A new approach to my YouTube videos

 While I was editing my lastest demonstration, a white on black rabbit protrait, I was struck by inspiration.

Rather than  just have the full 45 minute demonstration or a high speed demonstration I added the high speed demo to the end of the real time demo. Genius! Well, it is to me. Then, if you go to the hi-speed demo and you want to see more you can. If you get bored with the real time demo you can skip ahead. The time is listed on the video so there's no guess work. 

Here's the final piece:

Just click on the image so that you can go to the video.  

That's all folks. Let me know if you have any thoughts about this new approach. Thanks for reading.

I finally figured out what art journaling is for, for me

Four days ago I decided I needed to keep an art journal. Just for me to experiment.  No videos. Just for me. I bought a beautiful art journal which is multimedia but not really. You have to be careful about watercolors, etc.

I'm trying to find my best medium for this time of my life and since I'm drawn to watercolors and I've been studying off and on for a few years and I love to experiment I'm working to master this medium. Now, in truth, I believe pastels, soft pastels, are my strongest medium and if I went back to just chalk I would create beautiful work. 

Still, I am intrigued water colors and other water based medium. These are subjects I've done in the past fours days and I have done the all in pastels and much better. But I have done some brilliant work with watercolor when I am patient. I don't have to be patient with pastels. Fixing mistakes is easy. Not so with watercolor. Patience is key. For watercolor and for me. But my hands still wabble, still remain unsteady and I wonder why I'm punishing myself.

That's what I figured out in three days. I didn't journal today yet. The day job got in the way. Anyway, I must be patient. I must let the medium lead. Like a slow dance. So I close my eyes, pretend I'm moving to a beautiful song in the arms oh Mr. Who. Just who is my dance partner? Graphite? Ink? Acrylic? Watercolor? Neo color 2? Gouache? Pastels?

Delta sparkle is the best animal portrait I've done since I was hospitalized.  Its time to put away the water medium and go back to my original medium, chalk. In fact, while I exercise and continue to reclaim my drawing skills, I will start with white charcoal and white pencil on black paper. 

In terms of teaching, acrylics and pastels are my strongest mediums. Just like the third grade, I'll pull out the chalk and write on the black board. Journaling really was helpful. I've been bouncing around too much trying to fix something that wasn't broken. 

From my few days of journaling.

9

And the search goes on and on and...

 Here's what I've been up to since last I posted. Derwent Inktense blocks and Pencils.

I e joyed it but it wasn't as fulfilling as it once was. I've done better with the medium and I've done worse. In the first painting I used blocks and some pencils. In the second I used mostly pencils. I prefer the softer touch of the second piece. 

Well, one would think that I would continue on to do more work with Inktense but, I'm not. I put away the inktense and pulled out my water soluble graphite pencils and my watercolor pencils and trying my hand at glazing. I've started on my latest project and with composition in place, I'm activating the graphite one area at a time and  then I'll glaze with watercolor pencils in tge same way. So far I'm enjoying it and enjoying not taping it. I will tape the last of the project so everyone can see the process but I really enjoy not worrying about camera angles and narration. In fact, I've not narrated mt last 2 or 3 videos. Amazingly, as much as I talk, especially at the library where I have to talk to people, I like working in silence. I even enjoy working with the sound of a mystery or tv show in the background.  

Which brings me to my latest quandary. Hiw to keep up my YouTube channel without doing the normal demos. I've been watching a few YTERS for ideas and I think il on the verge of the verge of the verge of a new approach. 

I want it to be better. I want it to be more interesting. I'm praying on it. Seriously. Inspiration is needed and prayed for. 

Thanks for sticking with me. 

More about acrylic inks

 In my last post I shared the background for the chickadee. Here is the completed piece. I used the acrylic inks to paint the bird as well. While they covered beautifully, I was surprised, somehow, at how thick they seemed to me. The bird, while cute, isn't as delicate as I would have liked. I painted this piece on art board.

This is a finch and my attempt here was to use the background as part of the bird and I did succeed. I did make the bird too long so it looks off, to me. I jused the acrylic ink for the background and the bird. In this piece I worked on watercolor paper so that I was able to get the texture of the paper to work for me. The branch that the bird rests on is sort of there and not there because of the mottle of the ink that I magically achieved. I used the spray bottle and tilting and a bit of paper towel do do some blotting. 

So, where do I stand on acrylic ink after four pieces, well really five since I tossed the first piece I did of the finch? I like it for the abstract background but not for painting. I did some nice glazing on the bird and built up the color but didn.t get quite what I was striving for; a sort of delicacy. But I am also pleased that the motor control and strength in my right hand are returned.  So, that said, on to my next medium.

I am now working with Derwent Inktense blocks and pencils. I originally worked with them about 7 years ago and I'm just learning to use them again. This is the piece I just completed. It's the finch. The medium works well. I just need more practice. This painting isn't as good as the one above but, there was greater ease of application. The only hindrance was me. I used a 12 block set and I didn't do as good a job at blending as I could have. But this will change. My next painting will not be a finch.  Stay tuned for more on Derwent Inktense blocks and pencils. I will also be incorporporating the acrylic inks for background art. So, maybe, the best medium is ink but not just one kind. We'll see.

Acrylic is a water based medium too!

 A few days ago I created a new composition and got out my watercolor paints and brushes and started to work and it was a disaster. I had no control. I just couldn't guide the paints in the direction I wanted to go. I ripped up the canvas and just thought it over. I needed to have control. Better control of my medium. I pulled out my acrylic inks and paints and brushes and markers and some 5 x 5 art boards and started a new project. Well, two and I'm on my third. 

I used the acrylic ink on the background and then drew in and painted the birds. I used the droppers from the ink bottles; in this one blue and white; and sprayed it with a mister and tilted the tile and let it dry. Actually the only reall control I had was what colors to add. I can never duplicate this background. I like it. 

In this painting of the Winged Warbler I used sepia, green, yellow and white in the same manner as I did with the painting of the Robin above and once again I had no control save the color selection. I like it.

I've done this before and I've always enjoyed the serendipitus outcome of letting the colors arrange themselves. Somehow, this is something that I could never do with watercolor. Watercolor requires as much control as it does looseness but with acrylic inks it's letting go.

I do like letting go. 

Then I drew in the birds and painted them with acrylic paints. The video for the Winged Warbler is available for viewing. Just click on the image to watch. There is no narration. I just didn't feel like talking about what I was doing and for the most part, what I was doing was pretty self-evident. Or maybe not. 

So now I am working with acrylics again and experimenting with ways to incorporate watercolor techniques. But I think I'll have to work on watercolor paper for that since canvas and art board really don't absorb water.

Here is a photo of stage 1 of my third painting. I used orange, sepia and white. The image is still wet and settling and takes about 2 hours to dry. But it will be similar to this image. Then I'll draw a chickadee on it and start painting. This time I'm going to try to incorparate the background into the image. I'll let you know when it's done.

 

All watercolor paints are not the same.

 Today I am reporting on my research about watercolor paints. So far I know that a few companies like Winsor and Newton and Schminke produce watercolors set that have opaque, transparent, granular and staining and they can all be opaque or transparent or semitransparent or semiopaque. Wow!

Kuratake Gansai Tambi watercolor paints which I own and have used with much joy are opaques. No transparency if you don't count that the more water you use the lighter the hue; no granulation. They are intended to be opaque and vivid and they are.

Sennelier, my preferred watercolor, has opaque, semiopaque, transparent and semitransparent paints. No granular paints; no stains. Now I realize that my watercolors tend to be tighter in technique because I generally use a limited palette like that Zorn palette which is opaque in nature. I didn't know. Now I do but I'm not sure that will change anything. Well, I'll try to use the primary colors and employ some transparent and semitransparent hues. 

I stopped reading after all of this and realized that if you wish to focus on a particular type of watercolor you need to so some research before you buy anything. I'm happy with the few Winsor and Newton tubes that I use and my Sennelier Fine Watercolor and student grade and my travel set. I do love my travel set. I don't do Pleinair painting. Just don't like it. But, with my limited work space, the fewer the tubes or smaller the travel set the better. 

I just received, two days ago, the Meed 42 color Traveller's Watercolor set and I'm looking forward to using it. I've wanted it for some time and the price was right. For $16.95 I got the paints and four water brushed. Nifty. I'm not certain I'll use the water brushes. I have several and I use them with Inktense for the most part and sometimes watercolor pencils. I have read some reviews and I can see why you need to be sure that the palettes are dry before closing up or they'll create a mess. I"ll let you know when I try them.

I did just give Prang Oval 8 watercolor buttons a shot and I was impressed with the vibrance of the color and the ease of use. Not lightfast so not for paintings I want to sell but heres' a painting I did in my latest video.

There was no reference photo. I looked at one mushroom and added a couple more in different positions. The color is strong. I painted wet on dry with a touch of wet on wet and the paints preformed well. I think if you're just starting out with watercolor painting Prang is a good set to start with. They retail for $8 to $10 but can be gotten for $4 or $5. Then, if you don't enjoy the method, you haven't lost very much.

Click HERE to view that video and click HERE2 to see the unwrapping of the Meeden 42 set.

Right now I'm planning a loose, for me, watercolor painting using my Sennelier paints. I have four days off in a row and it's earmarked for this masterpiece. 

Before I go I want to give you all the helpful hint about finding out if your paint is opaque, transparent, etc. On the back of the tubes most that I have tried have a tiny square. If it's opaque the square is filled in with black. If it's semiopaque the square has a diagonal line with one half black. If the paint is transparent the square is white and if it's semitransparent there is a diagonal line in the box but no color,  I did not know this.

I understand that Schminke uses a triangle rather than a square. When checking out watercolor paints at the art supply store, turn over the tube and take a look. It may or may not make a difference to you.

Experiment in black

 I finished my video on painting with black watercolors and you can click HERE to watch.

This is the painting, well a rough study, that I completed on that video. Used primary colors mixed with the three blacks, ivory, lamp and mars to create a moody palette. The lamp black stayed close to it's original color absorbing the hues I added. But ivory and Mars black took on the hues of the added colors to create olive green, dark red and a plum. 

I believe that black has been given a tough break and not enouch credit in blending with other colors to create new shades and hues. 

Right now I'm studying staining, granulation, opacity and transparency. My head is already spinning. 

Black, to use ir not to use

 Well, some say make your own black. Some say absolutely use black from te tube. I say it depends on whether or not there is actual black in the composition. 

Many artists say mixing your paints with black creates mud. Well, sometimes that will happen. Sometimes it won't and, I believe, a great deal depends on which black you use. Although to the naked eye under  normal light all of the common paint blacks look alike. The hues I'm talking about are Ivory, Lamp and Mars and I have used all of them. There are other shades of black which come from the many manufacturers but Ivory, Lamp and Mars are most common. 

Black is the subject of my upcoming video but I thought I'd share sone of my observations.  

Ivory black, is a black color with a brown undertone

Lamp Black, is a black with a bluish tint

Mars Black, is a black color with a brown undertone

This is a test I did mixing Winsor Newton Yellow with each of the black paints, from left to right: Ivory, Lamp and Mars. I used about a 50/50 mix of yellow and black and below are the results. Ivory Black: greenish brown; Lamp black: a brownish black and Mars black: a yellow green.  

 The orange in this image is from Winsor Newton Red and Yellow and I matched them side by side with the three blacks so see if there was a difference in view. I didn't see one. I had thought that the orange would  pop a bit next to the Lamp black because of it's bluish tones (center) but it didn't. But if you want to make a muddy green or a yellow green, you don't need to mix yellow and blue. This is just the beginning of my demonstration but, I see some positive aspects to using black in your palette whether alone or  mixed with other colors.

This watercolor painting of a Baltimore Oriole is one I just completed and I used Lamp Black for the black wings of the bird. Sometimes, I add a touch of blue or violet but this time I chose to use a pure hue. It looks good to me. I'm just getting back into watercolor painting after my Covid infection. I've mentioned before that the arthritis in my right hand become more severe after my illness in December so I'm working to rebuild my strenght  and fine motor skills by painting and drawing. I have been trying to create looser work, using pen as I did in this painting to outline the subject but I'm beginning to think that I can work more realistically, consistently with watercolors now so that's where I plan to point my recovery. 

I got a bit off topic there but back to my lesson in black. Up next will be mixing the black with blue and red to see what comes of it and which paints produce cleaner results. Maybe the issue with muddy colors is that the wrong hue is being used.  I'll keep you posted and let you know when my video is complete.

Experiment with Mineral Paper

 That's right! Mineral paper. Paper made from rocks. No trees were cut down to manufacture this paper. That's cool. 

Oil based mediums can't be used on this paper but everything else can be.  

I used Pan Pastels to create this portrait of my sweet Renard.

While the portrait is fun, and my hand isn't up to its strength, the number of layers I could add was limited. I stopped when I began to see pastels rubbed away. Watercolor paper and pastel papers are my preference for this medium. Now, if I was going to create a pastel study, this paper would be perfect for me.

Next up was the same portrait using watercolor. I began with wet on wet and continued with wet on dry ended with pen and ink. 

While this image is fun, it's not as good as it would gave been on hotpress watercolor paper. I wasn't able to create clean hard edges I could normally create. Paint was too easily moved around and washed away. For simpler watercolor images I believe I would have done better and probably using dry on wet would have more successful. My aim is to use more water not less. I think creating abstract shapes would be fun, as with the area beneath my muse. It seems similar to work I did with acrylic inks.

I'll be trying acrylic inks and pens on this paper sometime in the future but, I won't be using it for watercolor or pastels. 

Click on my watercolor image to watch my YouTube video of this project. 

Here is a link to a YouTube video from the manufacturers of this paper, Yasutomo.

The illusive best medium

I've recently changed my blog description to "..follow me on my search for the illusive best medium." because I realized that I have been chasing that Best Medium for me all of my life. It's been a long life. 

I started scribbling on old cards and photos with a pencil, moved on to crayons and chalk and colored pencils and finally paints. All kinds of paints. I studied weaving and printmaking and scuplting and ceramics but my best place was two dimensional art. 

I don't have any of my early art. It was all tossed by me and my mother. My first painting experience was paint by numbers and with those paints I painted this double portrait of my mother's dog, Cookie. He was a Gemini, like me, so I painted him as twins. I have no canvas so I used a piece of thick paper I had laying around. My mother framed it and it hung in her living room for years.

The color is wild. I knew nothing about color theory although I had the blue/orange contrasting colors down pat.  The image was drawn freehand.  I was very good at drawing. Even better than I am today. I was 17.

These are life drawings I drew during my freshman year intro to drawing class. I was 18. A simple graphite pencil drawing on newsprint. Fifty three years later, rolled up and kept out of the sunlight, they are still in pretty good condition. 

Most of the work I did was in graphite. I dropped out of college and went to a medical school (not college) to become a lab technician. Moved to Florida; ended up doing office work and moved back to New Jersey.  It was several years before I seriously studied art again, I was in my thirties. But I lacked confidence in my ability to support myself with my art so I went to library school where I found a way to support myself, help people and use my creative side.  But still; I just want to be a full-time artist. Now, I'm a caregiver, a part-time librarian and a part-time artist. Art is my passion and my sanity. My one regret is that I gave up on myself and didn't pursue visual art in my teens. I wonder how much better I would be today; what avenues I would  have pursued; how the energy of other your creative minds would have spurred me on. 

I've always been good with technology. Not genius good but good, better than many so using software to create composition and cameras and editing software to create YouTube videos was my next step to share my art. There's certainly a learning curve but I've picked up a lot in the past 3 years. I sell a bit here and there; sometimes folks learn something from my videos; sometimes I learn something from other people's videos. To see what I've been doing for the past 3 years just go to my YouTube channel:www.youtube.com/@joanmansson .

If any of this post sounds like a pity party please know that it's not meant to. I'm an artist. A painter, a draftsman. Whether I'm a great artist or a mediocre artist, I'm an artist in search of my own Best Medium and I'm determined to find it. In the meantime, I'm having a great time. A zen time. An exciting time. 

 

Making the most of applicator sponges in my Pan Pastel painting

This lovely Pan Pastel Painting of a Papillion is the subject of my latest YouTube Video. Just click on the image above to watch it. The video is just over 1 hour long. 

These are the tools (sponges, applicators and Pan Pastels) that I used to create this portrait. I've found that using them makes my work freer and isn't as taxing on my fingers. I've dealt with arthritis for years but when Covid came along and knocked me out, after brainfog lifted, I found that I just couldn't paint the way I used to. Some how, my hands, my fingers, particularly my right hand, my dominant hand, is weaker; tires more easily.  I have been testing applicator tools and my Pan Pastels since this medium is the easiest for me to use and found that the triangular sponge offers me the greatest range of use. Most of this painting was done using triangular sponges and the background was done with egg shaped sponges. They're just lots of fun. 

I'm no longer worried about realism in my work. Well, of course she looks like a Papillion and of course she's lovely and the painting is fun. But, I'm not concerned with making the fur look real. It's enough for me that you know it's fur. It's enough for me that there's a glint in her eye and a smile on her face. Extra details, fine details, aren't necessary. 

 

My first Post Covid Art Project

       Watch the realtime video. Click here.

I painted this surreal piece using blue, white and black Pan Pastels and pastel pencils. My surface is Canson black drawing paper. This lovely, empty tequila bottle has a blue rooster standing on the front of it. Doing glass isn't as tricky as it seems, especially on black paper. Capturing the reflections as abstract shapes is key. I pulled the rooster off the label, leaving just part of the tail feathers and the right leg on the bottle. 

I still have more physical therapy to do. Well, not prescribed but self imposed. My hands are not steady enough, strong enough to move as delicately as I wish. Now that I can work with art again, I'm on the rad to renewed health. Brainfog is pretty much lifted. Six or seven weeks of being ill is so difficult on my creative nature. 

It's been a long, long time...

 It's a long itme since my last post and in most of them I have barely been able to think creative thoughts let alone create art. 

In mid December I was struck down by Covid. I wasn't thrilled of course but I expected it would only be a couple of weeks. I was so wrong. I must have brought it home from work and I passed it to my sister who, while later hospitalized for something different, got over Covid quickly. I'm still on sick leave and it's January 18th. I was hospitalized but I knew the signs. I was heading into dehydrattion and kidney failure. I have been there before. I came home for Christmas although we, Rose and I have yet to celebrate. Maybe this weekend or the next. I am still exhausted but I knew I was finally on the mend when the brain fog lifted. The incessant cough may be with me for months. I still have a rest after climbing the stairs. 

So that is it. My 2023 begain with back to back surgeries and ended with Covid. I wasn't able to visit my sister while she was in the hospital because of my health. And I havent been able to so much as doodle in all of this time. I often wondered how Elizabeth Barrett Browning wrote her beautiful poety in such ill health but it was only her body that was weak. Her mind was clear. 

In the past couple of weeks I have been able to think about art. I pulled out my Pan Pastels and tools and thought of a composition. I'm hoping today that I can take a reference photo. It  won't be complete. I need to photograph a Tequila bottle to get the reflections, etc, but then the rest is pure imagination. That's the part I love and that's why it will be in Pan Pastels. Pan Pastels are my comfort medium. I can work with shaky hands and stop and go as I please. Drying time has no importance. 

Well here is the base reference photo...

Wish be well with this project.