Join Michelle Ward and the GPP Street Team for Crusade No. 39 - Playtime: Pulling Prints. Michelle challenges us to use inexpensive tools and loose paper to pull some prints.
You can get all the details on Michelle Ward's blog. Here are some of the prints that I came up with. I definitely will do this exercise again. It's messy but fun! Thanks Michelle for another great Crusade.
Michelle Ward presents Crusade No. 36 - Braving the Elements. Basically, GPP Street Team members were asked to start with two journal pages covered with gesso. Then, our mission was to create snowflakes to use as stencils or masks. Michelle's snowflakes are so much prettier than mine. I think I need a snowflake tutorial.
I used Golden cobalt teal and turquois phthalo acrylics to create my snowflake stencils. Although I used two different colors of paint, the pages looked bland to me. Next, I painted a wash of Lumiere Pearl Magenta acrylic over the snowflake designs.
For my first page, I made a bird stencil from a transparency sheet. I used oil pastels to color the bird, branch and to highlight the page edges. I applied a heavy coat of oil pastels and then wiped most of it off to create shadows. I outlined the bird and branch, using a charcoal pencil.
For my other journal page, I first drew some basic flower shapes and then colored them in with oil pastels. I used the same technique of applying a heavy coat of oil pastels and then wiping most of it off to create shadows - and to let the snowflake designs peek through the flowers. You can also see some of the snowflake shapes on the bird and the branch.
During each step of the process, I felt as if things weren't coming together. But I kept working on the pages. After I was finished, I realized that you have to keep coming back to the page (or the canvas) and not give up. Thank you Michelle - I learned an important lesson today.
Join the GPP Street Team and try this technique today. The deadline is February 1.
For Crusade No. 34, Michelle Ward beckons us to Come Over to the Dark Side. Michelle has created some gorgeous dark art by working with stencils. Check it out.
I had intended to work with stencils. But when I began rummaging through my overstuffed, ephemera folder, I pulled out a black door, jester, photograph and the phrase, "She Does Art." I had printed up a bunch of these phrases a few years ago.
Instead of using stencils, my muse stubbornly created this journal page for the Crusade. And she added the pink socks and ribbons too. Now go look at what the other artists created.
For Crusade No. 33 - Back to School - Michelle Ward challenges us to take this time to learn something new. She says, "When you make the time to feed your brain, your whole self gets nourished. Even if what you are learning isn't art related."
I think that Michelle has mystical powers because she always seems to "know" the jump-start that I need. I'm a member of the Marie Antoinette Mail Art Group - and I love everything to do with the fashions and furnishings of that era. But I've realized that I do not know enough about that time period's history. This means I have to do research and Learn Something New.
First, I began researching furniture, specifically chairs. Here are the Marie-like chairs that I found:
Michelle Ward has extended the Crusade No. 32: Knock Yourself Off Challenge to September 1 to allow for more entries. Check out Michelle's site for more details.
I loved this particular crusade. It made me take a closer look at how my art has evolved and it inspired me to create a special piece for this challenge. Thank you for the inspiration Michelle!
Over the past year or more, I had noticed that I was using larger elements in my collage pieces. But after completing my challenge entry, and comparing it to one of my earlier works, I REALLY became aware of the big difference in my art.
However, I did realize that I wasn't able to "lose the pink" over the years. The color shows up in my work almost every time. I guess I'll always be a pink person.
If you haven't participated in Crusade No. 32 yet, set aside some time in your Studio today! You'll be glad that you did.
Earlier Collage Work:
Crusade No. 32 Entry:
Michelle Ward has come up with a challenging and creative idea for Crusade No. 32 - Knock Yourself Off.
Here are the details in Michelle's own words:
Make sure you visit Michelle's site to see some gorgeous examples of her art - and for more Crusade details. The Crusade due date is August 1, 2009 so get busy.
I enjoyed creating Art for Michelle Ward's Crusade No. 31: Make It Your Own. I took a free image that I got off the Internet and transformed it into a black& white stencil. Then, I created a background for the stencil with decorative paper scraps which I reworked with paint and rubber stamps. Last, I added text cut from magazines. Here's my final piece and the original image below it.
Check out Michelle's blog for additional information on Crusade No. 31 and the other fantastic entries.
For the GPP Street Team Crusade No. 30, Michelle Ward says "You can use WORDS, or USE words" in your Journal. Get all the details here. This is the first Crusade that I have participated in and I enjoyed the process.
For my Journal page, I began with a background of sheet music and ledger book paper from the 1920s. I then stamped bold images with acrylic paint. I added a large column for effect - and a huge eye to represent an artist's vision. Last, I pasted down words and phrases.
My theme is: Make Art Now! I chose this theme because it's important to me to create Art daily whether I complete a Journal page, sketch at night, work on challenges or swaps - or maybe even doodle.
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