Museum of Paper

Get Seen: Illustration Friday & Inspire Me Thursday

Are you participating in Illustration Friday or Inspire me Thursday this week? How about last week?

Any week?

Here's an opportunity for you. I'm offering to help you gain some more viewers for your work. I'll even write about this feature as part of the Artsy Asylum blog where the readership of non-artists, art-buyers and new media people with more money will be likely to see it,

Instant Art Tranferz from Suze Weinberg

This recipe for fun comes direct from Suze Weinberg who says

"c'mon now...why doesn't everyone try that simple INSTANT ART TRANSFERZ project today or tomorrow. I'll give you simple easy up to date directions."

And then she does - and I've added them below for those who have not seen them.

If anyone has tried this we'd all love to take a peek. Who wants to be "displayed" thanks to the Museum Blog?

• Just use the comments area below to put a link to your flickr account or wherever you're showing the photo of your creation

or

• Add a trackback to this post from the entry in your blog where you show the image(s)

And now - read on for the quick easy step-by-step from Suze -

Artist Tags, a New Rage?

by contributing author, Mai Liis Peacock

Just as in clothing and home furnishings, paper arts are subject to fashion.  Just why this phenomenon of "everybody is doing it!" comes to fruition is a mystery.

In the paper arts, unlike in clothing or furnishings, there are no design or color councils which publish "trends"....thereby whetting every ones interest.

We artists are a passionate bunch, and we are always interested in exploring new ideas.  It is the popularity of one form of paper art over another which I wonder about. 

For a while, everyone was making cards, lots and lots of cards!

Ooooh See the Shiny Metal - Colored Pencil Tricks

If you haven't checked out the Daniel Smith website or seen what artist and instructor Janie Gildow can do with Colored Pencils - especially creating shiny metal images - you're in for a treat.

OK - so even if you've seen this before and are seeing it again it will still be a treat!

She says:

"I love colored pencil for its richness of color and exceptional control. My favorite subjects are transparent and reflective objects and I am fascinated with the effects of shiny metal. Metal isn't created with a metallic colored pencil, instead you develop metal by using just the regular colors."

Reading the information and observing the sample drawings from Janie you'll learn about reproducing the look of various metals, the importance of accuracy when you interpret the shapes of the reflections in the metal and even the amount of contrast in the reflections.

For more of Janie's secrets and tips on drawing metal, seeing the shapes of reflections and highlights and drawing them correctly be sure to spend some time at the website linked below. And if you have samples of drawings of metal objects that you'd like to have shown here be sure to let me know.

Link: Creating Shiny Metal with Colored Pencils by Janie Gildow

Art Squared Equals Small Treasures

Submitted by Kathy LaRocco ~ Artful Musings

- to view in larger format click on images -

No doubt many rubber stamp artists read the blog.  So this story should reassure those of you that taking the plunge into mixed media is not that scary especially when, as a rubber stamp artists, we have filled our studios or art spaces with so much stuff!

But back to this story for now. It's one that actually  started out as a question.

Namely: what happens when a group of resourceful artists put their heads together in cyberspace? 

The answer came in a new form of collectible art and the Art Squared movement is producing miniature works of art - art squares - which are a new concept in the art world. 

Art Squared is the brain child of a group of artists who

• loved the idea of more people being able to buy and collect affordable original pieces of art and
• wanted more room to work with than Artist Trading Cards, ACEOS and other small pieces

The only "rule" is that the size must be 4 inches by 4 inches.

So who are these creative people?

Most art squared artists are established in their genre but there are new artists too. These include people such as myself who want to market their art work, but are somewhat intimidated by the process.

I consider my a new mixed media artist fresh from the rubber stamping arena and the Art Squared format has provide me with a starting point for my artistic journey. 

The pieces shown here are from a series of 4. They are mixed media using primarily water color, inks and acrylics, found images or altered photos, and of course, a smattering of my beloved stamps.