Implied and Applied Texture

This past week in my Acrylic Toolbox class we learned about implied and applied texture.

  

Implied Texture is when you are painting an object creating the illusion of the texture through an invented system of marks, or patterns.

Applied Texture is when you literally create a texture from the application of paint, including the addition of mediums to the acrylic paint.

Here's my attempt at the implied/applied texture assignment:

Implied Texture (top row) and Applied Texture (bottom row)

For this assignment, we were to choose 6 objects each with a unique textured surface.  We then zoomed in on an area of each object and rendered the texture we saw on a much larger scale.  We were required to use only white, ochre and chromatic black paints and our choice of other mediums (molding paste, pumice gel, etc)

For the assignment (above), my implied textures were (top row, l to r): a curved glass surface, a piece of coral and a piece of accordion folded and cut paper; my applied textures were (bottom row, l to r): the edge of a towel, a seashell and a beaded earring.  The one I had the hardest time with was the beaded earring.  It's rather difficult to create the flat sides and straight edges of a polyhedron with molding paste...at least the first 16 are  : )

Complementary Apples

Just sharing results of a recent class assignment.

Assignment:  Pick 2 complementary colors.  Pick a single fruit or vegetable.  Arrange a still life with the piece of fruit/veg.  Slice if desired, but use no more than 2 slices.  Using white, chromatic black (made from ultramarine blue and burnt umber) and one of the complementary colors, create and paint a value scale at the top on half of the canvas, then from observation of the still life paint  it using the values created.  When finished, using white, chromatic black and a complement of the first color used, create and paint a value scale on top of the other half of the canvas and then paint the still life from the first painting not from observation of the actual still life.

Below are my paintings of a red apple.  I found it to be difficult focusing on the values (highlights, midtones and shadows) and not the color of the apple.  I also did not do a good job of matching the values from one color to the other, i.e., the inside of the green apple is darker than the red apple.  If I wanted to spend more time on this assignment, I could do more to make them look more alike, but I don't want to : ) I'm moving on to the next assignment which is due in a day and a half and I've got a ways to go...

Organized Chaos - Paint Shelf

Here's a little organization project I recently completed.  It was super simple to make from pre-cut 1 1/2" x 3/8" boards from Home Depot (in 2' and 3' lengths).  The shelves are are 2' wide and 3' tall and hang from a couple of nails underneath the top board.

This one was perfect for craft paints and small tubes of paint.  I like being able to see everything I have available.  I need to make a couple of more for taller tubes of paint, glue and other products I use frequently.

Inspiration Book

I decided that alot of the small clutter on my studio walls belongs elsewhere.  I had put it on the wall because there's something about each little piece of paper that I like, and I wanted to keep everything out there to inspire me.  Well, that didn't work, it was all too distracting. So distracting that I couldn't think when I wanted to come up with ideas of my own. 

To the rescue -- an Inspiration Book.  I decided to pull all of those little pieces of paper down off the walls and put them in an book where I could go for inspiration whenever I wanted it.  The book (11" x 14" spiral bound mixed meda paper) has the added benefit in that I can save and display more there than on the wall. Side benefit?  It gives me a place to use some of the many roles of washi tape that I have collected...they are inspirational too :)

Looking at it so far, I can see how it will help me identify common themes, colors, etc that "speak" to me.  How do you collect inspiration material and ideas?

What's In A Name?

The photo below is of a piece I recently acquired.  It is by Judith Meyer, a collage/assemblage artist.  I was immediately attracted to this piece when I first saw it.  It's hard for me to put my finger on exactly why, sometimes I just like something because it "speaks" to me.  In this case,

• it is blue - there is either blue or red or both in most works that catch my eye.  There's even some red in the cord attaching the key to the lock.  
• I like locks and keys -  and the location here is close to the heart 
• the use of an x-ray image is unexpected
• I like maps - woven in and over the x-ray

I still can't say what exactly it is that I intuitively like about this piece; however, when I first saw it, I didn't know the title, but I was definitely interested in the piece.  Then, I went to a showing of Judith's work that included this piece, and I saw the title which made me want it more,"And How Shall I Answer You, and What Shall I Bring?"...I'm happy to say that I bought it.

And How Shall I Answer You, and What Shall I Bring?  by Judith Meyer

One thing this incident made me think about was the importance of naming a piece of artwork. How many times have you looked at a piece and started to move on, but you then read the title of it and went back for a second look? I have done it many times. Unless the piece is Untitled or just some vague number in a vaguely named series or the name of some unknown person being portrayed, the title can add something to the piece. At least it does to me. Usually, I'm looking back to see why they might have named it what they did. If it is a portrait, is it describing what the person was doing or preparing to do or a situation they are in or an emotion they are feeling? With many pieces, I look back wondering, "what is the artist trying to say that I have missed?"

The importance of the title has not really occurred to me before; thus, I have named works simply Masque I, Masque II, ....Masque VI....vague, unimaginative titles. Now, I will put more thought into them. Maybe this is something covered in an art appreciation class or painting 101. I don't know. I have taken neither of them.  But, I have done my research now and found that there are many good reasons for naming your baby something other than "Untitled", among them these 5 reasons.

I haven't had a chance to ask Judith how she came about the title of her piece, above, and what the work represents to her, but I will.   I'll share it here when I find out.