Seems to be the end

So I was doing this blog to full fill an assignment for my class. This is the last required blog post but I think I might continue posting because I have not completed a work of art. Truth be told that it takes a lot of time and thinking to finish a piece that I am satisfied with and even after I finish I am not satisfied. I have my frames completed and ready for paint, now is the letting my hand run free with my brushes. I have a few ideas bouncing around in my head, that are slowly forming and working their way out. I have enjoyed this blog to keep my going on my adventure and it will not end here.

I will try to keep updating but sometimes life just gets the better of me, but I always have that craving to paint and get outside of my head and everyday life. That is when I turn to my canvas. :)

TA DA!!!

Finally got my frames and I put it all together this weekend! So I am going to show you how I did just that!! I learned how to do this while attending the Aegean Center for Fine arts. My teachers Jun and Jane were amazing!

First you need some tools. A staple gun to secure canvas on frame. Staples of course. Scissors to cut the fabric to size. A hammer in case the staples do not go all the way in.

My wonderful boyfriend, Jeremy, bought me the staple gun at Home Depot for $20. I had the scissors and hammer from my small tool kit.

Ok to start, like I stated before, you need canvas and frames.

1- Here I cut the fabric to fit the frames2- You want to make sure there is enough fabric that comes over the back side so you can staple it
3-Start by stapling in the middle of two parallel sides.
4-Staple on either side of that middle staple alternating sides
5- While stapling alternate sides be sure to stretch the canvas both ways.
6-Alternate all four sides until you get to the corners
7-Fold the corners so they overlap and make a clean edge

8- One corner finished. I had extra fabric so I folded it over and stapled it again
9-Two corners completed.
10-All four corners done
11-The canvas should have a little give. I am pressing my finger into the canvas and it has enough give.


12-All ready to be Gesso-ed
13- Mix the gesso with water to the consistence you would like. Not too watery.
14- Apply to canvas and make sure to get it all
15- Let it dry. After 30 minutes or so take a piece of sandpaper and make it smooth. Apply a second layer of Gesso and again make it smooth with sandpaper. and then it is ready to paint on!!

So now I have frames to paint! Time to get it going!!

Some Progress...

So I have canvas!! I went to Joann's fabric store and searched for a durable fabric. A little heavy duty but not thick. Feels like a canvas fabric. I was not too sure which fabric to get but had some faint idea from my previous excursions.

It has a little give to it when pulled which is good for the stretching onto the frames.



This man here has yet to get me some frames. He has been slacking but I am promised to have a few tomorrow!

The process will be a little time consuming. First, I will staple the canvas on all four sides about in the middle. From there I will alternate stapling sides to the frame while stretching. When all the sides are stapled it should have enough tension that when you tap it, it sounds like a drum.

Second, I will apply Gesso. It helps make the fabric stiff and be able to apply paint. It helps to apply two layers. I am gonna apply the first layer and then when it is dry, sand it smooth and apply a second layer. Again I am going to sand it so it is smooth and read for me to paint.

I can't really do anything till I get my frames so waiting is the game.....again....

Still do not have my supplies yet.....

Well my frames have not been made...and well...I ran out of cash so I could not buy the canvas material. But! I do have paintbrushes and some oil paints to start! So that is good news! I am still trying to think of things I would like to paint.

I was reading an art book the other night and something caught my eye. The book was pretty close to my face and the opposite page, that I was not reading, was out of focus and coming towards my eye. It was blurry and I thought of an idea! Have this in my painting with the page I am reading to be a very well know work of art and over the top of the book, have somebody coming towards me in a park of some sort.

I am still not sure. I have a lot of ideas floating in my head but am not sure in how to put them down on paper. But I have faith that it will turn out!

Back on the road again....

K...Well now that I have fallen off the horse, I am gonna get back on! I have asked a very dear friend of mine, aka my sweet boyfriend, to build some frames for me to stretch canvas on. I asked for just two, one 16 x 16 and the other 18 x 21. Who knows if I will get those sizes but never the less they are on their way.

Now I need to find material that I can use for canvas. Any local fabric store will carry what I need. Somewhat stretchy so that when I stretch it over the frame, it has a little give. I also need gesso which I can buy at any local craft or art store such as Michaels.

I attended a school abroad in 2008 and learned how to paint. We stretched our own canvases and prepared them to be painted. I can not wait to start this process again! It will remind me of my time on a little island, in the Cycladic Islands of Greece, named Paros. The sun seemed to shine with more vigor there and the salty sea air was mesmerizing. It truly was an adventure and there is not a day that goes by that I do not think of it.

I can not wait for my frames to be finished so I can start this process! Complete turn around since two weeks ago eh? :)

Are my Shoes big enough??

Today is a weird day.
I am feeling less then and not able to accomplish anything to the best of abilities.
It might just be, sorry to say, that time of the month but WOW am I feeling the pressure.
I mean who's to say that I have anything of value to show the world?
Are there not amazing and talented people already showing the world their work?
Why would the world need another "Artist"?

I have no answers to those questions but as my mother keeps telling me,

"It doesn't matter about anybody else. It is what you are experiencing and what you are learning. No one person is the same and you have a different perspective. So keep on trucking and don't measure yourself to anyone."

So, today I am not going to post a description of my process, rather the fact that I am an individual who has an opinion and am striving to find myself. I am searching for ways to express personal feelings and to better my technical skills.

I am not a great artist just one in training wheels.

Color?...have to have color??

I do not necessarily need color, but it can add a very different feel to the overall interpretation. In the art world different colors are labeled as 'Hues'. 'Tone' is how light or dark a color is. The image below I found here.


This obviously shows the different tones and a small portion of different hues. I have painted a painting starting only with two paints, black and white. From the two basic hues, I had to paint my still life showing only the tones of the subjects before me. It was challenging but helped me to think more about what I was painting.

Practice:
I have broken out the paints!! I opened my box with my paintbrushes and oh..how I have missed them! We never painted masterpieces but we had spent a lot of time together! So, I did my basic tone changes with blue and black!














I used the different tones of the black to do a little ball...

The darkest black shows the shadow and the lightest gray shows the highlight. I had fun! I cant wait to paint something! So next week I will try to find something interesting to paint and or sketch to get the wheels turning!


This is me getting in the groove.....(courtesy of my famous photographer boyfriend...he wanted copyrights)