The cover art from romance books fills me with nostalgia. My grandma would read them and
she unloaded bags upon bags of them on my mom. I was drawn to the art on the covers then,
and I still am today. The color stories used in the cover art can be a great jumping-off point.
I use this book in that way—as an inspirational tool for color palette experimentation.
It's also cool to see how the color palettes change through the decades.
...Ready for a (LONG) Paint Chat today with me?
Today, I'm sharing some of my favorite painting products! I often do digital art and I LOVE it but I'm still analog to the core as well. Drawing of the
pencil,
paper, and
pen and ink variety has always been my be-all, end-all. Hey, I was a
Fine Arts major in college, after all! So, no matter how much I love doing
art on the
computer, "analog art" will always be an integral part of my life and my artwork. I've been doing it a long time and have tried many products on the market in the realms of my favorite media. There are some brands and products that haven't failed me yet and I have stuck by through the years. I also have a new favorite or two, down the page. Hey, if you've made it
this far and you're still interested, please be my guest and read on!
Since I enjoy both acrylic and watercolor painting, I have my favorite in each category. For watercolor, I love
Holbein tube paints the best. I have a little
Daler-Rowney mixed in there as well, which I have found to be solid in terms of overall quality. For acrylic painting, Iuse lighter-bodied paint for most of the detailed painting work. For this, I love the
Golden Fluid Acrylics, which offers an excellent variety of dense, saturated colors in a lighter consistency of paint. A close second is the
Liquitex Soft Body line, which is a little thicker than the Golden. I sometimes need to thin them a bit. However, with these richly pigmented colors and superior consistency, they are easily thinned without any pigment separation or over-wateryness of the paint. For grounds and covering larger areas, I use a heavy body paint, and
Liquitex brand Heavy Body paint is easily my "go to".
Above left: this
Liquitex Gloss Varnish is truly excellent. Used for the final glazing step for acrylic paintings, this is not a workable medium. I recently tried it for the first time, and I'm extremely happy with the results.
Above right: A Dick Blick store recently opened near me, so I had to try their line of
acrylic matte thin body paint. I usually think twice before buying a store brand simply because the quality is just not always there (quality of "house products" varies greatly, depending on the chain
and the product itself, I find), but it was so reasonably priced and the variety of hues so enticing, I simply had to give it a shot! Guess what? So far, so good!
Not shown: I've been painting on the
Ampersand Gessobord line of wood box panels, and these are the finest overall quality that I've tried of the boxed panels. I have recently tried the
Dick Blick version as well. It's not quite as Rolls Royce-ish as the Ampersand, but it is still very solid - like maybe it's the Volkswagen. It's nicely made, and on the flat, non-boxed variety of pan
Something to read...This post by designer & artist
Melody Miller blew my mind. She is so honest, and just so good at wrinting it all succinctly! I'm inspired to do my own "Things that didn't work out" post. Actually, her entire blog rocks too.
Bookmark it!Something to look at...Here are some artists I am loving right now. Actually, I've been fans of each of them for a long time now, but don't think I've ever shared that here before. Good stuff!
Danita Art • Tascha Parkinson • Geninne's Art Blog
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| Dansko Penelope boot |
Something to wear (on your feet)...I've worn
these boots all winter long... except for when we had two feet of snow (when I instead wore
these, which are awesome for deep snow). Anyway, these Dansko Penelope's have passed the long-term relationship test, and I plan to buy another pair next year. But for now, I'll probably continue to wear them until it's 75 degrees out... And then I look forward to switching to these, the
Best Sandals I Have Ever Worn, hands down...
(...story coming!)
2 Comments on Pulse check: Something to..., last added: 4/2/2011
SOWA OPEN MARKET 10/10/10, originally uploaded by kathy weller. See all pics on the Flick.Today was
Boston Handmade Day AND Dog-tastic Day at the
South End Open Market (SoWA). I took a trip down to see the new layout and to enjoy the day and the dogs!
Boston Handmader Arthur Halvorsen - LOVE his pottery. I think we live in the same planet. Astro-turf table dressing? Yes!
Another
BH'er,
Cricicis Design makes note cards with a clean design aesthetic.
Amy Casher designs other-worldly, wearable and chic silver jewelry. Beautiful work.
Lauren Blais uses some very innovative materials (she'll tell you, if you ask. Brace yourself!) She merges current and classic looks in a kind of post-modern way that is very appealing. She also teaches jewelry-making classes (
email her).
The Great Reindeer RebellionBy Lisa TrumbauerIllustrated by Jannie HoSterling Publishing, 2009> Book on AmazonFirst and foremost, The Great Reindeer Rebellion is a story told in rhyming verse. By default, this makes it a picture book after my own heart.
(SPOILER ALERT) The Great Reindeer Rebellion follows Santa's trials of auditioning a new group of animals to run the Christmas Eve sleigh ride, because his reindeer have gone on strike due to inhospitable working conditions. It's a very clever backdrop to explain the basic concept of unionization, and the story tackles this feat in a way that is easy to digest, totally unassuming and not didactic in the least. The stories' poem style (Ballad, I think) is a riff on "Twas the night before Christmas". This adds a built-in familiarity to the story from the get-go, and kids and adults alike will instantly feel a sense of comfort on the very first reading. Given the poem's cadence, it's also a fun book to read out loud together.
The story itself is fun AND funny—Santa's search for a new group of sled-pulling substitutes leaves him quite exasperated after every audition. This is my first picture book by author
Lisa Trumbauer, and surely it won't be my last. (RANT ALERT) I have heard time and time again that "it's hard to do rhyme well" and "poetry is a hard sell" in children's trade. I love to write in rhyme myself, and while these remarks are always a bit daunting to hear for an aspiring children's author-poet, they would never stop me from choosing rhyme as my form of writing.
(After all, these things choose YOU, not the other way around. ;)). After continually hearing those words over and over
(...on deaf ears... ;)), and in this publishing climate to boot, seeing books like this one getting published (and presented so beautifully and respectably) is a very good reminder that solid writing is solid writing. At the end of the day, that is what matters.
The story also inspires some highly entertaining visual narrative. Illustrator
Jannie Ho's artwork is her signature visual playground, but here, she tackles some interesting new ground (new to me, anyway). The likes of Santa, Elves, Reindeer on strike (and in hot tubs!) are composed with lots of character and humor. To me, Jannie's work most always has a sort of deadpan-whimsy about it, and here, there's an additional underlying bit of saltiness kicking in! Fun nuggets in the details of some of the spreads reward the viewer and add layers to the story. Jannie's current admirers will be ecstatic, and I've no doubt this book will bring more fandom her way! The richly colored spreads are tactile, too - they're enhanced by the judicious use of spot gloss.
This is a physically substantial book that feels good to hold. The pages are double thick. This does not make the book heavy weight-wise, but it does make it feel like a thick, juicy steak in a picture-book buffet. Pick one up, and you'll see what I mean.
The Great Reindeer
Poppets on my mantle
(L-R: Me, Ruby, Matt, Daisy)
I have admired
Claudine Hellmuth's work for several years now. Ever since I discovered her work and her wonderful "Poppet" artwork, I imagined how fun it would be to have my family "Poppet"-ized! Well, time comes and goes, and before I knew it, I'd never ordered those Poppets I'd promised myself. Well, this year in particular, I've learned through personal experience that it serves no one in the end to wait on things you want to do... or, for that matter, wait on things that perhaps you simply just
want. So, partly in honor of this lesson, I went for it and ordered my Poppets a couple of weeks ago. Horray!! Well, they arrived TODAY, and I could not be happier!!! Thanks to Claudine for her wonderful work, and what a fun process, too. Truly painless, streamlined, and fun. Claudine, you make it a cake walk for us to have our very own custom Poppets! You have really streamlined the entire customer experience and made it easy and fun. The final product is so absolutely charming and whimsical, they bring a smile to my face (if not an outright chuckle) every time. Thank you!
My Poppet proof (from Claudine)
Package full of Poppets
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(L-R) Me (
Kathy), Nancy of
Nancyrosetta artisan jewelry, and Suzanne Conopka at (Etsy artists' group collectives') "
Boston Handmade" craft fair in Union Square, Somerville MA, 6/28/08
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The fun-design of an Etsy postcard at the Etsy swag / information table
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Today,
Boston Handmade, a local association of Etsy artisans, came together in Union Square, Somerville, MA for four hours of arts, crafts, jewelry and textile art - selling fun! The group is very well-organized. Collectively, they sell at a monthly show in
Jamaica Plain, the maintain a really nice and fun to read blog, and on an individual level, members are busy each in their own arts communities and have some interesting things going on, on their own
(curious? it's all on their
blog).
I went to the show today - not to sell my own stuff, but to help my sister Nancy of
Nancyrosetta artisan jewelry. She is a member of the Boston Handmade group and was participating in the show.
We had a really fun day. The weather thankfully held out well throughout the day, after threatening to blow us out with gusty winds during set-up. People were really friendly and kind, all around. It was really pleasant in that way. I sensed a definite lack of the oft-seen/felt 'jockeying for position' and the competitive vibe that can occur at shows. It made for a much more pleasant and relaxed atmosphere throughout the day. The show drew quite a large crowd, though, so oftentimes booths were filled to capacity, and the only people jockeying for position during those moments were customers!
I enjoyed looking at all of the work, and I purchased quite a number of things. I can't help it, I am an art lover, and art makes life better!! And handmade things are even better -- I love buying something specially made! It feels more special hat way, AND it's nice to know where things come from! Good karma!
The work displayed at this show was on the whole pretty outstanding. I've been to a lot of art/craft shows, and this one not only had a really nice overall variety of different products, but the work clearly had a very high level of craftsmanship and aesthetic appeal. In terms of vendors, jewelry seemed to take the lead, but my feeling is that the mix of different styles really supported each individual artist. There was no competing work - no jewelry that was alike. (I even purchased jewelry, myself - from two different sellers!)
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Leetle, superinteresting surrealistic landscape oil paintings by
Carrie Bergsman of bergsmansbear
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Holey cannoli! It's tons of fabulous holey stuff to wear and use by
Louise Cady-Fernandes of The Hole Thing
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Lovely felted and vintage buttoned brooches by
Liz Smith of Made In Lowell.
If you are reading this far: The first person to correctly guess which brooch I purchased will win (
confetti! applause!) a package of
six assorted greeting cards from me! (To guess, just DESCRIBE YOUR GUESS in the comments.)
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Gorgeous jewelry from
Nancyrosetta (my sister!) That's Nancy and her good friend (and an all-around family friend!) Suzanne, who helped out with her table today, too!! (So nice to see her and Jape today!)
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Such incredibly imaginative, unique and delicate little figurines, ornaments and other items, themed for specific holidays/ special occasions, by
Vintage By Crystal. (I bought one for myself! Yay!)
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> See many more photos of this event on my Flickr
Audio CD
Kathy Griffin - For Your Consideration - You either love her or you hate her. I hope I'm not alienating anyone, but, caution to the wind! Love her. She kills me. And as much as I loved her mentor, 80's era Joan Rivers, contemporary Kathy's funnier. I hear a torch being passed!
Cards
Cartolina Cards
There is a bazillion independent card companies out there in the market, and it's a joy to experience each one's own individual aesthetic, but, let's face it, there are so many because there are a lot of very different aethetics (and a lot of different ones that are marketable). This company's cards really turned my head with the unique color, collage and font combinations. Wow, I love them. You know when you see something and it really expresses your own aesthetic but in a much different way than you would express it yourself, if you were to make the art and design your own card? Many of the cards in this line do that for me. I'm going to buy some of these to use myself... and, well, truth be told, I'm kind of a card snob. Full disclosure. (I think most designers are by default though. So don't throw tomatoes at me... or, er, shredded paper... in keeping with the theme... )
Book
"The Trial of Colonel Sweeto and other stories"
by Nicolas Gurewitch
Let's just be honest here. I'm not a huge comics person. I've dabbled over the years - -Archie and Richie Rich in my youth, Palookaville, Love and Rockets and someothers in my early 20's. That's pretty much it. But, being married to a veritable lifetime comic book aficionado, I'm hyper-aware of the market by default (if only because, every time I come home, there's new comic books sprawled out on the coffee table. That said, it is nice to have a mate who truly appreciates art in modern culture. :))
Well, today, he picked up this little gem of a country-fried freak show. Instead of coming up with an in-a-nutshell remark myself, the following quote sizes things up pretty good:
(From the back of the book...)
"If Rod Serling had a sense of humor and an illustration degree, this would be his comic strip"
- Tom Brazelton, Theater Hopper
Each strip in the book is only three or four panels long. In this age of the graphic NOVEL (and short attention spans) that's pretty refreshing. Also of note is that the artist/author uses several distinctly different art styles in the work. Sort of perplexing at first, but it's actually very appropriate given the nature of the strip. Very funny. Check it out!
Disclaimer -- I am in no way, shape or form affiliated with Digital Graphics Resources at all (except for being a past customer, and a happy one at that), but I *am* a big, gigantic, honkin' Cintiq-head, and I so enjoy pushing the Wacom Cintiq on other artists. :)
That said, DGR is currently selling the Cintiq 21UX with a $500 mail-in rebate. That's a mighty fine deal - 20% off. DGR is where I purchased my own Cintiq and I had a very good experience with them. They are independent and customer-service oriented. :)
The Horn Book now has a new monthly e-newsletter called Notes from the Horn Book. You can sign up to receive it, or read it online. Cool stuff.
I was in the bookstore today and almost picked up a brand new March/April copy of the Horn Book, but I thought better of it once I found out the price. Instead, I decided to subscribe, since I buy it all the time anyway. It's such a great magazine, the savings if you buy an annual subscription savings is substantial over newsstand.
This issue, the main story is called "What Makes a Good Alphabet Book? Let’s Start at the Very Beginning" by Lolly Robinson. You can read it here.
I am an aspiring published children's author/illustrator. Yup! It's true!! :) Not sure if you knew that, but there it is. :) Here are two books which have helped me immensely with regards to writing for children.
I've been writing all my life, but have no formal writing training (aside from creative writing classes). I do work really well within a framework, though, and I really believe in having the knowledge of fundamentals and groundwork for any creative endeavor.
These books show you the basic writing frameworks for different genres in easily digestible formats (which also happens to be fun to read). Both have been indispensable to me and I'll bet they will remain open and occupying whatever available counter space there is in my studio for the foreseeable future.
(Note: Please do not be fooled by the titles. The material is not shallow. They are user-friendly, and a great introduction to your future children's writing career!)
Writing Children's Books for Dummies
Lisa Rojany Buccieri and Peter Economy
Very easy to navigate, covers all the basics. A fun and educational read. (You are not a dummy if you read this book. You are a smartie... But you WILL learn a bit about dummies, ha ha). You will refer back to it time and time again. Excellent index.
You Can Write Children's Books
Tracey E. Dils
If there was a superhero of reference books for style in children's writing, this might take the title. I have found so many answers to nitty-gritty writing-style questions between these pages. Stuff you didn't even know you needed to know is here. And all within a slim (gasp) 120 pages. The lady knows how to edit, too!
I feel I'd be amiss if I don't mention The Complete Idiot's Guide to Publishing
Children's Books, Second Edition by Harold Underdown of Purple Crayon fame.
I don't have this book (yet), but it is written by a very well-regarded and respected veteran who really knows his stuff, and it's gotten excellent reviews. It is on my Amazon wish list.
On Saturday February 9th, my friend Jen and I met in Salem, MA to shop around at the town's "Salem's So Sweet" promotional day (running for a week)! See photos here.
What I'm reading...
Blink by Malcolm Gladwell
I loved his book The Tipping Point so much -- to me, it was so revelatory, and it was a catalyst for big shifts in my viewpoints, on so many things. When I first heard about his book Blink, I was so excited I was jumping out of my skin. But, when it comes to new releases, I'm really patient, since I'd rather read a paperback. I knew I was in for a wait. I don't know when it finally came out in paperback, but I just recently picked it up, and am reading it now.
I also just purchased Golden Legacy, which is a beautiful big book covering the history of Little Golden Books. It's gorgeous, filled with lovely artwork from Little Golden Books, and also shows some other art from the time period when the LGB series was first hatched. I may do a more in-depth post on this book once I start reading it.
What I'm listening to...
I've been in retro-land lately, revisiting old favorites The Sundays , The Clash and The Smiths. On a more contemporary note, I can't seem to get M.I.A.'s newest record out of heavy rotation, and I always seem to end up listening to part of her first record too, while I'm in the M's.
Back to that 'retro-land' note... This morning, I couldn't get the Violent Femme's first record out of my head (oh, so catchy!), so I went to purchase it on iTunes. My mission was aborted though because iTunes doesn't *have* the Violent Femme's first album (hmm... yet, I'm sure). I might just look through my CD's and - surprise! - actually find it hiding away in there...
What are you reading and listening to?
View a Video clip
Harry the Dirty Dog
by Gene Zion, ill. by Margaret Bloy Graham
View a Video clip
Inch by Inch
by Leo Lionni
View a Video clip
Ish
by Peter H. Reynolds
By: Kathy Weller,
on 9/26/2011
Thank you so much, Kathy, for linking to my post. Love your blog!
Thank you so much Kathy! You're too kind :) and thanks for all the other cool links, I'm off to check the out! Hugs from sunny Mexico.