A Festival of Color
October 26, 2016
Inspirational Art
If you need further examples of going all out with color, but maybe not as showy as Monday’s piece, Anarina Anar is the go to artist for slightly washed but very colorful work.
I don’t know if she plans her colors or not. They just feel so organic, like maybe they were a happy accident that happened during the Hindu Holi festival (Festival of Colors) or, in the vicinity of her pan pastels, there was a localized tornado. Or cats. I’m going to go with cats.
But really, there is such abandon and yet cohesiveness in her color and her compositions. She keeps it all together with similar shapes and motifs as well as her signature faux ceramic look. She actually does do some limiting of her palette with some of her pieces but you hardly notice that since the colors wash back and forth in such brilliant saturation. It’s the use of the semi-opaque pastels and the layering and blending of the edges of colors that makes it appear muted. The constant shift keeps any one color from being overbearing which also makes it feel more organic.
Get other ideas about going wild with color while not being overly dramatic by heading over to Anarina’s Flickr site or her Etsy store.
Inspirational Challenge of the Day: Try using a lot of color but take it down a notch. You can mute the colors by adding a bit of black or white or even gray. You can antique the clay with washes of acrylic paint or inks in neutral tones. Or you can use pastels or colored pencils. Use at least 4 hues so you have both cool and warm colors. How do you make them work together?
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Chroma Crazed
October 24, 2016
Inspirational Art
If you’ve been reading my blog for very long, you’ve probably heard me say a time or two that color can be a crutch. Form, line, composition and other design elements need to be considered with the same weight as color. However, if you are going to let color carry the design, it helps to make it just take over. In other words, don’t be restrained. Go all out!
You can certainly say that Luba Meshakinoy went all out in these Rainbow necklaces of hers. Not only is there a lot of saturated color, she placed them on the shine of metal foil and capped it off with clear epoxy resin to magnify the color and the shine. Yes, the design is a tried and true gradation of shapes in a symmetrical composition and nothing she has done here is new or surprising but she the thing that makes this so appealing–aside from all the yummy color–is that she didn’t hold back in her choices. It does result in a necklace that will take a big, colorful personality to really pull it off or be seen aside from the brilliant color but so what? The super bright personalities need equally bright adornment. We cannot make pieces to satisfy everyone or even most people. And we really shouldn’t.
I do know, however, that most people do love color on some level. We are easily drawn to it. And it’s a Monday! So go take a peek at her bright and shiny color on her website here.
Inspirational Challenge of the Day: Go crazy with color. I don’t know what that means to you, but push what you usually do. If you work with a lot of color already, how can you heighten the impact? Use 4 or more colors in high saturation or color clay with alcohol links, paints, mica powders or anything you have bright and colorful. Just let the color lead you on this.
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Collecting Varied Influences
October 19, 2016
Inspirational Art
Although we regularly look at artwork once piece at a time, there is much to learn from looking over a collection of work, especially when the work has a lot of great variation.
We have not seen any work from Ivana Brozova recently as she was on a 10 month hiatus, traveling all over southeast Asia. I was curious to see what inspiration would come from that and although I don’t know how directly these pieces were influenced by her travels, these forms and colors certainly feel like they could come from the lush forests of Asia. They are also obviously based on things she’s done before but there is maturity in the details, especially looking at them as a group. Her material for hanging these necklaces is vastly different from one piece to the next. The treatment of the walls of the focal pod also varies as does the coloring and application of the color. The result is a series with each piece feeling quite different from the next although they are so much the same in form and construction. It gives you a good idea of some of the areas you can play with as you explore variation in your own work.
You can see how Ivana has developed variation in her past work as well as bookmark her pages to check in for future pretties on her Flickr photostream.
Inspirational Challenge of the Day: Play with the functional aspects of your work. If you do jewelry, try out vastly different types of findings, chains, and cords. If you do decor, try a different type of material to apply the polymer too or a completely different kind of vessel or form. If you do wall art, research unique ways to hang it that can be incorporated into it’s composition and design.
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Scratching Out Unusual Design
October 17, 2016
Inspirational Art
I’m not sure what the theme is going to be this week. I am just going to start here with this fairly unusual piece and see where the ideas take us. Some Mondays, you just gotta go with the flow.
Flow is part of what had me contemplating this piece by Marjana Cajhen. What caught my eye first–and was what you probably first noticed too, I’d guess–is that puzzle piece. This is looking like a progression of square shapes and then a puzzle piece shape pops up. Is this a geometric shape? It’s not organic but it seems a tad too complicated to be geometric yet it’s shape is balanced and measured and feels squarish in a way. However the edge of the shape keeps shifting gears. It’s that constant moving edge that makes it stand out, of course, but is this a good thing?
At first I thought this pattern change from squares might be too jarring but to take it away would take away all its draw. The unexpected shape is a type of contrast not to mention adding a bit of fun in what might otherwise be a bit of a static piece, even with the energetic linear texture. The other thing I wondered about was that choice of texture. Each piece has a different textural pattern but there is consistency in that inconsistency. And since the textures also are all made up of lines, there is a relationship between them there as well as in their black and white nature.
But you know what delights me the most? That spray of cord ends splayed across the corner of that end square. Between that and the puzzle piece, it seems Marjana’s choices are trying to break up an orderly gathering of stodgy squares and force them into a bit of play time.
This juxtaposition of geometric shapes and use of line , especially the scratch marks, are a regular theme in Marjana’s work. You can compare her ideas on her Flickr photostream or read up on her various adventures and explorations on her blog.
Inspirational Challenge of the Day: Create a piece with a repeated form but change one along the way in some unexpected manner. Try to think of something that is both related but not commonly seen with such forms. A string of light blue round beads could be interrupted by a miniature peach. A pattern of deep red flower canes can give way to a large yellow fireworks cane. The idea is to keep the repeated element related in at least a couple of aspects and then challenge yourself to come up with something no one would expect but somehow makes sense–the blue beads relate to the peach in terms of shape and size and the orange color is a direct contrast to the blue so they can work dramatically together. Flowers and fireworks have similar centrally blooming structures and the yellow and red are both warm colors so they work together. See where this is going?
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Pushing Variation
October 14, 2016
Inspirational Art
Before we leave the realm of canes, I thought I’d toss out a little reminder and challenge (along with adding another colorful image to our week … guess I’m feeling the need for color!) to really push what you do with canes. Or if you don’t cane, consider ways you can manipulate and vary the applications you commonly use.
Carol Simmons, a master with both canes and colors, shows the many, many opportunities for beautiful and complex designs you can find in just one cane with this image of 36 kaleidoscope versions. It is absolutely amazing to see the variation. It takes a while to find where and how she switched up and cut up the canes slices to come up with these. A couple are still a mystery to me, I must admit, but it is such a delight to find each one. It’s like 36 little puzzles. It is more than just a puzzle though. Going through and finding the patterns and determining how she arranged them can do a lot for your understanding of the possibilities of manipulating pattern which you can, in turn, turn around and apply to canes, mokume, textural patterns and anything else with a sheeted surface.
The post on this was actually from about 3 years ago but it’s a timeless lesson. Jump over to Carol’s blog post to read the whole thing and get further insight on this.
Inspirational Challenge of the Day: You know what this challenge will be … create variation with a cane or other surface designed sheet. How can you cut, rearrange, or manipulate the pattern to come up with other designs?
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Crisp and Clean
October 12, 2016
Inspirational Art
Some days you just want simple and bright, something uncomplicated to make you smile. I found this one bead on this foggy Wednesday morning and it gave me an immediate visual pick me up with the beautiful colors and skillfully created and applied canes.
The cane and bead artisan here is Israel’s Sagit Levi. She specializes in bright, clean, well-defined and delightful colors and graphical lines in her beads as well as creating charming illustrative wall art. She also is very attentive to her finishes, completing edges and surfaces so smoothly that her resin and glaze sealants come out flawless, letting those yummy colors shine through.
Need a bit more color pick-me-up yourself? Just jump over to Sagit’s website, Flickr photostream or Etsy site and get yourself an eye full!
Inspirational Challenge of the Day: Let color rule your day. Focus on creating a few new color palettes. Start with one color that you really like then stack all kinds of colors next to it and create a new palette that surprises and delights you. If you can’t do that in the studio, you can play with this somewhat new free online color palette finder from Adobe, Color CC, or try the polymer specific ColorMixr app on your phone.
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Canes Gone Wild
October 10, 2016
Inspirational Art
While researching the translucent canes last week, I came across a lot of amazing cane pieces. Some were delicately beautiful, some extraordinarily skilled and some were just wild. This vase is a case in point.
To be honest, I am not sure what Olga Perova did to this but it completely sucked me in because the details are tremendous. I believe the work is a combination of extruder caning and extruder mokume with micro beads and maybe some post cure carving going on. Not absolutely sure but what a lot of work this must have been. A part of me wants to see the form itself more controlled–straighter upper edges and cleaner openings in the body–but then I am not sure that the feeling of complete abandon would be quite as strong and that could diminish it overall. Maybe my eyes and mind just need a place to rest that is simple and ordinary while looking at this. Of course, bedlam and a riot of color and texture may very well be Olga’s intention. In which case, she certainly did that.
To really appreciate the detail and intensity of this piece, you need to pop over to Olga’s Flickr photostream and see all the shots. Then look through the rest of what she has. You’ll see that most of her work is very well controlled but she doesn’t shy away from being experimental either.
Inspirational Challenge of the Day: Create chaos. Work completely intuitively for at least 15 minutes. Let chaos rules the work that comes from your hands. If you are itching to put order to your chaos after 15 minutes, do so. Otherwise keep at it and see what comes of pure intuition.
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Way Beyond Translucent Canes
October 7, 2016
Inspirational Art
It’s been a while since I shared something you could actually sit in the studio and try so although this isn’t exactly within the theme of the week, it’s related enough and could be a really cool and fun thing to try this weekend if you are looking for something new and have a bit of translucent clay on hand.
They are related to translucent canes because they are translucent and the technique came from pushing caning. As the artist Agnes Dettai says on the Flickr post for this technique, “I have to thank Christine Dumont again; the idea for these came from the work on reinventing caning that we did for the course ‘Becoming a better artist.'”
It’s great to see how pushing yourself in a completely different direction, way beyond what you think something is or should be, can result in something so radically different. The shells are little gems all by themselves but there is much more than can be done with this. She uses Play-Doh to create a temporary base to wrap the translucent clay around but as she notes, the clay leaves a bit of stain from the color of the Play-Doh. Although this may not have been intended initially, it gives a lovely, vibrant and still very translucent color to the polymer. A great incidental discovery within a successful exploration.
You can see what else Agnes does with her playdoh hollows and what exploration she has done with this idea on her Flickr photostream and can find detailed notes on the technique on this blog post of hers. Get the complete steps for these shells by clicking the photo to get to the Flickr photo they are on and then go the next image left for the finishing steps.
Inspirational Challenge of the Day: Try out Agnes’ technique with translucent clay or just try using water-soluble clay (Play-Doh) as a form for hollow or open forms. Where can you take this idea?
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Clearly Layered
October 5, 2016
Inspirational Art
The really cool thing about translucent canes is that whatever is set behind them shows through, allowing for all kinds of possibilities with imagery and depth. The cellular cane conversation started Monday now turns to how to apply translucent canes created more for textural application than for the images embedded inside.
Ivy Niles has got this particular idea down as can be seen here in what she calls a translucent lattice lace cane. Adding the mostly opaque flower patterns into the mix allows for the canes to add their own variation in layering to whatever they are applied to so the flowers sit ‘up’ on the surface while the translucent squares frame small sections of the layer beneath. The cane slices from this could be set corner to corner for a regular and consistent pattern or, due to the outer translucent edges, can be blended seamlessly into other patterns or can be applied as accent textures on corners or edges.
Ivy has several examples of how to apply this particular cane on the listing for it on Etsy (sold long ago, I’m afraid), so you can pop over to see this here or just rummage for other ideas in her Etsy shop. She also shows off more of her goodies on her website.
Inspirational Challenge of the Day: Today, accent, decorate or hand mark just the edges and corners of a piece. Let this kind of design suggest a focal point or maybe it won’t need a focal point but rather the texture may come together to create a pattern that becomes the focus and interest of the piece. Don’t judge what you’re doing. Just let yourself go and have fun.
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Would you call yourself a selfish person? I doubt very many of us would think that way about ourselves. Yet, as artists, we often find ourselves “stealing” time away from others or other things to do what we love, reveling in it when we have it. Is that selfish? I mean, it is more about us than anyone else, isn’t it?
Yes, it is about us, and that is as it should be. In the requested comments for last week’s giveaway (scroll down to see the winner and this week’s giveaway), participants mentioned some version of the “me time” aspect of getting to sit down and create more than anything else. I mean, I know we create because it is something we enjoy, regardless of what anyone else thinks, but I just love that so many people acknowledged and celebrated it. We should!
I strongly believe that everyone should have something of their own, something they can turn to in order to express themselves or at least put something out into the world that would not have existed without their desire to create it. The art we create gives us purpose, exercises a uniquely human part of our brains, and helps us to love ourselves. Not to mention that we deserve the joy we get from it!
But, by definition, that is selfish—doing something because it’s what we want. I wish our society would get over the idea that doing something for ourselves is bad. I think not doing things for yourself is self-negligence. Why is that not a commonly understood thing?
This also highlights the bigger, contradictory world that we inhabit. We live in such strange societies where selflessness and humility are expected or requested, and yet we are also pushed to strive for excellence in what we do. How do we reach excellence without focusing on ourselves? And then there is this silliness where we are not supposed to acknowledge when the work we do is good or that we’re proud of it. If we do, others may think we’re being arrogant or grandiose.
So, do we strive to be great and then pretend that we’re mediocre? We talk about contrast being good in art, but this is so not the right kind of contrast!
I’ve long found the dichotomy of these contradictory but societally prescribed behaviors beyond aggravating as well as having the potential to be debilitating. I think that is why it made me so happy to see so many people acknowledging their creative hours as me-time, self-care, and a time of wonderfully selfish joy. Keep it up, I say!
Now, let’s talk about the good kind of contrast in art.
Design Refresh
Let’s look at the beautiful brooch by Lyne Tilt that opened this post. What do you notice first about this? There’s a lot going on in this little space, isn’t there? What are the three things that jump out at you as far as design elements?
I’m going to say color, shape, and texture. Did you come up with the same three? There is also a lot going on with marks and size. So, any combination of those would be spot on.
How about design principles? What do you think is the number one principal used in this design? Sure, we could refer to scale and proportion considering all the different sizes of the layers, or we could talk about focal point or even just key in on the centered composition. But the one thing this has in spades is contrast.
Obviously, there is color contrast in all the major color characteristics—she has a vibrant trio of warm colors contrasting the cool of the blue and cyan; color values range from the dark blue and deep red to the moderate orange to the light yellow and pale polished silver; and, if you check your CMY color wheels, you’ll see that the color of the bottom layer is a blue-cyan whose complementary AND split complementaries are the yellow, orange, and red that you see in the upper layers.
But doesn’t a color palette have to have at least one common characteristic between all the colors? Well, ideally, yes, and this does. Here it’s saturation. These are not muted colors. The orange may be slightly tinted (has some white in it) but not enough to feel it’s gone off base from the saturated characteristic that ties them all together.
Now, look at the contrast in the textures. The top and bottom layers might have the same texture, but the rest are vastly different. There are even different materials—metal and clay. But they work together pretty well, don’t they? Why?
The textures work together in part because they are all drastically different—the wide variety is part of the charm of this piece. But, like color, they need something to tie them together.
Did you notice that the textures are applied to the entire layer from one edge to another? Thier differences are connected because the application on each layer is the same. That does seem to be enough to allow them to exist in the same piece and not have it feel completely chaotic.
The shapes, on the other hand, are not completely different but they are not the same either, right? They are all some version of a hand cut circle, but some of them are definitely more oval. I think pulling back on the amount of contrast between the shapes also helps to rein in the potential chaos all this dramatic contrast and color and texture could fall into. The centered composition also adds a bit of calm to the piece.
Let’s take this week to consider the design principle of contrast. Would your pieces benefit from more contrast, or do you need to rein some of that in? Remember, it all depends on your intention. There are no wrong levels of contrast, at least not in art.
Last Week’s Giveaway
Drum roll please…
This last week’s randomly chosen winner is Eloise B! I’ve spoken to her and her clay is already on the way. Congrats Eloise!
This Week’s Giveaway
Thank you to everyone who participated in last week’s giveaway through comments on the post. As mentioned above, it really made me happy to see all the fantastic, positive and self-caring observations. I also hope it gave you a moment to focus on and appreciate what you love so much about creating.
So, let’s do this again.
The Goodies:
- This week I have a selection of Sculpey clays in 2 new Soufflé colors, 3 new Premo colors, and 2 big 8 oz. blocks of clay stash basics—Sculpey III in Pearl and Silver. That’s 26 ounces of fresh clay along with a three-piece set of Sculpey silkscreens.
- Or if outside the US, I have a $25 Tenth Muse certificate, since it would be such a gamble to ship clay outside the US.
How to Win:
- Put a comment in the blog comments* (below), telling me what type of contrast you enjoy creating most in your own work, or the type of contrast you wish you used more of. And, yes, if you want to share pictures, you can do so by including a link. Just don’t put more than one link in or it may spam filter the comment.
- Note: It can take some time for the comment to appear if you’ve not commented before since, due to annoying spamming, I have to approve it .
- Giveaway winners will be chosen by random—it will NOT be based on your answers. I do hope you’ll give it some thought anyway. The answers could be helpful to you as well as interesting for the rest of us.
- And let’s say you can only win once this month so we can spread the love around.
- Get your comments posted by Wednesday March 17th at midnight Pacific time to get in for the raffle.
- I’ll announce the winner here on the blog next weekend!
I’ll put together yet another pack of goodies for a giveaway in next weekend’s post, so stay tuned here!
You can support this blog by buying yourself a little something at Tenth Muse Arts or, if you like…
Read More
Have you started to see hierarchy in creative work everywhere since reading last week’s post? Consciously recognizing the hierarchy in artwork not only reveals the path our eye tends to follow around the work but can also tell you a lot about the artist’s intention and themes.
Maybe I’m a weirdo but I really enjoy searching out the hierarchy and the path the eye makes through a piece of artwork. Sometimes, though, the work seems so simple that one might assume there is not much of a path, if any, or that there really isn’t any hierarchy. But there always is.
Let’s do a deep dive on what initially appears to be a fairly simple composition. I’ve got a few surprise thoughts for you on this!
The Eye and the Hierarchy
I found this gem of a piece here a couple weeks ago on Lyn Tremblay’s Facebook page. It doesn’t appear overly complex at first glance, so where is the hierarchy? We probably all can see that the emphasis is on what looks like stitches between the predominantly yellow portion and the striated blue section. But does anything really take our eye around the canvas?
Of course, the answer is yes, there is a lot going on that brings our eye around the entire piece. Let’s map the probably path.
Before you read on, take a look at the piece and make note of where your eyes goes first and how it travels around the work. Then we can see if the likely path I found is similar to yours!
Did you find your path? Ok, great. Let’s do this!
I don’t think that there is any question that we are all likely to go first to the line of stitches and the edges they pull together but, I think, we don’t linger there for so very long. The brilliance of the yellow likely draws us towards the far end where we kind of float around like we are in a warm, comfy pool of sunshine.
However, the yellow’s disintegration into that murky gray-green is probably going to pull us away soon enough because that area has more contrast and there’s movement created by that color change as well as by the lines of yellow we follow back and forth as it tries to break through the gray-green.
The momentum of moving from one side of the yellow section to the other can be used to pull us off into the blue section whose striated lines push our view to the edge where we halt, ready to turn back but instead we may discover the grouping of impressed dots in the one corner, a surprising addition that slows our return so that we can land rather softly back at the stitches.
Of Interpretation and Uncertainty
Now, if you are to consider the hierarchy in terms of what you think the artist might find most important, I think you have to agree that it pretty much follows where the eye wants to go. Having found the path through the canvas and confirming what we believe her intended hierarchy would be, what do you think her intention was for the piece?
Something being held together must be central since the stitches are where the primary emphasis is. And there must be more significance in the yellow than the blue. Do remember what emotions and associations yellow brings up? It generally brings up thoughts of warmth, playfulness, and happiness when juxtaposed with primarily positive elements. (It can be associated with depression, stress, and cowardice is surrounded by dreary or negative elements though.)
So, is she trying to stitch a happiness that might disintegrate to the calm represented by the blue or to the openness of blue skies? She titles it Dream Weaver so could the line be where the edge of her dreams of happiness met the real world? Is that what she meant?
Guess what? It doesn’t matter overmuch what her own specific intention was. The fact is, the piece feels complete and cohesive which is likely due to a consistent adherence to her intention, and If the whole of the design is good enough to draw you in and to have you wondering or making your own conclusions, the artist has done a splendid job.
The composition and sparse elements seen here are enough to create metaphors in our minds, leaving us to fill in the blanks about what it might mean based on our own life and outlook. That’s the kind of thing that makes great design and wonderful art!
Uncertain Orientation
Here’s a bonus little lesson and a different view of the piece found on the same post. I found it really interesting that Lyn posted this piece in both a portrait and landscape orientation. The piece can be read rather differently depending on which way the piece is sitting.
The vertical orientation makes it look like the undeniable presentation of a wish or, not so coincidentally, a dream. On its side, and with the stitches to the right (remember the Rule of Right!), it feels more like a journey or a process as we have a gradual change going from left to right.
It may seem like a piece of art that is presented as not needing to be shown in a particular orientation suffers from a lack of commitment to the artist’s intention. It is the case sometimes but not always. I think in Lyn’s piece, it works both ways since the same basic idea of trying to connect the strange world of dreams with the reality of life, or whatever metaphor you might have found there, is still present although one way shows a strength of position while the other feels open to change.
And I think it works particularly well with the concept of dreams since they are subject to such wide interpretation. So why not allow the owner of the piece to hang it in the orientation they prefer because it best represents their interpretation of it? Kind of cool really.
That doesn’t mean you don’t need to create your work with an orientation in mind. Most of the time you probably should. But, in some cases, if it’s abstract enough, follows at least one of the compositional rules, (we have the Rule of Thirds working here) and it makes sense for the piece, leaving the orientation open to the owners preference can really work.
What Next?
Phew! That was a deep dive, wasn’t it? Were you able to follow my interpretation? I’d like to do this kind of thing fairly regularly, focusing on a different design lesson each time so you have a chance to really dig into the concepts along with me. But if it’s just a lot to wade through on a Sunday morning with the cobwebs not quite cleared out of your brain yet, let me know.
You can reply to this email, if that’s how you get this, or go to the contact page here. I am always thrilled to hear what you think whether it’s a commendation, criticism, or suggestion. Absolutely love getting all of them. It really helps me steer what I create for you.
During the next couple weeks, I think I might steer us away from design and talk about other things that can really help take your artwork up a notch. I’ve been in a lot of conversations and have been reading a lot about novel length fiction writing and I keep finding equivalences to the way one can approach art and so that’s where my mind is and I think some of the ideas might be pretty exciting for you.
So, join me again next Sunday for an easy read and some, hopefully, brilliant ideas. And the meantime, have a wonderful, safe, and warm (or cool if you’re down under!) week!
You can support this blog by buying yourself a little something at Tenth Muse Arts or, if you like, just …
Last weekend I talked about contrast, a concept closely related to variety, which is the subject for this week. Understanding the difference between the two can avoid a lot of confusion so I’ll be referring to contrast a bit today as well. If you didn’t see the last post, give it a quick read here.
Now, what is variation?
Variation is the range or assortment of differences throughout a design. Now, didn’t contrast also speak to differences? Yes, but those differences were between similar types of elements while variation is the degree of difference between all of the elements, principles, and placement choices in your work. It is like contrast in that variation is also used to create interest or energy or to otherwise support your intention, however, while contrast is often the key to adjusting the level of variation, you can have a fair bit of variation with little or no contrast.
To put it succinctly, contrast is the difference between two or more related elements while variety is about the relationship between all the elements in a piece. So, let’s talk about those relationships and how they are used in design.
Picturing Variation
First of all, keep in mind that you can create variation with elements or principles or pretty much any visual or conceptual part of your work.
Take the gorgeous pendant that opened this post. Liz Sabol has variation in color, line, balance, repetition, rhythm and even types of composition. In fact, even though we can identify a use of the Rule of Thirds, a Golden Spiral, and use of the Focus to the Right principle, it’s the barely-there nod to centered composition, created by an implied line from the midpoint focused, and yet asymmetrical, balance of the bail to the centered tip at the bottom of the pendant, that is holding all the chaos at bay. This piece is an absolute celebration of variation.
Alternately, if you use a lot of the same elements or employ principles in the same way throughout a piece, then there would be little variation. You can see that in this simple but still striking little pendant by an undisclosed creative on VK.com. (If you know who made this, do let me know and I’ll update the post.) Here there is regular rhythm, an absolutely centered composition, and every shape is circular. The only variation is created by contrast in the value difference between the black and white and the textural difference between the smooth outer elements and the rough interior disc.
Now, looking at the two pendants, I’m sure you can see that there is a huge difference between the energy and feel of them, largely because of the level of variation.
It’s a Matter of Degrees
So, as you see, a piece can be interesting with little to no variation or contrast. These concepts add points and degrees of interest. It’s your intention that should determine what role they will play in your work.
Just think, if you want a piece to feel solemn and quiet, avoiding high contrast and keeping your variation quite subtle may be what you need. That calm could be very awe-inspiring in its subtlety. Alternately, you can have a piece with the points of contrast and variation ranging from subtle to obvious.
You see an example of moderation in contrast and variation in Amy Genser’s Eventide pictured here. Yes, the piece feels quite busy and has a lot of energy but the contrast and variation are not that dramatic. There’s a lot of texture but it’s all rough and predominantly created from the rolled-up paper elements. The rolled paper elements are all ovoid in shape but with variation in regard to the roundness and width. They also range in size and are very in color although, like the rest of the canvas, they are predominantly blue and cyan, keeping to the cool side of the color wheel. The canvas does open up into a brief mix of reds and yellows in the middle and the color values do range from a dark blue to white. But the variation is applied in a gradual and moderated way. Most of the energy comes from the texture, the repetition, and the sense of movement.
So, we see here that the degree of variation doesn’t have to be high to create energy or interest as other elements and principles can do that quite well. However, I do think in this case that the level of variation included boosts the energy of the texture and repetition. It’s a team effort.
So, unlike some other concepts, there is no way to really list the different types or degrees of contrast and variation and what they might mean for your particular piece. As you’ve seen, this is in large part due to how much these concepts depend on, and play off of, the other choices made in the design.
This is only a quick introduction to the subjects of contrast and variation but I’ll continue talking about them in many of my future posts. If you think about it, I’ve actually been talking about these ideas throughout the year as the differences in your choices for the various elements and principles is quite wrapped up in your decisions on how you’ll employ contrast and variation.
Some of your choices for contrast and variation will be made automatically if you make characteristic choices for your elements before specifically thinking about contrast or variation, like choosing just daisies for a flower necklace or choosing green and red as your color palette because it’s for Christmas. Repeated daisies will dictate rather low levels of variation because of the sameness of the primary motif so you’d have to work with contrast in things like value and size to take it up a notch. And Christmas colors are high contrast so it would be difficult to make the work also feel calm or serene starting from that color palette.
However, you might find it more advantageous to make choices about the degree of contrast and variation that would best suit the work and then make that happen through the characteristics you choose for your elements. In fact, knowing the degree of contrast and variation you want can help you make more confident and intentional choices for your elements, various principles, and composition. That’s how influential the concept of contrast and variation is in art.
Perhaps this talk of contrast and variety will get you jazzed to try out some variations on variety your own self. So, while the sun is shining and the muse is calling, do try to have a wonderful, safe, and creative week!
You can support this blog by buying yourself a little something at Tenth Muse Arts or, if you like, just …
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Helen Breil’s variations lean on the principles of emphasis and movement using line, in particular, to create a feeling of unity and a sense of complexity even though these are not particularly intricate. The design just feels so complete and satisfying.
Do you feel, or have you felt, that design is a very confusing subject? I wanted to ask because as of next month, we dive into the PRINCIPLES of Design. We’ve been working on Elements thus far. Yes, there are two categories to define the ways we use design. So, before I go further, let’s define those.
Elements of Design – the components used to create designs. They are like the ingredient in a recipe, only they are not the materials or tools you use but rather the individual elements you create with them.
Elements of Design (my list for mixed media arts) include:
-
- Line
- Marks
- Color
- Shape
- Form
- Texture
Principles of Design – the concepts used to arrange and organize the elements of design. These are like the methods and choices used to combine the ingredients in a recipe in order to create the desired outcome.
Principles of Design (as I am going to teach it here) include:
-
- Balance
- Movement
- Contrast<->Variety
- Emphasis<->Hierarchy
- Repetition<->Rhythm
- Scale<->Proportion
- Unity<->Similarity
Don’t they look so manageable in those simple lists? Well, Elements does, I’m sure. Principles … they are concepts, so they’re more complicated. But don’t worry. I’ve been fiendishly sneaking them in all along so you are actually familiar with many of them if you’ve been reading my blog even for just this year. Just in the last couple months, I’ve been drilling in the ideas of contrast, similarity, movement and even a bit about scale.
There may be two separate lists above but they are completely dependent on each other. You can’t use principles with out the elements to create with and you can’t create with elements without the principles pushing you, consciously or unconsciously, towards the beauty and satisfaction that comes from a good design.
The Ultimate List of Design
Now, you may be asking yourself, why are the notations above about these lists my version? Aren’t these things standardized? Well, unfortunately, they are not and that’s the crux of the problem I want to peel open today.
When I talk about elements and principles of art and design, I’m giving you what I believe would be the best set of these for what we do in polymer and mixed media art. If you go online and search for just a list of the Principles of Design, you will find everything from a list of 5 up to a list of 20 principles. That’s pretty crazy!
It is understandable when some people think one or two things don’t belong on a list but when you regularly get this whole range, with some items paired up (like I did above) and others listing those same paired items as separate and distinct concepts, it can really make you wonder how you will ever learn the “right” set of concepts?
To make it simple (but possibly no less frustrating), I’m here to tell you there is no single ultimate list of elements or principles of design. And, no, it’s not because people have different opinions, although they do, but it has to do with the type of creative work each source assumes the reader will be considering.
These lists of elements and principles change to best serve the medium the writer or instructor assumes you, the reader, are dealing with. For instance, in painting and illustration, value is its own element discussed outside of color because value is what allows painters to define dimensionality, space, and perspective in the work. Our work in craft is primarily dimensional to begin with which is why I simplified my list to included value as part of the color element discussion.
Likewise, mark making in crafts is extremely important while mark making in graphic design is nearly nonexistent or is replaced with the concept of motif or pattern. And motif is an extremely important element in interior design but it is usually a side note, if even that, in fine arts.
So, all those lists out there are customized and created for the particular creatives the creator of the list believes will be using it. Right? Right!
I just wanted to clarify that before we jump in the principles of design so if any of you have learned or been taught something different than the list I’m going to give you, you understand why. I do believe my lists will best serve you as a mixed-media artist but you are welcome to build your own as needed.
The bottom line here… Don’t worry about whether you’ve got design terminology down precisely. Worry about understanding the concepts, identifying them, and working with them.
Ack! What’s a Creative to Focus On?
If all these lists and their imprecise ways make you feel like you’re going to hyperventilate, take heart. When it comes down to it, there are really just a few things you need to focus on as I can distill what I am trying to teach you into just three things. If you concentrate on these, you can just read my posts and the club’s mini-mag content and all this design knowledge will work its way into your brain by osmosis:
Your Artistic Keys:
- Create with intention, whatever that means to you.
- Draw your intention from that authentic and unique core that is you.
- Aim to make conscious, intentional design choices on every aspect of your work.
If you can do these three things, you can and will be an incredible and fulfilled artist. The rest – the terminology, concepts, elements and such – you can gather like you do art supplies. You pick them up as you can and then use them at every opportunity that makes sense. It would be great if you actually thought of them as new shiny tools and materials on your studio table. They can be, and usually are, the most valuable tools you have at hand.
The End of Free Lessons is Nigh!
In the coming months, the Principles of Design lessons, although they will continue to appear here in some fashion, will be largely moving to the weekly Devotee Club mini-mags. I need to start transitioning the bulk of my content to the Club content as the full free lessons were intended just to help get us all through this tumultuous year, but I do have to get back to bringing in the funds so I can keep at it!
So … if you have been enjoying the lessons you’ve had here in recent months, come join the club! Not only will you be getting the full lessons, but I also have a lot of other content from tips on living a creative life to community news to subscriber only specials and first dibs on new products.
And for the rest of this month, get a 14 day free trial! Offer ends October 31st.
(By the way, the Success Club, which combines coaching with the weekly content, is full, in case you are wondering when you get to the page and don’t see it to add to the cart. I am taking names for the waiting list only at this time.)
Come support your design knowledge, creative growth, and these Tenth Muse Arts projects with a subscription to the Devotee Club. Just click here.
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Corvid sculpture from the rich imagination of Ellen Jewett. I don’t know where she draws her creative energy from, but I’d take a sip or two if she bottled it!
Do you ever get artists block? I’m not talking about times of procrastination or being afraid to start something but literally not been able think of anything to do. Does your brain ever just feel empty?
Well, this weekend, mine was, which was weird. I’m not usually at a loss for words, especially when it comes to blogging or writing articles. I usually feel like I can write about art and design nonstop and never run out of ideas. But, this weekend, I hit a bit of a wall.
What is that all about? Honestly, I think it’s about burnout and not just from my usual mad pace. I think many of us are running into burnout this year.
Burnout and blocks are often related in their causes. We all have an infinite number of ideas inside our heads all growing from our countless experiences, ever-growing knowledge, and ever present desires. So, I believe that it’s not that we don’t have ideas sometimes but rather that we are missing the keys to access them.
Without Resources
Although so many of us supposedly have all this extra time and flexibility this wacky year, we don’t always have the energy needed to navigate the constant changes, the stress, the worry, and, probably more than anything, the uncertainty while still juggling our family, jobs, and creative aspirations. Some days it’s just too much. Our well of energy goes dry.
I’m hearing this from a lot of artists. Some are wondering if they are burned out on their medium or their studio space or their creative time in general. Others are lacking motivation because there aren’t shows and fairs to give them those all-important deadlines. Still others, having lost major avenues of income with both in-person teaching and live shows on hiatus, are questioning the fragility of their chosen path.
What it comes down to is that the usual motivations that push us to create are missing. We don’t even have social engagements for which to create new pieces of jewelry for ourselves to wear or guild meetings to encourage us to complete work so we have something new to share. Many of our usual energizing motivators just simply aren’t there.
Signs of the Times
It has been noted throughout history that when there are traumatic and life-threatening circumstances within a society, such as war, famine, or major natural disasters, the people first focus on survival, initially neglecting most other pursuits. However, one of the very the first things that come back into society, once people begin to feel safe and secure, are creative pursuits. Perhaps we don’t all feel quite safe and secure yet, not feeling settled enough to bury ourselves and creative work but as the world starts to right itself, the creative urge will return. Take heart from that.
The other things very particular to this pandemic that may be making it hard to create are that we aren’t having as many novel experiences and are certainly deprived of a normal level of social stimulation. Both these things provide us with inspiration and energy to be creatively productive but they are rare commodities right now.
In other words, while the world and all the bad news is slowly but surely draining us of our day-to-day energy, our sources for renewed energy are spare to nonexistent. It’s really no wonder that so many people are feeling uninspired or burned out right now.
Filling Your Well
So, the first thing I want to say, to myself as well as you, is that it’s okay. Burnout is normal. Our creative path, and life in general, is not a smooth and even highway but more of a roller coaster. This will happen sometimes, especially in times like now.
The other thing I’d say is, rather than worry about any lack of productivity or trying to force it, do what you can to recharge your creative battery. Get out and go places and do things that you don’t normally do. Obviously, stay safe and follow all recommendations in your area, but go take a hike in a nearby forest or walk through an unfamiliar part of town or go photo hunting (a kind of self-structured scavenger hunt but you are gathering photos rather than things). Just come up with things that you can do safely but that are brand-new and interesting to you.
Getting out and doing new things will create new pathways in your brain which will, in turn, energize it and keep your mind fit and flexible. As you get older, new and novel experiences become more and more important so never lose your adventurous spirit. Those same mechanisms that help keep your brain young also keep your creativity flowing, as shown by a number of recent studies. In fact, at least one study suggests that creative thinking is boosted most after weird or even traumatic experiences. If that’s true, we should all be insanely creative when this period in world history is over! There’s another reason to take heart I suppose.
Besides novel experiences, also be sure you are getting some kind of social time in. Sure, it might have to be a zoom call but, if it can be done safely, a socially distanced backyard or front yard gathering (while we still have some weather we can sit outside in) with a handful of creative friends or family can do so much to boost your spirits and energy level.
I myself am going to heed my own advice. Next weekend we are going to take out the camper van conversion I’ve been working on and do a little van camping. That’s the other thing. Sometimes burnout or creative blocks just simply need space and time. We can try to barrel through it – and I often do just that – but sometimes we really just need to kick back and relax and let the mind “marinate” on life and our present experiences. Combine some downtime with some new experiences and, if you can swing it, some socially distanced social time, and you are sure to come back with renewed energy and inspiration.
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Kathleen Nowak Tucci going big with not-so-precious intertubes and other disposables.
What would you say if I suggested that you create a piece and then, after you are done, remove your favorite bit? Yes, I realize the request might be physically impossible without causing complete destruction but, alternately, what if I asked you to destroy something you just spent your valuable time and effort creating?
I know you might be wondering if this is some kind of dreadful crafty torture. Why in the world would anyone ask that of you and what would be the point?
Well, this was done to me and a couple dozen other classmates back in college… twice.
The first time was in a creative writing class. We brought in a piece we had been working on all week then were asked to highlight all of our favorite lines. We passed the highlighted sheets to the person next to us and then the professor asked that we scratch out all the highlighted lines in the story we had in hand.
Of course, all us sensitive little budding Hemingways and Dickinsons sat there stunned and appalled as our pieces were read aloud without the sparkling gems that we thought would certainly reveal our genius. Strangely enough, all but one of the pieces still made sense and sometimes, the author even admitted it sounded a bit better. The point was, the professor said, that we tend to fall in love with phrases or sentences and will leave them in even when they don’t serve the piece.
The point was that without our wittiest word choices we could, in theory, make better editing decisions. In art, is it possible that we could make better design decisions if we were willing to set aside the glitzy accents we love so much or not fall back on our favorite tried-and-true textures all the time?
The second time I had a professor crush my little angsty ego was in a ceramics class after we each had done a small series of slab vessels. The professor asked us to pick up our favorite piece, bring it to the center of the room, and hold it up. We were then asked if we would be willing to drop it from a height into the trash bin that sat there. Of course, no one did it at first and he just stood there waiting until a couple brave souls let their pieces go. Then the pressure was on for the rest of us to follow. Even though I wasn’t particularly attached to the piece I had in hand, it was still so hard to drop it but I did. I seem to recall that a handful of students did refuse.
Sounds like a real jerk of a professor to ask such a thing, right? Well, I have to say that, at first, that’s what I thought but then he started to talk about preciousness. His conversation had something to do with becoming too attached to particular pieces. He wanted us to put value on our process, our growth, and learning, not on impressing him or our classmates. I think he was also looking for a way to wake us up as he had been getting frustrated with our attention span during the lecture portion of the class. Well, he sure did that.
I remember thinking about that lesson some years later, when I was better able to take it in. It made me realize that each successful piece I made was really just a step in a journey more so than an end goal unto itself. That changed the way I looked at my work. And it somehow made me braver.
I still did, and do, have favorite pieces that I cherish and will never sell, but seeing the work as steps and creation as a process rather than an investment of time in an end goal has allowed me to work a bit more freely. I have a ton of pieces that remain unfinished, and although it’s disappointing every time to come to a point where you realize it’s not going to succeed how you wanted it to, I don’t have any qualms about setting it aside. I don’t see the work as wasted because I know I’ve gained a little bit more experience and a little better understanding of the process. I’ve let go of the preciousness I used to have about everything I made.
Preciousness arises not only in our valuing our time to such an extent that we will not give up on a piece even when it’s no longer salvageable, or ignoring possible design solutions because they would eliminate our favorite part, but it also happens with the material itself.
Liz Hall creates in polymer and (a lot of) precious metal clay.
Quite a few years ago, I was itching try precious metal clay but it really wasn’t in my budget. Then I found some at a really great price and bought it. But you know what? I never even opened the packages. I just couldn’t get myself to work with this very expensive material for fear I would ruin it. But, of course, it’s rather wasted now that I’ve had it so long that is not workable. Pretty stupid, right? But we can be like that, putting value on the material and not on the process and the joy that we get from learning and creating.
Preciousness is tied into fear and failure in a lot of ways. Our idea of what we think we can do or what we think we should be able to do may be so lofty or so dear and treasured that we are afraid to try, fearing that we will make a mistake and ruin our efforts or that it will not come out as we imagine it. So, we do nothing, which is the same as ruining it, just really early on.
We may also get to a point in a piece where we love it so much that we are afraid to take the next step, a step that might spoil it, and so we set it aside, with all the best intentions to take that next step at a future time but all we’ve done is deny, or even end, the work’s potential.
I thought we’d start out this month on the concept of preciousness because it felt like a good segue into discussing October’s design theme – size.
Preciousness is one of those factors that comes into play when we decide on the size or scope of the work we will take on. Our sense of preciousness can make us hesitate to do something large or particularly complex, as we may fear that we will invest a lot of effort, time, and materials into something we are not assured will be successful.
Julie Eake’s cane mosaic portrait of actress Sophie Turner was, like most of her cane mosaic portraits, a huge undertaking. But aren’t we glad she takes those risks?
But, again, have we not already failed by not attempting it in the first place?
If we looked at everything we create as precious, all the time and effort that we put into it as well as the finished work, we would have to play it rather safe in the studio. However, art is not about playing it safe.
Art is largely about the risks you take.
If you’re not taking risks, then are you actually creating art? There’s nothing wrong in creating just for that sense of accomplishment or the high of that Zen like flow we fall into when the work is familiar and comfortable. It is more than valid to have the process of making things with your hands be the primary purpose in what you do. However, it’s the hours of exploration, the failures, the false starts, our vulnerability, the deep digging, like miners looking for gold, that makes the work that we inevitably uncover truly art.
The risks we are willing to take is the thing that is truly precious.
So, keep the concept of preciousness in your mind as we talk about size this month. Of course, we’ll talk about variation and contrast in size since that is what is primarily being referred to when speaking of it as a design element, but there are other things about size that we can take into consideration as we create, move forward, and grow as creatives.
Speaking of considerations…this week, I am going to have to take my health into consideration, so although I do plan on preparing a blog for next weekend, if it ends up being short or skipped it’s because I’m having a little surgery towards the end of the week. It’s just my esophagus and I should recover in all of two days. I have to fit in all my usual physical therapy before then though, along with all the regular weekly business tasks so it will be a full week.
Don’t worry though – all you club members will get your Midweek Mini-Mag as usual including a goodies giveaway so you can look forward to that if you signed up for one of the clubs.
If you haven’t signed up for one of the clubs yet but really appreciate the information inspiration you find in this blog, help support this project by subscribing! Get your weekly mini-mag, exclusive discounts, giveaways, and special offers along with your support. With everything you’ll get, you can also think of the club as a unique and special way to acknowledge the preciousness that is your creative self!
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Evgeniya Aleksandrova has a rough texture over everything here but varies the depth and pattern of the texture as well as the color.
Since we talked about tactile texture last week, it would seem logical that I would talk about visual texture this week.
But I’m not! I don’t want to be too predictable!
No, that’s not why. Actually, it’s that most of what needs to be said about visual texture has to do with the usual recommendation of choosing characteristics that fulfill your intention. If you read my blog, even sporadically, you’ve heard this before.
As long as you understand that visual texture is a purely visual variation on or within a surface (such as marbling, mokume, ikat, or any application of an ink, powder, dye or paint medium), then, as described in the post from the week before last, you can choose visual textures simply by coming up with adjectives to describe your intention and do likewise with possible visual textures and match them up based on similar adjectives. That is the core of the approach for working with visual textures.
So, that being established, I’d like to, instead, talk about another thing you’re also familiar with if you have been reading the blog for the past couple months but which we have yet to specifically associate with texture.
Creating a Relationship
Last month I talked about choosing color palettes in terms of contrast and similarities. But guess what? Combining different types of textures also plays by the same basic rules of contrasts and similarities.
I love how Joy Kruze echoes the spots in the stone with the spots of metal in the texture created in the spaces between the metal lines of her unusual bezel
Most work you create or look at probably has more than one texture. It could be a combination of smooth and rough textures or a variety of different rough textures or variations of smooth ones. You may often combine tactile texture and visual texture, as well. What these combinations all achieve is variation. Variation in texture is pretty instinctual for most creatives, as is a desire for variation in color.
The variation between textures can be heavily contrasted but, like color, it helps to have at least one similar characteristic so there is some relationship between them. With texture, you can actually use other design elements to create that relationship such as using the same or related color or a similar shape for the texture’ s space. Once you have that similarity, everything else can be contrasted.
But what about using similarities between the characteristics of the textures? For instance, you could create only rough textures but vary how that roughness is created. Or all your textures could be stippled holes but you vary the shape or size of those holes.
Just as you need similarities, you’re probably going to want variation, too, not only to create contrast, but also to create shapes, layers, and compositional direction (which we will get to later this year).
The Need for Variation
Variation, as always, adds some level of interest, energy, and complexity to your work and you can adjust how much you add of these by adjusting the variation between textures (or any design elements) – from subtle to bold or somewhere in between.
Let’s say you want to make a piece with a strong graphic look. You’ve already chosen hard edged graphic shapes and bold colors. What about the texture? You might choose a slick, glossy surface as a primary texture. Now, what other textures can be used to vary the surface but have it still related to a glossy one?
Hélène Jeanclaude creates glossy surfaces on all parts of this necklace but between mica shift and mokume, and the contrast of colors, she creates variation and lots of energy.
If you want to go subtle, you could stick with variations on smooth textures such as a matte or satin finish. Alternately, you can choose to rough up the surface but in a very orderly way similar to the orderliness of your graphic shapes. This can be done with a series of dense, parallel lines, or a dense but orderly mark.
As long as the marking of the surface is the only thing that changes, then all raised portions of the comparatively rougher texture will be glossy. That will give you your similar characteristic – the gloss of the smooth surface and the occasional gloss of the rough surface.
This is not to say that you can’t have textures that are completely and utterly different. The extreme contrast could be, in and of itself, a relationship. That difference will cause tension or discordance, but that could be exactly what you want.
Here are just some of the characteristics in texture that could create similarity or contrast:
- Tactile or visual
- Smooth or rough
- The quality of the finished surface (glossy, satin, matte, or chalky)
- Type of mark, technique, or tool used to create the tactile or visual texture
- Organic versus graphic styles
- Size (how much space each texture takes up)
- Direction (if the texture visually flows or moves from one part of the piece to the other)
- Shape of the space it is applied to
A visual texture shows variation in density and repetition of the dots that make up this surface. Melanie Ferguson actaully etched the surface and then polished it with cold was so she has smooth tactile but rough visual texture on her surfaces.
As you can see, other design elements can become quite intertwined with texture. Marks, lines, size, direction, and shape all can play a role in the similarity or contrast of areas of texture in your piece. It really doesn’t take much for us to see a relationship between textures. If it’s there, we’ll see or sense it and the design will feel more cohesive for it being there.
Since that texture relationship can be, and often is, developed through other design elements we work with, this is not always something you need to be wholly conscious of. But, if something in your work is not looking right, check for the relationship between your textures as well as your colors and other elements.
And, if next time you are looking at your work and feel like it needs some contrast in its tactile or visual texture, just look at the dominant texture that you have and, using it as a starting point, choose possible other textures or design options that will create at least one similar characteristic, still provide contrast at the level that makes sense for you piece, and has characteristics that recall the theme of your work.
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Visual Contrast … Out of Doors!
Packing up to take the camper van conversion for a test drive up the coast, just one night. That’s been my little side project that I’ve been getting myself lost in for an hour or so most days. It’s not completely done but good enough for one night out for my better half and me. I need some contrast between life inside this lovely home of ours and the outside and distant world! So, I am off. I hope you all are looking for new and novel things to add a bit of excitment and contrast in your lives as well!
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Melanie West’s satiny smooth finish has a heavanly tactile texture even though many people might think of her pieces as being textured because they’re so smooth. Yet smooth is actually one of world’s most loved textures.
How often do you touch art?
No, I don’t mean being the unruly museum visitor who gets yelled at by the docent, but in your everyday life, how many things do you touch that you would also consider art?
Works in the applied arts, which encompass decorative art, adornment, and functional objects, are often things that we touch. Because of this, the tactile texture of most applied art is exceedingly important. Not only can the wrong texture put someone off from buying a piece, but the right texture can make a huge difference between people liking your work due to its visual appeal and being utterly in love with it because it feels so good to touch. It is also another means by which you can express your intention.
Choosing Tactile
The first time I touched a Melanie West polymer bead, it was like taking a bite of the most heavenly chocolate mousse. Her finishes are flawless and so soft; my fingers just couldn’t get enough. That kind of tactile reaction is golden. It also supports her soft and organic themes. As wonderful as her finishes are, that kind of texture may not be wanted in your work or may not even be possible due to techniques or materials you are using.
The point is that her textures are part of the experience of her work and, if you’re creating things that will be handled, you too should consider the experience of touching your piece as part of its aesthetic value. As always, let your intention drive your decisions, but pay attention to the physical sensation experienced when handling the work and aim to have it support your intention, alongside all your other design decisions.
For instance, if you want to share your love of the beach through your work, think about the physical sensations that stand out the most – the soft breeze on your face, the refreshingly cold water on your feet, and your toes digging into cool sand. Now, how do you translate those physical sensations into tactile texture that will help you share that experience to those who will handle your work?
You can do so by thinking in terms of those adjectives – soft, refreshing, and cool. You probably want those to be the dominant sensations so don’t go for, say, a sandy texture just because the beach has sand. Is a gritty, sandy texture going to convey soft, refreshing, and cool? Chances are, it’s just going to remind someone of getting sand in their shoes and other uncomfortable places. You can create a visually sandy texture that includes sandy colors and a speckled look, but in terms of tactile sensations, going for a soft, maybe matte surface that will feel cool and soothing to the touch will share something closer to the sensations you want to relay.
Felt may have textural limitations but the final texture is still a choice. Olga Demyanova contrast a tight, even texture with the rippling and rougher orange edging and accents in this intriquing handbag.
There are a lot of materials that have limits on the tactile textures available. Polymer clay can replicate most tactile surfaces except for fuzzy, but felted work is limited to that dense and slightly rough feel of matted wool while glass will almost always have a smooth aspect. There are also techniques that create their own texture or limit how you can further manipulate the material to create texture. Learn the range of tactile sensations available in the materials and techniques you use so you know what options you have.
Work that Begs to Be Touched
There are a couple things you can focus on in order to create work that people will love to touch. It primarily involves smoothness and variation.
Smooth Surfaces
Our sense of touch enjoys traveling along a pleasantly smooth substance such as polished metal or stone. But what we like most is softness, such as a fluffy blanket or bunny fur. Softness is a type of smoothness as it allows our skin to glide across, unimpeded.
Note that you can re-create the look of fluffy and furry textures in hard substances such as clay or wood but you can’t re-create the same associated softness because, in those materials, you lose the ability for our fingertips to effortlessly glide across it in the same way due to the unevenness in a hard surface. So, recreating the look of fur doesn’t necessarily re-create the tactile experience. The ‘look’ of fur is just a visual experience.
So, be careful to think of smooth tactile texture, not in the way it looks, but the way it feels.
Klavdija Kurent gives the wearer of her jewelry much to explore with their fingertips.
Variation
Our fingertips were made for receiving information, and lots of it, so they do very much enjoy a variation in texture. However, we don’t normally enjoy variation that is sharp, prickly, scratchy, or sticky. These textures make it hard for our fingers to glide along and take it in, not to mention that they are also often painful.
However, bumps, grooves, and fine lines excite the nerve endings. It’s just like the sense of taste – we aren’t too happy with things that are bland but a lot of flavors that go well together thrills our tongue. Our fingers, likewise, enjoy complexity.
The Best of Both – Smooth and Varied
I think you’ll find that pieces with both a smooth and varied surface attain the pinnacle of touchableness.
Take a look at the pearled bracelet here. It is not even in your presence and you probably still feel a tiny urge to reach out and touch it. That’s because each half pearl has a small, smooth surface which is further aided by the round and unimpeded nature of its shape as well as there being a varied field of them.
The combination of smoothness and variation in this bracelet makes for an engaging texture, adding energy to the piece both in its tactile and visual nature. Note that this also has a bit of rough texture around the edges to provides textural contrast. Because contrast is important in texture too!
The contrast of texture fit well into my intention of showing the classic perfection and allure of pearls in an organic setting. I wanted it to be a subtle reminder of the messy world pearls actually come from even though we now associate them with neat, tidy, and conservative dress.
The Tactile Balancing Act
The textures you choose will dictate limitations in terms of surface treatments and other parts of your design, so you have to balance out your tactile texture choices with your other design choices. For instance, if you create a deep and dense texture on a light color, it’s going to appear darker, which you might not want. Or you may want a very smooth surface but want pattern to raise the energy so you would have to figure out how to incorporate pattern visually with inks, veneers, or other smooth surface applications.It just needs to make sense for your intention and the limitations of material.
If your tactile texture decisions, weighed in light of all the other decisions you have to make about color, shape line, function, etc., are chosen in service of your intention, you are sure to have a beautiful, cohesive, and interestingly touchable design.
Should I Call Them Mini-Mags?
The first week of the Art Boxer Clubs has commenced and one of the first comments about the weekly Pick-Me-Up is that it ought to be described as a mini-mag. I guess it is. It’s hard to take the magazine attitude out of me. There were 5 little articles and a good handful of links for further exploring. So, yeah, maybe it is a mini-mag. I might have to rethink what I call it.
But regardless of what it’s called, joining the club will get you a little extra boost each week and at least once a month, you’ll get a special discount, a first dibs or limited stock offer, and/or a giveaway. And right now you can get in on it with a 2 week free trial and a FOREVER discounted rate.
So, if you enjoy my blog, support this while boosting your own creative endeavors by joining us in the Devotee Club or Success Club (there are only a few spots left in this upgrade to personal coaching option, at least as of my writing this), or buy yourself a good book or an inspiring magazine to curl up with. Just visit the website by clicking here.
No Fires Here
We are still a safe distance from all the fires and the sky has started to clear up from the smoke so nothing too exciting to report from Tenth Muse central. I’ve already gotten started on the next project but I don’t want to say too much about it. It seems like every time I say something, I get jinxed and delayed. So, you’ll just have to stop by and check in with me on the weekends, or read the newsletters, or, if you want to be the first to know, join one of the new Club options as Art Boxers will be the first to know (as well as getting extra discounts … just sayin’.)
I hope you all have a relatively unexciting week yourselves. It’s not like we need much more excitement with the craziness of the world providing plenty already. Just go make beautiful things and be kind and caring to each other.
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Dawn Deale, Crackle bracelet using gold leaf with alcohol inks.
Now that we’ve spent three months intensely delving into color, are you ready to completely switch gears and explore a different design element?
How often, when you are creating something, do you ask yourself “What kind of texture do I want?” Or, more importantly, “Why this texture?” I think we can all agree that texture is an extremely important part of all types of arts and crafts and, like color, is probably more often than not chosen consciously. But why do you choose a smooth texture versus a rough texture? Or a simple texture versus a busy one?
I think the first thing we need to define in terms of texture is what it actually is. Do you automatically think of some uneven and fabulously tactile surface? Well, certainly, that is a type of texture, but that is only one type. Texture is more wide-ranging than that. At its most basic, it is the feel or appearance of a surface.
Texture can be of two primary types – tactile or visual.
For instance, tree bark is generally rough. If you can reach out and touch the actual tree bark that is tactile texture. If you have a glossy photo of tree bark, the texture is still rough, it’s just visual rather than tactile. If we don’t make this distinction, you could say that the photo of tree bark is smooth but you’re actually describing the tactile texture of the glossy paper.
So, you know what? That means you potentially have two decisions to make when it comes to texture – what kind of tactile texture and what kind of visual texture will your piece have?
In this necklace by 2Roses (Corliss and John Rose), softly marbled polymer gives subtle variation to the visual texture of its beads.
Your initial decision for each is not too hard being that you really only have two basic options for each – will it be smooth or not smooth? Or you can say smooth or rough, although I think rough has a lot of specific associations but it does describe the alternative to smooth.
Your chosen texture will actually be on a scale from smooth to rough. It will also be relative to the smoothness or roughness of other textures either on the piece or to similar textures. Beech tree bark is relatively smooth compared to oak bark although it is relatively rough compared to, say, glass.
Lightly marbled polymer clay (like that in the necklace seen here) will have a rougher (or busier or denser) visual texture than a solid sheet of clay but is not as rough a visual as a finely crackled alcohol ink surface treatment (as in the opening image), don’t you think?
You may be tempted to say that sometimes you choose to have no visual or tactile texture, but what you’re really saying is that you want a smooth visual or tactile texture. There is still texture; it’s just smooth or without variation breaking up the surface.
Now is it really important to call what we might see as the absence of texture as smooth? Well, how will you define the emotive, symbolic, and/or psychological meanings or effects of your surface if you don’t acknowledge its type of texture? I think that would be a little rough. (Sorry for the pun!) And that’s what I really want to talk about today.
Talking with Texture
As with color, different textures communicate varying emotions and atmospheres but, unlike color, texture can rather easily communicate all kinds of abstract ideas in very concrete, and sometimes quite literal, ways. Concepts that deal with the physical nature of things like force, fragility, turbulence, or stillness are not only readily interpreted or felt by viewers but they are also readily determined by artists. I bet you can think of a texture that could represent each of those for physical concepts within a couple minutes if not a handful seconds.
Texture can also readily elicit specific emotions such as comfort, fear, revulsion, and desire. To come up with textures for emotions, you could just think of a physical thing associated with each (fuzzy blankets for comfort, sharp knives for fear, etc.) and from that come up with a texture (a soft, matte surface for comfort, or sharp, erratic lines for fear, etc.).
“Lichen” tiles in porcelain by Heather Knight. They are all dense, tactile textures but they convey different things. What words would you associate with your favorite 3 in the image?
You can pretty much come up with a texture to go with the intention of the work you’re creating simply by identifying what characteristics you associate with the ideas or emotion of your concept or theme. For some people, recognizing these characteristics is very intuitive. For the rest of us, or even for those who feel they’re intuitive, it can help to come up with words you would associate with your intention and develop your textural design decisions from them.
This could be as simple as throwing out a few adjectives to describe what reaction you want from the viewer or you could list specific ideas or objects related to your theme or concept and then consider textures that you associate with the words you’re writing down.
If you have a hard time just freely coming up with textures, you can find possibilities to jump-start your ideas by looking through your texture plates/stamps/random objects stash for textures that evoke those words. Or you can look at artwork to get ideas. Determine what emotions or sense you get from various pieces and then identify what textures are used.
I know I brought up visual versus tactile texture but I’m got not going to talk about them any further today. I’m going to save those for the next couple weekends this month. I haven’t decided which to do for next weekend so it’ll just be a surprise. Just have fun coming up with adjectives to associate with textures that you can use to help support the intention of your work.
Announcing the new Art Boxer Clubs!
The first of the latest projects I have been brewing has launched!
The content of these Art Boxer clubs will be aimed at all types of mixed media creatives, not just polymer clay artists. Like the blog, the focus will be on increasing your design and creative skills while helping you stay energized and engaged in your craft, all while mixing in a good dose of fun and exciting bonuses!
I am keeping core design lessons free here on the blog for now but giving you many of the other features that were in the original VAB plus some new exclusive offerings:
The Art Boxer Devotee Club… $9/month: Exclusive weekly (Wednesday) content including mini-lessons, creative prompts, project ideas, and challenges as well as member only discounts and offers, giveaways, and early notices on all sales, new publications, and limited items. Get 2 weeks free to try this out if you join during the month of September. Go here for full details!
The Art Boxer Success Club… $35/month: For serious aspiring artists or artists looking to take it up a notch, this includes everything the Devotees get plus twice a month email or once a month chat/zoom coaching sessions. I’m reviving my creative coaching services but in a limited way – only 20 of these memberships are available. This is a very inexpensive option (normal rate is $65 for similar coaching) for one-on-one support to help with whatever artistic and/or business goals you have been aiming for. Click here for the details.
*If you are already a monthly contributor toward the support of my projects and free content, you will automatically be added to the Devotee Club member list, even if you contribute less than $9. If you would like to move up to the Success club, just write me. Thank you for your early and continued support!
If you have questions about the clubs, write me here and I will get back to you on Monday.
And don’t forget … the 25% off PRINT publications sale is still going on.
Good only until Tuesday! Click here to get in on this before the sale is gone.
Under Smoky Skies
Thankfully (for me), I have no crazy personal updates or unfortunate stories to tell you about. I hope I haven’t disappointed those of you all into the Sage soap opera over here. I’m loving my new physical therapist and although I haven’t seen any significant progress thus far, my knees, shoulder, and elbow have not gotten worse. And hubby’s face is healing just beautifully so we are pretty content in our recoveries here. So that’s cool.
Speaking of cool, how many of you are dealing with weather changes due to fires in your area? We were supposed to have another hot week but the dense smoke all over California has developed its own little weather system, blocking out the sun and cooling down the day. Too bad the air quality is too poor to go out and enjoy the nice temperatures. We also have this weird orange-yellow cast to the daylight. It’s just otherworldly.
To be clear, there are no fires anywhere near enough to endanger us although I suppose that could change at any moment. Between the wonky weather and just what a ridiculous year this has been, I think we all should just stay in and create beautiful things for a while. At least until the skies clear up. What do you think?
Well, I hope, wherever you are, you are staying safe and healthy. If you join one of the clubs, then I’ll chat with you on Wednesday!
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