Saturday, February 23, 2013

COLLAGE PAINTINGS WITH BIRD SYMBOLISM

You see them in the arts and crafts magazines, in ancient art, and as symbolic imagery everywhere. Birds are charming and decorative, but more than that they are richly significant.

The crow is sometimes a symbol of adultery, a fact that I did not know when I created the work shown here. (If you use sparrows in your work, you should know that, traditionally, they have been associated with the dead.) 

painting on canvas, acrylics, mixed media
Town Crier, acrylics, papers, 18 x 24"

A color scheme of red, white, and blue can be very effective with the addition of a variety of values, including black.
mixed media, mixed-media art
Eye See You, Mixed-media on canvas, 12 x 18"

There's something I really like about blues--any blues--combined in a work with browns, tans, or golden colors. It really works for me and for lots of other artists!

These paintings are shown courtesy Stackpole Books and Paula Guhin.

Saturday, February 16, 2013

BE A DRIP! A MIXED-MEDIA EXPLORATION


Here's a great way to intensify a focal area, adding interest to a painting or collage. Experiment with inks, fluid paint, water, and more! 

technique, how-to, how to
Underpainting for the drip technique.















Paint a base, an underpainting, on canvas or paper first. Your palette might be of several colors, with lights, darks, dulls, and/or brights. Markers make a good addition at this time, too. (Waterbased markers will run and add even more fascination!) Let dry.

painting, drip painting, tutorial, tute
The white drips add a high value to the painting.




Prop the canvas or paper at a sloping angle.







Use inks, liquid watercolors, or thinned acrylic paints. Pour them selectively or apply in places with a brush and let drip. 


tutorial, art lesson, non-objective

Next, mix watery paint in another color, value, or intensity, and do more dripping. Here I added a few spatters too! 

Note: you can tilt the canvas any direction you wish, even changing direction as you go. If you have a spritz bottle of water handy, use it to encourage more dripping and dilution as needed. Another helpful tool is a hair dryer, which can alter the flow or slow it down.


technique, tutorial, mixed media
Rework the painting as desired.
Paint out some sections to make them appear less busy, more calm.

If you don't like the painting you've created, use it as the background for a new work. If the unsatisfactory piece is on paper, you can cut or tear it apart and use the best pieces in a collage! 

Yes, chance plays a part in the dripping technique, but it adds 
emphasis and appeal.

art blog


mixed media, art blog

Sunday, February 10, 2013

MAKE A "HOUSE" ASSEMBLAGE WITH HUMOR!

HOUSE WORK: REMODELED HOMES

A HOW-TO ON CREATING AN ALTERED ART ASSEMBLAGE 

assemblage
Abide in Me, by P. Guhin
"House" and "home" are powerful words and potent symbols. They represent shelter and family, as well as a receptacle for connections. They are icons of domesticity, which we typically link with traditional values and with thoughts of our relatives. A home offers privacy, relief, and comfort. It's indelibly associated with childhood, marriage, and motherhood. This is all about the transformations I perform, making artistic statements, often with humor.
altered art
The Perfect Couple


Choosing a Home
The little, dimensional houses I find in thrift shops or secondhand stores always enchant me. These small home décor items pluck at my heartstrings. Some houses are wooden, others pasteboard, still others resin. It's easy to remodel them, while ceramic houses can be very challenging. I also like actual birdhouses, and I snap them up if they're replicas of "people" houses. Old cuckoo clocks would work well, but there is a scarcity of them. Of course you can build your own little house from foam core, cardboard, or wood. Craft stores and art suppliers sell mini houses, too.
MATERIALS
Mini house
Small figures (human and animal) to alter      
Small hand saw or other cutting tool    
construction, found objects
It's fun to match just the right head and body!
Scissors
Paintbrushes
Acrylic paints and mediums
Adhesive of choice (flexible modeling paste, heavy gel medium, etc.)
Decorative and found papers
Fabrics and trim
Sandpaper, file, or rasp
Embellishments (optional)
House Beautiful
1. Cut a good-sized door in the front of the house, if necessary, or remove the front piece entirely. Sand rough edges as needed.
2. Decide: Will the finished piece be free-standing or will it hang on a wall--or both? Attach a base or a hanger to the back if you wish.
3. Decorate the inside walls and floor as you wish. Enhance the outside of the house as desired with paint, papers, fabrics, and found objects. Draw, stamp, or write on the piece, and indicate shingles, windows, shutters, bricks and more if you prefer. Be mindful of color harmony so that a pleasing scheme develops.
mixed media, tute, tutorial
Notes:
1. Select the house you will alter before you choose figures for it, to be assured of a good fit.
2. Craft supply shops have wee dollhouse furniture, and you can sometimes find tiny chairs at thrift stores, too.
    Habitat for Human or Animal
    1. I like to acquire tiny figurines at thrift shops, especially if they're made of plastic, resin or a composition material that I can modify. Again, hard ceramic is not so easily transformed. Wedding cake toppers and small toy figures are excellent choices.
    2. Alter the figure or figures meant to "live" in the abode. Change out heads, add a hat, mask, or different ears, or place an object in a hand.
    3. Allow the adhesive you've used (to join parts) to cure thoroughly before painting it to blend in. Antique the figure with a wash of thin umber acrylic, especially if the face and clothing are much too bright for your taste. Let dry.
    4. Affix the inhabitant(s) inside or alongside the home, using a strong adhesive.
    5. Seal everything, inside and out, with a UV-protectant varnish.

    by Paula Guhin
    He's in the Doghouse Now!
    assemblage advice, tips
    There's a Fox in the Hen-house!
    create altered art
    Consider creating a neighborhood on a single base.



















    I make "house plans" when I visit the secondhand shops, and then I do my "home" work!                                                                                            
    Paula Guhin





    Saturday, February 2, 2013

    EASY MARBLING TECHNIQUE WITH SHAVING CREAM

    CALL IT WHAT YOU MAY, TO MARBLEIZE OR TO CREATE A MARBLING EFFECT IS EASY!
    This is a simple, lovely way to make your own decorative paper.

    Supplies and Materials:
    • Large shallow pan (but I used a sheet of aluminum foil!)
    • Cheap shaving cream
    • A spatula and/or a knife
    • Alcohol inks (or experiment with fluid acrylics or other inks!)
    • White or light-colored papers
    How To:
      shaving cream, marbling, how to marble
    • Spread a layer of shaving cream about the size of your paper.

    • Dot the ink or inks of your choice on top. Here I used alcohol inks, below.
    shaving cream method

    • Cut the knife through the shaving cream and the dots, dragging them into a swirling pattern.
    shaving cream, marbling effect
    By using the spatula FLAT, I rather messed up!















    • Lay clean paper over the design and press down for good contact. Let sit for a moment. Then peel the paper off from one edge to the other. 

    tute, tutorial, easy lesson
    Alcohol inks may provide less graphic results.

    marble, shaving cream method


    • You will need to scrape off the excess shaving cream. SAVE the excess with the remainder of your used shaving cream, and you can do it all over again with more ink dots and another sheet of paper!
    art lesson, easy, simple, marbleize

    art blog, mixed media blog, Paula Guhin