Painting- Using An Artist's Knife In Acrylics

When doing painting on a canvas, a lot of texture is envolved in creating an image with the paint. Most painters you see use brushes, but recently I have decided to try out a diffent way, using a tool called an artist knife. The orgin of its name escapes me, it seems more like a thin spatula or a small cement scraper when it comes down to it, but I found it to be a remarkable little tool in creating a wavy sort of texture with the paint. 

As it was my first painting and attempt to use a knife, I kept it simple. I did a sky and a black and gray hilly landscape using the knife, (which I found tends to use more paint) then added the tree, girl, and the lights with a brush. 

Crafts-Scratch Board

Scratch boards are a combination of crosshatching and working in the negative to create a picture. For those unfamiliar with what a scratch board is, it is a thick sheet of paper covered in dried ink that you scratch away at to reveal the paper behind and create a picture. Here are the steps for not only doing a scratch board, but also how to transfer a sketch to the board.

Start out by drawing a simple sketch of what you want to draw. For example, I chose a scene from the book "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children," by Ransom Riggs. (A very good book) Then once you are done, turn the page over and cover the back in pencil and, if you want to save time, place the drawing on a light board and cover only where you drew in the picture. The outlook should look something like this:

Then take the scratch board, and cut if needed to make sure that the sketch paper and board are the same size. Line the two papers up, and tape on one side to ensure they won't move. Then, with the sketch face-up on the top taped to the scratch board on the bottom, retrace the sketch over. If you shaded the back dark enough the graphite will rub off, creating a replica of your sketch on the surface of the scratch board. Now all you have to do is scratch! I used a scratch tool that you can find at your average craft store (seen in first picture) and more likely than not they come with the board. But if not, any toothpick or chopstick can do the trick, even a fork. Remember, in a scratch board, you are making the LIGHT parts of the picture, the opposite of drawing, where you are making the DARK. Use crosshatching to make the lighter and darker shades, and once you remove something, you can't get it back! When you are done, it should come out something like this:

Crafts- Art Journal 2

You don't have to even be a good artist to keep an art journal, you could simply create a collage of magazine clips you like, and add whatever you like for decorations, from stickers, to string to wrapping paper. Here, I just jotted down some sayings with a calligraphy pen and glued it on top of a collage of stickers, tape, and wrapping paper. It's that simple.

Painting- Watercolors with Crosshatching- Hot Air Balloon/Girl With Light Bulb

Now that we have learned a bit about crosshatching (see previous posts) let's take it to the next level, color. For this painting, I first did a sketch with pencil and in a thin Sharpie, then colored it lightly in with colored watercolor pencils. A few splashes of regular watercolors with a bit of mixing is all you need. Here below is another example, what your subject can be is nearly limitless, so use your imagination.

Crafts- Art Journal 1

Art journals are a way of expressing yourself, and, if you are a doodiler like me, it helps keep down the clutter of paper. What is so fun is that it can be so personalized to what you want and using what you have laying around the house. I am using an ordinary composition notebook, and cover the pages with scrapbook paper. I will keep putting my best pages on here and write a bit of how I did it, and hopefully if the notebook spine doesn't burst, I can continue to do them until I finish the book.

This one is a silloette job that took a great deal of cutting, and with the old looking paper behind it with the clocks, the expression "time flies" comes to mind.

Painting- Mother's Day Watercolor

Mother's Day us here! And for a cute gift I did a watercolor for my mother of her favorite flowers. Its a big combination of watercolor pencils, pens, watercolors, and ink and is so fun and simple to do. First, draw a simple outline sketch of a bouquet of your choice, (key word being simple, the pencil can show through watercolors) then retrace with a thin black sharpie. Use your watercolor pencils (Prisimacolor works great) and lightly color in the flowers and leaves. Go over the painting with water to blend the colored pencil, then go over it with regular watercolors to add highlights, extra color, and a background. Don't be afraid to mix them! Finally, with green ink and an eyedropper, I added some ink spots, dabbed away the excess, and blended it in to give the picture some extra color. Add a couple of splatters with the watercolors, and your done! Happy Mother's Day!