Monday, September 29, 2014

Typeface



Typeface on T Tuesday
I learned lettering and calligraphy
in high school, using a 'dip' pen with a
wide nib and India ink.  We practiced and 
practiced the Old English style, until I was
very tired of it.  It was the most complicated
and had the most strokes to each letter.
Now that we use computers for lettering
fonts, it might seem unnecessary to know
hand-lettering styles, but I do enjoy being
able to draw or write almost any style
that I desire in my art journals.




Mixing up the letter styles is fun...and inventing
your own design is too!




Above, lettering 'borrowed' from the Harry Potter
movie series.  I see a resemblance to the 
Old English letters in the lower case lettering...




Above, an example of some lettering done
with a felt-tip calligraphy pen.  Basically that
just means the pen tip is a 'chisel-shape, '
rather than a thin point on the end.
When holding the pen at an angle as you write,
on the down-stroke of each letter you get a
wider stroke than on a horizontal or diagonal.




If you've ever examined the instructions for
calligraphy, some of the diagrams show tiny
arrows instructing the calligrapher in which 
direction to make the strokes for each letter.
It sounds complicated, but once you've 
learned the basics, it's similar for all styles
of lettering.  Above, Speedball textbook, 20th edition, 
copyright 1972. I probably bought this book in
1973, and have used it off and on ever since.

 These days, styles can be much
freer and you can get creative with spacing
and size of letters to suit yourself.  Well, I'm 
not doing a formal document or award, so
I pretty much suit myself!







When I make letters with shadows, I always put
the shadow on the right, as though the 'light source'
is coming from the upper left.  A habit formed during
 that practice in high-school.  When you are focusing
on the lettering, however, it is rather easy to
spell something incorrectly!  I try to double-check
before I ink it.  But the beauty of collage and
art journal pages, is that I can paste something
right over top of a mistake!




 I will be linking up with Elizabeth for her weekly
T Tuesday link party.  




and showing a beverage container...
do you ever have soda for breakfast?
just wondering...











Tuesday, September 23, 2014

TABS on T Tuesday


Tabs with my morning coffee today...


I like to try finding a topic that begins with 'T' for
the T Tuesday link-up party with Elizabeth and friends.
Thought I would share TABS
 on the edges of my art journal pages.
Tabs make me happy...


Most are made from scrapbook paper or 
watercolor paper, either rectangles or circles
punched out with a circle punch. Notice I sewed a
bit of burlap for the tab on the right. It is rather
bulky, but I like how it looks.  I've also used security
envelope liners, and watercolor paper with doodles
in paint and pen to make Tabs.


There are lots of options!


The Paper Clip as a tab: above, is a counted
cross-stitch design on Aida, that was cut out, glued to
the paper clip along with backing fabric, and 
the entire piece stiffened with white glue.


Another paper clip tab, with a knotted strip of
fabric.  You can also see the purchased paper clip
to the left that has an arrow image on it. I am not sure
if I bought it in the office supply aisle, 
or in scrapbook supplies.


Above, a rather large tab covered with
fabric scraps.  I guess I just wanted to include
the entire collage on this tab...


One of my favorite tabs: a scrap of lace that
I crocheted with beads sewn onto it.  The 
bugle beads and seed beads stick out over the
edge of the page. Not a substantial tab, but
adds a nice texture!


Tabs on cards or tags inside a pocket, make the
piece easier to pull out of the pocket.


A bit of fall color is showing up in my area
of Ohio...and here's one of the many


primitive pumpkins that appear around our
house this time of year.

Linking up with Elizabeth for T Tuesday.
Thanks for visiting!



Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Techniques on Tuesday



My most often used techniques:
Drawing, painting and collage.
Above, Sharpie pen drawing from a fashion
magazine, while watching a British murder
mystery on Netflix~ "Midsomer Murders."
  Couldn't resist adding that quote to the page!
Sharpie pen, blue watercolor, phone book
pages, and magazine scraps.  Click on the
image for a larger view.




I am faithfully keeping up - barely -
with The Documented Life Project, which
has a new 'prompt' each week.  While I 
usually get one page done (the tip-in)
 for the prompt each week, often
 the pages underneath have to wait days or
weeks to get completed. Sometimes they 
follow the prompt, but sometimes not.
Above, more faces from Week 35. The
journal also includes 'planner pages' with
my activities and appointments for
that week. I decorate and doodle on 
them too, but don't usually show 
them in order to maintain privacy-
at least some semblance of it.




Above, from week 33 ~ the prompt was to 
use your 'under papers' in your art.  Which 
meant whatever type of paper you had under
the art work you were creating, that might have
 splatters, scrapes, scribbles and drips of paint, 
or ink on it. Above, deli paper, painted papers, 
watercolor,  acrylic, Sharpie & gel pens, 
with words from a food packaging carton.




Above, Week 34 prompt  of DLP was to include
 numbers on your page.  I think these collages 
ended up being more successful than 
the initial tip-in page. (using my grocery list!)




Some unfinished pages...not sure what 
more to include, but there will probably be
 quotes and doodles involved...
upper right is a vintage scrap 
from Children's Book of Knowledge, 1953,
along with decorative tape and notepad paper.





Pumpkins and Fall decorations began 
appearing around my house in the 
middle of August. My daughter thought
 it was a bit premature.

•  ♦  •

Linking up with Elizabeth's T - Tuesday party,
and showing a 'virtual' coffee mug 
from my art journal.  Pop over 
to T-Tuesday to see what's new...

•  ♦  •

There may be more Fall arts and crafts to come
here on the blog...what do you think?







Friday, September 12, 2014

White Gel Pen on Black


The Documented Life Project:
Week 37~ Use a white pen prominently
on your page.



Sakura Gelly Roll pen on black card stock.
The Solar System illustration on the right
is from a vintage, 1953 Book of Knowledge,
a children's encyclopedia of science,
literature and art.  The image just seemed
to work in a quirky kind of way...




Love this quote.  Art makes
life better!

♦  •  ♦



Tuesday, September 9, 2014

Treacle Tart Recipe



When reading the Harry Potter stories,
I wondered what exactly Treacle Tart is.
Having looked for recipes on-line, it seems
to resemble our American pecan pie ~
without the pecans.  I've never made it,
but it's on my 'bucket list.'  I understand
you can substitute Karo syrup for the 
Golden's syrup, and there also seems
to be a debate about whether or not
a bit of molasses might be included.
In the U.S., some stores may carry the
Golden's syrup in the pancake syrup aisle.




An illustrated recipe page seemed like
fun, especially for Elizabeth's
T Tuesday link party...




I prefer a smiling Mr. Potter over
the darker, more troubled expressions...




and I think that baking up a recipe is
a lot like mixing up a magic potion!





Friday, September 5, 2014

Drawing and Collage: Black and White


Documented Life Project-
Week 35: Draw (or clip a face from a magazine)
for your weekly page...

  I decided to sketch in Sharpie pen
a drawing from da Vinci's notebook.  I have an
old desk calendar with these wonderful drawings
by da Vinci, and periodically make copies for 
collage or try to sketch from them. I rarely 
capture the amazing images as well as
I'd hoped, but it's very good practice!




Week 36: Black and White

I've noticed that many participants in the
Documented Life Project are using
paints and inks for their art work...and
 the inspiration provided by the
Art to the 5th artists is wonderful.
But it's pretty much 'anything goes'
for the projects, and
 I just have to make collages sometimes!
Above: my drawings, acrylic paint,
fabric, envelope liner, scrapbook papers, 
black Sharpie pen, & white gel pen.

I encourage you to draw, cut and paste today!





Monday, September 1, 2014

Tractors and other 'Fair' Things



Morrow county fair


This was a 'week of County Fairs.'
Above, sketches done on Saturday, while waiting for the
Morrow County Fair (Ohio) Tractor Pull to begin...
almost everyone was wearing a baseball cap.
We wore two pair of ear plugs because of the 
noise! One foam pair in our ears, and when the
trucks came out, we also put on 'ear-muff' type
ear protectors as well!  Loud engines, alcohol
flames, amazing custom paint jobs, and a very
enthusiastic and professional announcer.
The stands were full, and the people-watching
was nearly as fun as the tractor pull.  I didn't quite
get the sketch done of the tractor with the 'tank treads'--
it was 'working' the track before the show started.
A really huge monster...quite a contrast with
the antique tractor parade immediately 
preceding the tractor pull!


Morrow County fair

We visited a few barns before the tractor pull, 
and I took the opportunity to sketch this
 lovely pigeon. It was in the Poultry and Rabbit building, 
and was cream and tan, with iridescent
feathers on its neck, that changed from pink to green.


A landscaped area between two buildings- I used some 'artistic license' here!
 Fulton County Fair

The previous day, on Friday, I had driven to 'the 
top of the state' to the Fulton County (Ohio) Fair,
where my daughter and son-in-law are 4-H advisers
and Red Cross volunteers.  It is one of the largest
county fairs in Ohio, and a really nice fair...the way
I remember that county fairs 'used to be.'  Seems as
though county fairs are losing participants, as farms
get bigger and perhaps have less time to participate in
such things as fairs, schools have done away with things
such as FFA and ag, and everyone is so busy 
working and trying to make ends meet.
It's so nice to see home canning, quilts, antiques,
fabulous 4-H exhibits, and art exhibits, along with
the animals, midway rides, and of course lots of food!


Fulton County Fair

Sketch done with Sharpie pen-direct to paper- with watercolor
pencils added for color, so I could blend with water later...I used
the small book that I received from Roz Stendahl, as described here
while using a small clipboard as my drawing surface.
This is the first time I ever noticed that some folks like to leave
the legs of the lamb unshorn- all fluffy- as opposed to the
clean and lean body. 


Fulton County Fair

In the poultry and rabbit barn...these geese were very vocal!
Don't know the breed, but they were quite the pair, and 
giving me the eye because I stood near for so long.
"Suspicious woman wearing a goofy hat and doing 
something odd when she should feed us!" may
have been the translation of their honking...


Fulton County Fair

Above, these fancy birds had feathers standing straight up
on their heads like a crazy headdress!  One of them 
had its eye completely obscured by feathers-
I couldn't  see its eye at all.  Because it moved
 so much, I really did not capture the beautiful
markings of the black and white feathers...
but enjoyed the attempt.

Joining Elizabeth for T Tuesday- my T is for Tractor!
And as always, my beverage of choice today is coffee...




but I'm sharing a collage (above) from a previous post~
because those lemonades, and Slushies at the fairs
sure looked appetizing on a hot day!