More March gouache resist and ink

A return to this, one of my favorite mediums.  It's a bit of a long process--draw, paint with gouache to resist the black ink, let dry thoroughly, wash over with India ink, let dry thoroughly, gently rub off gouache under warm running water, let dry thoroughly, and then finish with pen and ink. 

But it's a process I love.  I love the dramatic darks and lights, and the unpredictability of where and how the ink will go through the gouache, and the pen and ink lines.  I love pen and ink! 

I started these three (plus one more that I haven't finished yet) all at the same time, and then finished them as I had time.

More little March paintings

These little paintings (all are about 4 X 6 inches) are so crudely done, but I AM learning something about color.....

...which, in these paintings, is fairly hideous, but

I've taken away a few useful thoughts, which I can maybe put into practice in the future 

(which means I should make some more of these really soon).

March Quick Drawings

So I've been inspired to try a new style of drawing.  This is with a bamboo skewer dipped in India ink.  It's so interesting how a new process prompts one to look at subjects in a new way.

Instead of looking for dramatic darks and lights (what I usually look for when I'm drawing), this technique makes me notice contours, because it's all about line.

And also, it's loose line.  There's not a whole lot of control here, which means I can't be too tight, which is pretty liberating in itself. 

And here are three of the not-loose, and not-bamboo-skewer-dipped, drawings, which really, is what I can do during the week of parent-teacher conferences at school, where I have twelve hour days.  

They're pleasing too, but in a different way.  All three of these were drawn with the reference photo upside-down, which also gets me to look in a different way.

When you're drawing upside-down, there is no "naming of the parts".  It's all about shapes and direction and tone, because your brain can't "see" the parts that way.  And this is good too... 

Baritone

I'm not done, but I'm not quite sure where to go from here.  The guy doesn't seem to be in quite the same kind of space as the rest....

More print pieces....

I don't know how I'm going to glue it all together, but this was kindof fun.....

All these print pieces.....

Even though this LOOKS the same size as those acrylic paintings here, it is much much bigger.  They're tiny (4 X 6 inches), and this must be at least 20 inches....

But I've been making lots of different kinds of textured things, and now I need to figure out how to put them together into.....something.  Well, here's one thought.  I drew the woman with pen and ink.  The textures are screenprinted.

Acrylic Adventures

This is really much more of a big deal than it might seem--me trying to learn how to paint.  I am so much a black-and-white person, that this feels very awkward.  I am TRYING to learn how to handle color--and not have things look garish or odd or whatever.  

These are in the reverse order that I did them, and in the exact order that I like them.

And all of them are 4 X 6 inches--very small.