Swallows

 

I had intended to show what few photos I took of my trip to Missouri today, but the photos are still in my camera.  Instead, I will join Neet (at Hickydorums) our host this month at Art Journal Journey.  By now you probably know her theme is It must have wings.

Back on May 1, Tam at Willowing Art started a 14 day adventure in mixed media.  Anxious to learn, I signed up early.  Her entry was first, and I watched because she let us download the swallows she drew.  I copied the swallows, cut them out, and outlined them.  There they sat on my table for over two weeks.  I watched a few other mixed media lessons that didn't involve drawing or painting a human or animal.  All were abstract and I picked up on what those artists created.  My favorites were Julie Fea-Fan Balzer and Seth Apter, but I also liked watching Jackie Bernardi and Jackie Schomburg. Each of these artists influenced my art.

It's obvious I named this Swallows.  Detail images are below.

 

I began by sewing a sheet of vintage sheet music to 110 lb. cardstock.  I positioned the birds on the page, then removed them in order to draw the branch.  I accidentally dropped a big glob of Posca pen yellow on the page, so decided to draw a flower.  I planned to make that the center. I didn't realize how long it would take for the ink to dry and moved the page too soon.  I was surprised when the center cracked.  I also dropped a glob of pink while creating the petals of the flower.  I tried to cover the pink glob by turning it into a tulip.  This time I waited until I was sure the ink was dry before I moved the page.  So much for my idea I had before the globs.

I painted the birds, first in white, then in Titan Buff. I painted both Phthalo Blue (green shade) and Phthalo Green (blue shade) swatches on the birds.  When they were dry, I created all kinds of dots, circles, and lines using a white gel pen, a gold Posca pen, a yellow Posca pen, and a purple brush marker.  I used two postage stamps for the wings.  I then added the words and the birds that I colored and cut from my bird punch. 

Thanks for dropping by today. Bleubeard and I are thrilled you stopped by and hope to see you at Art Journal Journey.  We would love it if you shared your own interpretation of It must have wings.