It has been a blast from the past as I look through some old art that I made as a kid. I remember being in art class my freshman, sophomore and junior years in high school, making all kinds of memories and some fantastic friends in the process. Our teacher was a retired military man, and he was gruff in a way that made you respect him. Or fear him. And sometimes both all at the same time.
I have fleeting memories of that art room, and they all run together. I guess that happens after 20 years. I imagine this was freshman year, where I had to learn how to work in a sketchbook. Which, I still dont do very well, though I love to look at them at the store and imagine that one day I will use every page inside it! As a side note, I have gotten into art journaling, much to the credit of my dear friend Deb, where you can find on Instagram as @turtlebears. She lead me through some really awesome layouts, and I will post about that experience soon. Back to in highschool, one of the drawings I really loved was a portrait I made of Amelia Airheart. I remember the email in the shading, and working on those horrible (though useful) greyscales that would also haunt me through college graphic arts class. We had to make sure that we remembered to use all of the tones in all of the scale, which of course makes for a rich drawing. I remember exploring prismacolor pencils for the first time, and pouring over National Geographic magazines for images to replicate. I used an image of a person at a skate park, and we were challenged to not use black, but to mix that color using indigo and crimson, or indigo and scarlet. I still choose to mix black for pretty much all types of art that I create- except maybe as a glaze for pottery, and charcoal. As for the pottery, I have rudimentary skills, so I will leave the glaze options up to the pottery company to mix for me.
When we moved into painting, I remember a student teacher in the classroom teaching us how to stretch watercolor paper on a board and stapling the wet paper down to decrease wrinkles. Wetting down both sides of the thick paper made sure that the paper expanded on both sides. No wrinkles! Admittedly, I do not use this technique now for my watercolors, but I know how to do it if I do some wet-on-wet techniques! Simply taping the entire perimeter with blue painters tape gives me a comparable effect, and a crisp white border.
Another thing I remember from painting class is color intensity and saturation. I LOVE when we had to pick two complimentary colors on the color wheel and then play with mixing the colors until we had the exact same value. When the complimentary colors are the same value and butted right next to each other, there is an optical illusion that happens, where a white line appears where the two colors meet. I must be a color-nerd, because as I remember that, I want to get my paints out and try to do that again!
Randomly, I also remember my art teacher would play the local classic rock station while in class. And I distinctly remember Bad Company being a favorite of my friends, though it might have just been the fact that they could bust out some fancy dance moves while working and listening. It’s pretty amazing how art and music can make any day better for so many people.
During these same years, I did a few drawings for or of other people, one of which was my grandmother. Looking through her old photos at her home one day, I had come across an old photo of her farm house in Kansas. I love listening to stories that my mom tells of visiting that farm in her summers growing up. It’s probably why I love growing my own food. Check out the print options here.
I also found a photo of my grandmother when she was a young girl. I don’t think I let her know that I had these photos at the time, but I remember drawing each of them for her, and I know that the portrait was drawn when I was in highschool. For copies of her portrait, check here.
Luckily I have these two pieces. When my grandmother passed away, they were given back to me, and for that I am very thankful, because I can share them here! And, I am making them available to my family (or anyone that enjoys them) through my print store, here!
What is the art that you remember making that really got you started in your creative processes?