Mixed Media From A Sketchbook Entry
The paper of a sketchbook is important to me. One of the sketchbooks I like is a hardback, double wire bound field sketchbook by Canson. The white paper is acid free, takes graphite, charcoal and other dry mediums as well as ink and light washes in a way that works for me. It has what I consider to be a fine texture so it is easy to write on as well.
One of the processes I like begins with water-soluble permanent ink by Rotring. This ink is fluid and dark. It dries quickly. After a day or so it is very permanent and will not lift even with water. Working into it with a wet brush shortly after applying the ink will create bleeding effects that run in to blue grays.
Here I've started with an ink sketchbook entry that I played with using a wet brush, I then scanned the image into an iMac. From there I played with digital color applications and filters using Photoshop Elements 4. I like what is happening at this point so I am showing the image here this way. It is possible that I continue to work on it in the future.
In some ways I would like to write to this image or on it.
Loopholes in the fabric
Life slipping away
Night into day
Feathers into mystery
Floating into life
Slipping away
Flowing into stream
The scream of mystery
Attached to the cry
Of night - Searching
Feathers above stone
(c)07 Daddario
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Comments: 19
I like how you explain how it came to be. It is great
for the average person like myself that knows nothing of
art. I have an appreciation for all things beautiful and you
are a great guide to help understand where it comes from.
You Rock! :) Love the colors...
Joanne - thank you. you know i am selectively showing this sketch. i can show you pages that hurricanes wouldnt be able to change much...
Jessie - that is exactly why i like looking at an artist's sketchbook almost more than finished pieces... i get to see into the mind of an artist. cool. thank you.
altho i can use a fair amount of water on Canson's field sketchbook pages i dont soak it with water and i dont usually cover the entire sheet. i dont believe it has the sizing that watercolor paper often has either (sizing - external and/or internal, helps keep your color up on the surface of the paper rather than soaking down into the paper - this helps watercolors remain brighter generally for a couple of reasons - the paper stays white, reflecting more light back up through the color and the color itself stays up on top of the paper). i also tear out one blank page (i never, ok, rarely, tear out pages from a sketchbook other than for this purpose), then turn it around so the torn edge doesnt make a lump and slip it beneath each page in the sketchbook as i work on a page. any little dot that might bleed through keeps going onto that one page - i use the same page through the entire book.
if you really want to work with watercolor i would encourage you to try some sketchbooks specifically designed for water media.
some i've tried:
Liberte Watercolor sketchbook - i like this paper but pages are starting to show signs of foxing after about 15-17 years(the brown spots that show up after a time on paper). i probably wont get any more of these for just that reason - altho it may also be partially due to the difficult environment i am in - hawaii is really tough with the sea, heat, salt, humidity and general tropical to semi-tropical atmosphere all around.
i have an "All Media" sketchbook which is holding up well after about 12 years. i like the paper - it is tough and thick - you can really work it. i dont know much about the maker of it tho. it isnt yellowing which is a very good sign.
i have an Arches watercolor (sketch)book - which is 140 lb cold press paper. i like arches paper it can be worked (scrubbed) and soaked and stand up will. i havnt opened this book yet because i have others so i dont really know how it will do - but that same arches paper is one i use a lot in full sheets. it's not quite as white as lanaquarelle which i like for a lot of things. lanaquarelle isnt quite as tough as Arches so it depends on what i intend to do on the paper that helps me to decide which to use. these are good basic papers at a reasonable cost, going up from here goes up in price too.
i also have a Canson Watercolor (sketch)book with Montval acid free paper. the stuff in it is about 7 years old and no signs of foxing. i like the paper a lot. i did a lot of scrubbing on some of those pieces. my first 19 or 20 stones are in this one - these are some of my favorite stones if you know that series.
some of these watercolor books contain as many as 30-40 pages. most are in the 15- 20 page range. some as light as 80 lbs some up to 140 lbs. watercolor sketchbooks tend to be a little more expensive $10 - $20 and up but it is worth it if you are really wanting to work with water media in a wet fashion - imo.
the Canson field sketchbook is more of a good general sketchbook for me for dry to some amounts of wet uses. you can push it a bit and it will hold up altho not nearly as much as actual watercolor paper. right now if i were to buy a watercolor sketchbook i'd go with the Arches (even tho i havnt used it yet, because i trust the paper) or the Canson Watercolor Book.
sometimes you can write or email these companies and ask if they have free paper samplers for their products that you could try. sometimes they will send you a number of samples for little or no cost. it's worth it to keep trying things until you find something that works well for you, the way you generally work - imo.
have fun exploring - aloha - Wrick.
awhat a beautiful, short poem. I can't say more than ' I loved it," because that is how I really felt.
I also fiddle with watercolours and love experimenting with cold-press pper and acid-free handmade paper. Your commets helped me understand the use of paper some more.
Liked the mixed media sketch. Do share some more. One suggestion, you may or may not act upon it. Can you add some of the rust shade you have used around the feathers around the stone too?? I think it might look good. Upto you, of course.
Once again, beautiful poem. Will be reading it many times today.
your rust in the stone area is a great observation and idea. i suspect bringing that color down would help unify the entire surface. one of the things in the back of my mind was keeping that stone area - the "sheet" it is on - as a sketch with little color, to keep some separation from the banner like devices the feathers are on - color there could pull them together more, altho there are some ways i can see that it could be used too pop the stone out even more.
i like playing with layers which is why i've attached (with the X wire/cord like pieces) the sheet to the digital background among other things. it is a sketch - meaning i'm exploring to see what happens in some ways but also utilizing some concepts i play with off and on at times. so many ideas to play with and explore yes. that is one of the reasons i like working with digital media - i can create endless variations. thanks for the thoughtful comment minnie - aloha Wrick.
I like this a lot. As others have said, it's so fun to watch your process. I can see how digital media is advantageous in the sense that you can "create endless variations" whereas with actual watercolor once you've committed paint to paper, you're limited in how much you can change it. Interesting insights you have about paper. I often feel I'm getting a bit of an education when I visit your work. Thanks!
sometimes i think i talk too much simply because each piece is what it is to each person/viewer - and even the creator. on the other hand, particularly in the comment area it's like conversing where ever the conversation goes as if someone were in my studio.
when other artists share their thought processes and the whys behind their choices i pay attention and often learn something new or gain an idea that i might like to try, so i suppose i try to do the same in return. particularly where there is a mixed audience i think it's valuable. i'm never quite sure how much people know or how much information people want. sometimes i think they know but someone else might follow the conversation better with a little more explanation.
of course there are some things i'm just as likely to leave as mystery too. i can be cryptic at times and my work can seem esoteric at times too. sometimes it becomes very personal as well and i may not even address this area. some explaining i think helps make the work more accessable.
conversing about material choices and such helps me understand my own choices and reasonings as well as re-evaluate them, which is a constant process as well. so i hope what i talk about isnt too much - if it is... i hope people will just skip on down to the next comment!
other artists who work with these materials probably know a lot of what i talk about for themselves and in their own ways. they may even have opposite opinions on things i like and for the same reason. i have a painting partner. there is a brand of brushes i like for some specific reasons - she dislikes the same brand for exactly the same reasons i like the brand. people do have to try this stuff out for themselves to really know, but conversations can be guides.
as you say we all can learn a little here and there. for me i like when artists explain or talk about their materials and thought processes because i can always learn too.
as long as i dont over do it (i hope)...
you're welcome.
thank you for taking the time to look and comment. - have fun. aloha - Wrick.
i've tried a good number of different sketchbooks - not all or even near all that are available. i do find some work for one thing better than another thing. the Canson Field sketchbook is what i use most often now as a general sketchbook. it comes in a number of different sizes. there are several sizes i prefer that suit me. i have many sketchbooks going all the time for one thing or another specifically and several that are ongoing in general. have fun exploring with your sketchbooks. it'd be great to see what you are playing with in them.
i also have some sketchbooks which are collaborative explorations with painting partners - those are fun too - we each start one, so we will each have one when they are full. sometimes we know whos will be whos. sometimes we each start one but do not define whos is whos - that gets to be wild and fun sometimes too. have fun. aloha Wrick.
Mariana you are getting a selective showing you know... i have a good number of disorganized pages too - i'm not going to necessarily show you the ones i think meet that criteria tho. *smile*. mostly i try to create in unified ways - as if it were a finished piece or moving in that direction so it functions as a composition. practicing everything as if it is a completed thing simply helps when it comes time to do a "Completed thing".
i too fill up my sketchbooks in many ways - sometimes even by doing collaborative sketchbooks with others... i do try to pay attention to longevity. when i attach something i've tried to move away from glues (altho i know there are good adhesives that will last). i enjoy figuring out ways to attach things "without" glue now.
some how i'm not sure i am really intelligent enough to be considered intellectual. that doesnt mean i dont think a lot tho. i do think of my sketchbooks as treasure. well... actually... i think of my sketchbooks as a mine. like a gold mine. a painting is (hopefully) the treasure that can come out of the gold mine. i dont mind selling or marketing that painting, but the mine itself i never want to sell - it is beyond the treasure because it is an endless (hopefully again) resource from which the treasure can flow. that's why i dont tear pages out of my sketchbooks. (ok, occasionally i'll tear a blank sheet out if i am desperately in need of a blank sheet outside of the sketchbook - it is extremely rare for me to tear a worked on page out - just my thinking tho, no one else has to see it this way or do it this way).
yes, i like to explore my inner worlds as well as outer worlds in my sketchbooks. you are exactly right, it helps me to know about me both inside and in the world around me. and yes again, dark sides and light sides, to and into and back again. my art is very personal. my sketchbooks explore in that same way.
you make a lot of sense Mariana with or with out a second cup. thank you. and good health on you too.
Julian Three - it's fun to play, yes. i think may be playing should always be exquisite. thank you for your time and comments. aloha - Wrick