Embracing The Same~Ness: Circle~ing The Paper With WaterColors...

I decided to follow my inner yearnings and to dive, even deeper, into the waters of color (waterColor), and to continue to develop the same shapes/imagery by trying on new composition' arrangements ~ 'let's see what happens?' - attitude that would keep me more grounded in going deeper instead of, the usual, 'What could be a new technique that I haven't tried yet?' As expected, my 'boredom alert' kept on 'reminding' me, often not very gently, that the 'creative courage' is found in the mystery of new-ness, in taking more risks instead of less. And it finally hit me, I realized that my definition of 'creative courage' and its 'trail~blazing' qualities needs a dash of 'specific clarity' ingredient to work for me ~ so that I'm able to embrace the unknown not only by exploring its Depth, but also enchanting the wonders of its Breadth. Long story ~ very short, I kept on asking the same question, 'what if...?' ~ but this time I applied it to my exploration of variety through embracing the 'sameness' of elements... Unbeknown st to me, I may be in the process of creating a series of water color paintings ~ we'll see...

The funny thing is.... I've been priding myself of fearlessness and creative courage and initiative when it comes to experimenting with new techniques, mediums and strata, but perhaps that, so called, 'pride' ~ usually a blinding sense of hidden grandiosity, is the guilty suspect of my mistaken definition of 'creative courage'...??? And it is not about a 'right' or 'wrong' definition, as that is a very personal and intimate decision to embrace, but instead, it could be seen as a Creative Personal Coach, one that knows which of our atrophying creative muscle groups is in a desperate need of a workout... Perhaps, just like myself, you can relate to this metaphor ~ I have been staying clear of repetition in my art work to the point of wondering to myself if anyone has ever invented a vaccine for artistic boredom. Finally I've realized that there's an area in my creative self-expression that requires a heavy application of courage, of staying open to the unknown in the middle of utilizing the same elements of design to a new painting and it may just be a new opportunity for my growth. So, here I am.... waiting~out my insistence on 'new~ness' in my paintings, listening to the, often repeated rhetorical questions, 'do I REALLY feel like inventing the wheel...?' ~ I don't know, but adding more indignation to that sorry inner rhetoric by using, none other, than mostly round shapes of different lids, makes me laugh and adds a bit of determination in sticking up with my new found discipline ~ 'waiting out the usual b.s.' until a new painting is complete.

So, here's the scoop of the photos... begining with the above, I continued to work on the composition from the previous post ~ tracing numerous round lids and throwing in few square shapes just to aggravate the loud voices of my inner protest.... 'what 't heck, let's square the circles here and there and see if I can actually finish my painting while keeping my sanity at the same time....?'

I first painted the background by mixing and diluting few water color paint hues and immediately wiping of the still-wet paint with a Kleenex... herein lies the fun of preserving the translucency of a water color paint application, be it the background or the design elements' themselves, especially if layering is the outcome you're aiming at.

If you remember from my last post, I first used a very thin masking tape (1/8'' wide) as an initial element of my background, which in the end became a permanent part of the composition by adding an additional curvature and optical separation.

Someone commented on this photo by saying that it looks as though I photographed pieces of color glass stuck one on top of another... well, I didn't and I certainly did not plan on such effect, this painting felt like a natural 'extension' of my explorations of the main painting from my last post 'Autumn Flower' ~ exploring the geometry and shape relation to the exclusion of stamping and hand-drawn elements.

Next, I set out to go back and combine both, the geometric shapes and the 'organic' hand-drawn imagery from my first painting while ,with all my might, I struggled to expect the un~expected to come to life. As an alteration I employed two pieces of brown paper bag which I attached to the water color paper background with a double-sided sticky tape.

Next, I hand drew few flower~y shapes with a white charcoal pencil.

Above, I tried to 'tie together' both of the background materials and imagery by tracing round and square shapes with a black color pencil.

This is a finish background design right before a water color application.

After completing a heavy background wash with water colors, I used a Golden Acrylics Spray Varnish w/UVLS (Satin) to seal off the initial layers.

Once the varnish had set, I glued a piece of an old dictionary's entry with a Golden Acrylics Soft Gel (Semi Gloss) and upon drying, I proceeded to draw few petal shapes with a black water proof fine marker.

Sorry, I didn't photograph my meanderings in applying a multitude of acrylics colors to my painting.... the above is a finished work, 11x14 mixed media on paper, still awaiting its naming...

Soon, I gave into the temptation of 'variety' by settling on experimenting with a larger painting size, 18x24, yet still staying loyal to my circles... this time my cooking pots' lids were called to audition for a leading role in my emerging composition...

I first traced the shapes with a HB pencil and, later on, I went over them with a black color pencil in order to make sure that the outlines will survive the colorful 'flood' of watered~down pigment (H2OcolorS).

In my background development I used a mixture of different green values ranging from Green Gold to Sap Green and Phthalo Green in between, while sparsely leaving Cadmium Yellow and Zinc White deposits in the selected areas ~ making sure there's a distinct value range left behind...

.... you can see the dried background that also has experienced some heavy 'dabbing' off the wet paint with Kleenex

I begun my color exploration journey by first filling in the larger shapes with colors from the same family... bits of warm Yellow contrasting the underlying greens & light blues...

Next, I thought that after being such a 'disciplined disciple' of creative courage I deserve a treat.... how about a compliment.... why not complimenting myself with a complement(ary) color(s)... reds & pinks which will bring back the oranges and violets and then.... then... who knows who else will join the party...?

This is an up~to~the~moment shot of my painting... I can see some fine marker shape tracingS in its immediate future, followed by a generous coat of Golden Acrylics Spray Varnish w/UVLS (Satin)

What are your fun adventures and 'tough lessons' in embracing the 'variety of sameness'... be it through color, material, mediums, or the elements of design....?

....Mandalas, WaterColor & Ink Experiments....

'Autumn Flower'

11x14 Water Color, Acrylics & Ink on Paper

by Tatiana Kuzyk

How do I even try to capture a month's worth of my creative life...?
Perhaps letting the images do 'the talking' will be a time~efficient M.O. ~ though I've been working on couple of projects simultaneously in recent weeks, I refrained from posting all the photos from my camera's memory card out of my sincere concern for your, already extensive, scrolling...

I chose to post two completed projects and one in its early stages of development. The first nine photos depict, what turned out to be my Masters Creative Project, 'Ajna Mandala' 18x18 Mixed Media & Paper on Canvas.

I begun by first drawing the initial mandala design within a 16'' circle outline.

... before proceeding to the tedious task of filling~in the single elements of design, I outlined the entire composition with a black fine point marker 0.01...

Next I set out to fill in selected areas of the mandala with a black ink using fine point markers ~ 05, 08, 005. My overall aim was to bring out the negative spaces and thus add more depth to the black&white whole...

After first priming the surface of a 18x18 canvas, I proceeded with building a background color, which eventually became completely obliterated by the subsequent acrylic paint applications ~ see the final photo.

...unfortunately the final color development process for this piece was a very spontaneous activity lasting over an hour which I could just describe as being in 'the flow' ~ herein is the reason for the lack of accompanying photos as I did not take any. All I can say is that I used a numerous acrylic paint colors and while each layer was still drying I pressed a sheet of Kleenex against it while removing the majority of the color saturation at the same time. The final effect is a depth of, mostly transparent shades, which add a bit of ,distressed' feel to the over~all effect. For 'the final touches' I spreaded a thin layer of Golden Fluid Acrylics Iridescent Gold (Fine) letting the paint be deposited at the uneven texture~created crevices...

'Ajna Mandala' ~ finished painting was submitted to my school along with a lengthy description of the spiritual aspects of the creative process associated with bringing this mandala into 'the visible'...

Behold, after over a decade of 'staying clear' of waterColor paints I decided to add, yet additional, serving of a challenge into my life.... here's the short lowdown of my adventures with waterColor(s) & ink...

I strongly believe that a great and simple way of beginning a new project is by drawing a couple of random shapes either free-hand or using a stencil, or just by outlining an ordinary object of your choice. It's fun to combine and interpose shapes onto one another and once the overall composition feels finished, I like to go back with my eraser and develop some new, fresh shapes by erasing few lines here and there and observing a completely new design being born.

... I prepared a half a dozen of water color paint tubes, bought myself a small set of basic brushes and off I went with the flow ~ literally and metaphorically...

I begun the project by building a translucent background with a couple different washes while gently wiping the surface with a soft paper towel.

After outlining, once again, the main elements of the composition with a black ink marker, I preceded to fill them in with a variety of light washes.

... I'm yet to meet the person who, once exposed to the magic of rubber stamping, could resist this delicious temptation.... while on the subject, let me digress of one sentence here ~ I extended the temptation of trying a rubber stamping to my husband two weekends ago after purchasing an antiquated stamps alphabet kit and he got hooked to the point of stamping words on the walls ~ but getting back to our main story line, I stamped the right border of the painting with a vintage pattern and later on the hearts with a hand-written pattern using a black India ink...

But before I'll tell you about the above photo, let me re~wind the process a bit here... because the ink will be eventually smudged with any water contact, I used Golden Acrylics Varnish spray in between subsequent paint~mediums applications in order to preserve prior layers. After the varnish had set, I proceeded with spreading a thin coat of Golden Acrylics Soft Gel (Semi-Gloss) in order to, one: add a bit of irregular background texture, two: prepare the ground for the acrylic paint fun...

Next I drew a flower shape with a fine point archival marker 0.5...

Later on I added couple of light washes of acrylic colors to selected elements ~ the close-ups are seen in the above and below photos. For an overall image of this painting, titled 'Autumn Flower', please refer to the very top picture of this post.

So, let's embark on a new waterColor adventure by creating a fun, unexpected background with a little help from a masking tape and outline tracings...

In this new project I first used a 1/8'' wide masking tape to put in a few angular lines and awaited the mystery of shapes to come to life once the painting process begins. The masking tape itself in the above photo is almost invisible, but upon a closer look you can distinguish an ivory lines against the pure white watercolor paper background (the last photo shows the tape much better thanX to a contrast of black outlines).

... to be continued...

... each time I smell the un~mistaken aroma of water-diluted pigment I find myself being transported in time to my preschool and elementary school art experiments....I'd love to hear about your adventures with waterColor~ing