Intro: These are side works that I created while working on challenges and projects. All are currently available for trading...and there is quite a mix.
What I created: There are 6 inchies (1"x1") and each one is different as the themes are different.There are also 5 mini artist tiles (1.5"x1") that are all zentangle focused with some henna inspiration behind the designs. I used puffy paint to add some solid lines (randomly) that I wanted to work around. I wanted the design to work off of something that was already there and thus came up with the idea of putting bold lines down without planning. Then lastly are 2 ATCs (2.5"x3.5") that are both part of an experiment. I was experimenting painting using tea as the medium. This was done with the background of the Couples 01 ATC. Along with that I wanted to focus on simple posters (WWF Panda Poster) made with bold contrasting colors with some muted tones for background. I ended up blocking out the white parts of the panda then just going to town with all of the muted colors that I had available on my pallette. I used the splatter technique to lay the colors down. Once it was dry I used the Le Pen Marker to fill in the black parts then adding some decorative parts to the white. I used a white gel pen to do the same decorative lines on the black parts. Further thoughts: I do think that I'll have more art in the Animals series coming up as I have already done sketches for an owl and a lioness. I would say the tea painting experiment was a total fail as I did not use washes. I simply laid down the tea then added water on top... which is not the proper way to paint using tea. I might try this again in the future but I feel that I would rather use brown India Ink instead. Inchies have become an addiction... I have already cut up a bunch of inchies plus these mini tiles from leftover watercolor paper. I think they are great for using as goodies to send to hosts or even artists that I trade with.
2 Comments
Intro: This swap on ATCsForAll focused on bizarre holidays from around the world in February. We had to select holidays to illustrate from a list that was provided. It did not have all of the holidays listed and thus we were really limited. And no, the holidays were not all bizarre like the title says. If I remember correctly, there were no bizarre holidays for February at all.
What I created: I made all three cards out of watercolor plus added details using LePen marker and white gel pen. As I am preoccupied with other swaps, 29 Faces challenge, and personal trades I did not get a chance to create more cards. I was originally going to do 5 or 6 but ran out of time. Even though the swap deadline is three weeks away I just have too many swaps that end at the same time as this one. Enjoy! Intro: Week one of the 29 Faces Challenge for February was great and very productive. I was able to get the first two faces done in one day... but then this weekend got really tiring and just not healthy. I was not able to create face #06... Looks like this week I'll be playing catch up. I was able to get #06 to #24 all sketched out and ready to go! #06 is still an ATC (for this swap) but the rest are all on 4"x6" postcard canvases. I already went ahead and purchased an simple leather album from Hobby Lobby (only for $3.49) to start collecting postcards in. My first blind postcard from a PIF already came in, plus I'll be getting 2 more from MMHs so it looks like the album should fill up quickly. Especially when I have all of these faces completed.
What I created: I made all of the faces on ATCs sized canvases (2.5"x3.5"). The first two have already been traded for personal trades (so quick!). And the next three are for the Paying Tribute - Celebrities We Lost in 2016 Swap. All were done with watercolor paints plus detailing done using Le Pen markers and white gel pen. Further thoughts: I am not so sure if I'll be able to get the bigger sized canvases done all in one day now.. I found that working with the faces on ATC sized canvas was pretty quick even with details. But the details did get difficult to create even with a really tiny brush. It looks like I might need to purchase markers/pens for detailing seeing as the brushes are not working out. At any rate I am still going to stick to my goal of finishing one face a day even if they are on postcard sized canvases now. No further requests came in for portraits but I was able to get a really lovely collection put together on Paint My Photo plus some images from a Facebook page (with permission). I still have 5 more faces left to think about... I might use the Facebook page for those seeing as I have not used any of their images for reference. For the upcoming week I'll have my first 3 requests completed. I have already sketched a self-portrait so I'll not be shying away from that. I am going to keep the last 5 slots open still just in case I do get a request. Intro: Just catching you guys up on recent art that I have traded already. I specifically made these for personal trades set up on ATCsForAll.
What I created: All of them were made using watercolor, Le Pen marker, and white roll gel pen. The Stained Glass Rose and the Heart inchie both have puffy paint used for outlining. I made three ATCs (2.5"x3.5") and 6 inchies (1"x1"). Further thoughts: I was recently feeling very inspired by Art Nouveau stained glass art and had decided to create a bunch of ATCs and postcards that a similar style. I already knew I was going to be using puffy paint as a replacement liner (gutta) for the stained glass art and Chinese watercolors due to their stained look. So far I was not exactly pleased with what I created due to the tip of the puffy paint bottle not behaving properly. I am going to get a fine tip liner bottle and try again to see if I am able to get better results. Intro: I had previously created 12 twinchies for this series (Valentine 2017 Series) and decided I wanted to create a few ATCs while the season is still around I'll be re-porting these two ATCs when I upload new ATCs in this series. What I created: I just wanted to share these while I could (before I forget). I wanted to try a new technique which I used in the "Board Hearts" ATC. I simply used watercolor to paint the background and then created designs in marker on top once it was dry. On a separate sheet I used watercolor to just lay down a bunch of pinks and reds with no intention to create a pattern. Once that dried up I cut it into strips (0.20"x3.0"). I then laid them down and drew a heart shape onto the strips...which I then cut and glued on the background. I really liked this idea that I used... I am thinking about creating some collage pieces with this technique. The second ATC was a combination of two Valentine themed sugar cookies that I saw on Google. they were depicting Charlie Chaplin and Marilyn Monroe but I decided to combine them together to create my own version of a poster that I really like: Further thoughts: I think the trick that I used to create a double layer for the "Board Hearts" could be quite useful in coming up with my own unique "style" so to speak. I am going to continue making ATCs and other sized art for this series so I'll post them upon completion. These two cards are currently available for trade (view their status).
I already have signed up for a few more swaps with themes all across the board: animals, songbirds holidays, and so on. i'll post those ATCs once I complete them. I am also preparing for the #29face challenge that start in February (just around the corner). Intro: I decided to start creating art for two separate series of my own: Skyscapes and Whimsical Landscape. I was recently requested to participate in personal trades that required me to create a nature themed ATC that could include trees or animals or just landscapes.
What I created: I ended up making two ATCs that have trees in them (both inspired by simple Smartphone Emoji) and a third ATC depicting a sunset with birds flying. I liked the idea and decided that I needed to keep these two themes going in the future and thus added all three cards to series. All three were created using the typical watercolor paint with detailing in Le Pen marker and a white gel pen. Be sure to see more art from these two series in the future as I have already gotten requests for more cards to be made in both series. Trade status: All three have been traded upon uploading to ATCsForAll. Intro: My first twinchies were created as part of the Valentine Twinchies Swap. These are 2"x2" as the name states.
What I created: I made 4 twinchies for this swap - one for the host as a gift and three for the actual swap. All of them were done in watercolor with details added on using a white gel pen, Le Pen marker, and Puffy Bead Paint. All four have been mailed off...now waiting on my swaps. Intro: I participated in a swap called Animal Play ABC. Currently the first the letters of the alphabet were focused...with plans for the future to continue doing swaps till we have the entire alphabet complete.
What I created: I made three cards as required for the swap plus an extra as a gift to for the host. All of the cards were done in watercolor, with Le Pen marker and a white gel pen used to add the finishing touches. The animal/card details in order:
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...? |
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
April 2017
Categories
All
Copyright © Reji Randhawa | The Paradox Sketchbook. All rights reserved.
All work on this blog is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. |