Daily Obsessions

how to compose an alphabet part 2

Sorry about the blog break, we had a fun 3 days at Disneyland.  I will tell you about our trip later...But for now here is the continuation of the alphabet saga.

After I pick all my palette of colors I measure out the squares on a canvas.  There are 26 letters and 26 pictures and one space for the kids name.  I usually use a 22x26 canvas size for my alphabets and I put a 2" color boarder.  So the squares (really rectangles) end up being around 2.5"x3" approx(6 across and 9 down)!  It will depend on you and your measurements.  I like to draw these squares out with chalk because I can paint over it and it will disappear.

I always paint first so I can make the edges clean by gluing the paper over it.  Notice that I space out my colors so they are not next to each other.  Some times it works sometimes it doesn't.  Also notice the name square on the bottom and the boarder is the same color.  I know it may be temping to keep working, but let all the colors dry before moving on!

How to compose an alphabet

I realized that I haven't been very helpful tell people how to make the mixed media that I seem to produce every once in a while. So, while I was making the last alphabet, I took pictures and hopefully I can tell you some of my tips in making ART!

1st matter of business is a canvas.  There are 3 grades of canvases.  Cheap, medium and museum quality.  The cheap ones have staples on the side and I think they call them "Studio"  The mediums have a little bit wider width and the staples are hidden.  I almost always buy these. They are a good deal and the look great.  I buy the museum quality frames when I get really big canvases.  I know they will hold together. 

Next is a pallet.  I like to have a theme of colors in my head before I start working. I don't always stick to it, but it is nice to have it in the back of my head.  I try to look for color pallets everywhere.  Clothes, paper stores, store design and set up, everything. So keep your eyes open and I am sure you will start to notice them.  Here is the swatch I picked out for our example.

I will take that pallet and pick out the paper that I am going to use.  Note this is only for the paper that goes behind  the letters.  If you don't know what I am talking about, take a look at my art pics to the left.  You will notice that the squares alternate between paper and paint.  I do this because, I love using paper, but I think it would be to busy if I put it behind the little pictures.  So I use paper behind the white plain letters and use paint for the pictures. Note that I added a bright blue to my pallet to liven it up a little bit. Trust me it works. 

Coming next post, how to sketch out and measure your canvas for an alphabet!

D.O. #30308

I claim to be a type of trend spotter(when you have stopped laughing resume reading)......here. Somtimes I come up with ideas that hit catalogs about 6 months after.  Here are some of my trend spotted items.

Banana clips

Arrested Development (yes I do count tv shows)

Shia Lebouf (yes I do count actors)

and other various styles of mostly furniture and home furnishings.  I have a couple good ones knocking around in my head, so stay tuned this week and we will have the week of TREND SPOTTING! 

D.O. #30108

Here is a new painting I have been working on.  It is for a family in our church who lost a son a while back.  His birthday is on Monday and my sister in law asked me to make her something for the occasion.  The night before I had the idea for this painting.  Coincidence or not, it worked pretty well.   Jeremy helped me come up with the banner, It says Dulcis Domus which means "sweet home". The birds and banner are cut paper and the rest is paper