Pen & Ink with Oils

Hi and welcome to my blog:

I hope everyone is having a great summer. I am spending a lot of time at my cottage, and it is so beautiful here. In my spare time, I am tackling some different painting projects - I am working with textured paintings, and, it is interesting, to say the least! I do have a couple of pen & ink projects to share with you.

This one is a silhouette piece designed by Bonnie Seaman, and can be found in her book 'Landscapes'. I did this piece on a 17x8 piece of wood. I prepped it first, put the pattern on, then filled in all the black areas with ink....I worked with Faber-Castell Pitt Artist Pens (disposable) for all the inking work. All the buildings, windmill, etc. were outlined with a superfine pen - this pen was also used for the grass and weeds around the pond, then I filled in all the solid areas with a 'brush' pen. For the bushes and trees I used a scumbler and fan brush respectively to pounce ink on. Just a note about the inking - you will probably have to ink two coats for full, thick coverage. The sky and pond were simply swiped on using combinations of red, orange, yellow and purple oil paint.

If you plan to do any silhouettes using this technique I have some advice. As stated above, I did all my inking first then added the paint - well, in the process of applying the paint (a couple of coats) I obviously got paint on my inked areas, and had to go in an erase all the paint. So, if I ever do a similar project, I will trace my pattern, outline all my inked areas, apply all my paint....then, after spraying, I will ink in all my solid areas and then pounce on all my bushes and trees.

The project took more time than I expected, but I am very happy with the result.

This piece is done in a more traditional pen & ink manner. The original design is by Bonnie Seaman and can be found in her book 'Country's Edge'. I have included the pen & ink drawing before any paint was added, along with the completed piece. You may recall that in my last post, this same pattern was included (painted by Ginette, one of the girls in our art sessions). I have used different colours than Ginette did, and it gives the piece an entirely different look . I did use Ginette's method of doing the background. I like this piece, and I had fun doing it!











My weekly art sessions will be starting in a September, and I will be posting information about that shortly. I have been working on some different art projects and I am looking forward to showing those pieces to the girls in my art sessions.

That's it for now - thanks for visiting my blog.

Joan

Pen & Ink with Oils

On a personal note, the renovations to our bathroom are almost complete, so we have finally moved home from our cottage. So, now I am in the process of getting everything organized and in order, and, I am finally getting down to some serious art work. The following pieces were completed over the summer months - I am now focusing my attention on some coloured pencil projects and Christmas ornaments and decorations.

This first piece called Springtime Clock (notice mine did not end up being a clock!), was designed by Maxine Thomas and can be found in PaintWorks April 2002. The instructions are for acrylic painting. I just love this piece! I decided to do it on wood - after prepping the wood (whitewashing, sanding, spraying) I took a cloth and applied some burnt umber oil paint to it, then rubbed the paint around the edges, constantly drawing it in towards the center of the pic. This technique gave me a darker outer area with the colour fading towards the center - almost an antique look. I then sprayed the piece, put my pattern on, applied the inking and then the oil rouging. I did add some acrylic paint to the pussy willows and yellow flowers.

I found this project interesting and different. However, for some reason, it did not like the camera - I took many photos, but could not get a picture that showed the true colours - and, the pics always seemed to be somewhat blurry. Oh well, I decided to post it anyway. It is called In Perfect Solitude and was designed by Susan V. Cochrane - it can be found in the August 2010 edition of PaintWorks. The instructions are for acrylic paint. I used a plastic oval platter that I found at the Dollar Store - I prepped it, then applied the background with acrylic paint. I used a Faber Castel disposable pen to apply all the inking (and there was definitely a LOT of inking in this pic), and then just added touches of oil paint here and there to the sky and water.

I thought this design was adorable - it is in Viki Sherman's book Kindred Hearts and is called Makin' a Wish - the instructions are for acrylic paint. I had a little wooden sleigh and decided to put the design on that. After prepping the wood, I basecoated it with acrylic paint, then applied the pattern. I then inked the details in and rouged oil paint onto the snowman and moon. I used a stencil and white acrylic paint for the stars. This pattern could be applied to any number of surfaces or ornaments.

My fall art sessions have now started, so the girls will be completing lots of new artwork that I will post over the next few months. I actually still have some pieces that the girls did in the spring that I will post shortly.

Happy painting!

Pen & Ink with Oils

This project is called Orchids and Bamboo and was designed by Janelle Johnson (http://www.janellejohnson.com/) - it is a colored pencil pattern, but, I decided to be creative, so I used colored pencils, pen & ink, the oil rouging technique and also straight oils. It was a lot of fun. I started by basecoating the surface with J.W. Undercoating (mixed with some acrylic paint). I then took colored ink (I used disposable pens because it is such a pain to keep filling and refilling my tech pens). At this point, since the surface was not white, I could not just use the oil rouging technique, so, after spraying the piece, I used oil paint to basecoat everything except the bamboo - I also used some of my colored pencils to add some color here and there. After spraying, I proceeded to use the rouging technique for most of the project. I am pleased with the results, and I plan to use different techniques in some of my future projects.

Now, onto other news - my husband had shoulder replacement surgery on February 5 and is now on the road to recovery. It will take quite awhile for the strength in his arm to come back, and, at this point, he has very limited movement in his arm. Since I am spending a lot of time helping my husband and doing extra chores around the house, I will not be scheduling any teaching classes this spring. I do hope to hold classes in the fall, and my schedule will be posted at that time.

I am going ahead with my weekly art sessions, which start next week. As the girls complete their projects I will continue to post some of their artwork on my blog. If anyone is interested in attending these art sessions please contact me.

Mary Owens now has her teaching schedule posted for 2010, and she has added some interesting items to her website (http://www.maryowensdesigns.com/). If anyone is interested in purchasing Mary Owens' patterns or products, I have most of the items in stock.

I have decided I have way too many pieces of completed art - I don't have enough room to store any of my new pieces. So, I am planning to sell most of the artwork I have done over the past ten years. To see my artwork go to the main page of my blog and look in the gallery, or you can look at the slideshow at the bottom of the page. If you are interested in purchasing any of my art please contact me.

Well, I think that is it for now - I am just finishing a couple of colored pencil projects and I will post them shortly.

Pen and Ink with Oils

Over the past couple of months I have been so busy working with colored pencils, that I do not have a lot to report on pen & ink with oils. I did complete the attached two pieces....both projects were designed by Renee Mullens, and can be found in her book 'Christmas Spice'. Renee's instructions for the projects are for acrylic paint, so, I converted this to pen & ink with oils. The snowman outside the window pane is on 4 1/2" x 4 1/2 " wood (the pane and window are separate pieces), and the larger snowman is on a porcelain plate that is approximately 7" wide.


On the top project I was able to add color to some of the very small areas with colored pencils. I had sealed the wood with J. W. Undercoating, and I found the surface rough enough that the colored pencils worked. The larger piece (on porcelain) was all done with oils, as the surface was much too smooth for the pencils to work.




Mary Owens News: Mary (http://www.maryowensdesigns.com/) has added a new feature to her webside called Monthly Tips. You might want to check this out - I'm sure the tips will be very interesting and helpful. Mary has not released any new patterns in quite some time, but, as soon as she does, I will report it in my blog.

If you are interested in purchasing any Mary Owens supplies I do have most items in stock, along with a lot of her patterns...just call or email me if you are looking for supplies.