Abstract

Hope – flowerpunked. Art and my mental health.

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Just finished this one.

Hope.

Sometimes I have to walk away from something I’m working on as I despair it will work out to be anything near good enough.  Actually, it’s not sometimes, it’s most of the time!  However, I do persevere.

When I went to bed last night, this one was looking horrible.  I had the background done, the first layers of collaged patterned paper and the kind of hessian looking die-cut added too  I really wasn’t happy with it at all.

However, a good night’s sleep and a bit of inspiration on waking meant I knew where I wanted to go next, especially after I sorted out the jumble of die-cuts I have (note to self-get some way to organise these!).

Once started from the point of inspiration, the picture just grew to it’s finished state (well, I think it’s finished, that may change when I look at it again later on).

Hope.  A really good word here.  There’s always hope that no matter how bad I think something looks, , pushing past that often results in something good.  Indeed, sometimes the work can just be cut into pieces for use in another piece, which is how the iridescent, textured circles came to appear in this one.

Hope.  Making art always gives me hope that I can overcome the trials I face when my anxiety/depression/complex post-traumatic stress disorder kitcks itself up a few or several notches.  Art always gives me a place where I can lose myself in something that is meditative, mindful, self-soothing, and shows me that I can succeed even when the self-critic is telling me I’m useless, I can never get anything right, nothing is good enough, I’m a failure, and so on.

This past week or so, challenging myself to work with mixed media – something I’ve tried in the past and not really felt I was successful at – has been good to help me with the aftermath of a couple of rather strong anxiety attacks.  I’ve not had any for around a year now.

I was surprised by them and at their intensity and how they have impacted on how I live my life at the moment.  I find it difficult to go out into the world, want to hide away from people, and when I do go out it’s often in the dark hours so I’m not seen.

It also surprised me that this is how I used to live every single day for a very long time, most probably most of my life, until a few months ago.

Even though these two episodes have happened, I know I’ll get past them; I have in the past, and I can learn more about the triggers for them and also where this all comes from, which will help greatly in the counsellinge process.

So there’s hope I’ll improve in the long term, and blips are just that.  Just as I’ve hoped that my confidence and skill and expression via mixed media would improve.  I’ve just had a look back at the mixed media I’ve done in the last fortnight or three weeks, and even I can see how it’s all developed, in a positive way.

What’s made the difference for me with mixed media is finding the confidence to do my best to do it my way and to explore it in my way.  I have a lot more exploring to do, and a lot more confidence building in what I do with it. I will journey along this road, along with my drawing and illustration skills, maybe even writing, and with healing what I can of my mebtal health issues.

So, choosing the word hope for it to appear on this piece of art was most appropriate.

Flowerpunked

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This is todays mixed media creation (approx 5.25″ x 11.5″.  I think ‘Flowerpunked’ is a good name for it, or for the series of works like this.

I found a way to lift the flowers up so they have more dimension; wish I’d thought of that when I was adding the cogs., still there’s always the next one!  It’s all a learning process – it never ends!  I also think the stenciled patterns on the background are a bit dark and heavy … and just didn’t quite know what to do about them at the time as I didn’t want to lose the pretty background colours/patterns I’d already created.

Two completed mixed media pieces

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Unnamed mixed media work in progress

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I’ve been working on this project over the past three or so days.  It’s not finished, far from it I think.  I’m having to take a break from it to let the glue that I’ve used to stick some metal embellishments to it cure.

I’ve tried to take photos that show how the cogs and foliage look almost verdigris from one aspect, yet metallic from another.  The paper I’m working on is A3-ish in size; I’ve used 300gsm watercolour paper as the substrate – it’s sturdy and doesn’t warp too much when water and water-based media are used on it, or when heat is used to speedily dry each layer as they are added.

I know I want to add some gems to the cogs (gotta have sparkle!), I may add some flowers, maybe not.  I do need to add shadows too.  I’m not sure if I’m going to add some kind of quote up in the top right corner or whether I’ll just leave it as it is.

Blooming rain

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Another mixed media piece just finished, I think. I may add glossy accents or 3D crystal lacquer to the bubbles/drops and parts of the flowers, or maybe not.

The image has been scanned so the iridescence and glimmer doesn’t show up, sadly.  Also, I’ve been a bit heavy handed with the shadows around the flowers and bubbles/raindrops.

Here’s the list of media I used:

  • PaperArtsy Fresco paints
  • Distress Oxide inks
  • Liquitex and Pebeo iridescent and metallic acrylic paints
  • Perfect Pearl spray in gold
  • Posca pens in black and white
  • Derwent’s Inktense pencils
  • Uniball Signo white gel pen

Rainbow verdigris

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I really need to learn to take better photos!  This doesn’t do the artwork justice at all, neither does the curled paper.  If I manage to take a better photo I’ll update it.

*Update*  The image on the left is a scanned image – the iridescence and metallic sheen are lost in the scan, but the image is clearer.

There are patches of textures ‘verdigris’ which has a rainbow iridescence on them, as well as similar colours and patterns elsewhere.

The background shimmers with copper and other iridescent colours, over a soft, chalky coloured surface achieved by using Distress Oxide inks.

I loved the background so much that I really didn’t want to work over it. However, this morning I decided to be brave and to wield a Pebeo Posca black pen to draw circle patterns on it, with the aim of adding colours that would be reminiscent of verdigris on copper.

I think I’ve achieved that in some small measure, and perhaps in a different way.

I learned a lot of things along the way, not least of which is to paint the circle BEFORE I add patterns to them with a pen!  What I may do is prepare sheets of paper with the colours on I want in the circles, draw the patterns on them, cut them out and then collage them on the background to give a more 3D look to the art.

Art is all about experimentation, learning when things don’t work out as you’d like.  However, when things don’t turn out or you think you’ve made a mistake, learn to accept it as a ‘creative opportunity’ and work with it.  There are many ‘creative opportunities’ in this mixed media piece!

Media used:

  • Distress oxide inks
  • Perfect Pearls
  • Liquitex, Decoart Media and Pebeo Dyna iridescent and metallic acrylic paints.
  • Posca pen
  • Stencils by Prima
  • Fresco paints by PaperArtsy
  • Rusty Patina paints by Imagination Crafts
  • Inktense pencils from Derwent

 

I have inky fingers…

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An ATC or ACEO card made earlier today.

Mixed media experimentation is a tad addictive!

I spent yesterday creating more inchies and betwinchies, as well as shopping for some supplies.  This morning, I created the ACEO/ATC above.

The card itself is made by Strathmore and is some of their 400 Series Watercolour paper with a cold pressed surface.  I added layers of Distress Oxides, spraying with water to get the textures.  I also added patterns through stencils and stamps, followed by a final spray with gold Perfect Pearls.  I edged the card with Ranger’s Archival jet black ink.

It took a little while to rifle through my growing collection of inchies and other art tiles to find one that suit the background.  This tile has a faint crazing pattern and an aged/distressed look achieved by the use of Tim Holtz’s Collage medium – crazing followed by some distress ink rubbed on to bring out the crazing.  A layer of 3D Crystal Lacquer added a gloss finish to the tile.

Once the tile was stuck in place, I used a Pitt artist pen to draw patterns around it, added the words, more patterns and highlights using a gold gel pen. Finally, I added some small gems using Glossy Accents as a glue.

I do have a couple of things left for me to do with the ACEO/ATC – to add a layer of Micro Glaze to seal the surface so any water/moisture won’t affect it, and to add information to the back of the card.

I am really chuffed with this ACEO, as well as the background created with the Distress Oxides; I’ve achieved something I never, ever thought I could!  Before Distress Oxides I struggled to make backgrounds.  I don’t really get along with acrylic paints, spray generally are too messy for me, the original Distress Inks would run into one another and the colours become really poopy.

However, the Distress Oxides are a completely different medium, one that really seems to suit me and work for me and with me.  They are opening up doors for me to express and explore my creativity in ways I’d given up on with the failures (well, what I consider failures) with the arious paints and other media I’ve used in the past.

All it took was for me to find the right medium for me to use.

 

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Yesterday , I also I made two beautiful backgrounds that I just can’t bear to cut up or cover over, yet.  I’m sure I will. The photo doesn’t do them justice.  There are many layers of colour, all made using Distress Oxides on some really heavy and smooth waterolour paper (300gsm I think it is).  Patterns have been added using water, stencils and stamps.  Finally, the backgrounds have been sprayed with copper Perfect Pearls, which shimmer and also really bring out the depth of colours in the layers.

Abstract Drawing

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This drawing is all but finished. I just have to decide whether I’m going to add any metallic or iridescent highlights to it, along with any extra shading.

The background was created by using a stencil brush to apply Distress Oxide inks onto Daler-Rowney Mixed media paper (A4 in size) until I was happy with the colours.

Next, I sprayed the sheet with water and let it dry. This lets the Distress Oxide inks ‘bloom’ and become ‘soft’ as well as creates some texture in the form of patterns where the water droplets landed.

Pitt artist pens from Faber-Castell were used to draw in the main design, to which I then intensified the colour in many areas to add depth and interest; I used Derwent’s Inktense pencils to do this, along with a Kuretake water brush.

Finally, I added the fine details and patterns with a really fine Pitt artist pen.

Six small tiles

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I’ve completed the six tiles I cut from a single piece of mixed-media paper that I had coloured using Distress Oxide inks.

Next, I used Faber-Castell Pitt artist pens to draw the designs and add the patterns on each tile.

To add depth to the designs, I used Inktense pencils and Faber-Castell’s Albrecht Durer Watercolour pencils with a water brush.

Finally, I used either iridescent/metallic watercolour paints or a metallic gel pen to add some shimmering, shining details to each.

I really enjoyed doing these; again, they’re a little different to a lot of the work I’ve done for colouring books, so it’s nice to explore different ways of creating.

The thicker black lines I’m using at this time mean my art reminds me a little of stained glass and also of lino cuts.  I do like the very bold lines; it almost seems like I’m making a statement.

Little drawings

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Today, I’ve taken a bit of a break from drawing doodle art and played with Distress Oxides and other media.  The photo above shows just a couple of the small pieces of art I’ve created.

The top two are drawn on Strathmore Bristol paper with a vellum surface which was prepared with Distress Oxide inks brushed on using a stencil brush.  That worked really nicely!  I used a Faber-Castell Pitt Artists pen to draw the design on and then I used Inktense pencils to deepen colours and add shading, before adding just a few metallic highlights here and there.  I really enjoyed drawing these ones, and I have some more pieces of the inked paper ready to draw on – that’s the rest of my evening sorted then!

The bottom two are from some experimenting I did earlier in the day. Both were drawn using a Sakura Glaze pen.  I used Derwent Color Soft pencils to add colour to the design drawn on Kraft paper, and Inktense pencils with a damp brush on the other.

I also had some 3D Crystal Lacquer made by Sakura Hobby Craft arrive today, so I added dots of that to various elements in the bottom two to see what it’s like.

I have been trying out watercolouring with the Distress Oxides, and they end up with a finish that is similar to gouache.  I’m not sure I like using them in this way, however.