Enter your information to
access your FREE copy of
"The Axully Art Roadmap"
Over and Over Again begins with the same size painting and compositional shapes; different medium and techniques, and became the basis for a Hatchfund.org campaign. This blog explores the value gained, the personal insights learned, and the journey to complete these 100 little jewels.
Posted in: Hatchfund.org
The good thing is, when I've been painting on these 'smalls' I have been in experiment mode. NOT in teaching, documenting mode. I have over 60 completed, and am reconstructing what I remember about them because some of you have said you really like the process notes.
Enjoy!
xxoo
Vicki
Only a few days left to participate in this grand experiment of mine! I really appreciate all of you who donated, even those one dollar donations...when you didn't understand a thing about crowdfunding!
I CAN tell you this, it is a ton of work! Hatchfund.org supported me all the way and encouraged me when I couldn't get people to even tell me they received my mailings. I'm not talking about strangers here. The sociologist in me wants to know why some people are curious enough to click on a button to learn for themselves what this new thing is, and some are scared a gremlin will creep out of their computer and snatch them away.
After all, anyone who knows just a little about me will KNOW that I have done all the research, and then some, to vet any organization I hook up with! I figured if Hatchfund.org was associated with foundations all over the US (including the National Endowment for the Arts and Arkansas Arts Council), they had to have been checked out and passed with flying colors!
Would I recommend that other artists attempt to do a campaign? Absolutely! And I stand ready to help and advise, whether or not you supported me in this one. I'll be able to complete this project with the goals I met, so look for more progress paintings and lessons I've learned.
"On the board you can see how I am now prepping 6 at a time. Someone asked me if I was doing one a day. Answer: No. Wicki doesn't like structure no matter how hard Victoria tries to force it. After all, that is the entire concept for me with this project."
On the board you can see how I am now prepping 6 at a time. Someone asked me if I was doing one a day. Answer: No. Wicki doesn't like structure no matter how hard Victoria tries to force it. After all, that is the entire concept for me with this project.
#10 has a very thick layer of Cold Wax Medium troweled on with palette knife. To add more texture, I used Pan Pastels into the uncured wax, and then took the end of a brush to score some more marks. Love the texture! As a final touch I sprayed some Krylon gold webbing just to see what it was like. I spent a lot of time with some artists who were really into experimentation...so any time they had tried something new I'd swing by Hobby Lobby and get it. Stock the studio!
#11 was underpainted with water and pastel. When dry, Modeling...or molding...Paste (thanks Bill Creevy) was swiped loosely on. Pastel on wet surface, then more when it was dry. In addition to the texture, these colors are totally different than the others. STILL on the landscape path...grrr.
#12 has a big glob of gesso in the center which I left for texture. I'm getting benefit by having two rows...things are organic as they drip and spray willy-nilly. Looks like a person walking over the rise, just yonder. Used the gold webbing again.
PS: Click on "Comment" at the end of the post, then scroll down to see the box. Let me know if this doesn't work...OK?
XXOO
Poopie! Accidentally deleted the post...and it was almost finished. Kick-in short-term memory...talk about Over and Over Again!
...Third set. I wanted to show this image for two reasons 1) #7 on the left is being created on a paper towel mounted in the wet gesso and 2) #8 and #9 show how I lightly sketch in my four shapes when the gesso is dry. I'm not using anything but memory to sketch them...wanting to remain loose and organic. Not really caring whether I color in the lines or not!
I used several coats of SpectraFix on #7. Another valuable tip learned from Alan Flattmann at IAPS (International Association of Pastel Societies)...buy the concentrated casein mixture (rumored to be Degas lost recipe) with PGA (pure grain alcohol, (remember Purple Passion in college?). Then, with Preval sprayer, yes, ozone friendly, you can make a fine mist that DOES NOT CHANGE COLORS. Don't spray while smoking, and you can do this indoors safely.
I sized the paper towel to leave a border of paper where the strokes could be left to show. I used Gamsol from Gamblin to liquify in some spots. Applied a coat of clear gesso with some #FFF pumice to add some grit. Figured this would help isolate the paper towel too, for archival reasons.
Just used a paper plate left over from lunch (yeah, I eat in my studio), poured a tablespoon of gesso and shook out some pumice. No measurements! Yea! Wicki!
#8 (middle) explored a rock/stream/wall. The yellow sky is interesting. If you double click you can see some paper towel collage and gold leaf.
#9 (right) Very drippy Gamsol wash on the pastel. I love the movement it creates as the liquid finds its path.
PS: If you are reading this through email as a newsletter, click here to read in the actual blog and see Comment area which is at the bottom of the post. Click on "Comment", then scroll down to see the box. Let me know if this doesn't work...OK?
xxoo
OK, getting into the groove. Underpaintings, gesso, pastel grounds...take time to dry. My board will hold six at a time.
#4 and #6 are watercolor under paintings. #5 is Art Spectrum's Colorfix Primer (Soft Umber), It has a fine grit mixed in...and is very handy for all types of media.
Still exploring the landscape genre. It's OK, tho...whatever appears is what we get.
#4 Over and Over Again
7.5" x 7.5" Mixed Media (watercolor, pastel, Gamblin Cold Wax)
© V.N.Ross
On #4 (left) after the wc dried, I stumbled around with some pastels. Grabbed a jar of Gamblin Cold Wax Medium and with a palette knife, made some textural marks. Scraped back into some with the end of a brush for linear lines. While it was still workable and Pan Pastels, I added some color. Their sofft tools allow you to 'kiss' the surface and transfer the pastel. Perfect for the thick wax medium. Since it is still soft, I can carve the painting number and my signature in when I've said enough.
#5 Over and Over Again
7.5" x 7.5" Pastel
© V.N.Ross
#5 is the one in the middle, over the umber pastel ground. I deliberately left some texture. This one is all pastel...and I was more interested in the colors than anything else. I really like how glazing with the side of a 1/2" stick really accents the texture in the ground.
This gives me the opportunity to throw in some shock colors. I really have no care whether they are real in nature or not.
#6 Over and Over
7.5" x 7.5" pastel over watercolor
© V.N.Ross
Another thing I particularly like is the sky...from greenish aqua to light cobalt to lavender, and greenish yellow.
PS: If you are reading this through email as a newsletter, click here to read in the actual blog and see Comment area which is at the bottom of the post. Click on "Comment", then scroll down to see the box. Let me know if this doesn't work...OK?
xxoo
#22 Over and Over Again
7.5" x 7.5" multi media
© V.N.Ross
I discussed killing it in a previous post, "Who Killed It", concerning your creativity. This doesn't just apply to visual artists. Ever wonder if Paula Deen got in such a funk that she went out for a Sonic burger days in a row? Feed the kids Mac 'n Cheese every night (not too bad, I might say :). Tim the Tool Guy avoiding his workshop for days, until the sawdust on the floor was full of little mice? What about a writer who reads every best seller he can get his hands on, but can't put two words of his own together to make sense?
This is what I'm doing at the start of 2014. A fundraising campaign with Hatchfund.org called Over and Over Again: Repetition with Variations. This blog is part of the project. Since the end of one year and the beginning is a rebirth time for me anyway, painting is slow, and I felt I could commit to the daily marketing/promotion of the project. It ends on February 18, my Sarah's birthday. She would have been 27 on her birthday in 2014. Please go over and follow/share/donate. With your help and a successful campaign, we'll be able to start a scholarship fund in her name.
PS: If you are reading this through email as a newsletter, click here to read in the actual blog and see Comment area which is at the bottom of the post. Click on "Comment", then scroll down to see the box. Let me know if this doesn't work...OK?
xxoo
Romeo and Hatchfund
"You killed it" can mean:
Literal:
Someone did something that ruined the joke. You wouldn't say "you killed it" to someone who just told a bad joke, you would say it to someone who took a good joke too far and made it not funny.
Illiteral (sic, Wicki):
When someone does something or wears something that is too sensational to describe.
When someone says or does something to destroy the current flow of rich interaction. source: Internet
So, Who Killed It? Your creativity, your drive to explore and play? To discover a new stroke, color mixture, composition for your toolbox? If you're a writer, every sentence is a labor of un-love (sic, Wicki)?
Too Much Information? (guilty) You've read every new book and article on every medium under the sun and have a desire to do them all? You've taken workshops that have turned everything you were comfortable with upside down and now you can't do anything?
Distractions? Allowing daily chores to come first? Kida/Pets/Neighbors in your space? Computer: Social Media/Marketing/Art Related avoidance tactics? Too much TV as you sit all cuddled up in your chair with favorite hairy kids snuggled in your lap? (guilty)
Jack of All Trades, Master of None? (guilty) One of my early teachers/mentors, Kippy Hammond, once told me this sage advice: Landscape, Still Life, Figurative–Oil, Pastel, Watercolor–Impressionistic, Realistic, Abstract. Pick ONE from each group. My smart mouth answer back was "How will I know what I really want to do if I haven't tried it and at least gained some competence with it?" Newsflash 8 years later: she was right to a certain degree.
"Pinning the Hat" Pierre-August Renoir, 1898
Steiglitz/Fisk/Crystal Bridges Collection
Mentor trained you too well? hmmmm. that's a hard one. Your eye has been trained to spot every out-of-drawing error, misplaced warm/cool color, compositional issues to the point you talk yourself out of trying. Ever have the audacity of claiming a Renoir was out-of-drawing? I did. Guess we all have to do our share of trial and error, and here's proof.
PS: If you are reading this through email as a newsletter, click here to read in the actual blog and see Comment area which is at the bottom of the post. Click on "Comment", then scroll down to see the box. Let me know if this doesn't work...OK?
xxoo
xxoo
#5 Over and Over Again
7.5" x 7.5" Pastel
© V.N.Ross
let me rephrase that. WHAT the h*** am I DOING!
TeeHee, RB Wicki won. But, WHAT the h*** am I DOING! Karen Margulis and Deborah Secor and Marla Baggetta have already done this, written the book, and have the shirt. I had to get clear that I was doing this for ME, not for anyone or anything else. I wanted a platform where some elements were pre-determined so I could do some impulse painting.
Wanna paint with four very dark colors? Not my typical urge, but if I want to, I can! High Key (all light colors) or Low Key (all dark colors). Underpaint with watercolor? mineral spirits? water? fixative? What about modeling paste...gesso...matte medium...paper making fiber...crackle...gold leaf...gold webbing spray...collage...NOW Wicki has come up with something different. Mixed Media. Whatever tool I have in my magic tool chest is legal.
Ok, I've rationalized how I can make this idea my own. Now. Typical artist mentality...sure don't want to waste good pastel boards or gesso boards for playing! So, having enough watercolor paper in inventory to satisfy this part of the world, that will work! SIZE? Of course, what will a full sheet of paper break down to in squares (my shape of the moment)...no waste. Easy to fold in half/thirds/half. 7.5" is the magic number so they will stay small and not cost an arm and leg to frame.
For several weeks I'd find me looking for the perfect simple compositional shapes...ones that wouldn't confine me too much...and that would not be restricted to one genre like landscape. THAT solved. Tape first three to board. Now what?
Go back and read and look at what the others did. Back to the easel. Sit. Stare. LB Victoria is fighting to maintain control. Wicki gives in a bit, and creates some fairly typical landscapes in the first three.
Now What...? Stay tuned...
PS: If you are reading this through email as a newsletter, click here to read in the actual blog and see Comment area which is at the bottom of the post. Click on "Comment", then scroll down to see the box. Let me know if this doesn't work...OK?
xxoo
Three down. Ninety-Seven to go. Can I do this? Can I ignore the nay-sayers who mean well, but ask me "what are you DOING this for?" As I mentioned in the first post, Vicki's 100 Repetition with Variations #1, I tried to talk me out of this. Victoria told Wicki (LB told RB in ZenZone post) to STOP bugging her about this crazeee idea. To just go paint if that makes her happy, but DON'T start another project.
#1 Over and Over Again
7.5" x 7.5" mixed media
© V.N.Ross
As I mentioned in the previous post, drumroll, please...#1 of the "Over and Over Again: Repetition with Variations" piece is shown here.
Started with my super, duper taping trick shared with me by Alan Flattmann. Blog post...click on link. Am using 140# cold press watercolor paper for most of these.
I took a deep breath...choked down the panic...and painted normal. Well, if you consider an orange wash normal :)
An orange Holbein (similar to NuPastel in hardness) scraped over the rough surface of the paper. With an old bristle brush and Gamsol (odorless mineral spirits) I slopped some on the paper to cause runs and ripples.
Underpainting
Finished off with various brands and softness of pastel sticks, trying to stay loose, especially in the foreground and trees. Allowed some orange to show through the sky.
Whew. #1 is complete! The journey has begun...
PS: If you are reading this through email as a newsletter, click here to read in the actual blog and see Comment area which is at the bottom of the post. Click on "Comment", then scroll down to see the box. Let me know if this doesn't work...OK?
xxoo
Erin, my coach/project manager at Hatchfund.org, convinced me that launching my project a few days before Christmas really WAS a good idea...contrary to Wicki-wisdom :)
#1
Over and Over Again: Repetition with Variations
7.5x7.5", mixed media.
© V.N.Ross
Boy, was she right! Hatchfund even initiated a 1 for 1 matching funds that counted toward my funds total. I'm at 41% in 6 days! I want to thank Linda Wan, Melissa deBin Parish, Dianne DeMille, Jaquita and Mark Neil, Diana Moses Botkin, Susan Goromboly, Leslie B. DeMille and Shaktima Brien. From $1 to $275...my smiles are equal for each who took the time to support me.
Another reason (there are several) for trying this method of fundraising is to pave the way for other two-dimensional artists to fund projects of their own. At the completion of my successful campaign, I get to invite five others to try it out. I intend to support them any way I can...coaching, writing, whatever.
A portion of any excess funds will begin an endowment fund for Sarah Ross, ultimately resulting in a scholarship for deserving artists of any age.
Here is my Flagship #1 in the series...I considered it my jump-off point...a traditional use of my four shapes, a landscape. I was conscious at the time that this was an auspicious beginning, a journey that I intend to fully explore and enjoy. As I stated in earlier blog posts, the decision to start this personal challenge was not taken lightly. Only after dreaming about my four compositional shapes for days did I agree with my Muse that I COULD commit to do this.
PS: If you are reading this through email as a newsletter, click here to read in the actual blog and see Comment area which is at the bottom of the post. Click on "Comment", then scroll down to see the box. Let me know if this doesn't work...OK?
xxoo
computer generated framing assortment
Each will be framed 14" x 10" in shadow box.
I was approved to join the Hatchfund.org non-profit 501-c3 organization for an art project involving my idea for 100 little jewels. A crowd-funding company, where donations in any amount are accepted...and perks awarded at each level! My project was approved and I'm ready to roll.
My project link, Over and Over Again: Repetition with Variations is HERE. I'm so excited...and would love it if you would help me spread the word about it, it takes a community to support an artist :) The perks I designed are fun and can be yours at several different levels.
Hatchfund recognizes and promotes partners and their outstanding artistic communities. Partners in turn, are encouraged to spread the word about project funding opportunities with Hatchfund. Working together to celebrate the arts and artists makes us stronger. My attention to them came through the Arkansas Arts Council, who is a partner. They contacted me this morning about doing an interview for their newsletter!
75% success rates, tax-deductibility for donors, matching funds once I get to my minimum level, are only a few of the reasons I wanted to try this. They even have extra promotions based on my fundraising.
Power of the internet...first donation is from a Facebook friend in Malaysia. Another friend (I know in person) who lives in France also contacted me.
Any amount you choose to donate is gratefully appreciated...and the perks are COOL! I'll be posting regularly, and hope to include you as a participant. AND please share with your friends!
PS: If you are reading this through email as a newsletter, click here to read in the actual blog and see Comment area which is at the bottom of the post. Click on "Comment", then scroll down to see the box. Let me know if this doesn't work...OK?
xxoo
