Pages 03/13/09

Find more photos like this on creativity unleashed with Traci Bautista

I thought I'd share this slideshow of the work from the other students in Traci's workshops. There has been some really fabulous work made!

Pages 03/07/09

Another of my 'doodles' from the Bautista workshop. I used a variety of pens, Sakura Gel Pens, colored pencils, correction pens, sharpies.

Pages 02/21/09

I got pretty behind with my Traci Bautista workshop this week because of work. Today I buckled down and spent a bit of time going through the exercises. Most of the exercises were about spilling out your random thoughts using a variety of different mediums. I used Sharpie paint pens, gel pens, highlighters, markers, white out pens. I found it really fun to randomly write words and didn't stress out while doing them. I recommend trying something like this. Take out a blank sheet of paper and start randomly scribbling the thoughts in your head. Then mess around with different pans and see what happens. Try using a bunch of pens you'd normally not draw with, like a highlighter. Just when you think you are done, push it again and add more color or line work.

The painting above I started with a really dark blue background and swirled in some lighter blues. The exercise was to write with a white out pen. I also used gel pens and a sharpie pint pen for the blacks. This one is my ode to the blank page. ;-)

Pages 02/06/09

This is another exercise from the class I am taking with Traci Bautista. We had to collage a sheet of paper with varios ephemera we had, then cover with paint. Once dry we were to doodle and write words about 'who we are'. I honestly was really scared to cover the collae I made with paint. Afterall, it was quite a bit of work! *LOL* But, I am glad trusted the process because the outcome was interesting. I like the way the type from the collage peeks through. You really have to look for it, but I think that's the point. The focus should really be on the words, not the collage. ;-)

Pages 01/30/08

Wow, I actually have blogged quite a bit this week. I think taking the online workshop has been helping me loosen up and get back into making art.

This is the 2nd exercise in Traci Bautista's workshop. We were supposed to look for imagery that had patterns or shapes and try to create our own designs from them. Traci suggested taking digital photos, but since I am chained to my office chair, I had to settle for magazines.

I liked this jewelry I found, and thought it really worked with the style of doodling I like to do. I pretty much just abstracted the shapes, and took some artistic freedom to make it my own. Interesting exercise. I wasn't sure I was going to like it, but I can really see how this can be useful if you're stuck in the rut of drawing the same thing all the time. (Like me! lol)

Pages 01/27/09

I am taking an online course with one of my favorite artists, Traci Bautista, author of Collage Unleashed. This is week one and the first exercise. (There are several exercises which I've not completed yet.) Week one is all about ideas and inspiration. The idea was to chill out and randomly write our thoughts on the page with various pens and marking tools. I was really surprised at some of the things that came out. It was also very 'freeing' to draw without a plan. So far I am enjoying the workshop. It's also really nice to set aside some time for myself to learn new techniques.