equally appealing in B&W. This was a problem when I took Photography I back in college when I was 18. I got an Incomplete in the class as I was afraid of the first time doing a critique which was the final project so I had an A going into the final and then got an I. But I digress...
2. Value: I cannot see value and knew nothing of the value scale. When I see a clump of trees and branches and sky and grass and clouds, I have no clue how to see and assign value so I can render the scene in grayscale, black and white.
3. Color blending: I have no clue how to blend colors from basic paint. I know nothing of the color wheel except very basic ideas such as complimentary colors and which are primary and secondary. I don't understand which are warm and which are cool.
4. I don't know a single thing about oil painting nor do I have any desire to do it. I know some of it is toxic and there are fumes and I don't want to be made sick by my art materials. I am unsure if I can do this in my home safely.
5. I own acrylic paints but don't use them for real painting. I don't know why acrylic is looked down upon in the art world. I don't know the pros and cons of acrylic or how it compares to oil.
6. Watercolor Painting: I love the look of watercolor and want to learn how to do it. I had written extensively about a lof of reading and a little trying I did by myself. My challenge is this: I didn't understand the paint enough to know how to mix color and match color. I don't know how to make non-muddy looking paint. I learned that you have to work fast and with confidence but I don't know how to do either. I don't know the brush and the medium enough to work with it boldly. When they say to build color up I don't even understand how to layer and get it right. I did not like waiting in between drying times before adding more layers. I prefer to work nonstop until I am tired or the thing is complete. I do not own a proper easel.
7. I don't know how to use graphite pencils properly. I don't know the differences in the types and when to use each.
8. I know nothing about charcoal.
9. I have no clue what conte is.
10. I don't really know what type of paper to use with which medium and why. What is the difference between sketching paper and drawing paper? Should ink drawing be on a different paper than graphite?
11. I love the look of chalk pastel paintings but am concerned with storage, how to store them so they do not rub off. Also it seems messy and I am not sure I want that mess made in my house. Are their airborne particles that I could breathe in and make me sick? I don't want to be made sick.
12. When I see a painting up close it does not look like what I see from far back. How does an artist make an image that is pleasing to the eye from far back but when up close applying the paint it looks a mess and incomplete? How do they know how to apply the paint so it looks great and appealing from a viewer's distance? This is a great mystery to me.
13. I want to be able to at least crudely draw a face so it looks decent, and a human body and hands. This I cannot do at present.
14. I want to be able to draw and paint in perspective instead of wonky looking buildings and weird alignments. I know nothing about perspective.
15. When drawing or painting I want to know how to paint with proper scale, depth and perspective, how to draw the close thing so it look closes and the farther away thing so it is perceived as being in the distance.
16. I don't understan the idea of starting with painting dark and then working up to light. I can't pick apart when I see in real life to translate to layers and values and working like that. When working light to dark I don't understand how the paint looks on top of the other layers and how to achieve the final color I want. I assume this takes practice but I am afraid to even start messing with paint.
Sunday, May 15, 2016
Why I Chose To Take a College Class in Drawing
I finished my Drawing I class at community college this week. Really what I want to do is paint well, but I realized that painting is a problem if you do not know enough of the foundations of art. I realized by reading course descriptions and reading about learning about art making that the base foundations are traditionally taught in Drawing I. Even if you do not want to draw all the time, by taking drawing classes you learn the foundations that are the groundwork for being able to paint, whether you are painting landscapes, cityscapes, nature scenes, portraits or other scenes with people in them. So I decided to take Drawing I at a local community college. It's about a 15 minute drive on backroads and it has free parking in a safe area and the class was $250 plus textbook expenses, so I figured it was worth a try.
I almost forgot to explain why I chose an in-person course. There are four main reasons:
1. I have tried teaching myself to draw from books but when I get to certain recommendations or exercises they scare me or bore me so I don't do them. I realize drawing gets better with practice but left to my own I choose to not do the repetitive work. I felt if I had classes to show up to and assignments due then I would push through and meet the deadlines. I missed only two classes when I was out of town.
2. I realized that I could not judge my own work or see my own errors. I wanted an actual live human being to work with me to point out my errors and give advice on how I could improve.
3. I tend to quit when something gets unexciting when I am working completely alone under my own guidance. With a formal class structure and routine, I would have a finite start and end date and I would not quit the class.
4. Having taken various one off workshops I realized they are not enough to teach the basic foundations of making art. I needed the base bones. In a future blog post I will explain my personal goals more.
I almost forgot to explain why I chose an in-person course. There are four main reasons:
1. I have tried teaching myself to draw from books but when I get to certain recommendations or exercises they scare me or bore me so I don't do them. I realize drawing gets better with practice but left to my own I choose to not do the repetitive work. I felt if I had classes to show up to and assignments due then I would push through and meet the deadlines. I missed only two classes when I was out of town.
2. I realized that I could not judge my own work or see my own errors. I wanted an actual live human being to work with me to point out my errors and give advice on how I could improve.
3. I tend to quit when something gets unexciting when I am working completely alone under my own guidance. With a formal class structure and routine, I would have a finite start and end date and I would not quit the class.
4. Having taken various one off workshops I realized they are not enough to teach the basic foundations of making art. I needed the base bones. In a future blog post I will explain my personal goals more.
Friday, May 13, 2016
The Other Blog
At almost eleven years of daily blogging, six months ago I set my main blog to private. The reason is I found out that members of my 15 year old son's sport team were reading it and making fun of my son including downloading his childhood photos and posting those on social media sites to make fun of him. This was not bullying per se but teaing between close acquaintences, typical snarky teen behavior in this day of having so much up online.
It was never my intention for my blog to be fodder for my kids to be made fun of or for any negativity to enter their life due to my published content so I set it to private.
I have written nothing really since then. Writing used to be an outlet for me. I have been relying on phone calls and face to face time with real life friends to vent. I vent a little on Facebook but have tried to not be a source of negative energy or toxicity in people's lives. I used to rant a lot in my blog. As I get older I don't want to contribute to the negativity in the world, there is just so much bad out there and we need less exposure to the problems and more about things that lift us up.
I did a college drawing class January through last week. I decided to publish my notes and some drawings here on this blog.
In another post I will address my soap selling business of the last two years which is still in business but I now regret ever having started. That is another story for another day. The learning and doing of the business took up a lot of my energy and time in the last three years. Since sales were low I shifted over from putting my creative energy only into making product that does not sell to doing something else like learning to draw.
It was never my intention for my blog to be fodder for my kids to be made fun of or for any negativity to enter their life due to my published content so I set it to private.
I have written nothing really since then. Writing used to be an outlet for me. I have been relying on phone calls and face to face time with real life friends to vent. I vent a little on Facebook but have tried to not be a source of negative energy or toxicity in people's lives. I used to rant a lot in my blog. As I get older I don't want to contribute to the negativity in the world, there is just so much bad out there and we need less exposure to the problems and more about things that lift us up.
I did a college drawing class January through last week. I decided to publish my notes and some drawings here on this blog.
In another post I will address my soap selling business of the last two years which is still in business but I now regret ever having started. That is another story for another day. The learning and doing of the business took up a lot of my energy and time in the last three years. Since sales were low I shifted over from putting my creative energy only into making product that does not sell to doing something else like learning to draw.
Sunday, September 08, 2013
Thoughts on Coffee Soap (Cold Process Soapmaking)
I love coffee.
I love to reuse and to recycle.
This led me to wonder if used coffee grounds could be used to make soap. Come to find out the answer is yes, but now I am not sure this is what I want for an end product.
Once again I have found that sometimes trying to use something up to make soap out of it does not always mean the end product is desired or can stand alone.
Regarding using the grounds, I found these opinions and ideas:
1. If new grounds are used the color can bleed out of the ground into the lighter colored soap and leave a ring of sorts, which is ugly.
2. New grounds are said to make stronger scented soap.
3. Used grounds can be further ground up to make different consistencies. I found one reference to coarse, smaller and fine. The issue is that the grounds in the soap make an abrasive element. Some find that the coarse grounds are too rough to use in the shower.
4. Some say the coffee removes food smell, such as using coffee soap after using ungloved hands to cut up onions and garlic can remove the onion and garlic scent immediately. Some say this is just not true for their own soap.
5. Some want the scent of coffee in the soap. To achieve this some people buy a coffee fragrance oil (a synthetic - manmade in a factory product). That is an added expense and step that I was not looking to do.
6. To make a darker color and to try to add scent some use brewed coffee in place of distilled water in the soap. They actually use distilled water to brew the coffee. People say to use strong coffee. Strong is a subjective word. One person was specific and said to use five times as much as usual. Now the soap is getting more and more expensive to make!
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In the past I have made soaps with oatmeal and some with apricot kernel. The large pieces of oatmeal turned to mush. I do not like the scratchy texture of hard kernels in my shower soap. I do use my bare hands to cut up onions and garlic but find the food scent is out of my hands by the next day. Once I cut up a ton of onions and the scent remained for two days when using normal soap at the sink and showering with normal soap. I do not think I need a special coffee soap for handwashing at the sink. I certainly don't need a whole batch of it.
I am tempted by pretty layered looking soaps just for that aesthetics of it.
If I were to sell soaps I would consider making coffee soaps but for now for my personal use I have decided to not make a batch of coffee soap.
Saturday, September 07, 2013
Using Clay in Cold Process Soap
This is a helpful article that discusses the different types of clay that can be used in cold process soapmaking.
I used bentonite clay for the first time two weeks ago in cold process soapmaking. The main inspiration was for the clay to act as an anchor for the essential oils. EOs are supposed to stay stronger and last longer if they have a clay to grab onto. I read elsewhere that bentonite clay adds a slip to the soap which is good or shaving. For that reason it is used in shaving bars of soap for men. It will work great for me in teh shower for shaving my legs and my underarms.
I actually bought the bentonite clay a couple of years ago an intended to use it to make homemade facial masks. It has sat in my cupboard untouched until now.
Bentonite clay turned my soap a bit green but both batches also happened to have some grapeseed oil which is green and is green enough to turn the entire batch of soap green. On its own bentonite clay can turn the soap green.
I am using the bentonite clay at a rate of 1 Tablespoon per pound of soap.
Monday, July 22, 2013
Signed Up To Take My First Art Classes
This summer while my sons were away at Boy Scout camp I decided to do something for myself and take some art classes.
I have never taken a class before.
I chose this because this Houston Artist Expo was right in my town, less than a ten minute drive, with free parking, and in a really nice hotel. And because it was while my kids were away and I had free time in my schedule. You can't get more convenient than right in my town.
In looking at the brochure it seemed most classes were formal decorative arts classes. There was a range of beginner to advanced. It looked crafty. I mean to say, it seemed on the surface that we would recreate something the teacher did in their own style. That bothered me.
The classes I selected were:
Encaustic Painting for beginners: I have always wanted to try this. I didn't like the project but I wanted to learn and try it.
Fusing Glass: I assumed this was with shards of glass but it was with a glass powder that you wet with a medium then paint it on to clear glass
Scarf dying: using cold dye, no heating, no fixing
Collage mixed media with acrylic painting landscape: using a photo of our choice that has personal meaning to us
Geisha collage with watercolor and using decorated napkins as the collage paper
This was my first time also to make art in a group. Formerly I have been self-taught and make art by myself or just with my kids in the room.
I will blog about each of these individually with photos in the near future.
I chose this because this Houston Artist Expo was right in my town, less than a ten minute drive, with free parking, and in a really nice hotel. And because it was while my kids were away and I had free time in my schedule. You can't get more convenient than right in my town.
In looking at the brochure it seemed most classes were formal decorative arts classes. There was a range of beginner to advanced. It looked crafty. I mean to say, it seemed on the surface that we would recreate something the teacher did in their own style. That bothered me.
The classes I selected were:
Encaustic Painting for beginners: I have always wanted to try this. I didn't like the project but I wanted to learn and try it.
Fusing Glass: I assumed this was with shards of glass but it was with a glass powder that you wet with a medium then paint it on to clear glass
Scarf dying: using cold dye, no heating, no fixing
Collage mixed media with acrylic painting landscape: using a photo of our choice that has personal meaning to us
Geisha collage with watercolor and using decorated napkins as the collage paper
This was my first time also to make art in a group. Formerly I have been self-taught and make art by myself or just with my kids in the room.
I will blog about each of these individually with photos in the near future.
Monday, July 15, 2013
Free Article on Plein Air Painting
Artist's Network article.
If you sign up to receive free emails they send free articles. This is the second free article in one week that I have received.
Sunday, March 03, 2013
Creative Pursuits Redux 2008-2013
In 2008 I began knitting and stopped doing papercrafts. I took a break from ATC swapping and have not resumed. I put all the papercrafts aside and also stopped painting and drawing. I basically was just homeschooling, living, and knitting as my only craft.
I expanded my photo taking when I obtained a DSLR for Christmas in 2008, and tried teaching myself to use it and refining my ability to use composition and to deal with capturing light better.
I also began making lye based soap and taught myself to make body lotions and skin salves with natural materials. I did DIY because I was too frugal to justify spending $5-8 on one bar of homemade soap or to pay $10 per ounce for herbal hand lotion. In this time I began learning about using herbs in making soap. I was put off by the high cost of infused oils as base ingredients, so I wanted DIY.
I started a veg and herb garden in my zone 6 Connecticut garden, enclosing it with six foot high deer fencing to keep the deer out. The deer were so bad there that they would walk right up onto my back deck and up the front porch steps to eat the back of my holly bushes. Former attempts to container garden on the deck failed for that reason and because my deck was on the north side of the house in deep shade. That is why I did not garden for years in that house, despite having loved gardening of flowers and vegetables in my first Connecticut home, and despite the fact that I had three acres of land there. In addition to growing vegetables, I started gardening with herbs and I grew them to infuse them into oils and used those to make body lotions and soaps.
I started doing pick your own local fruit and taught myself to can, making homemade preserves, strawberries in syrup, and with local veggies I made homemade canned salsa. I discovered that canning is a serious science and is no joke, it must be done correctly or the food not only can be ruined ranging from mold to jelly turning to crystals, and worse, you can get poisoned with botulism and potentially die if you screw up.
I continued cooking slowfood and baking from scratch including teaching myself to make artisan bread.
I also began learning about wildcrafting and wildcrafted plants and tree material from my own property and private land which I had permission to wildcraft upon. I went on plant walks and read books and used the internet to teach myself. I used these wildcrafted items to eat, drink, and make products from. Additionally I taught myself a bit about kitchen herbalism, using herbs for medicine and wellness. The herbs I wildcrafted and grew I used to make tinctures, medicinal salves and dried to use in teas and infusion drinks. I was in the process of learning about wildcrafting wild mushrooms for eating and for medicinal purposes when we suddenly moved.
Shortly after finding out we found out we were moving, in 2011 my husband surprised me with a combo Mother's Day and birthday present: an iPhone. I began taking more photos with that and stopped carting my DSLR in my pocketbook everywhere I went. I started using Instagram and had fun playing with photo filters. I had little time for crafting because I had six weeks to mother my kids alone plus declutter and pack up the entire house, and to label items as to whether they'd go to storage for a year or more or whether they'd fit into the rental house.
In 2011 we moved from Connecticut to Texas and I got rid of a lot of material possessions. I culled my art and craft supplies as well as a lot of ephemera. I got rid of lot of antique ephemera that came from my paternal grandmother who was a hoarder. On top of basic moving fees we had to pay 60 cents per pound to move my stuff so I seriously evaluated what sewing, knitting, papercrafts, and various other craft supplies I should pay to take with me.
In 2011-2012 we were in a small rental home in Texas and there was no room for my craft supplies. I had my drawing materials and some journals and paper and decided to focus on drawing and photography. I kept my herb books with me and thought I'd learn more about herbs but my interest waned. The Texas landscape is so different and I did not have access to wildcraft the familiar herbs so I felt I was learning information in an abstract void and it was not motivating or passion inspiring. We arrived in a drought and a heatwave so many plants were suffering and temperatures were 105-108 so I was not spending much time outdoors. My fair skin burned and it was so hot that I broke out so I even looked a mess. The air conditioning in the rental house was not functioning well and we were hot and sweating indoors too. I hid indoors and unpacked and homeschooled my kids, in addition to taking them to sports and Scouts.
In September when the promise of cooler weather was upon me, my gardening muse was with me and I filled a small epmtp raised garden bed at the rental house with organic soil to try my hand at zone 9 gardening of veg and herbs in Texas. It was a flop because come to find out there was not enough sun for the winter season. The rest of the tiny backyard was in shade 100% of the time and there was no room out front except for a patch next to the road so I gave up on gardening there. I vowed that the house we buy would have a big backyard and room to garden, as well as a fence to keep deer and other creatures out.
While in the rental house, I wound up not being interested in drawing and got interested in watercolor painting. I read a few books and bought materials with Christmas money to begin painting. I honestly only painted one thing and felt trapped in the small rental unit. It was so small I literally had nowhere to lay the painting flat that would be safe from the cats or that would be safe while using our small space for daily living. I gave up on watercolor painting for the time being.
I did some knitting but had a string of projects completed that were unwearable and that discouraged me. I found a local source for discount prices on discontinued yarn and bought probably too much as I bought more than I used that year, which is never a good thing.
In summer 2012 we bought a house and I was busy moving into the house after that. I claimed the guest bedroom as my craft room. First and foremost through all of these years has been our family's health, homeschooling and mothering my kids so I kept putting arts and crafts to the back burner. In the late fall I worked on the craft room which also doubles as a storage area for homeschool books to use in the future or where I put books I felt we were finished with that I could not let go of. I realized that keeping too many books that we may never use again was preventing me from going forward with current desires to get back into painting and papercrafting. I could not use a room that was filled with boxes of books. I culled a lot of books and donated them to a charity fundraiser tag sale. I resold about a hundred for roughly $1 (big whoop) and those leftovers are being donated. I don't have time to dedicate to opening an eBay store to try to get $2-5 per book, it's just not worth it.
In December 2012 I did my first acrylic painting in years, working on abstract paintings which I thought I would turn into journal pages or do some ATCs for a teenaged girl who needed encouragement who was admitted for a six month stay in a psychiatric hospital. It was fun and I realized I needed to get back to painting for fun. However I was busy with homeschooling, parenting, and Christmas.
After Christmas I decided I wanted to get back into papercrafting and started visiting the craft stores. I had avoided them for YEARS so I was surprised to find out what is out there. I also did not realize the explosion on YouTube such as people sharing tutorials and showing their finished projects. I realized that something called a smash book and a junk journal had been "invented" in my papercrafting absence. These are like an art journal for the crafter and a casual and less serious approach to scrapbooking. Some use all store bought stuff from scrapbooking companies while other people use junk mail and other ephemera and make their own books.
One thing that bothered me about art journals in the past was the binding issue. Although I own a comb binding machine, I do not like comb binding for my journals. I wished I could make a spiral binding. I found hand stitched binding time intensive and I had an issue with covers, how to cut them. Well I did not know that in my craft vacation time something called a Zutter Bind-it-All came out which is a spiral binding system. A first the spirals were only short sized so something called a mini album was invented. Some made little scrapbooks or photo albums that were six by six inches. Thus a 12x12 scrapbook paper sheet could be made into four 6x6 pieces. Honestly scrapbooking was on a decline for a while and I applaud the industry for reinventing itself and reviving the line of materials.
I was interested in buying the Zutter Bind-it-All and pondered on it for weeks. I was mostly interested because I had found that they had expanded their product line at some point, and now offer longer spirals so you can make a larger bound book, which is what appeals to me more than making 4x4 or 6x6 books. Then while shopping at a discount store in February, I saw a Zutter Kutter and did not know what it was, but thanks to YouTube I found out. This is a heavy duty cutting machine that even lets you cut metal in order to make book covers! You can cut chipboard and cardboard or anything thick! Now this is up my alley because I do not have to buy factory made chipboard in standard sizes to use as sturdy book covers.
I decided to use Christmas gift money to buy the Bind-it-All in February. I bought directly from the manufacturer and paid $99 for a beginner set that normally retails for $385. In March (yesterday) I bought the Zutter Kutter for $79 at Tuesday Morning, it is MSRP $180!
Since moving to this house we began pondering on where we could have a garden for veggies and herbs. I have over 40 trees in my backyard and most of the yard (other than the pool) is in deep shade. We have a strict tree ordinance in town so we cannot remove trees over 6 inches at chest height without permission. I found one strip of land which gets, I think, decent enough sun to grow tomatoes.
My husband and I pondered for a couple of months on how to raise a garden bed up off the ground level to avoid standing water and clay soil. We cannot use wood because in Houston that will only last 2-3 years before the insects completely ruin it. We decided to use retaining wall blocks in white which match our pool decking. In February we erected the wall.
I took two classes on gardening in Texas and started reading books about zone 9 gardening. I bought three flats of veg and herb seedlings. If I could only focus on gardening then my garden would already be filled with soil and planted but this is real life and we have medical issues going on plus homeschooling and other things going on in our lives.
My project plans for this upcoming week are to order the soil to be delivered and to work with my sons to move it by wheelbarrow into the garden, then to plant the seedlings. Not yet worked out is how we will erect supports because I garden vertically. The garden is 5x17 in a curving pretty bed.
I was thinking maybe I should blog more or even do YouTube videos about the journey. I accomplish more when I can be social and feel I'm interacting with someone about what I am doing. If I know someone is watching me or waiting for new blog posts it helps keep me focused on doing the task at hand and it motivates and energizes me to keep going. I love deadlines and that is why I formerly loved ATC swapping, it forced me to try a new art technique by a certain date deadline, so I made the time to do the projects which then reduced stress in my life and made me happy.
I am itching to do painting and papercrafting today as well. At the moment I must go do some volunteer work for my kid's sport team. The thing about gardening is it is so time-sensitive so you often have to put all your free time when it is not raining or not too wet or not too cold to do what has to be done in order to get the crop into the ground and going so that it will have enough time to have usable produce before the season ends. Here in zone 9 we are racing our tomatoes against the August heat which kills them. So although today I feel like painting and papercrafting I need to do the volunteer work and if a garden chore must be done, that takes priority over indoor crafting.
Other plans for gardening are to fill some of the empty containers in the gardens here and on the pool deck as well as get rid of some of the dying or ugly struggling palm trees in pots and to replace them with flowers or herbs. I want to fill the garden beds under the trees with usable plants such as herbs that grow in shade. I want to fill empty struggling grass spots in the deep shade front yard with low maintenance ground cover.
Lastly for the garden project: I started a compost in fall of 2012 here and guess what? It's filled with an ant nest. I don't think they are fire ants but they do sting badly and go nuts when you stir it up. I have tried two folk remedies, boiling water with dish soap and seltzer water but both failed.
I really should do v-logs on the garden projects because I bet gardeners would like to see my challenges getting accustomed to gardening in zone 9 when I'm an accomplished organic gardener of zone 6. It also may be interesting to see the blank slate beginning compared to changes I plan to incorporate later in 2013.
I expanded my photo taking when I obtained a DSLR for Christmas in 2008, and tried teaching myself to use it and refining my ability to use composition and to deal with capturing light better.
I also began making lye based soap and taught myself to make body lotions and skin salves with natural materials. I did DIY because I was too frugal to justify spending $5-8 on one bar of homemade soap or to pay $10 per ounce for herbal hand lotion. In this time I began learning about using herbs in making soap. I was put off by the high cost of infused oils as base ingredients, so I wanted DIY.
I started a veg and herb garden in my zone 6 Connecticut garden, enclosing it with six foot high deer fencing to keep the deer out. The deer were so bad there that they would walk right up onto my back deck and up the front porch steps to eat the back of my holly bushes. Former attempts to container garden on the deck failed for that reason and because my deck was on the north side of the house in deep shade. That is why I did not garden for years in that house, despite having loved gardening of flowers and vegetables in my first Connecticut home, and despite the fact that I had three acres of land there. In addition to growing vegetables, I started gardening with herbs and I grew them to infuse them into oils and used those to make body lotions and soaps.
I started doing pick your own local fruit and taught myself to can, making homemade preserves, strawberries in syrup, and with local veggies I made homemade canned salsa. I discovered that canning is a serious science and is no joke, it must be done correctly or the food not only can be ruined ranging from mold to jelly turning to crystals, and worse, you can get poisoned with botulism and potentially die if you screw up.
I continued cooking slowfood and baking from scratch including teaching myself to make artisan bread.
I also began learning about wildcrafting and wildcrafted plants and tree material from my own property and private land which I had permission to wildcraft upon. I went on plant walks and read books and used the internet to teach myself. I used these wildcrafted items to eat, drink, and make products from. Additionally I taught myself a bit about kitchen herbalism, using herbs for medicine and wellness. The herbs I wildcrafted and grew I used to make tinctures, medicinal salves and dried to use in teas and infusion drinks. I was in the process of learning about wildcrafting wild mushrooms for eating and for medicinal purposes when we suddenly moved.
Shortly after finding out we found out we were moving, in 2011 my husband surprised me with a combo Mother's Day and birthday present: an iPhone. I began taking more photos with that and stopped carting my DSLR in my pocketbook everywhere I went. I started using Instagram and had fun playing with photo filters. I had little time for crafting because I had six weeks to mother my kids alone plus declutter and pack up the entire house, and to label items as to whether they'd go to storage for a year or more or whether they'd fit into the rental house.
In 2011 we moved from Connecticut to Texas and I got rid of a lot of material possessions. I culled my art and craft supplies as well as a lot of ephemera. I got rid of lot of antique ephemera that came from my paternal grandmother who was a hoarder. On top of basic moving fees we had to pay 60 cents per pound to move my stuff so I seriously evaluated what sewing, knitting, papercrafts, and various other craft supplies I should pay to take with me.
In 2011-2012 we were in a small rental home in Texas and there was no room for my craft supplies. I had my drawing materials and some journals and paper and decided to focus on drawing and photography. I kept my herb books with me and thought I'd learn more about herbs but my interest waned. The Texas landscape is so different and I did not have access to wildcraft the familiar herbs so I felt I was learning information in an abstract void and it was not motivating or passion inspiring. We arrived in a drought and a heatwave so many plants were suffering and temperatures were 105-108 so I was not spending much time outdoors. My fair skin burned and it was so hot that I broke out so I even looked a mess. The air conditioning in the rental house was not functioning well and we were hot and sweating indoors too. I hid indoors and unpacked and homeschooled my kids, in addition to taking them to sports and Scouts.
In September when the promise of cooler weather was upon me, my gardening muse was with me and I filled a small epmtp raised garden bed at the rental house with organic soil to try my hand at zone 9 gardening of veg and herbs in Texas. It was a flop because come to find out there was not enough sun for the winter season. The rest of the tiny backyard was in shade 100% of the time and there was no room out front except for a patch next to the road so I gave up on gardening there. I vowed that the house we buy would have a big backyard and room to garden, as well as a fence to keep deer and other creatures out.
While in the rental house, I wound up not being interested in drawing and got interested in watercolor painting. I read a few books and bought materials with Christmas money to begin painting. I honestly only painted one thing and felt trapped in the small rental unit. It was so small I literally had nowhere to lay the painting flat that would be safe from the cats or that would be safe while using our small space for daily living. I gave up on watercolor painting for the time being.
I did some knitting but had a string of projects completed that were unwearable and that discouraged me. I found a local source for discount prices on discontinued yarn and bought probably too much as I bought more than I used that year, which is never a good thing.
In summer 2012 we bought a house and I was busy moving into the house after that. I claimed the guest bedroom as my craft room. First and foremost through all of these years has been our family's health, homeschooling and mothering my kids so I kept putting arts and crafts to the back burner. In the late fall I worked on the craft room which also doubles as a storage area for homeschool books to use in the future or where I put books I felt we were finished with that I could not let go of. I realized that keeping too many books that we may never use again was preventing me from going forward with current desires to get back into painting and papercrafting. I could not use a room that was filled with boxes of books. I culled a lot of books and donated them to a charity fundraiser tag sale. I resold about a hundred for roughly $1 (big whoop) and those leftovers are being donated. I don't have time to dedicate to opening an eBay store to try to get $2-5 per book, it's just not worth it.
In December 2012 I did my first acrylic painting in years, working on abstract paintings which I thought I would turn into journal pages or do some ATCs for a teenaged girl who needed encouragement who was admitted for a six month stay in a psychiatric hospital. It was fun and I realized I needed to get back to painting for fun. However I was busy with homeschooling, parenting, and Christmas.
After Christmas I decided I wanted to get back into papercrafting and started visiting the craft stores. I had avoided them for YEARS so I was surprised to find out what is out there. I also did not realize the explosion on YouTube such as people sharing tutorials and showing their finished projects. I realized that something called a smash book and a junk journal had been "invented" in my papercrafting absence. These are like an art journal for the crafter and a casual and less serious approach to scrapbooking. Some use all store bought stuff from scrapbooking companies while other people use junk mail and other ephemera and make their own books.
One thing that bothered me about art journals in the past was the binding issue. Although I own a comb binding machine, I do not like comb binding for my journals. I wished I could make a spiral binding. I found hand stitched binding time intensive and I had an issue with covers, how to cut them. Well I did not know that in my craft vacation time something called a Zutter Bind-it-All came out which is a spiral binding system. A first the spirals were only short sized so something called a mini album was invented. Some made little scrapbooks or photo albums that were six by six inches. Thus a 12x12 scrapbook paper sheet could be made into four 6x6 pieces. Honestly scrapbooking was on a decline for a while and I applaud the industry for reinventing itself and reviving the line of materials.
I was interested in buying the Zutter Bind-it-All and pondered on it for weeks. I was mostly interested because I had found that they had expanded their product line at some point, and now offer longer spirals so you can make a larger bound book, which is what appeals to me more than making 4x4 or 6x6 books. Then while shopping at a discount store in February, I saw a Zutter Kutter and did not know what it was, but thanks to YouTube I found out. This is a heavy duty cutting machine that even lets you cut metal in order to make book covers! You can cut chipboard and cardboard or anything thick! Now this is up my alley because I do not have to buy factory made chipboard in standard sizes to use as sturdy book covers.
I decided to use Christmas gift money to buy the Bind-it-All in February. I bought directly from the manufacturer and paid $99 for a beginner set that normally retails for $385. In March (yesterday) I bought the Zutter Kutter for $79 at Tuesday Morning, it is MSRP $180!
Since moving to this house we began pondering on where we could have a garden for veggies and herbs. I have over 40 trees in my backyard and most of the yard (other than the pool) is in deep shade. We have a strict tree ordinance in town so we cannot remove trees over 6 inches at chest height without permission. I found one strip of land which gets, I think, decent enough sun to grow tomatoes.
My husband and I pondered for a couple of months on how to raise a garden bed up off the ground level to avoid standing water and clay soil. We cannot use wood because in Houston that will only last 2-3 years before the insects completely ruin it. We decided to use retaining wall blocks in white which match our pool decking. In February we erected the wall.
I took two classes on gardening in Texas and started reading books about zone 9 gardening. I bought three flats of veg and herb seedlings. If I could only focus on gardening then my garden would already be filled with soil and planted but this is real life and we have medical issues going on plus homeschooling and other things going on in our lives.
My project plans for this upcoming week are to order the soil to be delivered and to work with my sons to move it by wheelbarrow into the garden, then to plant the seedlings. Not yet worked out is how we will erect supports because I garden vertically. The garden is 5x17 in a curving pretty bed.
I was thinking maybe I should blog more or even do YouTube videos about the journey. I accomplish more when I can be social and feel I'm interacting with someone about what I am doing. If I know someone is watching me or waiting for new blog posts it helps keep me focused on doing the task at hand and it motivates and energizes me to keep going. I love deadlines and that is why I formerly loved ATC swapping, it forced me to try a new art technique by a certain date deadline, so I made the time to do the projects which then reduced stress in my life and made me happy.
I am itching to do painting and papercrafting today as well. At the moment I must go do some volunteer work for my kid's sport team. The thing about gardening is it is so time-sensitive so you often have to put all your free time when it is not raining or not too wet or not too cold to do what has to be done in order to get the crop into the ground and going so that it will have enough time to have usable produce before the season ends. Here in zone 9 we are racing our tomatoes against the August heat which kills them. So although today I feel like painting and papercrafting I need to do the volunteer work and if a garden chore must be done, that takes priority over indoor crafting.
Other plans for gardening are to fill some of the empty containers in the gardens here and on the pool deck as well as get rid of some of the dying or ugly struggling palm trees in pots and to replace them with flowers or herbs. I want to fill the garden beds under the trees with usable plants such as herbs that grow in shade. I want to fill empty struggling grass spots in the deep shade front yard with low maintenance ground cover.
Lastly for the garden project: I started a compost in fall of 2012 here and guess what? It's filled with an ant nest. I don't think they are fire ants but they do sting badly and go nuts when you stir it up. I have tried two folk remedies, boiling water with dish soap and seltzer water but both failed.
I really should do v-logs on the garden projects because I bet gardeners would like to see my challenges getting accustomed to gardening in zone 9 when I'm an accomplished organic gardener of zone 6. It also may be interesting to see the blank slate beginning compared to changes I plan to incorporate later in 2013.
Monday, May 07, 2012
I Quit Coffee and Survived!
It's been a month.
I am alive!
Yes I did it, I stopped drinking coffee. I mostly drank it in the morning and I was addicted to caffeine to get me going.
I have not replaced it with any caffeine filled drinks either, at any part of the day.
A main reason I quit was I enjoy my coffee with half and half and felt I may drop a few pounds if I stopped using it. Also half and half has no good health benefits and only negatives. I actually did drop three pounds from that. Sadly the bed rest and sitting down a lot while recovering from the dog bite injury has made me gain them back. I can't wait to exercise!
I also was hoping maybe the reduction in acid filled drinks would help me health-wise. I have felt intuitively that maybe my system is too acidic. Stress in my life adds acid to my stomach so I don't need any more added!
Lastly, it should help my rosacea and bad complexion which kicked up when I moved to Texas.
It is a wonderful thing to wake up full of energy and raring to go. I never felt that way when I was having a cuppa joe every morning.
I am alive!
Yes I did it, I stopped drinking coffee. I mostly drank it in the morning and I was addicted to caffeine to get me going.
I have not replaced it with any caffeine filled drinks either, at any part of the day.
A main reason I quit was I enjoy my coffee with half and half and felt I may drop a few pounds if I stopped using it. Also half and half has no good health benefits and only negatives. I actually did drop three pounds from that. Sadly the bed rest and sitting down a lot while recovering from the dog bite injury has made me gain them back. I can't wait to exercise!
I also was hoping maybe the reduction in acid filled drinks would help me health-wise. I have felt intuitively that maybe my system is too acidic. Stress in my life adds acid to my stomach so I don't need any more added!
Lastly, it should help my rosacea and bad complexion which kicked up when I moved to Texas.
It is a wonderful thing to wake up full of energy and raring to go. I never felt that way when I was having a cuppa joe every morning.
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