If you know me, you know that I don't really believe in New Years' resolutions. I believe that we should be 'resolving' to be a better person than we were yesterday, every day. Rather than making a grandiose list of things you want to do differently but probably aren't going to, I guarantee you'll make a much more significant difference by incorporating small goals into your everyday existence.
Case in point: my attempted "drawing a day" project that is ongoing. It turned into something more like "a drawing a few times a week," but that's okay, and here's why. If I flip through my Handbook, I can see improvement from one week to the next. That's the goal, isn't it?
That said, one of my goals for the next... significant length of time is to tackle the largely intimidating project traditional Venetian mask making. After researching the process extensively, my plan is to start with a small scale model and work my way up to creating wearable face masks as my technique improves.
See? Got my supplies. Nothing you can't buy at any art store, or even Amazon Prime.
Step 1: make mask positive for molding purposes out of oil-based clay. The crappy factory made mask is just there as a three-dimensional reference that I don't have to worry about messing up. My authentic Venetian jester isn't going anywhere near odd-smelling grease clay.
Step 2: use clay positive to cast plaster negative.
Step 3: use plaster negative to create "stuck paper" positive (noted as being different from paper mache)
Step 4: cut out eyes and nostrils; sand edges smooth.
Step 5: coat "stuck paper" positive with several layers of white acrylic paint
Step 6: decorate!
Tuesday, December 31, 2013
Monday, December 30, 2013
Tanzanite Venezia
© Chromeheart |
My pen got skippy toward the end of this sketch, so I had to improvise a bit and added the wash. I think I might have dropped the pen on the floor one too many times. Don't buy a Pilot Metro if you're a frequent pen dropper. The ink handles nicely in Private Reserve fashion, but I'm more than a little disappointed that "tanzanite" is warm blue instead of... tanzanite color.
Sunday, December 22, 2013
Interior sketch
Had some extra time today, so I did a more involved sketch than usual. My apartment building has a policy about decorations that are visible from outside, but fortunately, they don't care much about little lights in the windows. If I stuck up a giant LED santa claus, that would be a different story.
Monday, December 16, 2013
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
Dec. 10, 10:01am
Diamine Salamander, Lamy Safari F, Hand.book journal, wet Q-tip. Almost-done votive candle.
Between my cream sketchbook paper and the warm lighting in my snapshots, the green tint of the Salamander ink often gets lost. Diamine Salamander is actually a top notch example of what I consider to be a good ink: an ink that darkens almost to black, and shows a prominent hue when it's thinned out without being too saturated.
Plus, Diamine inks come in these nifty vintage style bottles.
© Oscura Photography www.viaoscura.blogspot.com |
Monday, December 9, 2013
Dec. 9 2013, 9:46am
Diamine Salamander, Lamy Safari F, Handbook journal.
Oxblood Sketch
Quick breakfast sketch from a few mornings ago. Zucchini frittata. Diamine Oxblood in a Pilot Metro Medium nib. It's easily one of my favorite inks. The color ranges from that of merlot to recently dried blood depending on the tone of the paper, and thins to a lovely coral hue. For those that aren't aware, fountain pen ink is extremely water soluble even after it's dried; even moreso than dried watercolor paint. That's so it doesn't clog the pen. If I'm doing a painting with a FP ink in more than one pass, the solubility drives me bathouse crazy. For quick sketches on the go, however, it makes life so much simpler and my travel sketch kit so much smaller! I can achieve a painted effect simply by swiping a wet Q-tip across an area of hatching. So simple.
Wednesday, December 4, 2013
Morning Sketch
Diamine Salamander, Lamy Safari F, and a teeny weeny espresso mug. The crochet project is a secret, but it isn't far enough along for any of y'all to figure out what it is. ;)
Tuesday, December 3, 2013
Diamine Blaze Orange (ink test)
I hesitate to call this an ink "review" per se. I'm not a fountain pen connoisseur, and I don't test inks by writing "the quick brown fox jumped over a lazy dog" then drawing some squiggles and dripping water on the paper. I care more about the ink's functionality as a paint or sketch medium than how wet or dry or whatever it is in some $200 pen that I don't intend to purchase.
Generally speaking, the more saturated the color of an ink, the worse the shading is, so I honestly wasn't expecting much in terms of writing quality. I guess it goes to show, one shouldn't judge an ink by the way it looks in a vial.This photo is color accurate, and as you can see, it shades quite beautifully from pale orange to carmine.
Writing test done in a basic Fabriano sketchbook with cream paper, since that's what I normally write in. Fabriano paper is actually manufactured in Italy, unlike many of their competitors, and it doesn't bleed through or feather. Don't even get me started on the "Italian"-but-actually-Chinese bad excuse for stationery otherwise known as Moleskine.
The fact that this ink is a midtone at its darkest shade makes it very limiting in terms of painting, unless I decide I want to do a series of low contrast orange cityscapes or something. (actually, that's not a bad idea). Anyway, the point, I'm not really feeling monochrome orange in my sketchbook. Although it looks pretty out of a medium nib, I don't think the color lends itself very well to ink wash painting. Furthermore, the water solubility of this ink is so dramatic that it pools and makes a mess if I try to work another layer over an area that's already dried. On the upside, that quality would force me to stop being so darned finicky and commit to whatever I put down on the first pass. It could go either way, really.
Paintsketch done in Handbook journal. Cream paper with a slight bit of tooth, which snags on dry writing nibs just enough to annoy me. American made handblown-glass pen, I don't remember the artist off the top of my head.
© Chromeheart |
Writing test done in a basic Fabriano sketchbook with cream paper, since that's what I normally write in. Fabriano paper is actually manufactured in Italy, unlike many of their competitors, and it doesn't bleed through or feather. Don't even get me started on the "Italian"-but-actually-Chinese bad excuse for stationery otherwise known as Moleskine.
Paintsketch done in Handbook journal. Cream paper with a slight bit of tooth, which snags on dry writing nibs just enough to annoy me. American made handblown-glass pen, I don't remember the artist off the top of my head.
Monday, December 2, 2013
Extra Ordinary
© Chromeheart / Oscura Photography |
I had a professor at Montserrat who was always telling me to "make the ordinary extraordinary." Translate: draw the most boring crap you can possibly find in a way that makes it look interesting, instead of just drawing stuff that looks interesting to begin with. It forces you to focus more on your technique, to use execution as a tool to create interest. To say "hey, look how beautiful this thing is, that you walk past every day without noticing."
If I look around my apartment, I don't own a whole hell of a lot that isn't innately interesting; it's a side effect of having very Baroque taste. My coffee mugs are shaped like owls, my lamps are almost all antique, and there's a jester mask on the coffee table. Normal, normal, where to find some normal?
Hmm...
No matter what you do to it, kitchen paraphernalia always looks boring and mundane. I'm not even sure if it's possible to weird up food prep. So I grabbed a pen, and a brush, and pulled a stool up to the counter to draw me some normal in bright orange ink.
Thanksgiving Weekend Sketch
© Chromeheart |
Sunday, December 1, 2013
Some Things I'm Excited About
+Blank leather book, handmade in Firenze: I haven't decided if I'm going to use it for writing or drawing yet. Or at all, because it's just so pretty.
+Bracelet in progress: Mainstream fashion finally did something right! I don't usually follow current trends, because I don't usually find "trends" attractive. Case in point, I'm still waiting for male skinny jeans to go back to whatever hell they came from. Whoever came up with that must have been blind. BUT. I'm seriously digging the chunky chain bracelets with ribbon, leather, thread, etc woven between the links. This guy is my own twist on the woven curb chain trend, and they'll be available for purchase in my Etsy sooner rather than later.
+It finally occurring to me that I should watermark my photos. I love my signature typeface! I am, however, working on a blackletter Oscura O logo with an edgy modern twist.
Tuesday, November 26, 2013
Impractical Perfume Bottle Sketch
© Chromeheart |
It is pretty, though.
To answer the unspoken question, YES there are christmas lights on my desk, and yes they are usually on while I'm doing things.
Monday, November 25, 2013
Quick Midnight Sketch
© Chromeheart |
Yesterday, I cleaned my apartment top to bottom. When everything was said and done and dusted and
put away, I removed my sorely neglected Handbook journal from its place on the bookshelf and threw it on the table. I made a cup of tea. I sat my patootey in the chair, made an ugly face at the last of my drawings in the book, and opened to the next blank page.
What to draw?
I looked up. Incense burner that had been a sugar bowl in its past life. Laptop. Stereo. Beanie boo. Ripped note to self. Blah, all boring stuff.
A former professor's voice came into my head unbidden. No matter what, don't stop drawing. It doesn't matter what you're drawing. If you don't know what to draw, just draw whatever's in front of your face. (paraphrase)
Okay, then.
The reasoning is that if you're not drawing constantly, you're not getting any better at drawing. You're not refining your personal style. You're not... doing anything remotely productive, if you're in the drawing-things trade. Not that the things I was doing instead of drawing (learning to make masks &etc) weren't productive; they just weren't productive toward becoming a better visual artist.
Saturday, November 23, 2013
A Chrome Heart: One of a Kind Jewelry
© Chromeheart / Oscura Photography |
When I say my jewelry is unique/one of a kind, it really is. I don't like making the same design over and over and over again like I have nothing better to do. I'll make one for myself and one or two for the store, and then move on to something new. Also, I tend not to buy jewelry supplies in bulk, with exception of ribbon, chain, things of this nature. Pendants, special baubles &etc, I don't normally buy more than three of the exact same thing. So yes, anything you purchase from A Chrome Heart on etsy that is labeled "one of a kind" truly is the only one of its kind! I don't have the supplies to make another one, even if I wanted to. Which I don't. Break the monotony.
I've always made jewelry on an off and on basis, where I'd get really interested in it for a while, then get sidetracked by art, photography and whathaveyou, and pick it up again a few months or a year later, but I never really stuck with it. Lately, I find myself getting very irritated with jewelry. I'm a girl with a baaaaaad case of magpie syndrome. If it's sparkly, I want it! If it's not sparkly, I don't, unless it's matte black or something, and don't even get me started on plastic costume jewelry. It defeats the purpose! More to the point, the jewelry on the shelves in almost every store I walk into is either cheap plastic and base metal crap that I'd be allergic to even if I didn't hate it, or too expensive for me to mentally justify the cost.
Not that I'm much of a "fashionista" by any means. I like what I like, and if nobody sells things I like at a reasonable cost, I'll break out the pliers and make it myself.
Thursday, November 21, 2013
NaNoWriMo: Insane, Inane, and Completely Worth It.
© Chromeheart / Oscura Photography |
NaNoWriMo is a quasi-acronym for National Novel-Writing Month, which authors and aspiring authors celebrate by... writing a novel in a month, regardless of how many other priorities try (or succeed) in getting in the way. Well, maybe not an *entire* novel, but there is a relatively daunting 50k word count goal. Full details to be found at www.nanowrimo.org.
Now you might be thinking, "I thought this was an art blog. That has zip to do with art."
It has to do with the entirety of my excuse for not doing any art since Halloween. I'm using NaNo to get down an idea for a fantasy novel that's been fermenting in my brainmush for quite some time. I'd had to stop writing to focus on the things in front of my face through four years of art college, and haven't quite been sure how to 'get back into writing,' as the saying goes. Rusty writer cogs and whatnot. On the night of October 31st, I made a snap decision to unceremoniously jump off the dock fully clothed, into... a lake? An ocean? A 50,000 word book, perhaps?
My current word count is 40,626 and I'm genuinely surprised how well the book is coming together. Nine days and 10k words to go!
Thursday, September 26, 2013
Who Broke My Holiday?
© Chromeheart / Oscura Photography |
A close-up of Skelemouse, by request © Chromeheart / Oscura Photography |
Up next: Frustrated Chromeheart makes brocade bat wing costume piece from scratch.
Wednesday, September 18, 2013
What's On My Desk - 9/18/13
© Chromeheart / Oscura Photography |
-Black and Gold masquerade masks, waiting for eye holes. Red brocade mask waiting for glue to dry. They'll be ready for the store in 3-5 days.
-A crochet cupcake from a free online pattern, which looks more like a genetically engineered flower gone wrong than any cupcake I've ever seen. Needless to say, I'm going to change the pattern significantly from its original for my own ends. Small crochet toys are simple; the challenging part, is figuring out which combination of these simple techniques yields the most appealing result.
-Little fox providing 100% recommended daily value of hugs and smiles, according to the package he came in. Too cute for words.
Friday, September 13, 2013
Work table snapshot 9-13-13
© Chromeheart / Oscura Photography |
Designing a pattern like this can take anywhere from a few minutes to a few days, depending on the animal and the level of simplification required, with plenty of room for trial and error. Example: the turkey (top left) was actually supposed to be an owl. It was only after attaching the wings that I realized I made a turkey, in the perfect fall color scheme.
The flying bat and ghost are already available in my store, made to order, and the owl, turkey, and sleeping bat will be uploaded this weekend (sept. 14-15). I'm currently working on a pattern design for a baby bat in a blanket, after the latest viral craze in the goth side of the internet.
Thursday, September 5, 2013
Cafe Venezia (progress ii)
© Chromeheart | Illustration |
Friday, August 30, 2013
Cafe Venezia (in progress)
© Chromeheart Illustration |
Wednesday, August 28, 2013
Owl Tea
© Chromeheart Illustration |
Sunday, June 30, 2013
Cafe Venezia (lineart)
© Chromeheart Illustration |
FW acrylic ink -- Antelope Brown; Biro Leonardt #30 nib on Portofino watercolor paper, made in Italy.
© Chromeheart |
Thursday, June 20, 2013
Venice - Watercolor Experiment
© Chromeheart |
Although I normally do work like this in some kind of ink, this time around, I decided to give Dr PH Martin's concentrated liquid watercolors a whirl. They come packaged like inks, in small glass bottles with an eyedropper in the lid. No weird chalky paint cakes here.
Wednesday, June 19, 2013
Red Doily
I learned to crochet a few months ago, and after making countless cup coasters, Christmas ornaments, a few "softies," and most of a granny square afghan, I decided it was time to try something different. Something... dare I say... fancy. This is a few hours' work on what is going to be a 17" diameter doily.
Sunday, May 5, 2013
North Station, Boston
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)