Total Art Soul - For Artists

Following on from my pencil adventures (don't know how I stand the excitement :) ,  I've been searching for the perfect paper to use them on.  I must admit, up until this point I'd largely just picked up whatever appealed and played with it, but now I've got to produce a series of images for a single client it suddenly became a serious issue.

As these images will be reproduced for printing, I needed paper that would provide a clean, crisp image. That shouldn't be too difficult, surely- paper is generally white and flat. Isn't it?

I narrowed it down to hot press paper (I always use watercolour paper, even for drawing ) - that has a smoother surface, which I need to get in the detail. Further reviews ruled out papers that were too creamy and would look dark when photographed. I was feeling quite smug and organised until I tried to narrow it down further to find one that wasn't sized with gelatine (I'm vegetarian). Sizing incidentally affects how much water the paper absorbs, in case you'd not got that far yet.

After about four hours I found one site that offered thorough reviews and product info on a whole pile of watercolour paper - this'll make things simple thinks I.....


'the rattle
has a slight warble '


Eh?


'it has a soft tooth  
from the blanket '  

Sorry, what ???



Now, I know all these things have got to be called something, but what's wrong with words like 'texture' all of a sudden? Not only was I starting to wonder if I should also use a secret knock next time I went to get paper, poor Rich was developing a twitch just listening.

Before any prospective painters run screaming from the room, help is at hand.  I've had to include the link here as this glossary of terms is several pages long, but it is in alphabetical order :)


http://www.paperindex.com/resources/glossary/

It's no wonder so many people buy a box of paints and a pad to try this out, then never get any further. So many of the products in art stores don't come with any kind of explanation or instruction- something I will endeavor to clear up in a later post. In the meantime, rest assured that you're not the only one starting to feel like they're in a Bill Bailey routine, when all you wanted was something white and flat to draw on...

Karen (the one without the beard)

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It's been a while since we blogged as it suddenly got very busy round here :) We've just put a new exclusive range together for a bridal business, so lots of beading and taking of photographs. On top of that, we're appearing in two gift guides and have just opened a uk shop online !

Then there's the drawing- I'm still working on a range of licensed images, which brings me to the subject of this blog. I've been asked to do a series of black and white images, for which I've been playing with different mediums to show the client how many different effects can be achieved. So, thought I'd compare and contrast for you :) Some of you will have read the first bit before but bear with...

First up, my usual charcoal. I use charcoal pencil normally, as I can sharpen it to a needle point for fine detail and it still blends beautifully. I tried the posh ones that come in sets but didn't get on with them due to the colour change because of the binder. I now only buy the kind that cost about £2 for a pack of 12, as you can see here they are very versatile.



Then, I tried Wolff's carbon pencils, claimed to be the best drawing medium in the world. These cost around £2.50 for a set of 4.  Now, this is just a sketch and done from a photograph that had been blown up so not the best example but...


These were very interesting to work with- not as precise as the charcoal, on art paper close- up it almost looks like ink painting, but the blackest, blackest black you can imagine. It was almost more than my little gothic soul could take :)  Also, unlike the blended charcoal, the different grades showed no colour change, from b through to 6b.
It blends a little oddly too, you rub away like mad with your paper stubby to little effect then suddenly it decides it will blend after all and you nearly take the lot off. I've got the hang of that now, it's not really an issue but just thought I'd warn you.

In the event of you making a hash of it, the carbon is about as tough to rub out- possible but hard to remove all traces so take your time drawing in guide lines. Oh, and quick note- neither charcoal or carbon will go over graphite so don't use standard pencils when you're setting up.
I think I'll use a combination of the two for most images- charcoal for fine detail and carbon for heavy shadow, but I also think the carbon would be fantastic for flowers, the contrast you get is amazing and for the right subject, that slight fuzziness can be a good thing.

So, for those of you still using graphite, give these a go. They do everything graphite does and then some. Plus, you don't get that shine, which can be a pain especially if you've got to scan or photograph the image afterwards.
Go play :)

Karen
(the one without the beard)

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     Now, this is all a bit deep for eight in the morning (I don't usually even wake up until ten) but I've been meaning to post something like this for a while.  It's essentially a motivational speech based on things i've already covered, just put together, so feel free to go back to sleep instead. I just needed to say it. :)

I've just come out of a long period of being unable to work and I'm sure many of you out there are very aware how quickly the wheels come off for artists who can't work. Everything goes out the window- self esteem, purpose, sense of humour....
I've been there before of course, and I've always managed to find something I can do. It's one of the reasons I run my own business- there is always something useful you can be doing- looking up potential outlets, blagging free ad space, checking out cheaper suppliers, viewing the competition. None of it requires doing anything scary like opening a pad or sharpening pencils, but it does focus your mind and best of all, when you start work again, you've freed up a lot of drawing time.


Next step is getting together the things you need, in my case images I like, pencils and paper. Cue lots of theraputic walks with my camera, which in turn gets me thinking about composition again. Looking at new ways of presenting things (I have some amusing images from my droplets series I'll be sharing in later posts).  The image above is a photo of a cactus in the conservatory :)

At some point in proceedings, I find I'm having fun again. So much fun in this case I've picked out my next camera, which will enable me to do this even better, bought a new drawing medium for the first time in about 15 years, have a pile of things to draw in order of complexity and am currently framing one thing a  week, or thereabouts. This is my latest, droplets on sea holly in charcoal pencil. I decided to take out the background from here on in.




Now, the point of all this is the best bit :) One thing I have found consistently throughout my life is that when you really need it and are ready, something always comes up. Whether its because of divine intervention, fate, you were somehow looking for it, blind luck, you had on the right colour pants, I have no idea. But it works.
I spent so much of last year chasing agents around with no success, looking for shops to take our masks with no success, immensely frustrating. But now? In the last year, to keep busy, we improved our products, built up an Etsy store, sorted out our suppliers, prices, terms - and now we are starting to sell, when we're ready to do it properly.

I took a million photos of things I'll never draw, now I've hit on something I  love that has endless variations, have done a few drawings to refine my technique as its a new subject, bought in pencils, paper- and struck a deal with someone for that too. Just when I'm ready to go.
There are still things we're frustrated about- I'm still not doing as much personal drawing as I'd like and Rich still hasn't got a forge to do metal working in. But hell, we've got to keep busy next year too :)

Just wanted to offer a hand up to anyone who's still floundering a bit.

Karen
(the short one)

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This is an almost news report :)

In the last couple of weeks, two rather interesting things have happened. No sooner had I started drawing again than a call came out for artists wanted by a new business making kitchen boards etc. I sent some bits off and am now negotiating a  licensing deal for a new range. I found out about this because I am signed up to another community site who, like Total Art Soul, share info and advice.

Incidentally, they are still looking for more artists, I'm trying to find out exactly what they're after so I can post it here.
This has rather put a crimp on my blogging about drawing as I cant share anything they will be using until the project goes live so you'll have to put up with waffle instead :)

A couple of points in licensing images for those thinking about it- basically you give a publisher the use of certain images for a set period of time, for a specific use. When that runs out, the rights revert to you. The going rate is 8% of the wholesale price for things like greeting cards, which is 4% of the retail price.




Our other bit of news is that we've just been approached by a new shop looking for alternative bridal wear. We turned down the last gallery that approached us as their terms were just not workable but this one has a fantastic approach, looking to work with suppliers. They are flexible, very frank about what they can and can't do and gave us a company history and list of other suppliers they are dealing with to show what they are looking for.
It looks like we will be designing a range exclusively for them to allow for their mark-up, so we are now grateful we made the decision not to go with the last offer, tempting as it was, as we can only take on so much work at once.

We brought this up as we've spoken to a  lot of people lately who have been umm-ing and aah-ing about a deal, all we can say is not to rush into things, if its not sustainable. Be patient and as long as you make an effort to be visible, maintain your presence online and keep an eye on what's happening around you, it will come.

It also show the importance of sites like this one where we can share information, opportunities, resources and best of all the support of friends. So pleased to be here,

Karen and Rich

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Aujord’hui, nous voyageons en France pour une recette que nous adorons. 

Or “ en Anglais” today we voyage to France for a recipe which we adore. Alright, so I’m no good with written French. Luckily I could speak a little so living there for eight months wasn’t too bad. Whilst there, we made a meal of Bean fritters for some friends who commented that it was a typical French meal. We’d had no idea and had done it because it used what we had left, not that we let them know this, of course.

After a little research however, we found that it was derived from one of those traditional peasant meals that came about because people couldn’t always afford meat. A bigger bonus for us as the one complaint I could possibly have with the local cuisine is their idea of “vegetarian” We soon discovered that they thought, if you were vegetarian, it was ok to serve you ham, or chicken, or bacon, or fish, or cook everything in goose fat. Safe to say we did not go out to eat much.

Anyway I digress and you’ll all be wanting to know what the recipe is, right?

Ok, for the batter you’ll need:

125g plain flour

a pinch of salt

2 egg yolks

3 egg whites

150 ml milk

For the beans you’ll need:

1 can of beans, no, not “baked”. White kidney or Borlotti beans, anything like that.

Some parsley or coriander or other herb that you think’ll go, fresh or dried

The zest of 1 –2 limes or 1 lemon

A pinch of cayenne or chilli powder (optional)

Salt and pepper

Some oil for shallow frying

You’ll need to:

Sift the flour and the salt into a bowl and make a well in the middle. Put the egg yolks in the well and mix together. As you’re doing this, add the milk, a bit at a time, until you’ve got a smooth, relatively thick batter. Pop this in the fridge for about a half hour. Meanwhile, bung the beans, lime zest salt and pepper, herbs and cayenne into a bowl and mix, then mix into the batter. Now whisk the egg whites until you can put a spoon in it and lift it out, leaving a small peak of egg that mostly stays put. Fold this into the bean and batter mix, with a metal spoon.

Heat the oil and into it, place large spoonfuls of the mixture until the fritter is golden brown. Do this for the other side, then pop it on some kitchen towel to drain.

We serve these hot in a big bowl accompanied with salad etc. They seem to go down well with all our friends. Hopefully they will with you too!

Enjoy and bon appetit

Karen and Rich  
(ps. Photo is Jacquou Le Croquant, peasent hero of Domme, excuse really poor photo :-)

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