Status: For details on this challenge please read this intro post. Status so far on this challenge...You can also view these any of my two galleries with details. Below is what I have created so far since January 01, 2017 for this challenge. 3D works & sewingATCs for TradeATCs for SwapsInchies for Swaps
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Intro: I discovered an art challenge that happens every year over at ATCsforAll.com. It is the 30 paintings in 30 days challenge created by Leslie Saeta.
Details: I thought I was too late as it was already January 16th but a fellow artist convinced me to go for it still... maybe go for the 15-in-15-days marathon. There are no rules... you just create every day (but because there are no rules you can actually create every other day as well). Mostly it has been drawings, illustrations, and paintings but some artists have gone beyond to create 3D works and digital works as well. I had already started the year off by running into what now I classify as "small canvases" so a theme had started in a way. My official theme for this challenge is just that: exploring small canvases. I hope to discover new tricks in working with media that I already use by being restricted to the size of the canvas. This is a big deal for me as I tend to go for small details and thus require a bigger canvas to work on. I want to improve my skills enough so that I can create at least 60% of the same amount of details on a 2.5"x3.5" canvas that are on a 18"x24" canvas. With this... I am not limiting myself to just ATCs...I am going to work on inchies, twinchies, in-betweenchies (?)...and artist tiles. Social Status: I have started posting all of my work on DeviantArt now just so that I can have a protected gallery to refer to whenever needed. Protected because of the watermark that is available for any uploads to the website. Other than that... I thought about uploading my creations on Pinterest as well but that website is just too hectic for sharing art. I do try to share the posts that I create on here to Facebook and also on Twitter but there is no real purpose for those except for any followers and friends to know that I am alive still (lol). Final thoughts: I have already added reminders to my calendar for other challenges that I want to participate in... #29faces challenge in February and again in September. There is #inktober in October along with #drawlloweeen... but I am leaning more towards #inktober as I need to practice creating in ink. And yes I have already marked this #30-in-30-days challenge for next year on my calendar as I do want to go for a full month's of creations. I have also been thinking about creating some personal challenges that are spread out during different times of the year (not conflicting with these other challenges). Perhaps ATC related or just any small canvas related challenges... any thoughts or interests? Intro: I think it is good to on a routine practice certain techniques especially in mediums that you use most often. So I am going to dedicate time to practicing with Watercolor as it my favorite medium to work with. I wanted to work on some exercises that are perhaps productive but mainly relaxing. The first exercise I focus on is texture... you'll see many posts in the future that cover this exercise in different medium. I'll move onto another one once I feel more confident about creating textures. What I created: So I used this as an excuse to get started on the ATCs that I have discuseed in a past post. I thought it would be a great exercise that is relaxing and productive at the same time. There are many things that could be created while working on an exercise such as booksmarks, gift tags, placeholder cards, greeting cards, etc. I find ATCs are the better ones to work with as they come in handy for personal use and can even be used as gifts. Bookmarks are great as well but too many readers are getting away from traditional books to digital books... so the audience is very limited. Using masking fluid in some of the ATCs as foundation I then used these three main texture techniques: 1. The first type of texture I made was using paper towels. There is a bit of variation in texture when you use clear wrap/cling wrap... I tried both just too see how much of a difference there is. 2. Another texture technique I used was done using table salt. This same idea can be completed using sea salt and rice grains to give bigger shapes to the pigment cluster. 3. The last texture type was created using rubbing alcohol. Final touhces were added to the textures once the bookmarks dried using markers and pens. For a cleaner edge you can create a borderline all around the edges using a marker or pen... or even get fancy and use embossing powder. You can purchase stickers online to place on the back of the cards.. or purchase stamps. I just wrote everything by hand using the same felt tip pen I used on the front of the card. I might look into investing in a stamp in the future or create my own as I do have the rubber canvas needed for creating your own stamp. Materials used: I purchased a Canson XL Foldover Watercolor Pad for doing some portraits but decided that I needed a spiral type journal for that. I have instead decided that I am going to use this watercolor pad for creating my ATCs and perhaps other things like tags, bookmarks, cards, etc. I kept the traditional ATC size of 2.5"x3.5" and had a variation in the numbers of cards I got depending on how I divided the page. One way produced only 6 cards...leaving a big chunk of paper at the top that I first thought could be used for bookmarks. Then later I decided to go ahead and divide the page out the opposite way and got 9 cards from the page with zero leftover space. Just enough space is left to allow clean edges to be cut. I used regular masking tape to divide the page into sections. I also used Reeves Watercolor and a mix of Chinese Watercolor when painting this... pretty much whatever happened to be on my pallette already at the time. I also went over the cards (once the paint had dried) using regular sharpie marker (brush tip).
Final thoughts: I do plan on keeping the information section of the cards the same from here on...whether I create them in polymer clay or watercolor. I wanted the back to have detailed information and thus did not purchase the stickers or stamp. Just enough detail for the card on it's own to be informational but not too much so that it looses the interest of the readers if the information is placed inside a guidebook. I think for my first exercise this turned out quite nice...I was expecting more of a disaster. I have decided that it may be time to invest in some better quality watercolor if I am to keep creating watercolor works. Better quality versions of the ATCs can be viewed here: ParadoxSketchbook Gallery at ATCsforAll. I wonder if this same texture exercise can be studied using other mediums...? Intro: I have recently been looking at ATCs (artist trading cards)... perhaps creating my own? I do plan on creating them in multiple mediums and then assembling them to create a bigger work of art.
What are they: just as it sounds... trading cards for artists. Collectors use them to collect art of certain artists or various artworks surrounding a theme. An artist can use these cards to brainstorm, doodle, work on ideas, or even create mini versions of final works. Some use these to create 2D versions of something they'll make in 3D materials. Artists do exchange ATCs with each other, some sell them, some gift them...the possibilities are endless. What I am going to make: I am going to be creating 3D ATCs using either air dry clay or even polymer clay. I want to try and make previous paintings or sketches come alive by recreating them in 3D materials. I am going to assemble a collection of watercolor ATCs so you'll be seeing some of them in the future uploaded here as they are created. I do believe the polymer clay ATCs are considered Artist Tiles and not trading cards... but the whole idea is to use them with the same purpose as trading cards - collecting, exchanging, or gifting. Final thoughts: For now I am going to simply start by painting on watercolor paper, keeping the same size and then assemble my own set of cards once I have around 10. I am not going to purchase pre-cut cards.. I'll just cut them on my own. Once I decide that I am able to create enough art on such a small canvas then I'll purchase pre-cut cards. With that I'll also be creating a collection of ATCs focused on "studying." It'll include drawings done in pencils and pens about the human figure and natural objects (trees, birds, etc). You'll be seeing plenty of tests and discussions related to this topic in the future. Here's to a brand new year of creativity with hopefully a lot of new exciting projects... and a truck load of productivity! |
Author: RejiI used to be a digital artist but switched back to traditional art as I feel more connected with the art I create this way. Currently, I create art whenever I can for art trades and commissions. I have worked with clay (earth clay to modern forms like Polymer, Sculpey, even Air Dry clay) along with watercolors, acrylics, oil paints, pastels, charcoal, pen and pencil drawings, India ink, Chinese Colors, wires, felt fabric, yarn, weaving, basket making, and the list goes on and on. I am currently working on exploring nail art, make-up, dress making, scrapbooking, and small canvas art. Archives
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