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Giraffe in Mixed Media
Hello Friends!
A few days ago I sat and did a rough sketch of a giraffe my way! This was so fun. Once I got the sketch the way I wanted it to look, I redrew it onto some hot pressed watercolor paper. I was going to do it in watercolors, but then decided to have more fun.
I drew it in pencil. Then I used some tracing paper to trace it. I cut out the pieces and then laid them onto sheer yellow tissue paper to trace around them. After that I used matte medium to glue the tissue paper onto the drawing. Then I used a piece of polka dotted card stock to cut out the bow tie and glued it down. I cut out the tongue and cheek pieces from red card stock. Then I used acrylic paint to paint the background. After that I cut the grasses and leaves out of green cardstock and glued them down. I drew the leaf lines in with a marker. Brown and blue calligraphy markers were used to draw in the fur and eyes. And a black Sharpie marker is what I used to draw in the black line work. Lastly, I added some white Bleed Proof ink to put the highlights in the eyes.
This project was so much fun, but the best part was that I produced it from my own imagination. I didn’t follow a tutorial or anyone else’s ideas. So this is what I plan on trying to do from now on. I have learned so much in the last several years of classes that I have taken, but right now I really have a desire to get back to making my own original art.
Listening to the video of Eric Carle the other day and reading his autobiography inspired me to follow my heart.
Have a wonderful day! 🙂
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Eric Carle Interview
Hello Friends!
I think if you are a reader, a writer, or an artist, you will enjoy this! I have always loved Eric Carle’s work. And here you get to see how he does his art and find out a little about him. I also recommend the book called “The Art of Eric Carle.” It is really great!
Have a wonderful 4th of July! 🙂
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Heeerre’s….Larry in “Eric Carle Style!”
Hello friends! It has been too long since I have been able to post anything due to “technical difficulties.” However, in the meantime I was working a few things.
This is Larry, the Leatherback sea turtle done in Eric Carle’s style of art. This was difficult to say the least. I tried painting plain white tissue paper with acrylic paint, but found that the tissue paper I have was too thin or so I thought. Now, looking back, I think the paint I mixed was too thick.
So I switched to using tracing paper instead. I like the texture of it more, but since I had my pain mixed already, I still used it. And….I still think it was too thick. However, I plunged ahead, painted a piece, light gray, one dark gray, one pink, and one blue.
Then I traced my image onto a plain piece of tracing paper going over the outline with heavy black pen and cut out the image in three pieces: one for the body, one for the head, and a piece for the “chin.”
Next I laid those pieces onto the different colors of painted paper and drew around the image like a stencil and cut those out. Then I traced the whole image onto a piece of poster board. The last couple of steps were the most time-consuming. I had to glue down the colored pieces cutting the painted paper to precisely fit the image. I had to conform the blue pieces to fit around the image for the water. Lastly I added Larry’s features with black paint and used the paper that was already painted white to cut out and glue down his spots.
I think I went through more steps than Eric Carle did in his art process, but I learned from my mistakes…..I think. I am not sure if I will try it again, but I may do another image in his style eventually. It is not something I would choose to do all the time, that’s for sure! All I know is that man must have had an amazing amount of patience! However, I do like the way Larry turned out. The part of the painting that is my favorite is the water, though. Well…maybe his eye, too.
It is good to be back on WordPress. Have a wonderful day, and give someone you love a big hug! 🙂
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Eric Carle…More Encouragement from a Wonderful Artist
Hello friends. I came across another video of Eric Carle talking about his own work as well as the work of Franz Marc who was an impressionist painter. He painted blue horses among other things. Apparently his work inspired Eric Carle to write and illustrate his own book called “The Artist Who Painted a Blue Horse.” I had never heard of this book, but it sounds wonderful! Well, back to Barnes & Noble soon!
Have a wonderful day, and give someone you love a big hug! 🙂
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Eric Carle: An Inspiration to “Starving Artists!”
Hello friends. Today I found a great video of Eric Carle talking about his work and a special treat during his talk is that he reads a few excerpts from “The Very Hungry Caterpillar.” I had never heard of this book until I went to college at 30 years old. In fact it wasn’t until about a year or so after that when I began taking Child Development classes and working in the Child Study Center at Los Medanos College in Pittsburg, California, that I heard this book read aloud by one of the staff instructors. From then on I was hooked on Eric Carle.
When my first child was about a year or less old in 1997, I began reading him this book. I also read two other books to him by Bill Martin, Jr. that Eric Carle illustrated called “Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?” and “Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do you Hear?” But the one that Eric Carle wrote and illustrated that my son still remembers that he loved was “The Very Busy Spider.” I have board books of all of these except The Very Hungry Caterpillar. I have a larger picture book of that one!
When I was still in college I also took a short-term class with Ed Lewis who was one of the main Child Development instructors called Story-Telling. He taught us how to tell a story as you read it, but also how to tell a story without reading a book. I was single without kids at the time so it was pretty challenging for me. I had never really read books to any kids at that point, but once I had my first child, it came easily. Fortunately, even as a toddler he loved to sit and listen to books. He even began using the excuse “read another story!” to stay up longer! And to this day he still loves to read and is a writer himself. I am proud of him needless to say.
Well, I didn’t plan to write so much about myself, but I want to share this video of Eric Carle because you will not only get to hear his faint German accent, since that’s where he grew up as a young child before coming to America, but you’ll get to see a glimpse of the process of how he does his art. He paints white tissue paper with acrylics in all kinds of ways, draws his characters, then cuts and pastes each piece to the drawing. It is pretty tedious but amazing! I love his art very much. In fact I checked out his book called “The Art of Eric Carle” published in 1996 from the library a while back and then had to buy a copy, because I want to be able to read it again. What I loved about it most is the middle of the book! It has two fold out pages that show him creating his caterpillar step-by-step and a picture of his art studio. Very amazing indeed!
Soon I am planning to do a little art Eric Carle style just to go through the process. I know myself, though. It will probably feel much too time-consuming to me, but watch for something soon! In the meantime enjoy these videos! The first one is of Eric Carle. Also, if you have time, the second one is a video I stumbled onto of a live presentation of the story of The Very Hungry Caterpillar by some children from Woodhaven, Queens, NY, who made this video through their local library. It’s adorable!
And oh yes, have a wonderful day and give someone you love a big hug! 🙂
http://www.projectwoodhaven.com/2009/November/hungry-caterpillar.html
Patsy's Creative Corner 