Another quirky postcard collage

I have started to over-think these postcard collages instead of quickly just grabbing what comes to hand - not necessarily a good idea.  

Handprinted tissue, mulberry and cartridge paper,
acrylic, gel pens and machine stitch
 (Hahnemeuhle watercolour postcard 6" x 4")

Postcard collage

 Another collaged postcard - 

Lino printed tissue, paste paper, texture paste, sketch
and machine stitch (6" x 4" on Hahnemuehle postcard

I am enjoying making use some of my facial sketches in these small collages.

Postcard collage

 Another small collage using one of my Hahnemuehle postcards.

 

Printed and painted tissue, book page, scanned sketch,
gold gel pen, machine stitch (6" x 4")

The completed Collage Journal

To recap, this journal was started in response to a 5 day challenge by collage artist Lydia Rink.  A set of 5 instruction videos plus a materials list were provided, starting with how to make a simple A5 journal, and making your own collage papers, plus sourcing images and letter forms from magazines, posters, etc.

I have used some pre-printed images and text, but mainly utilised my own painted and hand-printed papers together with snippets from my sketchbooks.  It took me a couple of pages to get into a way of working that suited me, but I enjoyed the process.

The Collage Journal continues ...

 I have come to the end of my collage journal, although I am tempted to re-do the first couple of pages which are very uninspiring.  However, I am glad I worked through that stage and thoroughly enjoyed the challenge - thanks to Lydia Rink for sharing her process.

Now I had better get on and start replenishing my files of painted and printed papers for future collage experiments.

Collage Journal

I mentioned earlier that I was following an online course by Lydia Rink.  The first task was to construct a simple handmade journal for our collage work.  Lydia uses text, letter shapes and found images - you can see some of her work here.

The first couple of exercises related mainly to shapes and composition and I must admit my initial attempts are not worth showing.  However, I will persevere and hope to improve by the time my journal is complete.

Collage Journal cover (approx 6" x 8")

Book pages and hand-printed tissue

More printed tissue paper, scan of watercolour sketch
and hand-cut lettering

Updated Sketchbook Challenge spread

I've finally got round to adding a little more detail to the sketchbook pages I shared at the end of December.

On the left I have used some wine cork stamps and on the righthand page I stencilled paint through a fine paper-cut image from an old birthday card.  The latter didn't work particularly well, but there was enough information to bring out some detail with coloured pencil.

Sketchbook

Not a lot happening with my sketchbook these last couple of weeks, but I have been raiding my files of old sketches and doodles to see if there's anything I can usefully include.

The two drawings I've glued onto this spread are quite some years old, both based on fashion magazine images - with a little bit of collage added to tie in with the background colours. This is not finished, but I am not sure yet what is needed.

Collage, acrylic paint, printed papers, coloured pencil sketches

INKTOBER 31st - Finished!

I managed to get my last page finished just before the stroke of midnight!

I much prefer the first side which is more cohesive. The background of the second side proved to be too busy and distracting, although it did make me experiment more with the ink based products in an effort to clarify the sketches.

The last page and title page (Uniball Eye pen plus gold gel pen)

The complete second side

The first side

The folded book giving me 32 sides measuring 4" x 6"

Inktober 29th - 30th

For these two pages I did my drawings on white sketch paper and collaged them onto my background - why didn't I think of that before?

Imagined faces using a dark grey fine liner pen; and on the right I used a black fine liner with walnut ink washes.

A nice surprise from Hahnemuhle in the post this week - an A6 beige toned watercolour book and some brushes.  I am certainly looking forward to working on this paper as I previously enjoyed using both their grey and cappucino sketchbooks.

Facial pencil sketches

With all this time in lockdown mode, I should be ramping up the art activities, but it just doesn't seem to be happening.  Some days I have been really busy - gardening, cleaning windows, clearing cupboards, touching up paintwork, sewing, etc. - and then other days I seem to achieve very little.

However, here are a couple of pencil portraits done from the Sketchbook Revival videos, the other from the television, I think.

Needing new glasses!

After finishing this imaginary portrait I realised I had placed the eyes too high.  Solution - a collaged pair of spectacles and new eyes!  And why not add a snazzy collar while I'm about it?

Mixed media and collage in tan sketchbook

More Moleskine collages

Another couple of experimental collages.  This time I used a couple of my sketches from live model sessions, cut these out and pasted them onto backgrounds of handprinted tissue (both 8" x 5").

Collage experiments

I have a couple of A5 watercolour Moleskine sketch books which I have used in the main for trying out new ideas, materials or techniques, at the same time noting the methods used.

The following two sketches, done quite a while ago, started with backgrounds collaged with lettering cut from magazines, gesso then used to partially obscure, acrylic paint, hand printed patterns and tissue collage.  My reference for the faces was taken from news articles, executed with pen, acrylic and collage.

Pencil sketches

Not much in the way of serious work going on at the moment, but here are a few recent pencil sketches.  These are done in an A5 sketch pad.  The first two pages are from imagination, exploring ways of getting the facial features in the right proportions.  For the third, each was an attempt to capture the likeness of a video presenter - so not static images, but with little variation in the poses.

Clothed model sketches

We were lucky enough to have some family members volunteer for this Monday evening's art group sketching session.  These were quick, timed poses (10 or 15 minutes) and it proved to be a very enjoyable and productive evening.

I opted to work small in an A5 sketchpad, with just graphite pencil.