Tuesday, January 26, 2016

New Work: Every Last Drop

Every Last Drop
image size 12" x 16" matted to 16" x 20"
acrylic painted papers on wc paper

This is the nineteenth piece that I have made in this particular style, using painted and cut paper. It feels to me like I am making things that I never would have had the patience to make painting directly onto canvas or paper. I think I am just marveling at how a change in one's approach can completely send one in another direction, possibly in the "right" direction. It can even solve problems and allow a person to move forward with ideas that seemed impossible to begin with. To me, it's proof positive that the creative process is both fluid and permeable. One needn't be stuck with a particular method of working, style or even medium. As long as new ideas are permitted to enter the process, different and more satisfying results can be achieved. A person's art or art making should never become stagnant. There is just no reason for this. (PS-I wrote this in the AM and it sounds a little high flying now in the PM. I really do mean it though!)

Process:
With the above piece, I used a completely different approach of assembly. I had two specific problems to work out. First off, over the past several months, I have created some drawings that I really love. Their overlapped and more organic shapes though present a problem with construction. Generally, I make a drawing and then just cut the paper, eyeballing it, and affixing the resulting shapes to the larger watercolor paper. These drawings though need precise and specific shapes, overlapped in a definite sequence, in order to work. It took me awhile to figure out what to do. I finally hit on the idea of simply transferring the initial drawing onto the larger paper. From there, I traced each shape onto my painted papers and then cut out that shape and placed it on the larger paper (in sequence). For me, it was very challenging to see which shapes to cut and place first. It is a lot like quilted applique. You really have to think in terms of layers and subsequently, how pieces will interact with each other.

The other real challenge was color. Somehow, I have gotten away from an initial colored drawing for guidance. It was this piece of the puzzle that I was really missing. Without the actual colored "sketch" I was having a hard time figuring out what colors to paint my papers. With the colored sketch as guidance (and a more simplified approach to using color that I also developed) I was able to see what colors to paint my papers. I also made a "scale" of the resulting colors using little swatches. I could see right away if I had enough of a value range and contrast. 

More High Flying Thoughts!
I'll be the first to admit that this approach isn't for everyone. It's actually just for me! And that is what makes art so unique I think. Everyone really has their own approach that is born of taking ideas from many different sources. You end up creating your own unique concoction of solutions and approaches. With that said though, there is some basic stuff that everyone can use (and that I think we all use). Even if you are a plein air painter and don't paint directly onto the canvas and use a thumbnail sketch instead, you still need the ability to transfer that thumbnail sketch to a larger canvas. (and the vision to see if it works as well as the ability to "correct" as you go.) If you paint with oils or even use pastels, you could premix some colors and use a gray scale to check your values. If you are a quilter, making small swatches of fabric on a card and then photographing them in black and white can tell you in an instant if you have a good enough value range. Even if you paint abstractly and intuitively, you still have to deal with shapes and marks and colors. How to make them proportionate? How to get the image and idea and feelings from your head onto the canvas? I really believe firmly that there are some core skills involved that transfer across the board, regardless of style or medium or specific approach. 

What I Learned and Want to Pass Along:
I learned (again) two last things that I will pass along. First, don't become attached to anything! One little mark or shape that you love and can't possibly part with might be holding you back. Just consider if you can get rid of it. What might happen? The second thing is this: details come last and can really tie a piece together. Not excessively fussy details but rather a judicious array and use of details is what can really sew things up. My piece didn't feel complete to me anyway until I started to add some smaller details like lines and smaller, repetitive shapes. It seemed to me that those touches really helped to direct my eyes around the piece as well as tying things together.

And for those interested (and if you made it this far) the piece was inspired by my reading of the making of Hoover Dam. It's true that the dam is named for Herbert Hoover whose involvement and support of the dam was controversial. Politics right? The second thing is something that I learned about the Colorado River itself. It is considered to be the most extensively controlled and litigated river in the world. Seven US states and two Mexican states depend on this water in some way. The title for the piece comes from some of the ideas that I have formed about the river.

OK, thanks for reading and please leave a comment if you would like. Hope everyone is having a good week so far.
Libby

10 comments:

  1. I was going to say that it looked very quilt-like, but then I read on and saw that you already knew that! I like it a lot. Did you paint the woody texture on the brown paper? Wonderful...

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    1. Julie,

      Always glad to hear from you. It's funny how the pieces have gotten increasingly quilt like. Applique was never my strong suit but I find myself drawing on what I learned awhile ago. It has served me well!

      That woody texture is just paint thinned down with a transparent medium. The brush and the transparency cause that texture which I thought was quite unexpected and lots of fun.

      Hope you are doing well. I thought your finishes looked good. I agree about that Kona fabric too. It's the devil to work with.
      Libby

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  2. This piece has such great colors that it felt positively great just to look at it - before discovering what it had to offer.
    I enjoyed reading your thoughts. Some of them I am already familiar with as I have traveled the same path of discovery... in reverse. I would see a color combination I liked in a magazine and cut it up and arrange the different shapes until something hit me as "right". Then I would set up a still life to paint from the inspiration collage.
    I agree with moving from big shapes down to the smaller ones last. The same principles work in painting.
    As always, Libby. A fascinating post.

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    1. Julie,

      Thanks for the positive comments. The colors turned out much better than what I anticipated considering all of the trouble that I gave myself!

      Now, your idea to find colors and cut out shapes to assemble a collage on which to build has me very interested. I have cut up bits of painted paper from my pieces which I use to do just what you are suggesting. But, I never thought to take shapes and colors from a magazine. Now, that is interesting! Thank you!

      We will see what comes of that and in the meantime, I have another idea! Thanks as always for your visits and support.
      Libby

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  3. Libby - this is an amazing piece. The colors work just beautifully together. I admit when I first saw it and read the title my mind thought about coffee - you know because that catchy tune "good to the last drop". So glad though that you had a deeper meaning in mind. Thank you too for sharing how you cut up the pieces and paint them. Having played with collage a bit I think that has to be such a difficult process deciding what goes where. You certainly know what you are doing friend. Thanks as always for your generous sharing.

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    1. Debbie,

      Hey, coffee is just fine! I remember the commercial too:)

      I find the whole process really challenging. In a good way though and right in line with making a painting in a traditional way. It's almost like you need to be conscious of seeing in three dimensions on a two dimensional surface, if that makes sense. It's good stuff. Maybe it will keep me on my toes as I get older:)

      Thank you for your kind words. I really like the piece and so that means a lot.

      Thanks again!
      Libby

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  4. The piece is so pleasing to the eye and clever (stimulating to the intellect), so I would have to say your process sure worked for me, result-wise. I enjoyed reading about your process, too. I'll bet you are a really good teacher...

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    1. Thanks Meredith!

      I was quite surprised with the results which seemed so much stronger than my initial sketch. Just goes to show you what could (or couldn't ) happen! Lots of fun to have a good outcome.

      Glad that you liked the pst too. I try to write about the things that I find out about, all of the mistakes and happy accidents that occur, and other things that might be of benefit (or a good laugh).

      Thanks again for the visit,
      Libby

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  5. This design is very thought out in so many ways! Your approach to artistic problem solving is thorough and challenging. The outcome is wonderful in many ways including color, patterns, shapes, values, etc. I love the use of diagonals - often difficult to work in with other shapes. What a marvelous set of prints these would make!

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    1. Carol,

      Thank you so much for your supportive comments on the design aspects of this piece. That is helpful to me since I am really trying to work on both the process of making the art and the design itself. It's very challenging, I have to admit!

      And working on a diagonal was very fun. It was one of those things where I added elements as I rotated the paper. Lining up the parallel lines was quite a challenge! (I felt that they needed to line up anyway.)

      Thanks again for your visit and observations , Carol. I appreciate it!
      Libby

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Thank you for taking the time to comment. I appreciate it! I reply back in an email if you are signed in and I can see your address. Otherwise I will post the reply here under your comment. I tend to cut and paste my emails too so that others can experience the back and forth which I think is integral to blogging.
Libby