On 01.02.02, I was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer. Too late for surgery, I had chemotherapy, which failed. In May the chemotherapy was changed and I was soon in remission which was celebrated and welcome and lasted nine years - until October 2011. There was progression in 2011 so more treatment was indicated and I am now back in partial remission. But I'm not only a cancer patient - I also enjoy my family, walk my dogs and am learning to draw and paint. Life is good!

Sunday, April 13, 2008

Try something new

One of my favorite technique books for learning how to travel with a sketchbook is given exactly that title: THE ART OF TRAVEL WITH A SKETCHBOOK: Six Tips to Get Started, by Mari Le Glatin Keis. I mentioned it once before on this blog and am now reading it again.

One of her techniques involves drawing over an article in a local newspaper. News junkie that I am, I do buy newspapers when I travel. I have never drawn over an article. In our own Sunday paper today there was a cute article on waitering when everything goes wrong, with an accompanying photograph. I decided to attempt this draw-over-it method.

I tore out the article because I liked the ragged edges and glued it in my Moleskine. Then I painted over part of it with white gouache to give myself some drawing space. Then I sketched from the photo -- if I were traveling I would draw my surroundings -- and used Prismacolor pencils to make the ink drawing more colorful.

I'm glad I practiced before using this idea on site because I learned that it is easy to apply pencil and black ink over gouache but the colored pencils weren't happy with that surface and balked a little. I also learned that when I tried to thin the gouache the paper began to wrinkle with the extra water. And I was reminded that I still don't know how to draw faces and it's beginning to cramp my style. Still and all, when I travel I would consider this technique for added interest in a sketchbook and fully intend to use it. Now.... where should I go?

3 comments:

  1. Oh being waited on can come with a price. I remember going to a restaurant (Mimi's) with my brother. While we were waiting for our table (guess there is a pun in there somewhere) we saw a waitress spill a glass of iced water in a guy's lap. Boy did he jump! My brother thought that was hilarious and couldn't stop laughing over it - till we were seated and a different waitress spilled iced water in his lap! It's hard to believe it could happen twice in a 10 minute interval but it really did.

    I like that technique and will have to try it. I like that you put the article in your journal before working on it. Maybe gesso would be better than gouache. Sanded lightly, we could use any pencils even watercolor on it.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I had a rough time just drawing on newspaper print (the kind you get in a tablet from the art store). It's a fine idea, but I can imagine some of the media doesn't take a liking to newsprint. Always fun to experiment!

    Mark

    ReplyDelete
  3. Nice juxtaposition! I've used ModgePodge to adhere things into altered books... and you can draw/paint over it later... but it takes a while to dry.

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts with Thumbnails