[image_with_animation image_url=”8555″ alignment=”” animation=”None” box_shadow=”none” max_width=”100%”] Yesterday I talked about Joseph Cornell, and how he didn’t consider himself an artist, but felt he was a collector, and a maker of things. I like to think sometimes I make things. Contrary to my website, I avoid calling myself an artist. Doing so can be validating, but it can also remove what I’m doing from a natural relaxed integrated experience, and end up piling expectations, limits, and uppityness (yes, uppityness) on how I think about myself and what’s happening. So, I prefer to say I make stuff sometimes.
I often look at artwork labels to see what materials were used. Usually this isn’t for the purpose of copying the work, but to get an idea of the mood of its making. Instead of “mixed media” I’d like to read “roofing tar applied with toothbrush, human hair died red, portland cement, glitter” not “mixed media.” I admit, other than the tar, I stole the best parts of that list from Claire Putney. While showing her work to students, I heard her say “that’s human hair died red, and I put it into the cracks of the moulded concrete.” That, my friends, is a process-descriptive materials list, and now you know about Claire.
A highly particular label for a drawing could read: “4H, HB, 2B, 4B, 6B, 8B Mitsubishi graphite pencils, Magic Rub white eraser, kneaded eraser, bottom of shoe, chamois, my sister’s hair spray, a straight blade, a sanding block, spilled coffee, 20lb paper.”
Just like painting labels tell you about the past, class materials list can tell you a lot about the future. If your drawing class list has 8 kinds of pencils, 4 kinds of erasers, a straight blade and a sanding block, you best be ready to get par-tic-u-lar. I worry about the beginning painting classes that require 16 tubes of paint, pre-stretched gallery canvases, and brushes from specific animals.
In a recent class with Siobhan Wilder, we wanted to try different materials, but none of the artwork inspirations said anything more than “mixed media.” After investigating heat guns, plaster, and various other bad ideas, we ended up making some boards using graphite powder, gesso, and various colors of cheap Liquitex and Amsterdam acrylic. Applied with a putty knife onto drywall, it looks like this:
Here’s a class materials list for you: please bring silver forks, plastic spoons, your mom’s old coat, colored glue sticks, screws, hinges, a three legged chair, jars with x inside, dictionary pages Q through S, some wire, and a hammer (your choice). I took this from the materials list for Paul D. McKee’s “Found Object” Assemblage workshop. I did some editing and added a few specifics, but basically the list is clear: you’re in for adult pre-school. The world is wonderful again. Lots of fun.
24 more hours left to use the coupon code “MAKERS” for 20% off Paul D. McKee’s Found Object Sculpture class April 14/15, and Melanie Reed’s Integrated Collage Design April 21/28. You don’t have to call yourself an artist, you can just make stuff.
Apply this coupon code at checkout for 20% off: MAKERS. (Don’t wait! Coupon expires March 14th.)
In recent V. Notes I talked about how artists learn and get inspired by studying works by other artists. I posted transcriptions by Jonathan Harkham, and I posted Frank Auerbach’s Transcriptions after Titian. In art, to transcribe is to copy or record information in a different form than the original. To transcribe a painting or …
Exercise your creativity This SAL Challenge is a vocabulary based creative challenge every day for January. Materials are artist’s choice. You can draw, paint, sew, collage, sculpt your food, anything you want. See below for today’s creative challenge. Set the timer for 20 minutes and see what happens. UNDER-PINNERS Victorian slang for your legs. #salchallenge …
Day 28 of our 30 Day January Challenge was to transcribe Maharana Sarup Singh Inspects a Prize Stallion, by Mewar. Honestly, I hadn’t given it much thought, but one of our artists did. Soon after the challenge was posted, I received an email from Dorothy Richards. Her letter is shared below, with permission. Birthday gift? …
For the 26th day of our 30 day January challenge, I focused on memory. The instructions were as follows: Draw what’s in your fridge, from memory Open your refrigerator and look at what’s inside. Close the refrigerator, and draw as much as you can remember. When you can’t remember enough to draw any more, then take another look inside the refrigerator. …
“Mixed media”
[image_with_animation image_url=”8555″ alignment=”” animation=”None” box_shadow=”none” max_width=”100%”] Yesterday I talked about Joseph Cornell, and how he didn’t consider himself an artist, but felt he was a collector, and a maker of things. I like to think sometimes I make things. Contrary to my website, I avoid calling myself an artist. Doing so can be validating, but it can also remove what I’m doing from a natural relaxed integrated experience, and end up piling expectations, limits, and uppityness (yes, uppityness) on how I think about myself and what’s happening. So, I prefer to say I make stuff sometimes.
I often look at artwork labels to see what materials were used. Usually this isn’t for the purpose of copying the work, but to get an idea of the mood of its making. Instead of “mixed media” I’d like to read “roofing tar applied with toothbrush, human hair died red, portland cement, glitter” not “mixed media.” I admit, other than the tar, I stole the best parts of that list from Claire Putney. While showing her work to students, I heard her say “that’s human hair died red, and I put it into the cracks of the moulded concrete.” That, my friends, is a process-descriptive materials list, and now you know about Claire.
A highly particular label for a drawing could read: “4H, HB, 2B, 4B, 6B, 8B Mitsubishi graphite pencils, Magic Rub white eraser, kneaded eraser, bottom of shoe, chamois, my sister’s hair spray, a straight blade, a sanding block, spilled coffee, 20lb paper.”
Just like painting labels tell you about the past, class materials list can tell you a lot about the future. If your drawing class list has 8 kinds of pencils, 4 kinds of erasers, a straight blade and a sanding block, you best be ready to get par-tic-u-lar. I worry about the beginning painting classes that require 16 tubes of paint, pre-stretched gallery canvases, and brushes from specific animals.
In a recent class with Siobhan Wilder, we wanted to try different materials, but none of the artwork inspirations said anything more than “mixed media.” After investigating heat guns, plaster, and various other bad ideas, we ended up making some boards using graphite powder, gesso, and various colors of cheap Liquitex and Amsterdam acrylic. Applied with a putty knife onto drywall, it looks like this:
Here’s a class materials list for you: please bring silver forks, plastic spoons, your mom’s old coat, colored glue sticks, screws, hinges, a three legged chair, jars with x inside, dictionary pages Q through S, some wire, and a hammer (your choice). I took this from the materials list for Paul D. McKee’s “Found Object” Assemblage workshop. I did some editing and added a few specifics, but basically the list is clear: you’re in for adult pre-school. The world is wonderful again. Lots of fun.
24 more hours left to use the coupon code “MAKERS” for 20% off Paul D. McKee’s Found Object Sculpture class April 14/15, and Melanie Reed’s Integrated Collage Design April 21/28. You don’t have to call yourself an artist, you can just make stuff.
Apply this coupon code at checkout for 20% off: MAKERS. (Don’t wait! Coupon expires March 14th.)
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In recent V. Notes I talked about how artists learn and get inspired by studying works by other artists. I posted transcriptions by Jonathan Harkham, and I posted Frank Auerbach’s Transcriptions after Titian. In art, to transcribe is to copy or record information in a different form than the original. To transcribe a painting or …
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