Here are some artist trading cards my computer and I have been churning out lately. They’re mostly digital collages, which I assemble and alter using Photoshop. Then I send them out into the world by snail mail, and I get really cool trading cards in return.
Black Bird Red Sky
The Thin Line (with apologies to Modigliani)
Butterfleye
Dragonfleye
The Rabbit Hole
Butterfly Garden Three
Butterfleye Goddess
A Craving for Colour
I’ve also been doing trying to do some inkjet image transfers for collage work. You have to use a very specific (and for all other purposes, inferior) printer photo paper. This paper doesn’t hold ink very well, so images printed on it can be coaxed into sliding off onto your destination surface with the help of some matte medium and a burnishing tool (which is a fancy name for the back of a spoon).
Believe it or not, there’s a very active Yahoo group – with more than 4,000 members – devoted solely to discussion of inkjet transfers. As printing technology improves, they’re finding it harder to get the kind of crappy paper that works for transfers. So if you’re looking for a get-rich-eventually scheme, buy up all the Jet Print Photo Imaging & Photo Matte paper you can find, and then sell it on Ebay when Jet Print stops making it.
Here’s a question for the artists about acrylic paint glazes. I bought a handful of single-pigment transparent Golden fluid acrylics. Should the lightest colours be on the bottom, and each subsequent layer be increasingly darker? My glazes seem pretty good for two or three layers and then they start looking like I should have stopped sooner.
And another question: can anybody recommend a good place to take an art course? I don’t mind teaching myself, but it’s starting to look like I’m either a lousy teacher or a lousy student. I think it might be better to have a teacher who knows something about art. I’ve considered the Ottawa School of Art, but I get the feeling they take themselves pretty seriously and expect their students to bring some talent to the table. Maybe I’m wrong. Do any of you have any experience, opinions or gut feelings about that?
I admit that I’m completely intrigued by the idea of ATCs. How did you get onto it?
Liss, I found out about ATCs from a link on Andrea’s blog. I think there are several ATC trading sites, but I trade over at atcards.com.
I can’t help you with your questions, but isn’t there an open day event at the Ottawa School of Arts. It would be a great opportunity to check it out!
I love your Photoshop art, it’s fantastic!
thanks for your comment today! if you’re up for a european vacation in Italy, i’m teaching a week-long mixed media art workshop in Tuscany this summer as well as one in May ’08!!!
here’s a link to the info: http://hometown.aol.com/infotuscany/CreatingwithoutFearHomepage.html
I’ve taken a couple of life drawing classes at the Ottawa School of Art (down in the Market) quite a few years ago. It depends on the instructor you get, I think. Some just leave you to your own devices and you have to specifically ask for help. But if you don’t know what help to ask for, it can be a conundrum. I really advocate the book “Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain” by Betty Edwards for instruction that really works. Then you can supplement that with a real class at OSA.
For what it’s worth (and I don’t know if you go over old blog posts to see if anyone has left a message), I’m a full-time diploma student at the OSA in my third year. When I started I brought *no* talent to the table, as it were. Most everyone there was incredibly encouraging, if you like email me and I can give you some pointers on which teachers you should go to to start with.