Changes in Elevation

Dave and I will be doing miles of hiking in the mountains of West Virginia next week. I will love all the hiking … but I'll love the level parts of the trails more than the steep parts.

Meanwhile, I've done plenty of steep with this bookmark.

Remember when I said I didn't do a trial run with the masking fluid ahead of time? Because, you know, I was impatient?

Joke was on me.

Turns out I did three trial runs—directly on the bookmark itself.

The first time, the masking fluid was poorly mixed. I rubbed it off after it dried. No harm, no foul.

The second time, the masking fluid was well-mixed but awkwardly applied. Ugly mark-making. I rubbed it off … and it took with it most of the text I wanted to protect. Sigh.

The third time, with repairs made, mark-making to my liking, and negative spaces painted, I rubbed off the masking fluid, only to lose key collage bits once again.

So much to learn.

Several more uphill climbs and one sweet downhill run later, however: a bookmark!—the third and final in my Brené Brown Dare to Lead series.

As If Feelings Finally Made Any Difference at All
1.5 x 6"; acrylic, collage, and oil pastel on watercolor paper
abstract bookmark
2018
[not for sale]

Just Enough Time

Very busy day—again!—with another long list of tasks.

Made time to go to my studio anyway, knowing I'd only have a few minutes but happy for whatever I could get.

Notice the differences between where I left off yesterday (left) and where I left off today (right).

    

Turns out I had just enough time to get myself … nowhere.

I tried my hand at using masking fluid I'd purchased some months ago. Impatient, as always, I did so without doing any kind of test run.

I did read and follow the directions, which included the instruction to rinse the applicator clean after use. To the sink I went.

Whaaaaat??!

Inside the bottle I saw not the clear thin fluid I'd applied but a thick coagulated substance that looked like liquid 'foundation' makeup (and well you might ask how I would know what makeup looks like).

Sooooo. I'll let the bookmark dry and see what sense I can make of things tomorrow.

Playboards

Nicholas Wilton encourages artists to make what he refers to as playboards and others might refer to as activating the canvas. The idea is to just put down paint with as little thought as possible as a loosening up exercise before moving into other phases of a painting.

History of the playboard I generated today:

piece of calendar poster
rough brush and gesso
crosshatching with princeton catalyst blade



grease pencil



golden high flow acrylic dripped onto wet surface
tube acrylics, bristle brush, foam brush



acrylic paint pens



gel pen
papermate sharpwriter pencil
oil pastels



scissors
masking fluid (far right)
  


Fun.