52 Weeks of Art: Week 28

Week 28: Oil Pastel

Welcome to week 28 of 52 weeks of art! What are we doing this week?

      

     This week we were working with oil pastels. I'll be honest here, I do NOT like using oil pastels. This is our 28th week, our 28th medium, and I can say this is the one I like the least so far. I have only used oil pastels a handful of times. What are oil pastels? Well, they are like a really waxy, sticky, worse version of a crayon. I apologize right now to anyone who loves using oil pastels, I hate them.

     Oil pastels are used sort of like regular pastels. You color the paper, you blend it, ta da - done. I think the thing I hate the most about oil pastels is the blending. I find it so difficult to blend oil pastels and not have it turn out muddy. I also find it difficult to get a clean line. It's messy. But, somehow, people out there are able to make it work. Here's some examples of people making oil pastels look good:

This oil pastel piece and be purchased here.

There are some beautiful oil pastel pieces here.

     Since I really struggled with making clean lines and blending, I decided to not even try to make clean lines. I took my inspiration from one of my all time favorite artists, Van Gogh. His sunflower paintings are some of my favorite paintings. I know that I am no Van Gogh, but here is my take on his sunflowers in oil pastel:

Sunflowers. Oil pastel on hot press watercolor paper.

   

          

On to rating oil pastel...

     Just a reminder on the criteria for rating each medium.

Ease of use: How easy was this medium to use.

Affordability: How affordable supplies are for each medium.

Accessibility: How easily accessible supplies are for each medium. Example, are specific tools required that are hard to find?

Fun to Use: How much enjoyment I got out of using this medium

     So, for oil pastel, my rating is: 14

Ease of use: 3

 Oil pastels are easy enough to color with, but blending and clean lines are difficult.

Affordability: 5

     You can get a cheap Crayola set of oil pastels for like $6 for 28 colors. So yeah, oil pastels are cheap if it's something you'd you like to try out.

Accessibility: 5

     Oil pastels are really available in arts and crafts stores everywhere. You can also find them online.

Fun to Use: 1

  I hate using oil pastels. Hate them. I don't want to dissuade anyone from trying out oil pastels, but I really just don't like them. If you're a fan of pastels, I think you should give oil pastels a try.

     If you would like to go on this epic art adventure with me, next week we will be doing...

     If you choose to follow along, please post your work using #52weekartadventure!

52 Weeks of Art: Week 27

Week 27: Sharpie

Welcome to week 27 of 52 weeks of art! What are we doing this week?

      

     I'm sure that everyone out there knows what a Sharpie is. Right? We all have them, some of us probably just have them tossed into our junk drawers. I have them all over the house, in every room. It's kind of a problem, I have so many. SO MANY.

     Now, you might be thinking, isn't a Sharpie just a marker? Didn't you already do marker back on week 14? Yes. And yes. I put Sharpie down as a separate medium, though, because it is listed as it's own category when entering some art shows. Did you know that? I never would have guessed. I thought it was just marker.

     The reason that I have so many Sharpies (it's a crazy amount, like 100ish) is because I used them to make lunch napkins for my Little One every day. She has Cyclic Vomiting Syndrome (CVS) and has to be careful with what she eats. Anything processed will set off her CVS. So, because of this she had to take home lunch to school. She was really upset about it in Kindergarten because she was the only kid in her class that took home lunch. She wanted to be like everyone else. To try and make her feel better about the whole thing, I started making lunch napkins for her. I would draw her pictures, write her notes, pretty much anything to cheer her up about having home lunch.

     The Little One is now in 7th grade. She's "too cool" to have her mom send her to school with lunch napkins now, but I still have all the Sharpies. So, now I have a reason to put them all to use again. I'll probably never really be a Sharpie artist, but it's fun going back to using something I haven't used in a while.

     The best part about Sharpies, is you can use them on pretty much anything. I have seen many people do some creative things with Sharpies on shoes. Shoe art is something I can't really see myself doing. I would be so worried about ruing the art on my shoes that I'd never wear them.

     Alright, on to my work of art. My Sharpie masterpiece! Most of my Sharpie art over the years has been done on paper towels. I decided against using a paper towel for this week. I used some cold press water color paper. It's a lot different than using a paper towel, that's for sure.

   

          

On to rating Sharpie...

     Just a reminder on the criteria for rating each medium.

Ease of use: How easy was this medium to use.

Affordability: How affordable supplies are for each medium.

Accessibility: How easily accessible supplies are for each medium. Example, are specific tools required that are hard to find?

Fun to Use: How much enjoyment I got out of using this medium

     So, for Sharpie, my rating is: 20

Ease of use: 5

 Using a Sharpie is just as easy as using a pen. It's up to you to make it as difficult or complex as you want.

Affordability: 5

     Sharpies are not all that expensive. We're talking like $20 for a pack of 24 colors.

Accessibility: 5

     Sharpies are sold in just about every store everywhere.

Fun to Use: 5

  I like using Sharpies. Of course, I've been using Sharpies for years. If you've never used Sharpies, you might not like them. Who knows? Give it a try.

     If you would like to go on this epic art adventure with me, next week we will be doing...

     If you choose to follow along, please post your work using #52weekartadventure!

52 Weeks of Art: Week 26

Week 26: Animation

Welcome to week 26 of 52 weeks of art! What are we doing this week?

     It's been a couple of weeks since we worked on our 52 week art adventure. We took two weeks off for the holidays and a funeral. We're on week 26 now. This marks the halfway point! I can't believe we've already done half a year of art. Where did the time go? Anyway...

     This week we have animation. Oh boy. There are a few different things we could do for animation: stop motion, flip book, hand drawn cells, claymation, etc. It's a very versatile medium. Several weeks back I had to help The Oldest with her homework project. She had to make a video based on a book she read for English class. She had me draw the whole thing. Ugh. I spent HOURS working on this project for her. I used the app Stop Motion Studio to take pictures of each drawing I made. Well, turns out that I couldn't export the video from my phone. Ugh! I had to then get another app that recorded my phone's screen so I could record the video. So much work. I wasn't able to completely edit the whole thing, the end shows me stopping the recording.

     So, for this animation project I wanted to try a different app. I got the Animator app by Pics Art. This app is great. I love it! It's very easy to use and fun, too. I was able to draw right on my phone to create my animation. You can also add all sorts of things. It's really awesome. I highly recommend you check it out if you have any interest in trying out animation! Did I mention that the app was free? Free! Even better. 

     I don't think I need to show you any examples of animation. I'm fairly certain that every person on this planet knows what animation is and has seen some form of it at least ONCE in their life. So, here's my animated creation.

   

          

On to rating animation...

     Just a reminder on the criteria for rating each medium.

Ease of use: How easy was this medium to use.

Affordability: How affordable supplies are for each medium.

Accessibility: How easily accessible supplies are for each medium. Example, are specific tools required that are hard to find?

Fun to Use: How much enjoyment I got out of using this medium

     So, for animation, my rating is: 20

Ease of use: 5

 I'm only giving this a 5 because the animator app is super easy. If you go about using a different form of animation, it's not that easy.

Affordability: 5

     Again, I'm giving this a 5 because the animator app is free.

Accessibility: 5

     If you have a smart phone, you can get the animator app.

Fun to Use: 5

  I really enjoyed making this animation. The first one I did, for The Oldest, was frustrating but fun. But using the animator app was really enjoyable. There are so many things to explore on the app. Hours of fun to be had.

     If you would like to go on this epic art adventure with me, next week we will be doing...

     If you choose to follow along, please post your work using #52weekartadventure!

52 Weeks of Art: Week 25

Week 25: Needle Felting

Welcome to week 25 of 52 weeks of art! What are we doing this week?

    So, this week we have needle felting. If you've never heard of needle felting, that's okay. I'll explain what it is. You take some wool, which is super soft (it's like petting the softest floof you've ever pet), and you stab at it a bajillion times with a barbed needle. What you're trying to accomplish is turning the loose, fluffy wool into a solid object. The barbed needle agitates the fibers and helps them to stick together.

     You don't have to create a 3D object by doing this. You can also needle felt some wool onto fabric. You can needle felt onto your clothes or whatever you want, really. I've seen some pretty amazing needle felted pieces of art on Instagram. I even saw some cool stop motion videos. So, needle felting is pretty versatile.

     I've needle felted a time or two over the years. My girls like to do it. The Oldest made Starry Night one time. I was going to take a picture of it... but I'm not sure where it's at right now. Use your imagination. The Little One made herself a pin cushion ring shaped like a narwhal. Do I have a picture of that one? Also no. It's in her room somewhere. I don't even know where the floor is in her room right now. Ugh. Kids, right?

     Rebecca came over and we pulled out my stash of needle felting goods and got to work. If you're thinking this will be a quick project, think again. When I said you have to stab it a bajillion times, I was not joking. Since Rebecca is afraid of 3D artwork, she decided to make an abstract piece on a scrap piece of fabric. I did a 3D needle felted sculpture.

     I tried to do a 3D needle felted sculpture.

     The supplies you need are simple, you need a barbed needle felting needle, some roving wool, and a piece of foam to work on. Getting stabbed with a barbed needle hurts, so having some finger gloves is helpful. I know from personal experience. 

Before I show you what I made, let's take a look at some real needle felting artists. They are truly amazing what they can create with just a loose ball of fluffy wool. Serious.

Click here to see some seriously amazing works of needle felted art.

Found these adorable little guys here.

This is NOT The Oldest's, but it is Starry Night. Found it here.

Needle felted painting found here.

     I don't think that fiber art gets the credit that it deserves. I mean, look at those! They're amazing! People are still stuck in the thought that fiber art isn't really art, it's just a crafty thing to do to pass the time or something. It's not. It's art. We need to start thinking about fiber art differently. 

     If we can call this art...

     Then why can't we call this art?

     If you're putting just as much time, effort, and love into creating your fiber piece, it should be considered fine art, not just a craft. Sorry about the rant. I just get frustrated with people who think fiber art is just a crafty way to pass the time. Something to really care about.

    Alright, now I'm done going on about that. Here's my needle felted sculpture:

Here's where I remembered I need to take pictures of the process.

Here's where I started adding legs.

Here I started adding some details into the wings. I decided I didn't like it and pulled it all out.

Here's Ted. He's a friendly little guy.

Here's Ted from the side. It's not his best side.

Here's a slightly better picture of Ted. Let's just say that Ted isn't the most photogenic of dragons.

          

On to rating needle felting...

     Just a reminder on the criteria for rating each medium.

Ease of use: How easy was this medium to use.

Affordability: How affordable supplies are for each medium.

Accessibility: How easily accessible supplies are for each medium. Example, are specific tools required that are hard to find?

Fun to Use: How much enjoyment I got out of using this medium

     So, for needle felting, my rating is: 16

Ease of use: 3

 It's not hard to stab something over and over. It is hard to try and shape a shapeless ball of fluff into something, though.

Affordability: 4

     Pretty affordable. You can get an entire kit of everything you need to get started for $20. With that kit you can make several small needle felted sculptures or paintings.

Accessibility: 5

     Needle felting is pretty popular right now. You can get supplies at arts and crafts stores or online.

Fun to Use: 4

    It's fun trying to turn something into something else. Especially when it really doesn't look like it'll turn into anything to start with. Just don't stab yourself. Ouch.

     If you would like to go on this epic art adventure with me, next week we will be doing...

     If you choose to follow along, please post your work using #52weekartadventure!

52 Weeks of Art: Week 24

Week 24: Scratchboard

Welcome to week 24 of 52 weeks of art! What are we doing this week?

     This week's medium was scratchboard. I haven't done anything with scratchboard since high school. My Little One LOVES doing scratchboards... but she just scratches everything off. I think she just enjoys the scratching part. 

     If you don't know what scratchboard is, it's a board that you can get in white, gold, silver, multicolor, whatever, and it's covered in black India ink. You use a scratch tool (or you can use a toothpick, a paperclip, something sharp and pointy) and you scratch off the black - CAREFULLY - to reveal the color underneath. You're really gonna want to do it carefully, otherwise you end up with scratch marks on the color underneath. Not pretty.

     If you don't want to buy scratchboard, but still want to try it, you can very easily make your own. Will it look as nice as a store bought scratchboard? No. Will it still be a fun art project to do? Yes. For this simple DIY version you need some paper - cardstock works best - some crayons, and some black tempera paint.

    Color your paper with whatever colors you want. You can go with just one color or a rainbow of colors. It's your art, who am I to tell you what colors to use? Brush off any extra crayon crumbs. Then paint the black tempera on top. This is the most important part: wait for it to dry! When it's dry you can use any of the previously mentioned tools to scratch off the paint. 

     I think of scratchboard as like reverse pen and ink work. Instead of putting down the ink, you're taking it away. Here's some examples of scratchboard art:

Found this little guy here.

Found this beauty here.

And, here's my finished scratchboard artwork. It was very difficult to take a picture of it because the color underneath is silver - it's like a mirror. I did the best I could.

Silver Tentacles 

Silver Tentacle.

          

On to rating scratchboard...

     Just a reminder on the criteria for rating each medium.

Ease of use: How easy was this medium to use.

Affordability: How affordable supplies are for each medium.

Accessibility: How easily accessible supplies are for each medium. Example, are specific tools required that are hard to find?

Fun to Use: How much enjoyment I got out of using this medium

     So, for scratchboard, my rating is: 19

Ease of use: 4

 This is a fairly simple medium to use. The only problem with it is the fact that it is so easy to scratch off. It's easy to accidentally scratch something off you didn't want to scratch off.

Affordability: 5

     Each scratchboard costs about a $1.00. I'd say that's pretty affordable.

Accessibility: 5

     You can get scratchboards at an arts and crafts or at any art supply store. Or, again, I'm a huge fan of Amazon.

Fun to Use: 5

    I like this medium. It's just fun to scratch the ink off.

     If you would like to go on this epic art adventure with me, next week we will be doing...

     If you choose to follow along, please post your work using #52weekartadventure!

52 Weeks of Art: Week 23

Week 23: Cyanotype

Welcome to week 23 of 52 weeks of art! What are we doing this week?

     

     This week we did cyanotype. Now, you might be wondering what that is. Cyanotype is a 170 year old photographic printing process that produces a cyan blue print. It was used mainly to reproduce notes and diagrams - aka blueprints. The whole process uses just two chemicals: ferric ammonium citrate and potassium ferricyanide.

     I don't know about you, but I don't really like the idea of working with chemicals. I don't know anything about chemicals, so not using them sounds good to me. I Googled how to make my own cyanotpye. It sounds easy, but again, I don't like the idea of mixing chemicals I don't know anything about. 

     So, instead of making my own, I bought some special paper that's already been treated with the chemicals. I headed to Amazon - the best place to buy anything - and searched for cyanotype paper. It's also called sun print paper, sun art paper, solar paper, etc. For a relatively low price, you can get several sheets of paper. 

     Alright, so how does this fancy cyanotype paper work? It's simple. Place an object, or anything you want, on top of the paper and place it in the sun for a few minutes. Its really fascinating to see the whole process. The paper starts out as this muted blue color. When it's exposed to the sun it turns almost white, except the parts that were covered. You bring it back inside and rinse it in some water. The water turns the white parts blue and the blue parts white. When it dries the blue gets much darker, darker than it ever started.

     I Googled some cyanotype images. I absolutely love the nature prints - leaves, feathers, shells, etc. However, it's winter here right now. That means no leaves. We had to get creative with what we used. Here's some nature prints using cyanotype.

I found this beauty here.

These amazing pieces were found here.

     And here's the whole process:

This is the paper before being exposed.

This is the paper after just being exposed. This pattern was made using a bubble wand.

This is the paper after being rinsed in water. 

This is the paper after drying - the final product. For this pattern I used my nephew's puzzle pieces.

Here's the finished print using the bubble wand.

On to rating cyanotype...

     Just a reminder on the criteria for rating each medium.

Ease of use: How easy was this medium to use.

Affordability: How affordable supplies are for each medium.

Accessibility: How easily accessible supplies are for each medium. Example, are specific tools required that are hard to find?

Fun to Use: How much enjoyment I got out of using this medium

     So, for cyanotype, my rating is: 19

Ease of use: 5

 This is probably the easiest medium we have used. It does not get simpler than this.

Affordability: 5

     For about $11 on Amazon I bought this package of  cyanotype paper. It has 40 sheets of paper. That is about $0.27 for each piece of paper. That's it. No other supplies needed!

Accessibility: 4

     I'm not sure about arts and crafts stores carrying this paper, but you can get it at an art supply store. Or from Amazon.

Fun to Use: 5

    This was fun to do. I don't know that I would actually try to make art out of this, but it was fun to just experiment with. I found the whole process to be fascinating. 

     If you would like to go on this epic art adventure with me, next week we will be doing...

     If you choose to follow along, please post your work using #52weekartadventure!

52 Weeks of Art: Week 22

Week 22: Clay

Welcome to week 22 of 52 weeks of art! What are we doing this week?

     This week's medium was clay. There are so many different types of clay. Since we don't have access to a kiln, any type of clay that needed to be baked in a kiln was off the list. That left oven baked and air dry clay. 

     Air dry clay is easy to use and it doesn't require any baking - hence the air dry name. The downside to using air dry class is the quick dry time. While it doesn't dry completely solid quickly, it does dry out enough to make it unusable in a short amount of time. Storing it is also a challenge since it dries out. 

     Oven baked clay - polymer clay - is a good combination of both air dry and kiln baked clay, I think. It's easy to use like the air dry clay without the worry of it drying out. It bakes in your home oven, no kiln required. If you have never sculpted anything before, I think polymer clay is a good choice to start with. Air dry clay is a good start also, but you have to work quickly with it.

    So, we chose the polymer clay to work with. Since my youngest is a huge fan of sculpting things, we borrowed all of her supplies. Thanks, Little One. Since the kids were all out of school for the Thanksgiving break, we had lots of people collaborating with us this week. 

     We used Sculpey, which is available in a wide variety of colors and found in any arts and crafts store. It is a name brand polymer clay, but I think it's worth it. The Little One has used several different types of polymer clay over the years and we've found Sculpey to be the best. There are other good brands out there, but I wouldn't recommend getting anything cheap and generic, they don't usually bake well.

     My kids used different colors of clay to make their creations, I used one color. I planned on painting mine with acrylic paints when I was finished. I've only ever sculpted things with polymer clay a few times with my Little One. So, this was the first time I've really tried sculpting something. Here's what I came up with. His name in Gnorman. Gnorman the Gnome. This is him after I baked him in the oven.

     

Gnorman the Gnome.

Gnorman side view.

     And here's Gnorman all painted up. I've released him into the wild so he can live the gnome life.

Gnorman in the wild.

         

On to rating clay...

     Just a reminder on the criteria for rating each medium.

Ease of use: How easy was this medium to use.

Affordability: How affordable supplies are for each medium.

Accessibility: How easily accessible supplies are for each medium. Example, are specific tools required that are hard to find?

Fun to Use: How much enjoyment I got out of using this medium

     So, for clay, my rating is: 19

Ease of use: 5

 I think polymer clay is something that is easy enough for anyone to use. Trying to get the exact shape you want in 3D is a little more difficult, but I think it's definitely something that everyone can do.

Affordability: 4

     For $25 on Amazon you can get a pack of 50 colors of Sculpey. They are small amounts of each color, but if you're making something small, you don't need a lot. Or, if you'd like to sculpt and then paint, you can get a large one pound block of clay for about $15. You don't need any sculpting tools, you can use things you have around your house - pens, toothpicks, plastic utensils, etc. If you would like to buy some sculpting tools, you can get a large set of 42 tools from Arteza for about $25. So, overall, I would say that if you're just trying out clay you can do it very affordably.

Accessibility: 5

     Any arts and crafts store will have polymer clay. It's available just about everywhere.

Fun to Use: 5

    I used to not like 3D art. But doing this 52 week art adventure has really made me stretch my artistic muscles. I enjoyed sculpting Gnorman, and I think he turned out pretty okay.

     If you would like to go on this epic art adventure with me, next week we will be doing...

     If you choose to follow along, please post your work using #52weekartadventure!