Friday, January 31, 2014

A Collection



Original Watercolor paintings ©Carmella Tuliszewski

Well, I didn't approach anywhere near 30 paintings this month.  
But I knew that going in and no regrets.  
It was much more important to me to work on my large painting.

I did, however, come up with a new way of working with my pen & ink watercolors and 
I will add to that collection from time to time.

Congratulations to all the artists who accomplished their challenge and those who participated!
I really loved checking out your works everyday.
And thank you so much to those who were nice enough to stop by and see 
what I was working on as the days passed.

Happy weekend everyone!

Monday, January 27, 2014

"The Catch"  (in progress)
Watercolor, 15" x 28"
©Carmella Tuliszewski

I have spent many happy hours on this so far and plan to spend many more.
I'm finding the molds really challenging.  The shinny ones especially because the reflections go all wonky in the rise and fall of the patterns.  And the coloring is so different from one to another.
But that's also why I like working on this piece so much!

I'll be back!

Sunday, January 26, 2014

#2 Lesson Share Sunday - IMPRESSIONIST MANAGERIE

Impressionist Managerie  Grades 7 & 8 
By Carmella Tuliszewski
                                

OBJECTIVE

Knowledge- The students learn of the works of various Impressionists and Post-Impressionists artists including- Monet, Cezanne, Seurat, and Vincent van Gogh. They also understand their influence on Modern Art.
Skill- The students learn to incorporate stylistic colors and brushstrokes to create an Impressionist painting.  The use calendar photos of animals to draw from.
Attitude- The students experience the unique expressive qualities of Impressionist painting.

 
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Teacher begins slide presentation

1. “Poplars in Spring”, 1881 by Claude MonetThis painting reflects the artist’s philosophy that "landscape is nothing but an impression - an instantaneous one." Monet waited and watched the shifting sun and shadows and then quickly brushed in the moment he wanted. He liked to paint the same scene many times so he could study the effects of changing light and weather. Children frequently trailed the artist and carried his canvases.

This painting is Monet's reaction to a brisk spring day at Fécamp, as the breeze ruffles the trees, and clouds tumble by in a luminous sky. Like a true Impressionist, he has applied brushstrokes of brilliant blue, green, and yellow in contrasting patterns.  Notice the off-center composition of the trees against the sky. Like other Impressionists, Monet was probably influenced by the asymmetrical compositions of popular Japanese wood-block prints.
  • The term Impressionism was first used in 1874.
  • However, Impressionism wasn't always as well liked as it is today. In fact the term was used by a Journalist (Louis Leroy) to criticize Claude Monet’s work!
  • The term comes from one of Monet’s paintings called “Impressionism: Sunrise”
  • Impressionist artist took ordinary objects and used color to illustrate light and shadow.
  • Impressionism is a style of painting characterized by an artist’s abstract interpretation of objects or scenes.
  • Unmixed primary colors and small brush strokes are used to simulate actual reflected light.
  • Impressionism was about playing on emotions as well as imagination.
  • Some the most famous names from the time are Monet, Manet, Seurat, Degas, Renoir, and Van Gogh.

Technological advances of portable easels and metal tubes that stored paint indefinitely allowed Impressionists like Monet to take extended painting trips outdoors. A wide range of pigments was also available, though Monet used a small, typical Impressionist palette of eight to ten colors. "The real point," he wrote a friend, "is to know how to use the colors." Despite failing eyesight, the artist painted well into his eighties. The public discovered his work by 1890, and his fortunes quickly improved. By 1920, the painter who once had struggled to feed and clothe his family complained about the "too-frequent visits from buyers who often disturb and bore me."

Looking Questions
       Describe the shapes that you see. What shapes are repeated?
Notice brushstrokes of warm colors next to brushstrokes of cool colors.
Name two colors that are complementary to each other.
Where do the colors contrast?
Do you see any outlines?
Look carefully at the textures of the trees, leaves, grass and sky. How do the brushstrokes describe different textures?
________________________________________________________________________________
 
2. “Still Life with Basket of Fruit”, 1888 by Paul Cézanne. What’s going on here?  (Students may not know)  Let’s see, if we follow the table under the tablecloth, what happens at the other end of the table?  (It looks broken.)  Yes, and how about this pot?  (It doesn’t look like it’s really sitting on the table; looks like it will fall over.)  Yes, there’s a lot going on here.  Cézanne believed that because of our prior knowledge, we actually see things in our minds eye the way we know them to be not the way we actually see them.  He shows this in his art by modifying the perspective, so that we see all the objects at once from different points of view.  Another very important aspect of Cézanne’s work was the way he divided color.  The most distinctive feature about Cézanne and all the Post-Impressionists work was division of color.  Unlike the Impressionists before them they did not blend or try to blur the image on the canvas.  Instead they each deliberately and in their own distinctive ways blended on their palettes and applied one color at a time side by side.  Teacher pins up “Mont Sainte-Victorie”, 1904 and writes on board the following highlighted words as she talks.  Cézanne’s method was with small blocks of color placed side-by-side or juxtaposed to form an image.  

Looking Questions
Does this painting seem radical to you in any way?
Discuss Cézanne's choice of objects. Do some of them seem odd or distorted?
Are there any colors that surprise you?
What circular shapes do you see? What do the circular shapes represent?
Where do you see triangles? Straight lines? Curvy lines?
What shapes did he choose to repeat?
Do some of the objects have similar colors?

What makes a Cezanne a Cezanne?

  1. SHAPE- reduced objects to geometric shapes.
  2. COLOR- modeled with patches of color placed side by side or “juxtaposed” the color, he did not use shading or contours
  3. PERSPECTIVE- modified his perspective to show different views of objects within the same picture; this demonstrates his belief that we see all sides simultaneously.

Cézanne believed that everything in nature could be broken down into a cube, a sphere or a cylinder.  His ideas and techniques were the precursor to
Picasso and the Cubist movement of the 20th century.
          

 
3. “The Starry Night”, 1889 by Vincent Van Gogh.  No introductions needed here, you have probably studied this artist since Kindergarten.  As you can see Van Gogh also used division of color to form his images but in a very different way than Cézanne.  What are the differences between these two paintings?  (Mont and Starry Night)  (Van Gogh’s dashes of color move)  Yes.  While Cézanne was interested in how we see things, Van Gogh was much more interested in the emotions well feel as we see them.  Van Gogh’s dashes and separations of color  want us to get closer, to become involved and move with the scene.

What is a word you would use to describe Van Gogh’s work?  (Movement, powerful, emotional)  And all these words are a form of expression.  Expressionism in art is the distortion of form and color for emotional interpretation.  What does that mean?  (It doesn’t show things realistically, it changes the look of the subject to express a feeling.)  Yes, very good!  The less a painter is obliged to stick to the natural look of things the greater his expressive range should be. 

When we say that expressionist painting is a “free” expression, we must still remember that what may look like a very free painting may still be a highly calculated one.  A perfect example is “The Starry Night”, 1889 by Van Gogh, established as a classic of modern art.  

Looking Questions
1. Which Element of Art strikes you the most? (Color)
2. How is color used to create balance?  (Lights and darks)
3. Where is the most dramatic dark in the picture? 
(The cypress is played against the most dramatic light of the fiery moon on the opposite side of the picture.  This also points to contrast and value, two other elements and principles of art.  There is Balance here in the upward twisting of the cypress springing from the ground, used as a kind of brake to the forward twisting rush of the comet-like form across the sky.)
4. After you see this beautiful color what next gets your attention? 
(Movement. In the center of this explosive sky winds the Milky Way.  Van Gogh’s invented and expressive form of the Milky Way). 
5. What other repetition or “balancing act” is happening here? 
The cypress tree and the church steeple.  (This little church steeple in the middle of all this energy actually helps to unify the composition.) How does it do this?  By repeating the vertical direction of the tree and by breaking up the hills in the background.  (The rushing line of the horizon might otherwise carry us too quickly across the art and off the edge of the canvas.  This delicate balancing and repetitions is the main reason why a picture of such violent force is self-contained and not chaotic.)

 “The Starry Night” is so charged with emotion that it is tempting to believe that some sort of spontaneous combustion created it.   Van Gogh’s paintings always seem to have come straight from the easel; we seem to be in the painter’s presence- even after we discover that this is a calculated, well thought out picture.  And we know this because we have Van Gogh’s preliminary drawings for various parts of the picture, at least one earlier study of the same subject and his letters over a period of many months with references to his plans for its development.  In his letters he talks again and again about his plans for this piece. 
He wrote a friend, who admired his expression in this work,
“That was not accidental.  I drew it many times and there was no feeling to it.  After I had done the pictures that were so stiff, came the others…How does it happen that I can express something like that?  Because it has taken form in my mind before I start on it.  What I am doing is not by accident but because of real intention and purpose.”

Sounds contradictory doesn’t it?  To have a work look so spontaneous and be so calculated at the same time.  Expressionist art like Van Gogh’s by nature of it’s intensity and personal quality, reaches it’s highest achievement using the whole accumulation of knowledge and technical skill at the artist immediate command, as if spontaneous use.  But to think of an artist inspired to create a picture without preliminary work is as unreasonable as to imagine an actor giving an inspired performance without having learned his lines or a poet creating a masterpiece in a language he doesn’t know.

What makes a Van Gogh a Van Gogh?
1.     Composition- Uses balance, repetition, contrast and movement to take the viewer through the picture.
2.     Thick Application of Paint- Principle feature of Van Gogh’s work, using Impasto, relief-like technique to add direction and emotion.
3.     Contours- Uses outlines to bring together large areas of color to create divided shapes.
4.     Color- Van Gogh’s colors do not reflect real life but the feeling of the moment; often uses complementary color contrasts for direct effect.


Van Gogh’s ideas and technique were the precursor to the Expressionists Movement of the 20th century.  This movement also extended into Abstract Expressionism or nonrepresentational expression as in the work of Jackson Pollack.

_______________________________________________________________

4. “Sunday Afternoon on the Island of  La Grande Jatte”, 1887 by Georges Seurat.  This is a very unique and recognizable style of painting. Tell me how the division of color is handled here.  (Dots)  Yes, Seurat was a major force behind the Post-Impressionists movement.  He was the first to use this new idea of division of color and has come to be known as the founder of Post Impressionism.  In fact, there are many examples in which Van Gogh, Cézanne and Gauguin have at one time experimented with his pointillism technique

Looking Questions
What is happening with color the further into the picture we look, especially with the figures, shadows and water? 
There is a rhythm here created by repeating patterns.  Point out the repeating patterns.
Which Complementary colors are dominated here?

Seurat’s Pioneer work in optical mixing was a great influence on the Op Art Movement.

Teacher ends slide show and demonstrates how optical mixing works.
On a square of paper she has painted blue dots and yellow dots very separate of each other.  But when she holds it at a distance to show students they will say the color is green.  She passes around the square so that they can see how their eyes were “fooled”.

After viewing these 4 major Post-Impressionists, do you think they were just a later continuation of the Impressionists or were they very different?  (Very different)  Yes, in fact the Impressionists were not at all thrilled about the appearance of these artists on the scene.  The Impressionists had a long hard struggle to be accepted in the 19th century art world.  The ironic thing is that when their struggle was over and critics and the general public had accepted them as serious artists, along came another younger group of artists who thought they had a better way of doing things.  Renoir commented on the waning of Impressionism, “I had rung Impressionism dry and I finally came to the conclusion that I knew neither how to paint or how to draw.”  And so it became time for a new approach and a new way of seeing the world.  This new group of artists became known as the Post-Impressionists.  A lot of people today tend to put these two groups together as if there were no difference between them.  But they were very different and many did not like each other.  Some of the Impressionists, especially Monet, fought very hard to keep these new artists out of their exhibitions. This new group of artists was the first to be known as “Avant-garde.”  What does avant-garde mean?  (Unconventional, strange.)

This is the beginning of what we think of today as the Modern World and and the beginning of Modern Art.  As you have seen these particular artists- Monet, Cezanne, Van Gogh, Gauguin and Seurat all had a great influence on the art movements of the 20th century.

ACTIVITY- What the students will do.
1.     Students view and participate in teacher’s presentation. 
2.     Students choose their animal photo
3.     They lightly draw the subject on 12” x 18” paper.
4.     Teacher demonstrates the various techniques shown in the presentation and gives students some time to experiment with brush strokes and color mixing.
5.     Students choose their process and begin painting.
6.     Teacher monitors around room encouraging students to try a few “avant garde” color combinations in subject and shadows as accomplished by the artists of the Impressionist era.

SUPPLIES
Tempera Paints, bristle brushes, water
12” x 18” white paper, pencils, and erasers
Photo research for animals
Presentation prepared ahead of time by teacher

Art History Reference- Monet, Cezanne, Vincent van Gogh, Georges Seurat

NAEA Standards- 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Assessment/Evaluation- This lesson is successful if  they will be able to recognize painting styles of the four Impressionists discussed and complete an Impressionist style painting.

Examples of student work.
 






I collected animal photo calendars every year when they went on sale for $1 each.  This is what the students worked with.

I constructed table top easels from corregated cardboard.  Students used these to clip their reference photos on while they worked.  They said it made them feel like "real artists".

Even tho the medium used here is only tempera, use bristle brushes for this as it adds to the impressionist quality brush stroke.

Demonstrating the teachniques and the practice time before starting the project really helps with their confidence once they start in on the real thing.

I almost always used this lesson to follow last weeks lesson on value painting.  It really reinforced what they have already practiced and demonstrated the carry over of what they had learned.

Feel free to modify for your needs and e-mail me with any questions or to let me know if you tried it and how it went.  I'd love to hear from you!

This lesson was always successful even for the most timid of teenage painters.

Good luck!  Carmella














Thursday, January 23, 2014

Hibiscus

I am getting a little spoiled at how quickly these pen and ink paintings are to finish.
But I have been juggling these with my large copper molds piece.
So another day, another painting!

"Hibiscus"
©Carmella Tuliszewski

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Primroses

Over a foot of snow and wind chills in the double digits.
So lucky I am inside painting flowers for the Spring that can't get here fast enough!

"Primroses"
©Carmella Tuliszewski

Tuesday, January 21, 2014

White Butterfly

A good start to my day!
Expecting almost a foot of snow here today.
And expecting to get a lot of painting done nice and snug inside.

"White Butterfly"
©Carmella Tuliszewski

Monday, January 20, 2014

A Crown of Orange

I must admit that when I started this 30/30 challenge I did not like it one bit!

But (and you knew there was a "but" coming) I would not have had to try
something new and found this new style of working.
I do like it.  For one thing it's more spontaneous and much faster to finish a work.
I am a slow painter normally.  Not complaining, I love the process and don't really care to rush things.
It is good, though, to do something different every now and then.

 " A Crown of Orange"
©Carmella Tuliszewski

Sunday, January 19, 2014

#1 Lesson Share Sunday - OP ART COLOR SPECTRUMS

As you know I am a retired state certified art teacher.  I was recently going through some files and found all these lessons I wrote for my students over my ten years 
teaching grades 1 thru 8.  
So I thought I'd share.  I know some of you may be teaching 
children in workshops, home school or school art teachers.

I will post a lesson every Sunday, so look for them!
I hope you find this helpful and if you ever have any questions 
please do not hesitate to e-mail me.
Good luck!


Carmella Tuliszewski
Op Art Color Spectrums
Color Theory in Modern Art- Color Spectrum, Tints & Shades
Grades 7 & 8

OBJECTIVES


Knowledge-  Students will learn the specifics of the color theories of light and pigment by the practice of mixing tints and shades of each color of the spectrum.  They also learn about Op Art, be able to identify op artworks and several artists, explain the premise of op art.

Skill- Students will use tempera paints to create a six-color spectrum with each colors tints and shades.


Attitude- Students will appreciate the scientific and mathematical practices used in color theory and
specifically the 20th century art movement Op Art.

MOTIVATION- Questions leading the students to discovery. 
Teacher begins class with slide presentation of various color theory examples and Op Art featuring artist Victor Vasarely and Bridget Riley
Slide: Vasarely example

Op Art, like many styles, is a loosely defined variety of artworks. This kind of art was first called kinetic art because some of the art actually moved and the rest appeared to move because of the way the designs play tricks on our vision. Op Art is concerned with illusion, perception, and the physical and psychological effects of color.

Slide: Delacroix, Monet, Van Gogh, Seurat to demonstrate progression of various color theories.
In the nineteenth century, Delacroix pioneered color theory while the Impressionists and Neo- Impressionists explored totally new approaches to color. These artists created colors in the eyes of viewers by placing small dots of colors next to each other, which would create the color the artist, wanted in the viewers' perception. Seurat used the science of negative afterimages and simultaneous contrast as we did with the index card stars. For instance, if you place blue dots and dashes next to yellow dots and dashes the resulting color your see from a distance is green.

Slide: Victor Vasarely, various examples
Then in Paris, a group of artists took the idea of kinetic art further. Some sculptures actually moved, while others made use of visual effects that create the sense of movement; they used surface kinetics.
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One of these artists, Victor Vasarely, claimed art was taking a giant leap forward as traditional easel painting was replaced with what he termed "Kinetic plastics."

Slide: Bridget Riley, various examples

Within the Op Art movement are a large variety of artists who use Vibrating colors, concentric circles, and pulsating moiré patterns color to create visual effects. One of the most effective illusionists is Bridget Riley. Her first works were mostly black and white linear works, which make the picture plane wave, billow, and vibrate. Her later artworks use color, which pulsates and vibrates
Teacher discusses the optical illusion in the above pieces as part of the presentation.
Why do the squares look like they are coming out at you and then receding?
Even though the canvas is flat it looks three-dimensional. Some pieces have cubes that shift position. Why do the cubes seem to move?


ACTIVITY- What the students will do.
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  1. Students create a work of nonobjective art using isometric perspective. On 12” x 18” white paper, they create boxes, lines, squares, etc. receding or coming forward into the viewer's space.
  2. Students begin with a zig-zag line type across the page and repeat this type of line 7 times down the page.
  3. They mark in pencil where the design appears to change planes.  Where it changes direction.
  4. Each row created by the lines will contain a different color of the spectrum.
  5. A tint is created by adding a little white to each color to create the illusion of dimension where the plane of the design changes.
  6. The result is a spectrum design that appears to be in three dimensions.
Vocabulary
Color Theory, Spectrum, Prism, color wheel, negative afterimage, simultaneous contrast, 
and optical illusion


Art History Reference
Op Art, Vasarely, Bridget Riley
Delacroix, Monet, Van Gogh, Seurat


SUPPLIES
12” X 18” White Paper, Pencils, Rulers, Tempera Paint, Brushes, masking tape

NAEA STANDARDS- 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Example of Student work from my class and some tips.
  


Aren't they good?  Remember they were only 7th and 8th graders.    
They learned so much from this lesson but it was challenging!

1.  I had them use tape for straight lines but only where the direction of the design changed.
      Other wise it's a real mess and takes too long.  Part of this lesson too is learning to control the
      brush, so freehand painting is good for this part.

2.  Here they alternate pure color, tints and shades to make it look 3D.
       Start with the pure colors right out of the bottle.  They then mix their own tints and shades.

3. Use masking tape but have students tap the sticky side on the shirt to take a little of the sticky
        off for easy removal.  Apply the tape so that it slightly overlaps the painted space next to it 
        to avoid a white line in between.

4. I usually followed this lesson with an Impressionits painting project to make use of their new
         practice of creating light and dark color combinations.





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Saturday, January 18, 2014

Winter Berries

I might be getting the hang of this.  
At any rate I am feeling better about this new style with each new piece I finish.
I am starting to think of them as modern Old English engravings.

It's interesting switching back and forth from these to my large painting in progress.
So I'll just keep going and see what happens!

"Winter Berries"
©Carmella Tuliszewski

Friday, January 17, 2014

Pen & Ink Red Lillies

I admire and appreciate loose and spontaneous watercolors.
I, however, have never been able to pull it off.  
Mostly because I see the finish a different way in my head with light and all the glorious details. 
 I just can't walk away from a painting until it's as close to that image as I can get.

But this style of a detailed ink drawing first, then loose, splashy paint makes it easier.
With the drawing as a base I feel free to loosen up knowing that I can't totally destroy it because that drawing will still be there.

I am enjoying this as something different. 
And maybe a little of that looseness will carry over to my other work.

Pen, Ink ans Watercolor on Hot Press illustration Board.
©Carmella Tuliszewski

Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Copper Fish

I have been sporatically participating in the 30/30.
I've been trying new pen and ink paintings and have learned alot.
But in between my postings there I have been working on my large piece.
I have spent many days on this in January so I thought I'd share what Ive been doing.

I live in a family of fisherrmen.  
My husband, his brothers, my brother and my son all fish, 
mostly off the coast of New Jersey.  
Over the years I have seen many photos of their catches laid out on the newspaper
ready for cleaning and fileting.

I also have this collection of copper fish molds, both new and antique, hanging in my kitchen.
The idea of a set up with these molds on comics came to me a couple 
of months ago and kept nagging at me to do something about it.

"The Catch"
Watercolor, 15" x 28"

What I hope will be interesting about this composition is that the molds vary from very shiny to dark and tarnished.  This first painted mold is one of the antiques.  I may adjust color as I go by toning down the orange in the copper.  But I'll save that to the end when I can compare one to the other.

A word about the comic pages the set up sits on.


As I started this piece I began to wonder about wether I might run into a copyright 
infringement issue here.
Is it ok to outright copy the comic page as it is?
My son is a lawyer, so who better to ask?
His opinion is that the subject is not transformative enough for my protection againist a lawsuit.
Even if I could argue that it was, it does not prevent the comic authors from bringing the suit.
And I also thought the authors are fellow artists and in the end I did not think it right to outright copy their work onto mine.


Although it looks like a page from the Sunday paper, it is all made up by me.
Now, I know my limits, I am no comic writer.
So the cartoons are all my own invention but if you look closely at the writing I have pluged in some of my favorite art quotes and made up little senarios with my family.
The date on the paper is actually the date I started this painting and the 
authors names are family members.

Craziness, right? Yes, it took forever, but was fun and I feel more comfortable doing it this way.
I'll work on the lemons and parsley next and move on from there.
I have a long way to go!

A new progression added January 28th.

Moving along and finding this really challenging.
From the tarnished, dull antique molds to the bright and shiny newer ones, this is certainly keep me on my toes.  The variations in the copper coloring and the wavy highlights require me to slow down and think through each step.

I'm hoping this will become a viable competition piece.
If not I'd be very happy to display it in my breakfast room!
But I am getting ahead of myself because there's a lot more still left to do.


Tuesday, January 14, 2014

Foxglove

This 30/30 challenge really threw me off my game.  
Maybe that's the point but I felt that I lost my focus and needed to regroup.
I was trying too hard to do something different and it showed.
So, I thought, what do I love.
Drawing.

 I have become more of a colorist since entering the fine art world, I haven't really done much of just pure drawing.  So I pulled out a quill nib and india ink and just drew.

"Foxglove"
Pen, Ink and Watercolor
8" x 8"

I know I'm not reinventing the wheel here.  But if you visit my website you will see this is very different than the work I usually do.
In fact, it's killing me just a little not to paint into it more. 
Baby steps.
But I like this and will stick with this approach for the next few challenge pieces and see 
where it takes me.

I have been working on my large painting in my usual style and 
will have enough to start showing progressions tomorrow.

Sunday, January 5, 2014

The Butterfly Affect- Watercolor & Marker on Vellum


For this experiment I pasted a heavy sheet of vellum onto white mat board.
I drew my composition in black fine line marker and painted loosely with bright watercolors.
After it dried I used the point of a fresh exacto knife to scratch out a pattern.

The Butterfly Affect 
Watercolor on heavy vellum with base drawing in marker.
©Carmella Tuliszewski

Because the vellum has a coating on its surface, it is very easy to scratch away on.
I also picked out some highlights in the firey sky.
The results of working the vellum surface in watercolor looks much like YUPO paper.
But I don't know if you can scratch out on YUPO.
But I'll find out as that is scheduled to be one of my play pieces.

This is a very quick painting, about two hours, but the process expanded on could be useful in the future.  Maybe with more rich, darker coloring as a reverse scratchboard.

Now I'm thinking maybe this would work better on clayboard and I've been wanting to
try alcohol inks.
Humm.. maybe I do need a few more art supplies!
This is virgin territory and I don't know what I'm doing but keep moving forward.

Friday, January 3, 2014

The Butterfly Affect- Acrylic


It's been a long time since I've worked with acrylics.
I had a set of Liquitex Concentrated Artist Colors that I dug out of the bottom of my supply chest.
They are at least ten years old but were still in good shape.
These acrylics come in plastic jars and are smooth and creamy to work with.
Much easier to mix than the tube variety.

Here's my first try.
Thought I was done, went to an early lunch, came back with fresh eyes and realized I was still doing the same thing.

The Butterfly Affect
Acrylic
©Carmella Tuliszewski

So I twisted the compostion around a little and added more spots of color.


Better.
I won't be giving up my day job to acrylics but it was fun to play with another medium and to be more graphic than realistic.

Well, on to the next one!

Wednesday, January 1, 2014

The Butterfly Affect- Watercolor


First of all, Happy New Year!
After a long break I am happy to be back at my table.
I have a lot of goals for 2014 and lots to share with you.
Now my plans for the month of January.

I am taking part in the Leslie Seata 30 paintings in 30 days challenge.
Only I will do an abbreviated version more like 15/30.
I love taking part in this to meet so many wonderful artists from around the world.
But I have a large painting ready to go that I just couldn't stand to wait a month to start!
So for january I will split my time between the two projects.

The Butterfly Affect is my attempt to do several small works, all different, but all using the same butterfly.  I have been painting the same way for a few years now, and although I love it and have had some success with it, I never allow myself time to experiment or play and I need to.
So that's the theme for my 15/30, to play!

Every other day I will present this little guy done a different way with varied media
using acrylics, pouring, printing, collage and much more.  Of course watercolor will make several appearances but used differently than my usual.

I am calling this little experiment an Affect rather than the more familiar Butterfly Effect.
Affect is an action word, the verb, meaning to have influence, impress and produce a change.
And that's my goal, to play and find something new I can bring to my work.

The Butterfly Affect - Watercolor
©Carmella Tuliszewski

 I thought I'd start out with what is familiar and go from there.
I chose the butterfly because it's easy to draw quickly over and over again so I can get to the experimenting part that much faster.  And who could miss the obvious symbolism of change and new beginnings both this challenge and the new year bring.
I look forward to digging out my unused art supplies.

So please follow along with the good, the bad and the ugly of the Butterfly Affect either by joining my blog or LIKE my Facebook Studio Page!


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