Gut Art 2013 with Mystele

Another long hiatus from my blog, but I'm back with the intent to post my renewed interest and progress in making art with Mystele in Gut Art 2013.

I've jumped the gun, 'cause the class doesn't officially start until tomorrow the 21st of October, by reviewing some of my videos from the 2009 Gut Art class. The technique is to begin a background by writing on slips of paper an art activity, like "splash some paint" or "draw some shapes" and continue drawing slips of paper until you feel like you are done and ready to paint something. It's a way to break down the fear of, "Where do I start?"

Here is my beginning: My first layer - click on "vimeo". I'll figure out how to do this better...
Vimeo

Puritan Girl portrait

This little piece of artwork, and for me this IS little, measuring 5 inches by 7 inches, was done on a torn left over piece of watercolor paper that had a blend of yellows, orange, metallic gold and a few red dots stamped on it.
It just came to be. I didn't plan it. I didn't use any photos for shading reference. I didn't copy it from other work I have tried. And, I chose not to obsess about it. A first!
Sheesh, this isn't rocket science. No lives are hanging in the balance while I figure out what to do. It's just paint on paper.
Why does it always feel so momentous to do any little project? I guess it's really about being new at it. I am comfortable with fabric. Paints are an unknown to me.
And, still, I quiver in hesitation to begin a new project. I am off today. No work to go to. No shopping to be done. No laundry to catch up on. Nothing but freedom, and still I hesitate.

Oh, get over yourself! It's only paper, pencil and paint!

Gut Art - continuing

This is the 9th portrait I've done while taking Mystele's Gut Art Class. Using a piece of cardboard, I applied black gesso and then added paper towels and torn book pages, plus sand for texture. Next came lots of acrylic paint. Some of it was craft paint which I like because it is so easy to apply, but I also used some heavy body paint that would add to the overall texture with brush marks and palette knife markings.

I just could not decide on a color scheme! The more I added and dried and added, the more I was unsure of the direction I wanted to go. So, at one point, I looked at the paints on my disposable palette and just sprayed water onto it. Picking up the cardboard piece, I then just smashed it down onto the paints and smushed on it with my hand.

A monoprint! Now the colors were soft and like a watercolor painting. I finally felt I was ready to begin.

Staring at the thing didn't bring up any obvious lines or areas that wanted to be developed, so I took off my glasses and suddenly the blur coalesced into a form that I was able to define with a watersoluble graphite pencil.

From then on, the painting just formed itself. The word, "diffident" drifted to mind and stayed, so I wrote it down and waited to see if something else would present itself. Nada. Okay, so this was it. The definition includes: shy, modest, irresolute and doubt. A fine description of my process for this painting.

Gut Art with Mystele -

Part of the fun of taking Mystele's Gut Art class is viewing all the videos on her techniques for making all kinds of fun things. Last weekend I spent my time putting together a fun acrylic painted fabric wall hanging. Starting with some colorful cotton, I free quilted a bunch of cotton scraps and ran my sewing machine stitches round and round to make a textured surface of cotton.
Next was free application of craft paints using a palette knife. Letting each layer of color dry before adding more, kept it from becoming muddy in appearance and the colors stayed true. Once that was done, I had a very busy background, so I softened it with some gesso, and highlighted it with Liquitex Basics gold. Using a palette knife allowed the gold to ride the bumps made by my sewing and it was just the highlight I wanted.
Gazing at this background, I "saw" a face and "pulled it out" Mystele style with a water soluble graphite pencil. All that was needed after that was some softening with a black Portfolio water soluble oil pastel crayon to define the features of her face. A little lime green and purple finished the most important features and I made the skin of her face glow with a glaze of the gold acrylic.
This video shows "Maya" in her completed state. I also had a small adventure upon completion and just had to add some embroidered elements to the final piece.
This was so much fun to do! And, for once in my life I didn't worry about the "hand" of the fabric being stiff.

Gut Art Work

It's about time I wrote a note to myself about my newest passion. I have finally crossed over from doing a few pencil sketches to using acrylic paint on something besides messy backgrounds.
This painting is the first one I made while doing Mystele's Gut Art Class which started at the beginning of October. She is an inspired artist and a selfless teacher. While watching the video she made of using paper bags as a substrate for art, I remembered several backgrounds I had made a year or so ago. Putting all fear aside, I gazed into the background of this painting and suddenly "saw" this face. I immediately grabbed black acrylic and a round brush and painted the outline of her face. Once that was done, I added a little green to define her nose, and there she was.
How happy am I!