Tuesday

Here’s another cereal box transfer painting. I love this one!

Today (Tuesday) is the last day to comment here for tomorrow’s G I V E A W A Y !!!

How is everyone?!!!

Natalie & Guerrilla Art Friday

A very lucky shot!!!

Here’s Natalie in her mid-morning, purry-loungy state…

Some “guerrilla art.” I put it up there 5 days ago and it’s still there!

Tutorial: Cereal Box Transfer Painting: Part 3

(Sorry! I meant to post this yesterday but actually FORGOT, until the moment my head hit my pillow. Then it was too late.

What you’ll need today:

• Ink-jet transfer paper, cold peel (I use Avery T-Shirt Transfer Paper)
• Photo, scanned into your computer
• Iron
• a sheet of parchment paper (or wax or tissue paper… something that you can iron on)

1. Scan your photo or artwork into your computer and size it to 8×10 or smaller… your choice! Go to your image settings and select “Flip Canvas Horizontal” in Photoshop (other applications, you’re on your own!).

2. Print your image onto the transfer paper. Decide where on your cereal box you would like to transfer your image.

3. Trim. Preheat your iron. I set mine on the highest cotton setting…

4. Place your cereal box down first, painted-side-up; your transfer image second, image-side-down, and the parchment paper on top.

5. Iron according to package instructions (though I usually double the amount of time they recommend, just to make sure it sticks). Let cool completely.

6. Remember it must be cooled COMPLETELY before you peel the paper off!

7. Finished!

Now you can frame it, cut it up and make journal covers, postcards or bookmarks, or give it away. I think that’s what I’ll do!

G I V E A W A Y ! ! !

If you would like me to send you this Cereal Box Transfer Painting, leave a comment by Tuesday, September 30th and I will pick a name randomly on Wednesday, October 1st.

UPDATE: The winner was picked! Thank you al for playing.

Tutorial: Cereal Box Transfer Painting: Part 2

Today you are adding color to your piece, and tomorrow we will do the transfer portion (click images to enlarge).

What you need today:

• watercolors
• a larger brush (about 1/2″ or so)
• a cotton rag or paper towel
• clear acrylic spray

1. Using lots of water, paint a thin layer of watercolor over your gessoed cereal box. In this case I chose orange. (The coloring should be PALE… if it’s not transparent and pale, add more water!)

2. Let wash dry completely.

3. Choose a second color and repeat step one with that color (in this case, yellow).

4. Let dry COMPLETELY.

5. [NOTE: I’m missing a photo here because it was too blurry, but ended up having to repeat the step later so, you visual learners, see photo #7…] Using your rag and pointer finger, dip the rag into water and squeeze out the excess water so it is not dripping. Then, with damp rag in hand, gently rub the watercolor around in a circular motion. You are basically blending the two colors together, varying your pressure so that in some cases it is lighter and some it is darker. At some point your rag will have too much pigment on it, so you need to find a clean spot, dampen the area, and continue.

6. Most of the time two layers of watercolor are enough, but in this case I felt I needed to add another layer of color. This time I added a layer of pale brown.

7. After that third layer was completely dry, I rubbed the pigment around with my dampened rag, repeating step 5.

8. Now I’m liking it a little better. (Click to see detail)

9. Spray with a light coating of acrylic spray. (I use Krylon UV Resistant spray.)

Okay, that’s it for today! Tomorrow is the day you’ve been waiting for… the transfer step!

What you’ll need:

• Ink-jet transfer paper, cold peel (I use Avery T-Shirt Transfer Paper)
• Photo, scanned into your computer
• Iron

Tutorial: Cereal Box Transfer Paintings: Part 1

I’ve been asked to provide a step-by-step for the transfer painting technique from the previous post. Here you go!

What you will need today:

• cereal box
• brayer
• white gesso
• paper plate (or other flat surface for rolling out gesso)

1. Dig that cereal box out of the trash and cut it down to a manageable size.

2. Put a dab of white gesso on your paper plate and roll your brayer through the paint.

3. Apply the gesso by rolling your brayer across the cereal box.

4. Cover the entire cereal box, but vary your pressure as you roll your brayer, letting some color and details from the box show through.

5. Set aside to dry completely. (Note: wash your brayer right away. You don’t want the gesso to dry on it!)

That’s it for today! Tomorrow you will need:

• watercolors
• a larger brush (about 1/2″ or so)
• a cotton rag or paper towel
• clear acrylic spray

Cereal Box Transfer Paintings

More experimenting in the studio today.

(click for textures)

Girl on Armadillo

This is a larger piece I did in the Spring and will bring to Albuquerque in November!

Trying to get a bunch of stuff done. I think I will try and do that now!!

“The essential ingredient for creativity is wasting time.” – Anonymous

So true.

Get your t-shirt here.

Additions and Subtractions

Cow-Horse Thing

(Click to enlarge.)

I love the process of starting a painting not knowing what I’m going to paint… and just letting the piece “emerge” or “present itself” while I’m painting. That was the case with the cow-horse above (though I did have the word “creature” in my mind, which I’m sure informed the end result).

When I started messing around with paint 15 years ago this intuitive process was my primary method… more recently, specifically with my Girls series, I moved away from that approach, but missed it. So last year I started working on a new series of “Creatures” to get back to that intuitive way of painting that I started with.

A lot of the artists we all admire (Katie Kendrick, Jesse Reno, to name two) work this way.

Here is a detail of this cow-horse’s little face… I’m not sure if he’s quite finished, but I like how simple he is right now, so perhaps he is.

And, a recent page from my journal: