Connected to Color

June 14, 2020

Cornelia Brockstedt communicates her sense of each season through color sets (cones and the cord) that speak to her idea of Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter.

So, here we go with the second installment of this summer’s color adventure. If you didn’t read last week’s posts, you can find it here. That post really lays the foundation for a lot of what I’ll be talking about over the next few weeks so you might want to read or review that first.

This week I want to expand upon your knowledge of hues but, more particularly I want to talk about the expressive nature of color. I know last week I may have forced a shift in your thinking about primaries but to confirm that and as a way to connect last week’s post with this one, let’s ride this CMY train a bit farther down the tracks.

Hopefully, we are now all in agreement that the most accurate pigment based primary colors are cyan, magenta, and yellow. That is particularly helpful to keep in mind when mixing but that hardly gives us enough categories to work from in order to have a sense of how colors communicates or how to choose color palettes. I would like you to add a few more, starting with the CMY secondaries – the colors that result from mixing two primaries together – red, green, and blue.

Hmm. RGB, you say? Doesn’t that sound familiar? If you remember from last week, RGB are the primary colors for mixing light (such as the light that creates images on any digital screen.) Yes, CMY’s secondaries are the primary colors used to mix with light. And the reverse is true – CMY is the secondary color set for RGB. Why do you think they are interrelated like that?

You may remember from last week’s post that RGB is considered an additive color while CMY is subtractive so it’s not surprising to find them as opposite sets on the same color wheel. This is not the same RYB color wheel that painters have been using for years, mind you, so if you have a color wheel that depends on bread, yellow, blue, you might want to either get a CMY color wheel like this one by the Color Wheel Company. Or use a CMY color diagram like this one below. (Note that colors in this image below will shift if you print it and may be off due to your display already. Also the percentages listed are just guidelines when mixing colors as quality and concentration of pigments between types of materials and brands can differ greatly.)

Click for full size and to print. Created by SW Pryor, 2009

 

Back to color categories. Right now, you have six – cyan, magenta, yellow, red, green, and blue. How about we add four more for a nice even 10?

Since the majority of the art world has been working with red, yellow, and blue as primaries for the last 200 years, their secondary hues have been widely referred to in color psychology and communication. Those are green (which we already have), purple and orange. Purple and orange carry very particular associations so we can’t leave them out.

The other two I feel necessary to include are black and white. For the sake of simplicity, I’m not going to wander into the mire that is the argument about whether these are actually colors. I think that argument is really based in the one inarguable fact – they aren’t hues. Depending on the color mode, either black or white is the inclusion of all hues or the exclusion of all hues but the argument on whether they are colors is just semantics so for our purposes I am proclaiming them color categories.

 

Connecting in Color

Now, why is it important to have categories? Well, you have to realize you’re going to be communicating something specific with the colors you choose so it’s best to choose with intention. Having color categories and knowing their specific association gives you a base from which to begin making those kinds of decisions.

We all react to color on some level, so color choices are no small thing. For instance, if there are a set of sisters who are triplets, all dressed the same but one has fire engine red fingernails another cobalt blue fingernails and the third has sunshine yellow, do you not draw different conclusions about each of the women? The one with a red nails might come across as strong but conservative, the one with the blue may strike you as audacious or even rebellious, and the sister with yellow nails may seem carefree and funky. You might draw a different conclusion that I did but I’m guessing we’d agree that we would think of each of those women at least a little differently based solely on the fingernail color.

Strangely, those conclusions I made about the fingernail colors are not necessarily associations common with those specific colors but that’s our curveball here. It goes to show that it’s not just the color that creates what you are communicating – it’s also the context. And you.

Since there is a lot more to communicating with color than what we might assume is inherent in each hue, I’m going to give you very general associations as a kind of jumping off point, but you may very well have other strong associations not listed for these colors. We’ll get to that in a moment.

For now, simply read through this list but don’t try to memorize it. Just let it sink in as you read it, maybe just asking yourself what associations are true for you that I have listed, and mentally (or in writing) adding your own as you go. Then I have some thoughts about how to use these categories for your own authentic creations.

 

Color Associations by Color Category

Here are the color categories we’ll work on for now. We’ll get to the grayed out sections later.

 

Magenta – uplifting, balancing, and cheerful, this color can convey and encourage happiness, creativity, and compassion.

Purple – often thought of as the color of luxury and grandeur due to its historical rarity, it is now also associated with drama, ambition, and dignity. Purple also encourages daydreaming which may be why it is associated with mysticism and imagination.

Blue – one of the most liked colors in the world, blues can feel uplifting, quiet, calm, and reliable, as well as communicating trustworthiness and comfort.

Cyan – lively but calming, cyan invokes the serenity and brightness of tropical oceans along with a sense of cleanliness and focus.

Green – relaxing and reassuring, green is a very positive color that is easy on the eye, literally. It lessens glare and absorbs ultraviolet light reducing eye fatigue. It also represents growth, freshness, nature, and harmony although in certain contexts and tones it can also be associated with illness.

Yellow – considered the happiest of colors this is associated with joy, optimism, and spontaneity. It is visually dominant which means it can drown out other colors, so it is often used in small amounts or as a background color.

Orange – energizing, cheerful, and friendly, orange literally wakes us up by encouraging oxygen intake in the brain. It is also highly visible which is why it is used for construction and warning signs even though emotionally it feels playful.

Red – well-known as representing love, passion, power, and excitement, it is also associated with danger and blood. It also appears hot so much so that a beverage will seem hotter in a red cup than any other color. It is also the most eye-catching, so it gets noticed regardless of how little is used.

Black – is often associated with death but in the absence of a context with death associated symbols and imagery, it will more likely convey authority, respect, seriousness, and decorum while sometimes feeling aggressive. It can make objects appear deeper or heavier than light or white versions.

White – purity, cleanliness, goodness, and innocence are the more common associations with white although it can also be thought of as formal, cold, sterile, and stark. When it is not a dominant color, it is overlooked, reading as an inconspicuous background.

Now, you might be asking, what about brown? Or gray? How about pink? Yes, we do have very specific associations with those colors, but they are variations on hues, not hues themselves and I am aiming to give you baby steps, more or less. Trying to figure out how you feel about 10 colors is a pretty big baby step already. We’ll get to the rest in future weeks.

 

Real and Authentic Color

Okay, now that I you’ve read that list, let’s talk about the only color associations that really matters – your specific emotional connection to color.

Choosing the colors you want to use to communicate your intention really should be based on what you feel, not what you THINK, about those colors. This can be tough to figure out but if you’re up for it that’s what I’ll suggest you work on this week. Let me explain.

Take the color blue. It supposed to be calming, peaceful, and trustworthy and is one of the favorite colors of all times. Well, strangely, I myself have a kind of aversion to the hue of blue. It’s not all blues, but I certainly steer away from it when it comes to my attire. Other than maybe a pair of blue jeans on a back shelf, there is no blue in my closet. I know I associate dark blue clothing with domineering personalities (my father wore a lot of navy, for instance) so I don’t find it comforting or uplifting like many people might.

So, if I wanted to create a piece that portrayed a peaceful calm, I would not choose blue even though that is supposed to readily communicate that concept to others. It would be like trying to laugh at something I didn’t find funny. It will come across as inauthentic. However, I might go with green or even cyan as a dominant color because those colors do feel peaceful to me. That choice, combined with my other design choices, all rooted in my personal intention to convey a peaceful calm, should result in a cohesive and authentic feeling piece.

I know you might be concerned that choices based on your personal associations won’t communicate well to a lot of people. It is true – it might not. But for the right people, the people that will love and feel connected to the authentic you they see in your work, it absolutely will. It will also be a more joyful and satisfying piece to create for you.

 

Connection and Context

You might’ve noticed my persistent use of the word “connection”. I’m using this as a kind of catch all term for the various objectives an artist might have for drawing people to their work. Sometimes we want people to feel drawn to, and therefore connected to, the work on a personal level so that they want to buy it. Or we may be more concerned about captivating them in order to elicit a specific emotion or to get them to think, which is another kind of connection.

You can also have the objective of not trying to connect to others at all but may simply want to please yourself, which is wonderful and more than valid. In that case, it is even more important to make design choices based on how they make you feel than about what they mean to others. Even though you’re communicating with only yourself initially, the authenticity of your choices will communicate and connect to others if and when you share your work. Personally, I think this is the best way to work.

If you haven’t already noticed, everything in design is about relationships. Although the relationship between your artwork and the viewer is one relationship, I am more specifically referring to how every design element is related to each other in a piece to create an overall feel or message. Your choice of color, as strong as it can be in relaying a specific message on its own, relates to the other design elements which can change how the color and the overall design feels.

Look at these two pendants by Melanie Muir. They are using essentially the same color palette, but they have a notably different feel. For those of you who were with me last month, or bought the May VAB about shape, you might have readily recognized how the softer, round shapes of the left pendant has helped create an inviting and fun feel in that pendant. Yes, orange is associated with a sense of joy to start with but then look at the one on the right. It still has a burnt orange with black and white palette but the sharp corners of those shapes make it feel more serious although still lively due to the orange.

 

Here is another comparison with two different color palettes but the same design by Christine Dumont. Do they not feel quite different? Even though I like the core design, I am more drawn to the blue-green (yes, even though I am not big on blue.) I am a huge fan of green and I don’t think of domineering men when blue is combined with it. It actually feels uplifting and comfortable to me. The magenta, a color known to be particularly cheerful, is quite elegant here but feels too loud for me. That’s probably because I am essentially an introvert so although I like my attire to be creative, edgy, and even weird, I don’t like it to be loud.

Which do you prefer and why do you think that is?

 

 

Exploring Your Version of Hues

So, if I haven’t fully confused you by giving you a set of rules and then telling you to toss them out window, I would suggest that, this week, you spend time investigating how you feel about particular colors.

Now, how do you figure that out? Well, honestly, it’s going to take a lot longer than a week for most people if you’ve not done this before, but you can start by simply making word associations and becoming more aware of your reaction to color.

Wrapped in Color Exercises

Try to put yourself in a place, physically or mentally, where you can respond to color that surrounds you.

Go and put on different colors of clothing, wrap yourself in various colored blankets, or, if you have a stash of fabric, pull out some solid colored bits and wrap yourself up in them. Then ask yourself how you feel in each color, especially if you can do this in front of a mirror (you know, when everybody else is out for a walk or asleep or something so you don’t have to explain yourself.) What colors make you feel more energized? What colors make you feel more relaxed? Do any of them make you particularly happy or make you feel regal?

Since you are likely to be wrapping yourself up with colors that are not a pure hue, you could start making note of how you react to the hues when they are dark, pastel, bright, or muted. You may be responding to that version of the hue, not the hue itself. Like I might feel very bold and confident in a plum dress, but I would probably feel a bit subdued and delicate in a lavender one. (More on color variations next week.)

If you don’t have sufficient colors to wrap yourself up in, just try to imagine yourself in a room painted all in one hue. How do you feel in the yellow room? Does it make you want to dance around or is it annoying? How about a red room? Does it make you feel impassioned and energized or maybe frightened? How about a white room? How about a black room?

You aren’t really trying to make any specific conclusions about your relationship with color at this time. Just try and become more familiar with how you feel about various colors. Color relationships are complex. Like I love using copper polymer when making jewelry, but I can’t imagine ever creating anything with orange. Orange just doesn’t speak to the things I want to express. But you should know, I also hate tomatoes but love salsa so, I’m probably just particularly weird.

As we work through the various aspects of color over the next few weeks, you can continue to ask yourself these questions about how you feel about particular colors. And when you are designing, you could also ask yourself what color comes to mind when thinking about the emotion associated with the specific intention of the piece you’re working on. You might be surprised with what you come up with.

 

Wondering about my references to Intention? Or how to support this content?

Read what so many VAB members have said was a life altering (or game changing or mind opening) set of articles on Intention in the February edition of the Virtual Art Box and catch up on the concept of marks, lines, and shape too. And they are all on SALE, 25% off right now – no promo code needed.

The purchase of a box would help support this free content that I am creating now as well as give you a stronger base for the conversations we will be having going forward.

If you enjoy these articles, you can help me keep the lights on by making a purchase of any of the publications I have on the Tenth Muse Arts website or by making a one-time or monthly contribution here.

If your budget doesn’t allow such support, that’s perfectly okay. I just hope this is supporting your creative journey giving you more joy in your work. if it does, just let people know this is freely available so I can support even more folks.

Not the Hue You Know

Amber Elledge used Premo’s fuchsia, cobalt, zinc yellow and white to mix all these brilliant colors.  www.facebook.com/starlessclay/

Welcome to the first week of the new incarnation of the Virtual Art Box. I’m not going to continue referring to it as such since the contents will be spread out over the weeks instead of packaged (boxed) but for those of you who have been with me since the inception of the VAB, know that you’ll get the same design lessons and ideas to improve your skills and artistic knowledge that you had when you were getting this as part of the VAB membership. For those of you who have only been joining me for the weekly blog, you’re in for quite the treat if you have any curiosity and desire to further understand how design works in creating craft.

I think you’ll be delighted to know that were going to start this new iteration of the VAB focused on color. I knew the color content couldn’t be just one article and a few nudges though. Nope. Color is far too multifaceted. It is easily the most nuanced and intricate of all design elements. I could spend the rest of the year just talking about color. I mean, just think about it … is there any other design element for which entire books are written? And so many? Well, not that I know of.

But it’s not just that there is a lot to talk about with color. The reason there are so many books, classes, and websites about color is because it can be difficult to learn. Part of it is, of course, the complexity of color, but it is also because it takes some time to understand why some colors work together and some don’t and why mixing color can be so hit and miss. In other words, it takes work to understand color. Not everybody wants to put in a lot of work on this and I understand that, but if you do make the effort, the reward will be tremendous!

Your mission, if you choose to accept it … is up to you.

My approach to teaching design for most of the past decade has been based on the concept of osmosis and I don’t plan on changing that overmuch. So, I’m going to tell you about the concepts and show you examples and encourage you to look at the world around you in terms of those new (or maybe not so new) ideas. If you read the blog every week, these concepts will eventually just sink in. It might take some time but you’ll get there. On the other hand, put a bit of work in now and you’ll be masterfully mixing color and creating gorgeous color palettes by the end of the summer!

So that’s my proposal. I’m going to teach you color over the next couple months and you can just observe and soak it up or roll up your sleeves and get hands-on, as and when it suits you. But if you keep up with even just the reading, you’ll be steps ahead of where you are now come the fall.

Deal? Okay, so let’s start with a real basic, rather convoluted, but surprisingly fascinating concept – hue, the basis of all color.

 

Jan Montarsi, Mica mush pendant created with gold polymer and the cyan, magenta and yellow equivalents in alcohol ink (Pinata’s Senorita magenta, Baja blue, and Sunbright yellow.) www.flickr.com/photos/jembox/

It’s Up to Hue

Hue is what most people think of first when they think of color and color theory – that which makes up the purest aspect of color. Scientifically speaking, each hue is a particular point on the color spectrum, but I think it’s best to think of hue as a category. Red is not just fire engine red, right? It’s also brick and burgundy and rose. It’s a range, a grouping that we use to organize the myriad options we have in color.

Why think of the names of pure color as categories? Because each of those categories represent a specific set of things to us. Our response to color is primarily determined by our culture but all colors make some level of emotional and psychological connection which, as creatives, we can use to communicate to the viewer of our work. Every one of the infinite number of colors available to us has its own specific response but it is certainly easier to start by understanding the characteristics of just a few categories each defining a specific range of color. You can then grow your knowledge from there.

So, I thought I’d have you learn a handful of color categories based on pure color hues for the purpose of communication in your work but I also need you to understand hue in terms of how you mix colors. Unfortunately, categories and mixing are not based on the same concepts so we are going to have to learn those separately. You see, while categories are about defining our response to color, mixing is based on science. In other words, one is based on an ever-changing landscape of personal and cultural understandings while the other is rooted in physics.

So, let’s start with science and look at the meaning of categories later. Mind you, this conversation may feel like a roller coaster at moments but buckle up and I think you’ll be surprised at what you’ll learn. At the very least, I have some surprising trivia not to mention a thrilling new position from which to work with color.

 

True Colors

Color theory, especially for visual creatives, really starts with the concept of primaries. Primaries are known as non-reducible colors because, by definition, they can’t be created from other colors. Strangely enough though, you won’t find just one set of primary hues that you can or need to work from. So, you see how color confusion starts from the beginning. Let me break it down for you and make it simple.

If you go by the definition of primaries being colors that can’t be created by other colors, then there are just two primary sets, one for each of the two different materials from which color can be created – light and pigment. Mixing light is used to create visuals on your computer screen or dramatic lighting on a theater stage, while pigment is what gives any object its color including colorants that give paint, chalk, clay, etc. their color. Both light and pigment primaries are based on the same thing – the spectrum of colors in the range of natural light that our eyes take in.

When mixing light, the three primaries used are red, green, and blue (a.k.a. RGB, that color mode digital photo editing software is always yammering on about). From those three, you can mix up any color of light you want but put all three together and you get white because white is the full light spectrum, like the sunlight. For that reason, RGB is known as an “additive” color model because you add parts of the spectrum to create a color of light for your eyes to take in.

Pigments, on the other hand, reflect just parts of the light spectrum back to our eyes (so if the pigment reflects only yellow, that’s what reaches our eyes and we see yellow) while absorbing the rest of the spectrum, effectively removing that part of the light that hit it the object from being reflected to our eyes. Because of this, pigment colors are referred to as subtractive color because we only see what’s left. Mix three completely pure pigment primaries and you end up with black which is the absence of light—those pigments collectively are able to absorb all parts of the light spectrum.

I know this is getting a little scientific but I just want you to have a basis for understanding why the colors on your computer screen can look so much different than colors in your physical world or in print. The additive versus subtractive properties of the two-color modes just don’t translate back and forth very well. That should take some of the pressure off of you though. Now you know that it’s not just you that can’t re-create any color in pigment based materials from something on-screen or your photographic skills alone aren’t what makes it so hard to take a digital photo with accurate colors. It’s just a crazy, mixed up color world.

Now to the truly mind-boggling stuff.

 

As far as pigment goes, most people have long been taught that the pigment primaries are red, yellow, and blue (RYB) even though there is no scientific basis for it. It’s just something a variety of Europeans arbitrarily developed based on the pigments they had available between the 17th and 19th centuries. And it worked, more or less, with paint. Oddly enough, around the same time, science was slowly coming to the conclusion that cyan, magenta, and yellow (CMY) are more precise primary colors for pigments but colorists in the art world didn’t consult the science of color physics. Plus, it wouldn’t be until the early 20th century that chemistry would provide the pure pigments needed to properly create visual work in CMY.

The more precise primaries were readily adopted by the printing industry in the early 1900s since this produced the brightest and broadest range of colors, but it was too late for western society’s language of, and associations with, color. Artists, designers, and psychologists had already established language and research including categories (yes, the categories we’ll be looking at) based on RYB. So, we are presently stuck with RYB when it comes to categories and communication. However, there is still a strong argument for learning and using CMY.

 

The Case for the Late Bloomers

If you are open to mixing with cyan, magenta, and yellow, you’ll likely find your color mixing is easier to predict and more saturated than through the use of RYB mixing. Just as the printing industry did. However, not all mediums for all brands make it easy to work in CMY versus RYB. In polymer, some brands are geared to CMY (such as Fimo Professional and Pardo), others seem to favor RYB (such as Kato and Cernit) while others aren’t geared to color mixing at all (such as Sculpey Souffle).

I, myself, have long been a convert to the CMY primary basis for mixing pigments of any kind but as a publisher, I’ve spent years working with printers which now uses CMY, plus “key”. (Key is black, as in black is the key plate that adds the detail in color printing’s four plate printing process, which is why print color is referred to as CMYK.) So, it wasn’t hard to break through the old lessons of RYB. And then there is the simple science – contrary to popular belief, red and blue can be mixed from other colors. I bet many of you find that hard to believe. Well, it’s not hard to prove. Here is the proof from my studio table:

Here are two sets of primaries and my mixes for their secondaries using the clay color on either side of them. I have Fimo in CMY with red, green and blue secondaries and Premo using RYB with green, purple and orange secondary mixes. I chose these sets in large part because that’s what I had on hand but also because Fimo set up the professional line based on CMY (although they call their cyan True Blue), and Premo has long supported RYB with their ultramarine blue, cadmium red, and cadmium yellow.

Note how much brighter and more saturated the CMY secondary colors I mixed are. Relative to the primaries, the mixes are neither toned down (losing saturation or purity) or darkened. The RYB delivers a decent orange but the green is quite toned down and dark and the purple looks practically black even though I went very heavy on the red and it’s nearly a wine color.

But here is what should really convince you that CMY mixing knowledge is something you need in your toolbox. Here is the same red and blue from the Fimo mix next to the blue and red Premo. Now do you believe that red and blue aren’t primaries that can’t be mixed from other colors?

Did that blow your mind a little bit? Do you feel the need for a glass of wine or comforting cup of tea? I remember when I first mixed blue and red from a CMY set of colors. I felt like I’d been duped all these years! But don’t take my word (or my pictures) for it. Try some of this color voodoo yourself.

 

Exercising Your Hues

This is a very simple exercise that will take you maybe 15 minutes but could be life changing for your color mixing skills. Like everything in art, skill is not about what your hands do but rather how you see things. I would ask that you see how this color mixing works with your own eyes and learn how the color in your preferred material and brand work depending on the primaries you choose to work with.

  1. Find a set of CMY and RYB in your clays, paints, inks or whatever you’d like to work with. You can even try a couple different mediums since the mediums act differently as well.

Here is a chart Maggie Maggio put together for the primaries of 3 major polymer clay brands to give you a guide for choosing primaries from your available clay colors. This was from an article titled, “21st Century Color” in the Winter 2015 – Hidden issue of The Polymer Arts, which talks more about the use of CMY for color mixing if you are only fascinated now.

  1. Once you have your two sets of primaries, just mix the following:
  • Mix secondaries for CMY: red, blue, and green.
  • Mix secondaries for RYB: orange, purple, and green.

I won’t be able to tell you how much you need to mix of each color to get those secondaries since every brand is different but you can start with equal amounts of both primaries, maybe adding a bit more of the lighter of the two. In my experience, yellow colorants are not as intense so you need more of it while blues (but not cyan) and magenta’s (and sometimes reds) can be quite intense. Just mix a small amount and then add what you need to adjust to what you think is a middle ground.

  1. Now, using the CMY set, create an orange and a purple:
  • For orange, start with two parts magenta and one part yellow then adjust to make a satisfactory orange midway between the yellow and the CMY’s secondary red.
  • For purple, start with two parts magenta and one part cyan then adjust to get a purple/violet midway between magenta and the CMY’s secondary blue.
  1. And lastly, try and create a cyan and magenta from the RYB set.
  • For cyan, start with two parts blue and one part yellow then adjust to make a color midway between the blue and green.
  • For magenta, start with two parts red and one part blue then adjust to get a color midway betweenpurple and red.

Which set of these were most successful? Of course, I expect the CMY to make those secondaries easily but the RYB results could go either way, depending on the RYB colors you used.

Also compare the orange and purple from the CMY set to the RYB set. Which do you prefer? And what have you learned that you didn’t expect?

They’re all good and useful colors no matter what they are mixed from. I find that mixing with RYB lend itself well to organic color palettes since those old primaries basically have a built in neutralizer (the addition of a complementary color) since they aren’t pure hues. That keeps the mixes from feeling too bright or artificial. But when I want bright, I stick with CMY or find a pre-made color that’s close so I only have to add tiny amounts of another color if it needs any tweaking.

Are you more comfortable with the idea of working with CMY primary hues? Really, all you’re doing is switching up your blue and red a tad from the old classic trio. Favor a blue that leans slightly towards green rather than purple and a red that leans some towards hot pink. It’s just a slight shift on the color wheel. It does, however, help if you use a CMY color wheel since magentas and cyans don’t sit equidistant from yellow on an RYB color wheel. Here is one you can print off for now.

Original graphic by DanPMK at English Wikipedia.

Using a different wheel will also help with things we’ll be talking about next week – secondary, tertiary, and complementary colors. But don’t fret. The CMY color wheels work the same as RYB but they’ll give you new and exciting color palette combinations to contemplate. So, if you can spend the week playing with and getting used to the idea of a little CMY into your life, you will have just added and organized an entire arsenal of color mixing that you didn’t have before. How wild is that?

If you do the color mixing exercises, I would absolutely love to see photos of your results and thoughts from you. Please let me know what brands and colors you used and how you felt about your results. If I get enough, I’ll share them next week or on my social media pages if you give me permission. Send them to me directly by responding to this if you get this by email or by going to the website here.

Can You Help?

I’ll try not to be too overt about asking for support but like every business, there are non-negotiable costs, mostly services that help get content to you. So, if you like the content and are able to help keep me going, pop over to the shop and pick up books and back issues missing from your library, gift a publication to a struggling polymer friend (I’ll include a card or can even sign the publication – leave instructions in the “Order notes” section after the shipping address), or contribute any amount you wish with the contribute options here. Also, patronize my advertisers –they do help spread the word about what I’m doing as well as funding some of what I do.

Otherwise, I hope you simply enjoy the learning. Have a colorful week!

Iconic Shapes

May 31, 2020

If there was a shape that could represent state of the world today, what would you say that is? Chances are, you’re thinking of something that works as an icon or symbol rather than something as simple as a circle or octagon. Abstract shapes are something I touched upon only briefly in the article about shape and form at the beginning of the month. They are most commonly created for things that we are already familiar with, many of which are considered universal. Some have been with us for ages such as stars, teardrops, and hearts, but simplified shapes will pop up whenever a quick method of communication that is not language dependent is needed or preferred.

For instance, right now, a square with half circles on the ends, often with a few horizontal lines in the square, represents a medical mask. Such an icon may have meant nothing to you at the start of this year but it’s hard not to recognize it for what it is now.

That is the power of abstract shapes. With minimal characteristics, these shapes represent an object if not an entire concept. For this reason, I suggest you to not use them too frivolously. If you pop a heart shape on something, it should be because your intention necessitates calling on the viewer’s emotions rather than just putting it on to be cute. Now, I’m not saying that using hearts to be cute is a bad thing but realize that people will see it as an emotional expression. And I say emotional, not love, because the heart represents a base positive emotion associated with love, caring, and happiness but if your heart shape has a hole in it, is cracked or torn, or is jet black, the viewer will start thinking of things like loneliness, sadness, or even animosity.

Not all abstract shapes have such a wide range of potential meaning but many can elicit a similar or even  stronger reaction, such as the shape of a cross or particular types of star shapes, depending on the context in which it’s used.

If you want to use abstract shapes but do not want to be so obvious or bring up the more common associations, you might find it useful to combine abstract shapes or to use them in unexpected ways. This approach to the use of abstract shapes can make for a much more subtle or complex statement which means your viewer will probably react more viscerally even with a readily recognized shape since its associations won’t be so blunt.

Here are just a few examples of abstract shapes where the association with them has been toned down.

Here, Elsie Smith overlays the impression of leaf forms on heart shapes showing just how perfectly they fit together. Pairing these makes the heart a gentle emotional background to the focus on, and apparent love of, nature’s intricate leaf formations.

 

This next one is a really good synergy of recognizable abstract shapes. Speaking in terms of the silhouette of the piece below as well as the focal point of the opening image, we could see a sunburst, a starburst, or a flower shape. Since Zuda Gay Pease was primarily creating flowers at the time she created this, we can assume her intention was for it to be a flower, but the energy of all those many pointed tips makes it come across as celestial. So, we get a combined association – the femininity and beauty of the floral shape with the energy and excitement of bursting light. It’s quite an impressive mix.

 

It’s interesting that practically all types of celestial bodies have a recognizable abstract shape (or variations of them.) There is probably nothing quite so common in abstract celestial shapes as a crescent moon. Our association with it can be fairly wide ranging from simply symbolizing the quiet and dark of night to embodying the ebb and flow of life.

In this example, I found it very curious that the lines on these crescents appear to be sun symbols with all their brilliant energy, and the bright blue ends of the crescent, visually truncating the shape, make us less likely to think crescent moon than simply an angular and curvy shape. The moon and its mysteries therefore become a quiet background to the louder energy of the colors and lines. I really like this contrast of concepts here as the sun and the blue color brings in a liveliness while the unconscious reaction to the moon shape is a quiet but divergent undertow. (Unfortunately, the Etsy shop from which this was saved is no longer available, so I am not sure who created it. If anyone knows, I would be ever so grateful if you would send me their name so I can update it.)

 

Is this making sense? I don’t think it’s hard to grasp the general idea of how iconic an abstract shape can be so I’m going to keep this short today. It’s also been a busy week getting all your accounts fixed up and so I should get off this computer. I challenge you to look around at the way abstract shapes are used in art work, be it your own or other people’s pieces.

 

Go Forth and Be Free… to be Inspired, For Free!

If you haven’t heard yet, starting in June (this next weekend) I will be posting the upcoming Virtual Art Box content previously planned for the VAB membership project on this blog so everyone can read it for free. I wanted readers, regardless of budget right now, to have access to these discussions, lessons, and exercises so we can all work on our art and increasing our skills and enjoyment together as well as give me the opportunity to take my work load down a notch or take breaks when necessary without being unfair to paid subscribers.

So, you can look forward to some in-depth article length discussions and ideas with a bit more juice to it than the blog usually has along with ideas on how to work with and apply the concepts if you so desire. Take it like a free class or just let the ideas sink in and enjoy the art. It’ll be here for you, starting next weekend.

Supporting Free Content

I am glad to have your support, in anyway you can provide it, to help me produce this content for free. Your supportive emails are always appreciated but if you want to help me keep the lights on, making purchases on the website is one of the best ways to do so since it gets you (or a lucky giftee) something to enjoy as well giving the contributing artists further exposure all while helping to keep me in busines.

If you have everything you want from the website at the moment, I have provided a donation option here for those who have asked and can afford to toss me a little something to help me, in particular, pay my tech guy and allow me much needed doses of dark chocolate!

So … until next weekend!

Tactile Form

May 24, 2020

Craft art is visual right? But is it just visual? One of the unique things about craft items in the world of art is that a majority of it is functional which means it is often handled which makes it not only visual but often tactile. When someone mentions tactile characteristics, you probably think texture, right? Well, our tactile sensation perceives form as well as texture (and density, temperature and even weight but that’s another set of subjects.) Functional objects and jewelry in particular are pieces that are regularly touched so people experience these works both visually and tangibly, even if the sense of touch is not always recognized as part of their enjoyment of the piece. However, the tactile experience can make a huge difference between people liking your work and being utterly in love with it.

Think about how often you touch adornment when you wear it – pendants, necklaces, earrings, and bracelets, are often where our hands go when we are nervous, contemplative, or excited. Functional objects often have parts that are specifically designed for our hands such as handles, knobs, and grips, or are formed for handling such as the neck of a vase or width of a cup. Because of these interactions, you have an opportunity in the form of such pieces to further express your intention.

I realized as I started to research potential pieces for this post, it can be really hard to “show” you things that feel good in the hand. So, we’re just going to have to guess and imagine it!

 

All the Feels

It’s interesting to note that the characteristics we might associate with visual shapes and forms often translates to our perceptions through touch. For instance, full, round forms, such as spheres and pods will relate the same characteristics as visual curvy shapes and forms – that primarily being comforting and feminine qualities. Imagine wearing this spherical bracelet by Bettina Welker. Even with the energy of the cracks and directional streaks paired with a deep black and the dramatically contrasting yellow-green, the roundness, both visually and tangibly, bring down that energy and drama to a refined and rather relaxed level.

If you want to encourage people to touch your work, a soft, smooth surfaces and smooth, knobby ones are pretty irresistible. Exploration of the texture may often be the original draw to touch something, but further tactile exploration can be encouraged by the form, especially those that lead the fingers around through amorphous, curvy structures or strong but flowing angular forms. For comparison with Bettina’s example, take a look at the opening image, a bracelet by Jana Roberts Benzon, which is primarily curvy but has sharp aspects to it in the form of those regular incisions. It’s a great combination as the fingers can follow a winding curvilinear path through the valleys of the bracelet’s form with vibratory sensations from running over the cut clay, making those cuts more texture than form but however it might be classified, those two elements certainly work well together.

Flowing forms, even when sharp and angular, are extremely alluring when it comes to touch. Tell me you don’t want to run your fingers along the ruffling but angular fins of this vessel by Melanie West. Honestly, it’s impossible not to touch Melanie’s polymer work if it’s in reach. Her forms are full and inviting, begging to be nestled in the palm of your hand, for details to be explored with your fingertips, and the softness of her unfathomably smooth matte surfaces … just dreamy! Seriously.

 

I don’t think you can come up with any object handled more than hand tools and writing implements. When decorated with polymer, the handles of most of these are simply covered rather than intentionally formed. Take pens for instance – polymer pens are typically cylindrical forms that are covered with a sheet of treated polymer or cane slices but why stick with just the cylinder? Look at these pens by Jana Lehmann. They’ve gone from cylinder to pod like with additional forms added for visual and tactile interest.

Now, I believe Jana’s pens are created over a standard wood form as they all have that basic elongated pod shape but since polymer is so sculptural, there’s no reason why functional objects you are decorating with polymer can’t be reformed. These spoons by Jacques Vesery are wood rather than polymer, but it would be no big thing to sculpt such enticing handle forms.

Okay, enough of just looking at the forms of artwork – why not search out forms in your house or around your yard that you like to touch and hold in your hand. Most likely you’ll find that you are drawn to the more rounded and curvy forms. They are simply more comfortable to touch then angular or blocky forms but that doesn’t mean when creating a form that will be touched by the user that it needs to be round or curvy. Sometimes comfortable is not what you’re trying to express. Other times you’ll want to focus on the visual aspect and not encourage people to touch so much as look at it. It all depends on your intention.

So, go be a 3-year-old and touch everything!

 

Some Big News

So, I’m going to be making some changes again, mostly to your advantage. The gist of it is that I’ve decided to share the upcoming planned content for FREE!

I’m doing this both because I’m not comfortable with the VAB’s automated subscriptions costs in a time when things are so uncertain. Nearly all the people who have had to cancel the last month or two are writing to apologize for not having the budget for it and lament missing out. That has made me terribly sad, especially for some of my long-time readers who have lost jobs and income.

The other reason is that with my increasing physical limitations, and no staff to pick up the slack, hitting deadlines are hard and quality suffers which isn’t fair for paying subscription members. But I want to create content—I love doing this stuff. If it is not paid for, though, I will have more leeway to take the breaks I need or change what I put out.

So, starting in June, I’ll be posting VAB content here, on the blog and have it sent by email to VAB and blog subscribers.

If you are a present subscriber, you should have received an email Friday night/Saturday morning to explain how that affects you. If you do not see this notice, please check your spam or junk mail folders first but if not there, write me to get the notice resent.

For those want to contribute to the cause …

Creating and getting out the free content will still cost money and time but with my husband still working, I feel secure and fortunate and am happy to share what I can. I am, however, happy to get a boost from those who want to support my work.

The best way, honestly, is to buy yourself an inspiring book or magazine back issue on my website where you can further get to know other artists and community businesses. It’s a real win-win-win. I have also set up a contribution option on the website for those who want to support the free work I do but have everything they want from the shop. Between steady sales and a contribution here and there, I can keep writing, pay the digital services and my tech guy, maybe hire back my proofreader, and support my need for dark chocolate!

There’s a bit more news but I will wait to post that in the newsletter coming out this week. If you aren’t signed up for it, I’ve been adding tips, bits of community news, and just fun creative finds to make you smile. You can sign up for it here if you don’t get it already.

 

So, with that, I am off. Still waging war with the ground squirrels in the veggie garden so getting my outdoor time and the movement my neck needs to not stiffen up although I have to watch how much I use my right arm still. Yesterday, I planted the last round of sweet potato slips which are up on a hill, hidden behind the ice plant, and will finish this weekend relegating the green beans and zucchini to pots up where the dogs like to hang out and the squirrels do not. I’ve given up on the cantaloupe though. That’s a little depressing but everything eats those leaves! So, wish me luck!

As always, I wish you all a safe and healthy week ahead!

Shapes of our Past

May 17, 2020

How much do you think about shape and form when creating your work? That’s the core question posed in this month’s art box where we’re feeling out how those design considerations communicate our intention in our creative work. So this weekend, join me as I take a trip back through old posts but look at them with shape and form in mind. I’ll explain why I’m using past posts after we get through the much more exciting task of considering shape and form.

As you scroll through these images, just think about what your visceral reaction is to each of the individual shapes or forms you see. What would you say a particular shape or form communicates to you? There are no wrong answers. That is one of the great things about art. But taking note of your answers can tell you a lot about how you perceive various shapes and forms and, hopefully, will get you thinking about how they come across in your own work.

 

Simple shapes from February 2017

Some days, you just want things simple. You can do this in the studio any time and, regardless of your simple approach, you can still get stunning results. I think that once we engage the creative mind though, it will just keep going on its own momentum even when you were thinking that you wanted to do something quick and easy.

I’m guessing that this is what Veruschka Stevens was thinking when she first sat down to create the necklace that opens this post. As she says:
I generally use different techniques that vary in complexity for making our jewelry. This necklace in particular was made using the simplest technique I know. However, it is equally one of the most time-consuming and very much detail-oriented as well.

The complexity of layers and variety of geometric shapes takes what might, in a less busy composition, feel bold but relatively static into the realm of high-energy and a fun, unassuming sophistication.

A Talk of Pods from October 2013

When I think of pods, the first things that come to mind are round but elongated forms, with angular, pointed ends. But that is an extremely narrow image of a pod. In truth, pods come in quite a large variety of shapes.

Pods can be round or flat, long or squat, smooth or rough, and as small as a pea or so large it takes two hands to hold one. The only defining factor with pods is that they hold something, encasing a collection of possibilities within.

This interesting necklace below might be described as a study of pod varieties. Lori Phillips, who looks to work exclusively in ceramics now, took a detour into polymer a number of years back to create this piece.

Most of these beads look like they could have been inspired by real versions in nature, although I’m guessing, from looking at the free form work elsewhere on Lori’s Flickr page, that these came primarily from her own imagination. But either way, they show the possibility of working with a form and pushing the idea of what it could be.

The Many Forms of Petals from June 2013

There are, of course, many variations in the wide world of flowers, particularly their petals, which might make one conclude that many a cane must be made to build a decent collection of caned petal possibilities. But this is not necessarily so. This display of both traditional and not so traditional petal forms and patterning is a sample set by Lynne Ann Schwarzenberg. Her photo note on Facebook says the canes are “reduced, shaped, torqued, and recombined to make a seemingly endless array of elements that can be used to make all sorts of wearable art. Hearts and spirals, complex petals, wisteria and lotus blossoms are all found along the petal path.”

Geometric creatures from March 2017

With a beautifully stylized approach, Angela Garrod captures the look, and amusing expressions of some of people’s favorite animals, and this while playing with geometric shapes. Notice where angular shapes are used for birds, known for their flight and movement which is also a primary characteristics for angular shapes, and how the dogs and their get rounded off, depicting the softness and amiability we associate with the cute versions of these creatures.

The hand scratched texture keeps the geometric shapes from feeling too stiff and sterile and adds quite a bit to what would otherwise be simple shapes and lines through which we, somehow, recognize the variety of animals. I don’t know how our brains do that. The brain is just pretty darn nifty.

Are you
How are you reading the shapes in these pieces? Do you agree with my assessments? We certainly don’t have to. That is the great thing about creative work – you bring a whole other layer of your life experience and associations to what is being communicated.

 

Rough Roads

We are all facing our share of challenges right now so I hesitate to even say anything but I would like to explain that this month and maybe next things might be a little wonky. I will be able to get a blog out every Sunday morning – it’s the one thing I am sure I can get done on time– but I am experiencing some physical limitations again which is making it hard to hit deadlines, and get through all the emails daily, especially with no admin or production staff which, for various reasons, is not going to change anytime soon. So, I beg your patience with me. I can get help with shipping orders (I do have an imprisoned college student in the house) so those, at least, will not be delayed.

But, this weekend, to minimize my computer time after a rough week updating back end technical nonsense, I turned to old posts and edited them to fit our focus this month. I hope you don’t mind my taking a shortcut! Even if you remember the old posts, we’re looking at them with a new focus and for many of you, I bet, a better trained eye.

Well, time for me to get up and move before the arthritis in my neck becomes all too distracting. I hope you all are staying safe and well and enjoying finding the beauty in the shapes all around you.

Flow into Line

May 3, 2020

Okay, first a quick check-in… How is your mojo doing? I’m still hearing lots of people discussing how hard it has been to find motivation and energy to create during these unusual times. However, doing something creative and getting yourself into a flow state is extremely helpful for reducing the effect of stress on your body and mental well-being.

If you’re not familiar with flow state, it is a mental state of being where, while you are doing something that allows you to become completely immersed in your activity, the rest of the world around you disappears from your awareness. The trick to getting into a flow state is having something that is challenging enough to keep you wholly engaged but easy enough to not frustrate you. Doodling, which I’ve talked about a number of times already this month, is one way to get into a flow state. If you are playing with line after the last couple weeks reading about it, that’s great but there’s no need to do anything particularly complicated, especially if your motivation is low. You really can go quite simple when it comes to lines.

Lines are such a strong element that just one or two lines can imbue a design with all the energy, movement, emotion and directing of the viewers eye that you need. So maybe the answer for you could be to work on something very simple. Just play with your favorite technique, cut out simple shapes, and add just a handful of lines, or maybe even just one. Challenging yourself is, of course, an excellent way to learn and progress in your skill level and understanding of design, but maybe now, more than ever, we also need to be doing things that we simply enjoy and that does get us into a flow state to help combat the stressful times we are living through.

So, let’s look at simple uses of line and maybe the simplicity will give you a steppingstone to more creative time work and a resurgence of your mojo.

 

This uncomplicated but lovely pendant by Kateřina Věrná shows the use of several types of line while looking to be an unassuming design. The lines that end with a dot become a focal point due to the rhythm and repetition as well as being central in the pendant. But you also have a dividing line where the black and white meets, and the line that works as a frame around the outside edge. Also, being in black and white, this piece really shows you how well line works and how it can create all the energy you need.

Now, Katerina’s lines are all parallel or at right angles to each other creating a calm and orderly energy. But look at this piece by Dan Cormier. He also is using lines with dots as a counterpoint element, but because the lines swoop and cross each other it adds a sense of movement and increases the level of energy. They’re both good designs but they obviously arise from different intentions. Katerina’s design embodies minimalism, control, and strength while Dan’s, quite orderly, as well, largely emerges as joyful and elegant due to the choice of line.

Have you been inspired by Ginger Davis Allman’s 100 Day Project with vessels or have been part of her pinch pot challenge? If so, perhaps this elegantly simple piece by Kerry Hastings that opens this post might be the kind of line and vessel inclusive inspiration you’re looking for. The uneven line, imperfectly echoing the lip of the vessel, is a fantastic example of how a single line can really make a piece. Just imagine this piece without that rough gold swish of a line. It would still be beautiful, but the juddering metallic addition pointedly reminds us that there is a human hand in the work while breaking up the evenness of the speckled surface and directing our eye down and across the body of the vessel.

 

Maybe this week, you can play with whatever is on your table and just consider how a simple line or two might change the design. Does the addition help or hinder or do little for it? Just try a few ideas out and see what you come up with. Maybe some simple play with lines will get you into a nice, creative, and relaxing flow state.

I’m hoping to do a bit of that creative flow thing myself this weekend, with the caveat that part of it will be putting together material for the Virtual Art Box coming out on the 8th. I’ve got a very Zen like technique for Art Boxers as well as some discussion about what to do with your missing mojo and a concise but powerful immersive about shape and form. I’m going for intriguing but pressure free learning for May.

And if you can’t get to the studio table, consider doing something creative but simple. I think writing is always a great outlet. Just stream of consciousness journaling, story writing, or writing actual letters on paper that you mail to people you can’t visit. I’ve been doing that for my mother who is in a nursing care facility would no visits right now. She seems to enjoy having something she can hold in her hands. And I’ve also been trying to write more poetry again. Like everyone else, there is so much going through my head and my heart and I need to work through it, even though I am still quite busy. If you want to take a peek at my poetry, just follow my personal page on Instagram.

Have a wonderful, relatively stress-free, and beautiful week.

Line Dependent

Have you been able to spend any productive time in the studio this week? I’m finding that, for the most part, either people are busier than ever (myself included) or are having a hard time drumming up the motivation to create. It’s really no wonder, being this is such a strange time, with our routines thrown not to mention being unable to make plans or feel certain about the future.

Being a home-based business owner, I’m always busy and I’m always home so the transition to the stay-at-home orders is not difficult but since everyone else’s life has been thrown, mine has as well. I’ve been hearing the same story from many of you as most artists work from home and, even if sales are waning, we have a lot to figure out to keep our businesses afloat or at least on a sustainable hiatus. Then there’s all these additional things we do now such as trying to keep in touch with friends and family and all the inventorying and planning of our situation at home to secure our necessities and well-being that really eats away at the day.

If that’s your situation, I’m with you! This drastic change in our lives really gets you thinking about what is necessary and what is not because we all are time strained, financially strained, or both. No wonder it’s hard to get the mojo going to create.

I think feeding our creative selves is still very important though. You create out of some internal necessity and although you may be distracted now, you are going to want to access that creative well of yours in the not too distant future, maybe to be distracted in a different way or as a means for processing what is happening or to add beauty and joy to your world when it is feeling in short supply. Just don’t feel bad or guilty if you aren’t creating finished work in the studio, even if you have the time. You can keep that creative well full in other ways such as reading blogs (you know, like this one maybe) or magazines or books, watch inspiring videos, shows, or movies on creativity, art ,or artists, visit museums virtually, or do more mindless but expressive creative work like doodling, dancing, or stream of consciousness writing.

Of course, I want to help you wherever I can while also attending to my creativity and my family’s needs. So, again this week, and possibly for the rest of our shut-in time, I am going to be sharing a pared down version of the Virtual Art Box’s Weekly Nudge content so I can still bring you creative food for thought while keeping my work load in check. I am also going to start working on the Artist’s Salon discussion idea (more on that at the end of this post) and I’ve added a section to the newsletter just called Grins and Giggles with fun and interesting tidbits I find during my weekly research sessions in the world of art. (You can sign up for the newsletter here if you don’t get it already.)

So, hang out with me when you have the time and we’ll keep our creative wells filled and take care of what we need to take care of. Now, onto ideas about this month’s theme – Line!

 

All in on Line

Have you been noticing line as a design element more readily this past week or two? It’s such a strong and expressive element of design that it’s bound to be a part of any thing that uses design at all. You can even make entire pieces were line is the overriding if not only prominent design element. Let’s me show you what I mean.

Take canes for instance. Lines, either in boundary form where clay is wrapped around components to better define them, or the edge where two colors meet, are immensely important in cane designs. Without dimensionality of any sort, line is the one thing that allows a cane to present pattern and imagery. An entire cane design, including the level of energy, can be solely dependent on the lines created.

Meg Newberg is a master at using line to create energetic patterns. Take a look at this cane she calls a flower doodle (doodles are becoming quite the thing this month!). It has tremendous energy as well as dimensionality. The optical illusion is accomplished through a combination of variation in color value and the use of lines to define and energize the layers that seem to be popping out of the design. But she only uses one color plus white and black, so line really carries this design.

 

A more dimensional example of a line dependent design would be quilling. Although more commonly done in paper, the formation of pattern and imagery with strips set on their sides after being curled and folded has also been mastered by a number of people working in polymer. Beth Petricon was the first person I was aware of that worked out a technique to do quilling with polymer. She even wrote a very detailed tutorial article on how to create your own quilling masterpiece in the Spring 2015 issue of The Polymer Arts. You can see how she uses the technique for both a necklace, below, and the book cover that opens this post, showing it’s (literal) flexibility in different applications.

There is no reason why, with all the ways that you can create line, that you shouldn’t mix up the many variations of line as well. In this brooch by Kathleen Dustin she has at least a half-dozen types of line creating the texture, movement, and focus of the brooch. The shapes and judicial use of color are integral to the design as well, but the lines dominate and create the energy and atmosphere.

 

Now that you have a few more ideas about how you might use line in your work, how about exploring some line only designs? In fact, if you have kids at home and you’re looking for ways to entertain them, why not teach them about line? I can tell you from my many years of experience teaching and training that the instructor can learn just as much as the student through the process of teaching.

Using the article from the Virtual Art Box, you can demonstrate to your kids – be they preschoolers or teenagers or just big kids at heart –the different types of lines and then ask them what they think each type of line feels like. Then ask them to draw lines (in clay or on paper) based on specific words and/or have them create patterns or drawings with just lines. I actually did this in an introduction to art class in the high school where did my student teaching eons ago and was surprised at how intensely they got into it. This type of project is really just a kind of advanced doodle in that it has concepts and parameters to jumpstart it but is otherwise free form. It can just be a lot more fun to do it in a group.

And if you don’t have kids at home to do this with, dial up your friends and just do this, or other projects, online together. The camaraderie might just be what you need to get your creative juices flowing if motivation has been in short supply, along with everything else.

 

The Results Are in

Thanks to all of you who took part in the survey for the Artist’s Virtual Salon idea. The overwhelming response was that people were up for listening to such a discussion but participating in a live event is not necessarily on the top of everyone’s list. Perhaps we are all a little worn out from our packed Zoom schedules—there has been an initial zealousness to stay connected with friends and family plus so many of us are virtually conferencing for work but after a month full of online chats, perhaps we need a break from the scheduled screen time.

However, readers sent fantastic such questions, so I do really want to get together with some of the artists that reached out to me about participating and answer some of those questions. Just recording it should also keep it simple on the technical end. Assuming I can wrangle up the artist for the discussion, I hope to get back going by the beginning of May and then I’ll get them posted, most likely on the blog, so be sure to check in and I will keep you apprised of the project.

 

Sharing the Love … and some deep Savings!

If you need further inspiration, get in on the 30% off Sale going on at the website to scoop up great magazine back issues, project books, and retrospective books. Just hope over to Tenth Muse Arts and browse. Discount is good on anything in the shop that isn’t already discounted (basically no discounted packages or VAB subscriptions) and the sale is on until April 30th.

Use the promo code: SHARE30

 

Now off to get some spring gardening done. My vegetable seedlings are anxious to get into the ground and the battle with the spring weeds is in full swing. It’s also a salve for the soul, to be outside in the sun with my hands in the dirt, creating a satisfying arrangement of newly planted seedlings in the raised beds we set up down near our little creek followed by a triumphal foray plucking weeds, root and all, from the rain soaked soil. Maybe that’s not everybody’s idea of a good time but I have to say, I’m looking forward to it.

 

I hope you have something wonderful to look forward to this weekend and in the coming week. I wish you a safe, healthy, and creative week.

Marks into Lines (30% Off Sale too!)

April 12, 2020

So, we are on the third month of the Virtual Art Box, each month with a different focus but each designed to build on the last. This weekend, I’m sharing most of this week’s VAB nudge, the weekly bonus the Art Boxers get, with you all because, well,it’s short-ish, you might be wondering what we are up to and if the VAB is right for you, and, also,  it’s really such a fun and easy design concept but so dramatic. Are you up for some easy energy?

The February VAB’s theme was “Intention” which is so important in that it works with so much that you do—even non-creative things like working on relationships, financial goals, health goals, career objectives, etc.—so that theme will always be relevant. But maybe March’s theme, “Marks”, and “Lines” from this month, don’t seem as easily meshed. But they sure can be!

For one, lines are often marks, just elongated. And secondly, marks often make up implicit lines, as discussed in the VAB design immersive this month, creating highly energetic lines and design. Let me show you what I mean.

Lynn Yuhr, in her pieces she calls Meditative Magic below, seems to be all about marks, primarily tiny dots, but they’re all lining up to create outlines and directional lines. She could have just drawn the lines but the spaces in between create a bit of tension and energy because of the missing spaces. But our eyes see the lines in the lined-up dots and fill in the gaps to see them as connected, not separate marks. By the way, Lynn is set to teach a class on this at the Bead & Button show in Milwaukee, rescheduled for August 23-29.

Here is one of my favorite paper artists, Amy Genser, who uses individually wound up rolls of colored paper, to create her wonderful flowing compositions. From pools of texture and color, thick dense lines composed of a variety of individual “marks” reach until they become implied lines as her paper bits become scattered at the end of the thin tendril-like lines. In this case, lines are created by the marks being physically connected as well as implies at the ends.

And here is a familiar example of linear marks creating flowing lines, an approach that creates a dramatic sense of movement. Alisa Lariushkina translated Van Gogh’s Starry Night into a rich, dimensional, representation of the masterpiece that emphasizes the drama imparted by Van Gogh’s choices of brush stroke. She is just using bits of clay as her mark, but the effect is the same—the linear characteristics of the marks line up to create flow, direction, and energy.

You got this right? It’s a powerful combination that I encourage you to try when flow, energy, or tension is wanted in a piece.

 

The stay-ins are getting extended and so is our Sale!

30% off All Publications!

Get something for yourself or share your passion with friends and family
People are getting more and more creative stuck in the house. Now is the time to get friends and family hooked on polymer! Send them a pretty Polymer Journeys or a second of The Polymer Studio magazines. Or fill in your library!

The discount is good on all books and magazines. (Discount won’t apply to the Virtual Art Box subscriptions or sale packages but those are discounted so heavily already!)
Use coupon code: SHARE30

Offer good through April 30, 2020. Discount doesn’t apply to sale items, packages, or the Virtual Art Box subscriptions.

***If you don’t need books or magazines, do consider gifting yourself something from any of my partnering advertisers you see here. They are also all small businesses, keeping the boat afloat as best they can right now so if you need a package of good cheer, they will be very happy to send goodies your way!**

Your Creative Eye

Ok, let’s keep this short and sweet, not just because it is a holiday for many, but I also know a lot of people are finding they lack enthusiasm for their creative work right now due to the distractions of our world or a lack of direction without shows and classes to look forward to, but that doesn’t mean you can’t become more familiar and more adept in your sense and use of design. Maybe this week, you can just look for other ways that marks and lines converge to create imagery, rhythm, direction, and energy in both artwork and in nature. You can just take photographs instead of creating at the studio table if you can’t seem to sit down and stay focused. Just keep a creative eye open to see the beauty and the wonder of design all around you, from the texture in a stone wall to leaves on the sidewalk to the flow of flowers on the hills as nature cycles into the new season that is beginning to show itself.

I do hope you are somewhere that allows you to get out for a walk and breathe in some nature or at least see the world that is comfortingly going through its transformations as it always does just beyond the storm that we are all sheltering from.

In the meantime, stay safe, healthy, connected, and creative, always.

Markedly Punctured

How is everyone holding up out there? I’m guessing that most of you reading this are not bored. That is one of the advantages of being a creative – we have tons of ideas to work on and a great imagination to work with so let’s keep at that!

I’ve not only had a busy week, I have also been under the weather. Is it the coronavirus? Probably. I have had most of the symptoms, although none too severe, and my husband spent hours in close quarters with someone hospitalized for it not long after while I have rarely left the house but was super cautious when I did, being the (then) annoying lady in line asking everyone to stay 6 feet away from her. I got through the illness with tons of vitamin C and other immune support supplements (having a nutritionist in the family is really helpful!) while my husband never showed signs so we are all good here and I just have that dry cough hanging on. It did, however, slow me down this week.

So, I’m going to share with you a slightly pared down version of the one thing I completed this week which was the Virtual Art Box weekend nudge. So, if you got your VAB nudge yesterday, you’ve seen this, not that a second read isn’t useful!

In the VAB this month we talk about a rather basic but very important design element, the mark. This last weekend of the month, I want to talk about a rather common mark although it’s rarely thought of in those terms. Most of you would simply call them holes. This refers to any kind of puncture that goes through (or nearly through) the material or form that you’re working with.

I, like many people, am fascinated by holes. You can see things through them, revealing layers, depth, and the space beyond. They draw the eye. Think about traveling past caves in a canyon wall or passing an open window. You try to look in, if even just briefly, don’t you? Think of the hollow in a tree trunk or the big holes in a piece of artisan bread. You take notice of these, I bet.

This is why holes are such strong marks. They will be noticed. If there is just one or a spare few, they usually become focal points. When there are many, we usually try to take them all in, see into and through them all. That causes our eye to wander all over the piece, peeking in at all the open spaces. But small holes used as marks are particularly intriguing because we have to take a closer look to see in and beyond them, inviting the viewer to get a bit more intimate with the piece.

Let’s look at a few examples and pay attention to how you look at them. How strongly are you drawn to the holes? Can you imagine the piece without those puncturing marks? How would it change the piece if the holes were just surface marks and not punctures?

 

We can start with the opening image – a brooch with some variation in hole marks by Sabine Spiesser simply titled, Reef 1. What draws your eyes first? It might be the red, being a strong draw itself, but did you stop to look into the little holes?

Sona Grigoryan’s holes nearly take over her pieces sometimes, as in these brooches.

 

Sometimes holes become edges, as readers discovered in February in the Virtual Art Box with the featured pin lace technique, but in the enameled piece by Danielle Embry that opens this post, we can see through them clearly to the bright yellow background beyond. This brooch made 10 years ago, and I didn’t know when I picked it that she had titled it “Corona”, but it feels visually metaphorical for us all right now. Kind of gives me shivers actually.

Holes as marks don’t have to be round or organically scattered as most of the above are. They can be any shape and can be orderly, even to the point of creating an image as show in this ceramic bowl by Annie Quigley who does nothing but make holes in her ceramics.

 

Okay, now it’s your turn to find holes being used as marks. Go look at work in your studio and see if you use holes and if so, how do you use them? Are they used as marks or for functional purposes or maybe you don’t know or recall your intention with those holes?

If you’re not seeing holes in your work, I would normally say go out and look for them at galleries and shops, but most of us can’t and shouldn’t be doing that kind of thing. So how about a virtual tour. Or 30? Click here to get a list of virtual tours. This list is actually more than museums which I thought was neat in case you have young ones with you that might really enjoy a virtual tour of an aquarium or zoo. There are some wonderful places to virtually visit here.

Ok, now to go rest up for a bit as I have much to write this coming week between sewing masks and keeping up with isolated family and friends. (We have THE busiest social schedule we’ve ever had, and its all virtual!) Please, everyone take care of yourselves and make the most of your indoor time with a lot of creative exploration!

 

 

https://www.thegreatcourses.com/?fbclid=IwAR0-pI2eqMCBE6M1fERp5XsNRmR7ydW2szeBCtMAHXBSleY2cfwsnVf4VZA

https://www.craftcast.com/ 30% off code: Spring2020

Christi Friesen free play days, next one on Sunday

Contrast of Self

March 14, 2021
Posted in ,

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

Of Hierarchy and Uncertainty

February 7, 2021
Posted in

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 …

Read More

A Variety Show

January 24, 2021
Posted in

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 …

Read More

A Lack of Absolutes

October 25, 2020
Posted in ,

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:

  1. Create with intention, whatever that means to you.
  2. Draw your intention from that authentic and unique core that is you.
  3. 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.

Read More

Beating Burnout

October 18, 2020
Posted in ,

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.

Read More

Preciousness

October 4, 2020
Posted in , ,

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!

Read More

Relationships in Texture

September 27, 2020
Posted in ,

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.

 

Last Days for Club Discounted Forever Pricing

3 days left to join the Devotee or Success clubs at the FOREVER discount price so you can get first dibs on limited stock offers, discounts, and goodie box giveaways, all while getting a mid-week mini-mag of brief articles to keep your creative energy and ideas going. And right now you can also get in on it with a 2 week free trial! .

So, if you enjoy my blog, support this while boosting your own creative endeavors by joining us in the Devotee Club or Success Club 0r buy yourself a good book or an inspiring magazine to curl up with. Just visit the website by clicking here.

 

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!

 

 

Read More

Tactile Allure

September 20, 2020
Posted in , ,

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.

Read More

The Language of Texture (Plus … Discover the new Art Boxer Clubs!)

September 13, 2020
Posted in

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!

Read More
If you love these posts ...

Click a tag …

art blog artist artistic influence artistic inspiration artist inspiration art magazine beads bracelet caning clay clay blog clay magazine color composition craft blog craft magazine creativity design earrings inspiration inspirational challenge of the day jewelry mixed media movement natural nature necklace organic pendant polymer polymer art polymer arts polymer blog polymer clay polymer jewelry polymer magazine sculpture technique texture The Daily Polymer Arts Blog the polymer arts The Polymer Arts blog The Polymer Arts magazine tutorial tutorials

Archives