MonoPrint ATC

MonoPrint Atc's for Swapbot Swap, originally uploaded by poketypatch.

I joined the "Easy Mono Print" Atc swap on swapbot. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but I found that making a mono print that was acceptable for swapping was harder than it looked!

What is a Mono Print?  Well, it is the most basic form of making a print.  You apply color (paint) to the surface of something, then place another surface on top (paper or fabric), press down, remove your paper, and you have a unique painted print!   It has been described here as:

The monoprint or monotype is often thought of as a halfway stage between painting and printmaking. The process is simple: the artist paints, rubs, or wipes the design directly onto a plate, using a fairly slow drying paint or ink. The fleeting image must be printed before the ink dries. Printing may be by press or by hand, and as the name monoprint implies, one can usually get only one strong impression. The effect must be guessed right from the start; there will be no trial proofs or different states unless the design is redrawn for a second impression. This term is used to refer to any print made in one version and incapable of being repeated. A monoprint cannot be editioned.  

Mono prints are supposed to allow for artistic spontaneity which I found out pretty quickly.  In my usual "fly by the seat of my pants" way of doing things, I decided to give this a try using the directions on swapbot:

Use a roller or a paint brush to spread the paint over an area big enough for your work. You will have to work rather quickly before the paint gets too dry. Using a stick or end of your brush or a pencil, draw a pattern or a quick sketch into the paint. It will be printed in reverse so remember this if adding text. Now place your paper onto your glass and give a quick, even rub with your hand and peel off immediately.  

First, I tried flowers.

This didn't work out so hot.  My designs were too intricate and didn't show up well.  I decided to try something simpler, like an egg.

I used an old ipod box as my glass surface.  It is exactly the size of the atc.  You can see where I scraped off the paint for the print.

I tried this a bunch of times, some worked and some didn't!

I let them sit for a day, and then went back to them.  I thought that if I embellished a couple, they would be ok.  So, I picked one and added some glitter, gold and little jewels.  

For the next one, I figured that if I used something wider to lift the paint off the surface, it would make the design stand out more. I found a pencil with a nice round eraser on top and used that. It worked great on this little chick.

So, this was a fun, get your hands full paint, type of project.  Today, I did a quick search on how to make a monoprint and found some sites that would have been helpful to me before I started this project.

1. How to make a Mono Print
2. MonoPrint for Beginners and Children
3. Janet Clare's Tutorial
4. Making Monoprint Background Papers - I quickly discovered that all the rejects would make great backgrounds for other ATC's.  This little tutorial will show you how!
5. Take it one step farther with a Monoprint Mini Book!

If you like to see how rather than read it, you can find lots of tutorials for monoprints on youtube. 

Follow me while I blog hop!

little girl freehand machine embroidery, originally uploaded by poketypatch.

Does this happen ever happen to you...You start visiting the blogs you "follow" and one link leads to another which leads to another and then your head feels like it will burst because there is so much inspiration and ideas on your journey?  It happens to me a lot.

This happened to me last week, starting at the blog, Pimp Stitch.  This blog focuses on crafts, sewing and embroidery; and, it often has links to fun tutorials.  I am trying to work on my embroidery skills, so I was enticed by a new entry on Friday, "Boy + Girl Pocket Pillows".  What are pocket pillows you ask.  Well, they are toddler sized pillows that can fit into toddler sized pockets!  And, they are really cute.  Since I love really cute kiddy stuff, I decided to hop over to Lauren's blog, goody-goody, for little girl and boy pocket pillows free PDF pattern.

With my new pattern printing out below, I decised to check out Another website I love,  Illustration Friday.  This is one of those sites where a member suggests a topic and then everyone who reads can submit an illustration in the medium of their choice on the topic.  I love it because many talented artists submit each week and there are links to their blogs which are full of inspiration!  The topic for this week was "poise".  Interesting, I thought, and I began to look at what artists were submitting.

I started with Golly Bard, who suggested the topic.  I headed over the her blog, Golly Bard's Drawing Room, and was blown away by her wonderful drawings! What talent!  She has her entry for Poise, "A Voracious Appetite", available in her ETSY Shop.  

So, I ask myself, what inpires Golly Bard; and, I click on the first name atthe top of her list "Visual Feast".  And, that would be, Cathy Cullis's Etsy Shop.  When I arrived at Cathy's shop, I realized that I had been there before.  Cathy is a talented mixed media and textile artist.  Her work evokes classic simplicity, and I had been awed by it when I happened upon her in another of my blog hopping episodes.  

So, with my head full of ideas and images, I decided to try and machine embroider the little girl PDF that I had gotten from Lauren.  The first picture above is what I came up with.  It is really cute, and I am going to make it into a pocket pillow for a little girl I know.  

Then, I decided to take it one step further.  I remembered some silhouettes that were posted by a contact of mine, Suzee Que, on flickr.  Suzee Que often posts vintage artwork to share for use in art projects.  She had posted this silhouette

Some are Vintage..some are not, originally uploaded by Suzee Que.

Here is my interpretation of it:

Learning how to Paint?

sunflowers atc, originally uploaded by poketypatch.

Moving into untested waters, I decided to try my hand at watercolor painting an ATC. I quickly learned that, like most art, this type of media is more complicated that it looks and probably requires years of instruction in order to do it right. One website I looked at stated that the first 100 or so paintings don't even really count.

So, I am really going out on a limb here posting my first attempts at watercolors.  I may have overdone the sunflower theme, but I found that it helps to do it over and over until you figure out the best way to get good results. 

Keep it Simple

Keep it Simple....Keep it Simple....

Having the constant inclination to make things more difficult, confusing or just cluttered than they need to be, I try to keep the "keep it simple" mantra in my brain.  

Simplifying my surroundings has been a goal for the new year.  In that vain, I ran across this wonderful poster today.  Readymade Magazine asked five artists to "reimagine" the populist posters the government commissioned from artists during the Great Depression, and to design some modern posters for our current time.   I absolutely love the one above, designed by Nick Dewar. It is available for download in pdf form HERE.

Here are 4 other wonderful posters available for download. 

I think that they are all pretty terrific!

Appreciation ~ Kate Greenaway

Language of Flowers, London,
Routledge, 1884. Engraved and
colour printed by Edmund Evans.

Kate Greenaway was an illustrator of children's books in the Victorian era.  Her work depicted children as dreamy little figures who play amid the English countryside, dressed in frilly smocks, mob caps and sunbonnets.  I own several books with drawings by Kate Greenaway, including the one above, Language of Flowers.   

This morning I was pleasantly surprised when the weekly Dover Publications design sampler had some downloads from the book Kate Greenaway Illustrations CD-ROM and Book (Dover Electronic Clip Art).  If you haven't signed up for this weekly download, you can do it RIGHT HERE.  Each week you get an email with a variety of downloads from different publications.  The offerings are always great, and they are also perfect for use in many different crafts like Atcs, scrapbooks, and homemade postcards.  Here are the samples from Kate Greenaway that are offered this week:

I think they are just wonderful!

Zentangled

     I think of myself as an crafter with ADD...I jump from one activity to the next.  My workspace is usually an utter mess, with several projects going at the same time.  A couple of days ago, while surfing online for images, I  became impressed with some doodle art.  One thing led to another and I was at the Zentagle homepage.  What is a zentangle? Here is a quote from the Zentanlge website:

"Zentangle is an easy to learn method of creating beautiful images from repetitive patterns. It is a fascinating new art form that is fun and relaxing. It increases focus and creativity. Zentangle provides artistic satisfaction and an increased sense of personal well being. Zentangle is enjoyed by a wide range of skills and ages and is used in many fields of interest."

This is my first attempt at a zentangle.  Even though I am an avid doodler (at work, on the phone, in meetings...) I have to admit that I had to search within to come up with more patterns to add to my doodle.  The whole process was sort of hypnotic - so I guess it met the criteria of "fun and relaxing".  It definitely got the creative juices rolling, but the jury is still out on "artistic satisfaction" and "personal wellbeing".  I am also not sure how it stacks up in terms of the accepted method of zentangling, but it was a good opportunity to try out something new. 

There are lots of zentangle images out there.  Since flickr is usually at the top of my list to check out what others are doing, I found several zentangle groups which offered lots of zentangle eye candy.  If you are interested, here is the list: 

• The official Zentangle group (I think it is official because they use the little zentangle icon)
• Zentangle Mania (this one only has 19 members...so I think it must be for the hard core zentanglers)
• Zentangle Love (I joined this one to post my "artwork" since it has the most members and had some fun discussions going on.)

This morning, I worked up enough courage to show my zentangle to the ultimate critic, my 12 year old son.  He looked at it for a long time, seemed a little impressed, but didn't have a lot to say about it.  I think he was hypnotized by it.  I tried to get him interested, since he is a bit of a doodler himself.  His reaction was that he didn't think he could do it.  I told him it looks harder than it really is, you just have to start drawing, and then make lots of patterns. We were running to get to school on time (we were late), so I am going to work on him later tonight.  This one is to be continued...

Just Focus!

 

Kitty

kitty, originally uploaded by poketypatch.

I have been working on a kitty softie pattern based upon a folk art cat that I obtained many years ago. I used my boys' old clothing to make up the body of the cat.

I am still working on getting body pieces to scale. In the red kitty below, I felt that the arms were too fat so I redid them for the brown kitty. I also wanted a more primitive version of a face on this one as well. I used old buttons (mismatched) for the eyes and a bit of an old recycled felted sweater for the nose.

The "warholized" version above is care of fd's flickr toys. I love seeing my kitty in different colors!