Decorated Papers for Knitters (or wannabe ones!)
I often get drawing ideas from crafting. I made this decorated paper by mimicking the way I knit with many colors.
Stranded knitting (or fair isle knitting as some call the technique) can feel tedious at first. Constantly changing the colors can be tiresome. But if you do that long enough, your brain will get used to it. I think it is a way of thinking: constanty interrupting what you are currently making. If you do that, you will also prevent yourself thinking too far ahead and too logically.
I began with an odd paper that had been watercolored throughout. That way I created depth instead of showing white paper between the colored areas. Color pencils work great on watercolored surfaces a long as the paper is fairly smooth. I created the paper just by adding basic shapes so that they formed some kind of fairly free grid. Changing colors and plans all the time kept the interest at the work and prevented too monotone visual appearance.
After making that paper I began to think about handdyed fiber. I love this photo of my bobbins! It’s mind-blowing when I think about spinning handdyed wool and how the color changes so seamlessly.
I also often knit socks from handdyed yarn. Like these ones I just made recently.
As a result I decided that the irregular stripes deserve to get on paper too!
I began with few colors first, again on watercolored paper.
Then I added colors. I worked pretty fast here. Even if I like my papers to be super detailed the sharp and regular stripes often look too static.
Most of my papers have round shapes. These knitting inspired ones are edgier in style. They will look great when combined with the circles. When you are building the stash of hand decorated papers for collage art, take care that you have a variety of papers.
In these papers the motif size can also be maintained fairly small. So these will look absolutely gorgeous even when cut in tiny pieces!
P.S. I you are more of a quilter than knitter, read what you can bring to art from quilting.
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Experiencing Art
I read an article about how strongly people respond to art. It claimed that art museums are like churches. A visit to them is an experience which can change you. That reminded me of the unforgettable experience which I have illustrated in this digital art journaling page.
Art Museum Experience
About 15 years ago I visited a modern art museum in Nice, France. I was traveling alone, attending a conference which was located near the museum. Walking in the isles of the museum, I began to think of my busy life and how I approached it. Suddenly I noticed that I was staring at a painting. I could not take my eyes off it. It. Half of the painting was painted black, and another half was white. It was the kind of artwork that many people would have commented: I could have painted that!
But really, if I talk about myself, I could not have painted that! Still, it was not only the visualization of my thoughts but also some kind of solution to my anxiety. I realized that I loved that painting because I so strongly believed in black and white: how good it was to pursue extremes. I had difficulties to accept that most of the days are practically various shades of grey. There in the museum, I was in my church seeing my ideals. When I left the museum I decided to make some compromises, make my life a bit easier. It did not anymore mean that I had to work against my values. It was more about accepting human errors as a part of the life.
Even if I never saw that painting again, thinking about it still gives me consolation and perspective to life. And even if I often write how you need to experience art by creating it yourself, art can truly offer experiences in many other ways too if we just open ourselves to it.
What has been a significant work of art for you and where did you experience it?
If you art journal – now there’s a subject worth documenting! (Read my tips on how to get inspired by fine arts)
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Tribute to the Old Watercolor Set
I loved my old watercolor set. I bought it at the time I thought I should learn how to use watercolors. I also bought a book about watercolor painting. It would explain to me how to do it in correct way. That meant: merrily paint those landscapes and still lives in a row like all watercolor artists seemed to do. Soon I realized that even if I admire all those great artists I got nothing out of painting like that myself. Partly blaming my watercolors for it I put them away.
They must have been sad. All those beautiful things that they held inside was in the dark for years. How happy and thirsty they must have been when they were finally able to see the light again. They persuaded me to give them another try. They promised to be ready what ever I would assign them to. “Come on, stroke us with those soft brushes you have”, they pleaded.
I gave them a stroke, and another… After many long and hard discussions I realized that all I had to do is to let go. Not only put away my assumptions about their purpose but also their nature. These were social guys. Ready to talk not only with me but also with my color pencils, acrylics, inks, markers, you name it.
Now the pads are all gone. But even if the tray is empty, the beloved colors can be found in my art journals and display books. I kind of think that I have set them free. To celebrate their freedom and the happy moments spent with them I made a tribute for them. I even dressed their favorite brush and their water cup.
With this tribute I let my watercolors speak to you: use your art supplies and let them show you where art can take you. Art is not a competition, neither any other predefined experience. Art is not too noble or too serious. You have the privilege to fly to the world of imagination and your art supplies crave to help you with that!
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Yellow Color
If I had to pick only one color, I would choose yellow. It is unconventional, energetic, and brilliant with other colors, mixed or not. I love to make green by mixing yellows with blues or black. Yes, isn’t it surprising that you’ll get olive green if you mix yellow with black! Best oranges come when mixing yellows with reds instead of buying ready-made oranges. I often put a tiny portion of black to get a slightly muted shade.
I created the yellow collage on a canvas mostly with acrylic paints. If you buy only one tube of acrylic paint, I would recommend buying good quality yellow, warm or cold. Then create your art with color pencils, markers or watercolors and finally add a very thin layer of yellow on one or two areas. You will witness the arrival of the sun, warmth, and all the good things!
If you buy two tubes of paint, I would recommend yellow and another primary color, red or blue. You can create almost anything with those. The intensity of good quality yellow paint is amazing and in acrylics, I prefer to buy few and good quality instead of buying cheap sets.
In our house, we have a long hallway painted yellow. It is a particular shade of yellow that was not found in any color charts. I mixed it myself by adding some black to the closest yellow I could find. I saw this yellow first time in Tricia Guild’s old book Design and Detail about 20 years ago. I fell in love with it, and when we bought our house a few years ago, I knew that the dark hallway would look amazing with that yellow.
I think that yellow has a special connection to two colors. The first is black. Try this: pick your yellows and think about blacks. If it helps, find music that represents black for you and turns it on. Paint yellow and think about black. I love that mind game!
Another color that I connect yellow with is blue purple. It is the contrast color of yellow, and it makes yellow pop even more and vice versa. If you look at the collage, there are a couple of tiny circles on the small square on the left. Yellow makes them look lovely and bigger than they really are.
Yellow Color begins a blog post series about color. I will post these color-themed posts now and then. Hopefully, you’ll enjoy these!
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