Sunday, March 7, 2010

Scrap Art

This is getting to be old but again, I still don't have anything good to show you or even talk about. But, I did do a piece of scrap art the other night while watching TV. You know, one of those things where you're watching tv and just reach for whatever scrap is nearest you and start doodling or sketching or something?
In this case, I reached for the Portrait Pastels that were sitting next to me because I thought I'd just play with blending some colors and see how they blended with a wet brush after finger blending. That led me to thinking about something I saw SHARON (All Norah's Art) do on her blog one time. Rather than sketch out a outline for a face, she just laid down some smears of paint where the facial features would be and started painting from there. I grabbed the only thing in front of me, which turned out to be a piece of used waxed paper that I use to protect work from sticking in a book. Anyway, not really giving it any thought I laid down some fleshy color with a pastel for the area of eyes, nose and mouth and from there just played with layers of colors and eventually outlining the face and a neck. I sit next to a heater because my legs and feet get too cold, so for some reason I got the bright idea just to see what would happen if I took that scrap of waxed paper with the colored face on it and put it in front of the heat for a bit? Well, it melts and blends together FAST! Luckily for me, it also cools very fast. Now it had blended away some color so I went back and added more and being just play I started on her hair adding more and more colors and heating now and then to blend. I got to a place where I decided I was rather surprised and thrilled that I actually had a pretty good face. I wanted to scan it because you always see so many more mistakes and good points, even, by scanning and looking at the picture. I was thinking being on waxed paper I probably needed something behind the face so I reached over to my pile and took out a piece of script background paper and now I'm thinking that if it shows through the wax paper it just might be pretty cool.....maybe. While setting a piece of the torn paper to the side, my hand brushed a pkg. of new clear stamps that had just come! So, yup, decided I'd see what the scroll stamp looked like on the top and bottom and at the last minute also tried the bird stamp. I forgot to say that first, I used gel medium to glue the script to the waxed paper and then went over the top with gloss decoupage medium which politely bubbled and buckled! So I let it dry and then turned it over, pressed it down and smoothed it out. It left flattened wrinkles but it could've been worse!
After all the play and what ifs....here is what I ended up with. I sort of wish now that it was done on a good piece of paper or something. Maybe it can be used on a journal page or collage sometime.....maybe not.
I forgot to say that is was all finger blended and until the end and then I got a pen and did some definition.

3 comments:

Emelie said...

Oh Man I was so excited reading this I wanted to scroll right to the bottom and look, but I made myself read and take it all in, and then I was sort of worried I had missed something, but then you included the bit of informtion, then I waited a bit more because I knew it was going to be beautiful and it was and it is! You put everything into this that you learned from the videos only you used a different medium, it is so pretty and you have to post it there at the class. I have to go back and read about the hair and see how you did that. I am so glad you got a face this weekend and you got to do some art. I am so excited about this face.
ow to go rad that again becaue it is so good, and if you read Diane's blog today she has a story also of how things go sometimes.

Diane said...

Star, I love when this happens--not planning anything, and then you end up with something so cool, and it excites you to try more--I just LOVE the way she turned out.

Dragonlady said...

Awesome, Star........I read the post scrolling down and trying not to just jump to the pic, but I waited until I read all of it...and the face is Amazing....i love how you just did it without much thought and all the while watching tv...
you are one talented woman...
hugs and love
Brenda

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