Ink on my face

self portrait
walnut ink
on 9" x 12" watercolor paper

I've been so busy hunting and gathering, playing and experimenting, that I've been forgetting to take pictures of what I've been doing! So I'll rectify that by showing you a walnut ink self-portrait I did yesterday.

I love, love, LOVE walnut ink! And I'm pretty happy with how this turned out, although the shadows at the top of my head turned out a bit dark. That's because the ink pooled on the paper and dried while I stepped away to do something else. Walnut ink is wonderful to use, though, a lot like watercolor, in that you can lay down layers of washes to create dramatic shadows.

For inspiration, I used a photo of myself that I had played around with on our old, old computer earlier this Summer. The old computer still had a Corel photo editing program on it which was terrific for adding special effects. We don't have anything comparable to that program on our new computer yet, so I'm glad I had that photo to use as inspiration for the dramatic shadows.

I've found that I'm really enjoying using self-portraits as a way to experiment with different materials and techniques. That way the subject doesn't get in the way, because it's already so familiar to me.

A week or so ago, I mentioned that I had attended a family wedding. One of the things I really enjoy doing is people-watching, and as I looked around, I was reminded of this Picasso painting.

Picasso
The Two Saltimbanques (1901)

I was doodling a few days later, and ended up with this drawing of two middle-aged women. All dressed up, but essentially invisible as far as society is concerned.

Invisible Women at the Wedding

I'm not disciplined enough to keep a journal, but if I did, this would be a journal page. Swirling around the women, I wrote the lyrics of some stereotypical wedding songs, common banter between men about the joys of an open bar, and conversation one typically hears later in the evening between people who meet for the first time at weddings.
:0)
After I was finished doodling in ink, I added a little water color and then collaged yellow tissue paper over the background and tissue paper with hearts on the table. The little bouquet of flowers was cut from some very old German Easter tissue paper. The pink swirls are also tissue paper.

And this is the maple tree I can see from my kitchen window. It's one of the first trees to change color in the Fall in our garden, and it's colors transform almost daily. Fall and Spring are definitely my favorite seasons. Not too hot, not too cold, and Mother Nature changes subtly every day. I love the visual aspects, but I also love the sounds, tastes and smells of the changing seasons, don't you? I love the crackling of the leaves underfoot in the Fall, the smell of the cool, crisp air early in the morning, the first bite into a juicy apple, the subtle shifting of the angle of the sun, and the large full harvest moon.

I hope you find something to tantalize all your senses today!

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(OK, this is annoying. It's five hours since I posted this and it still hasn't appeared on blog rolls, my dashboard, or Blogger's Google Reader. What's up with Blogger today?!?)
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(Almost 9 hours later, I've tried re-publishing. I've published, and since deleted, another post that didn't show up either. I give up for today!)
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Maybe I really am invisible!
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