This is the time of the year when I go “blog silent” until all the ornament painting is complete for the 2014 season. I will start with a fun one… for little Jude, born in a snow storm last winter.
Hand Lettering
My new obsession. So far, this is mostly for my own enjoyment.
Share this:
Taming the Dragon
I am learning, as I open myself up to more spontaneous illustrations, that I never know where it will take me. It scares me sometimes, yet the time is right. There is this desire to expand that must be satisfied.
When the business blogger sent me an article called Taming the Multitasking Dragon, it only made sense to have a busy dragon. In the end, I left him to stand on his own, no extras, but along the way I learned that researching dragons was not that easy. I mean – no one has actually seen a dragon!
You can look up vintage dragons, you can look up current art on dragons, but in the end, you can do whatever you want with a dragon. I also reviewed bats wings, goats faces, eagle’s talons. The tail was a mix of reptile, squirrel and imagination.
Somehow he ended up pregnant looking, but that was ok. One observer really wanted to just “poke that fat belly.” Yeah – you try that! He has fire!
Share this:
Lettering Geek Out
Excitement abounds when Amazon delivers.
Share this:
Where are my reverse glass artists?
Still looking for someone who has experience creating reverse glass painting with ink and oils. Also found some old photos, which make for a great TBT (throw back Thursday).
Below: Table at the Broadripple Art Fair which happens every year at the Indianapolis Arts Center. This was during my Native American phase.
Close up of one (date is 1993). I placed them with a shadow box type of backing so that the oil was not up against the matte board. This added shadows and depth.
Share this:
Shadows in the Painter’s Light
Working away then this appeared between me and the light.
Now this is one big cat. I couldn’t believe he fit.
But then he couldn’t get out because forward was blocked. Yeah, I quit painting in order to help him.
Share this:
Every Day is Christmas – Logo and Branding
Earlier this month was the grand opening for a new store in the small town of Hagerstown, Indiana, Every Day Is Christmas.
I had the privilege to work with the owner, Robin, in crafting the brand and logo.
This brand was such a delight to craft a logo for. The owner has a vision for her store that goes beyond offering Christmas gifts all year long. She is building a location where the community can come together, as well as welcome travelers from around the country as they visit small individual holiday stores.
In the back section is The Sidewalk Cafe and classes are being offered in the store where children and adults alike can come and make holiday crafts.
In addition, over the coming years, she will be adding one-of-a-kind local artist’s items. With those items, her vision is to tell the story behind the craft to bring a depth to the gift giving that sometimes gets lost in our harried era.
Christmas holds a special nostalgic place in my heart also, as you have seen by the ornaments and gifts I have made over the years. It was pure pleasure to craft a logo that embodies the joyful whimsy of Christmas, and yet is also classy and contemporary.
Congratulations to a wonderful new store spreading joy all year around!
To link to their Facebook page click: Every Day Is Christmas
Share this:
“Sometimes people think drawing and painting is mucking about when actually it is…”
“Sometimes people think drawing and painting is mucking about when actually it is a highly skilled activity.”
– Quentin Blake, British, English, UK, illustrator, drawing, writer, author (illustration by Quentin Blake)
Share this:
Reverse Glass Painting and Ink
This could have been a “throw back Thursday” post if I had thought of it yesterday. However, it was today when I began searching the internet in an attempt to discover if there are any new types of ink pens that can draw on glass (and have the ink adhere without flaking or rubbing off.)
Amazingly I could find nothing, which I don’t understand. Years ago, before the internet existed, I learned how to create reverse glass paintings and was selling them around the state.
The very first step, when making the fine lines, was to use a Koh-I-Nor Rapidograph Technical Pen, which adhere’s nicely to glass, as well as takes to oil paint being laid over the top of it without smearing or breaking down.
This was a lot of fun, easy to do (as long as you remember to paint everything “backwards” and mirror image”.) So, when I was contemplating laying ink on glass this morning, it seemed like there should be even better technology for this now than there were years ago. The internet came up empty.
The rapidograph pen is pretty thin lined. Maybe I could use a brush to accomplish the same idea for a wider line.
If anyone has any ideas, please let me know. In fact, has anyone out there tried this? I can’t even remember where I learned how to do it, but I love the combination of the “sketch” look with the richness of the oil paints.
I am very interested in this now that it seems it is such a mystery. (And I am wishing I had taken more photos of those old paintings!)
Interesting Reference Material found during my search (which wasn’t much):
The History of Silhouettes – E. Nevill Jackson
Share this:
14 Uses for a Technical Writer
I wrote an article (click link) for the Moser Consulting blog to clarify what I have spent much of my life doing.
It seems a mystery to many.
Flexing My Wings 