There is paint making coming up soon. A kit from Natural Pigments arrived last week. It's been sitting on a kitchen chair since then, waiting quietly for attention. I have six pigments with everything needed to make up tubes of paint. My friend and fellow student, Margaret, will be sending up earths from the Carolina Appalachian region. Here are a couple of photos she sent along detailing the rough and her grinding process.
Here's a example of the color range possible with her earths.
And here's the kit that recently came in.
Running concurrently with paint making will be working through the assignments in Wendy Hollender's Botanical Drawing. This book and the needed colored pencils have also been ready to go for a couple of weeks!
So, as I have been having a wonderful and somewhat challenging time working through the Cornell course, I have also been quite excited to get under way with these new subjects. And who knows, there may even be some around the lake photos mixed in! :-)
oooooooooooooh ... the digitally rendered sound of *pure envy*. I bet you can't mix the green I've just gone.
ReplyDeleteLooking forward very much to your experiments with the muller etc.
Maybe you can buy some cheap 'n' nasty lapis lazuli jewellery and render it into the beautiful medieval blue of the Virgin's robes!
I ran a jewelry store with my brother years ago. I moved on but he's still at it, so I have access to all sorts of goods. And, as a GIA G.G. I know a bit about gem material.
ReplyDeleteSo, your prescience again comes through! :-) I have been thinking about the possibilities, especially when I peruse Daniel Smith's Primatek offerings. Or, when I look over Kremer pigments...
Now this is going to be exciting!
ReplyDeleteI've dabbled a bit here and there making my own paints (years ago, now) but never pursued it much past buying a two or three little packets of pre-ground pigments on which were the most attractive labels which I bought in a weak moment of 'I have to have that because of the packaging". I played a bit with glycerin and honey in an attempt to make watercolors but wound up being more successful with egg tempera and making sticks of pastel. I never developed a feel for egg tempera as a medium, but I do enjoy "messing about" with pastels out of doors/ en plein air!
Wendy Hollander is amazing; I think you will like working in colored pencil... ALOT! I think of all the mediums available to us as artists, colored pencil is THE most meditative of all. Unfortunately for those of us who have spent years working with pen and ink, calligraphy and other disciplines requiring a tight grasp on a pen/pencil, carpal tunnel syndrome is a very real threat to one's total enjoyment of working in CP. Pace yourself; it's all worth it!!
~ gretchen
I'll be jumping right into Wendy's book this evening. She seems to go mostly with Polychromos and that's what I'll be using. I'm thinking that this will be a good next step, as well as reinforcing some previous lesson work with Cornell.
ReplyDeletePigments to come soon. I must print out instructions and read a few times. Also... would like to video the process, meaning experiments with setup, lighting, and audio will be needed. I already know I need a decent mic.
Lots of fun ahead! Woohoo! :-)