2012/365 - Day 50

working on the ghosts and monster piece again

I realized this morning that -- duh -- I don't have to only make something out of plaster cloth for the upcoming shows I want to submit things to. Sheesh.


Remember this? The ghosts and monster?


This is how it looked this morning, "before".




The colors are a bit off with this lighting.






Here is the monster "after" a little more work this morning.



Then I moved onto ghost number one.






I have never really cared for the way ghost number one looked...but I wasn't having much luck with the various ways I'd been altering him.

Today I decided to go at him from a different angle and use pink unyru paper to see what that would do in layers.

In this photo I have put on gel medium with my gloved fingers and added a few torn pieces of the paper and then put more gel medium on top. I wanted to get the paper very wet so it would still be see through.

It is difficult for the camera to pick up the textures and the color (apparently) so I am settling for showing the difference in how the paper looks when it is going down...wet on the left and not down yet/dry on the right.

I think the inclusions in the paper will add to the ghosty look.

These two photos are how it looked as I was working...across the canvas, not up and down.






There...the camera is still not really sure what to focus on, but you can see the colors in the very wet paper layers.


In this photo I had turned the canvas and was trying to smooth out the gel medium a little.










The rest of these photos are just progress-while-drying shots.


ghost number one















ghost number two...didn't do anything to him today

















monster















This is a shot of the entire canvas as it looks hanging on the wall. Ghost number one is still very wet.

I'm not done with this yet.

2012/365 - Day 3

back to the monster and two ghosts painting

I have been thinking about this ever-changing painting lately. I haven't liked that ghost on the left for some time now. I wasn't sure how to alter him.












I like that you can see through him, but I don't like those spots and the colors are bothering me.

That metallic turquoise is very very shiny.














I remembered I have some glaze. I thought I'd give that a try.















I hope it dries eventually...LOL.

I like him more than I did, but I am still not happy with him.

This is a start, though.









Oh -- and no Animal People collages today.

365 Day 264

more monster tweaking

Okay. Remember this canvas that I am repurposing and working on in stages? It started out as three ghosts then turned into a monster and two ghosts.














And you no doubt know of the incredible illustrator/author Edward Gorey.































Well. I am in no way trying to suggest that I will ever get close to his incredible work, but -- heavily influenced by Edward Gorey -- I want to try and make a million little lines to give my monster some fur and then detail in the fur.


















I am so blown away by Edward Gorey's subtle changes in the density of the lines and how there is so much IN there.















That sky/background. That fur. Man oh manny man.









So, I am tweaking the monster's fur more today.














Right now I am just trying to get some feel of thicker fur.














And maybe a bit of definition in the middle with not so many lines.














I am already happier with the monster than when I first started playing with this canvas. And that is the main point of this whole exercise for me. I will keep at it and keep at it.

365 Day 205

the story continues...

Okay. I was planning on doing a third large plaster cloth guy today but (thankfully) I couldn't find the smaller yellow ball I was looking for...it is in my studio somewhere. It actually is a good thing that I can't locate that ball because my back is reeeeeeeeeeeally hurting today. I guess I put myself into some bad positions while I was working on the other two plaster cloth guys and I am paying for it today.

So. Instead I will show the progress on the painting that I first started working on back on Day 39. Another layer was added on Day 41. Here is Day 133...this is the last layer I blogged about that I can find. I know I've worked on it between 41 and 133 but I must not have labeled it the same way.

Anyway. Here is the current version of the piece. The guy in the middle is definitely a monster now.








This is how he looked just prior to working on him.














Ooh...a nose and mouth. I rarely draw a nose. I like it a lot.















I have been viewing the stars as eyes up until now.

Then as I looked more closely I could see what looked like closed eyes.















So I inked them in.

To me it looks like he is either dreaming the two other guys in the painting or he is closing his eyes so he doesn't have to see them...not sure which it is yet.













I like the story line of both ideas.


And so the story continues...still not done yet.

365 Day 201

building a magical Magic-inspired beast/monster of my own













I got this one-eared horse statue at a garage sale last year for fifty cents. I knew I would recycle it into art at some point. I hadn't started doing anything with plaster cloth yet when I bought him.


















I just adore most of the gigantic, lumbering beasts in the game Magic: the Gathering. I want to combine the sort of Magic beasts I like with the creatures that are showing up in my sketch book for relief printmaking class.


Some of the Magic beasts are a little more cuddly-looking (to me) than others but they are all HUGE. Okay, they may not be as sweet and cute as a baby goat, but I still want to hug them.

I'm not sure what it is about them, but they give me these "give me your paw" / "let's sit and cuddle for a while and I'll tell you a story" feelings when I look at them.





I don't know exactly how to go about it or how I will end up painting this guy when it comes time, but I am diving in tonight with the horse statue as a base to build on.

I am trying to give him a new shape with aluminum foil and masking tape.














He is looking a little bison-y here.













Something is off...but I can change it later.












I think I'd like to put a layer or two of plaster cloth on tonight. I had to stop at this point to give my hands a break for a bit (crunching aluminum foil is tiring) and to take photos and blog before my midnight deadline.













Looking at this photo I think maybe he needs a little less chin area and more nose area...maybe make it look like he is holding his head a little higher...we'll see...










I like how the cat-creature in the background is like "wtf?" and the goat-creature is laughing.

365 Day 145

early morning energy

We are adopting a new kitten today! I can't go get him until later this afternoon and this morning I have been all revved up so I worked on the monster/ghost canvas...darkening and adding lines to it.

I can barely think to type I am so excited.

Update: sadly, this adoption did not work out. For the first time in my life I had an intense allergic reaction to something about the little guy...it is breaking my heart, but I have to take him back.

365 Day 133

small steps...

Okay, I have done pretty much nothing all day...again. I found myself in my studio thinking of a Donovan song and all of a sudden I was aware that it was like 10:30 at night and I hadn't made anything yet for the 365 Project. Gah!














I dug the CD out of the music closet, put it in the computer and started it. I looked around the studio for something, something, SOMEthing...what? Dunno...I can't do anything in an hour. Plaster cloth is too involved and I am not feeling it right now. Collage? No...couldn't finish.

Then I spied that three ghosts "painting"/canvas I have been working on in stages.

I was trying to put layer upon layer of color on the ghost in the middle and I wanted to try and scratch through the layers so you'd see different colors of fur/hair on the monster. I scratching it last week and was sorely disappointed. That works just fine with underglazes and clay...but apparently not with acrylic paint and canvas.


(Oh yeah -- at some point -- I'm not sure when -- it was revealed to me that the creature in the middle is not a ghost -- it's a monster...the other guys are ghosts.)

So then my mind started wandering again, but not wanting to let go of those monster fur ideas. Then I thought of the bear in the kitchen that I love so much. All those tiny little lines. Kinda Edward Gorey-ish in that it is only single lines that change direction and intensity, etc. I obviously do not have the technical words for the style(s). Whatever.
















































I decided to give it a go. Just start it. Put a layer of little lines on. And I can always paint over it if I really hate it.











































Of course, it looks nothing at all like the beloved bear or like Edward Gorey drawings...that is okay -- they are the *inspiration*, this is mine. I think I am beginning to like it.

KT Goodlove 177

don't give me no backtalk

Another "who-is-speaking?" collage. Actually I try to make ALL of them that way but it doesn't always work. Also, this is another example of my scanner not picking up the actual color of the paint. This is a really wonderful beyond-Barbie extreme pink with a hint of metallic effect (not glitter). The detail photo is closer to the real color but still not quite it.



KT Goodlove is the collaborative collage series that Kettle and I make for Art-o-mat. Kettle paints on the block and then I add my paper bits. This is #177.