This is the whole image from which September’s splash screen is taken. It’s along one of my favorite and most spectacular walks, Devil’s Slide Coastal Trail.
Month: August 2016
Observation Without Judg(e)ment
I’ve been exploring a system of geometric patterns in both my professional and personal work for a little while now. This is the background, composed in Illustrator at one-quarter scale, for a new piece.
After penciling in the three-inch grid on a 36 by 24-inch (61 x 94 cm) stretched canvas, I used a compass and straight edge to transfer the background design. Then it was a happy trip down old-school graphic design production memory lane as I wielded eighth-inch (3 mm) black crepe line tape to sketch out the shapes.
I used shades of white, warm gray, brown and green acrylic for the underpainting.
After adding a thin ivory wash and letting that dry, I pulled off the black tape. I’ll now add… other background stuff, and paints, and determine what final hue and value of gray to re-stripe (by brush) the outlines. Although I have some definite intentions, as usual, I’m making it up as I go along.
Napoleon, Poppy, Little B
Napoleon visited Poppy the Fairy today.
Poppy was surprised to get an international letter, and gifts! from Little B, who would be a Butterfly Fairy, in addition to her five-year-old self. A Morpho, perhaps? Little B sent treasures to share with Poppy’s other correspondents —so thoughtful! — as well as a jar of butterflies punched from wildflower seed embedded paper…
these two porcelain fairy figures, just an inch (2.5 cm) high, AND an interior fairy door from Firecraft Miniatures, because she was concerned about Poppy living outside all year :)
Sharing the love.
New Project, Poppy, Magnets
Work is underway on a new mixed media piece, large (for me) at 24 by 36 inches (61 x 91 cm). These letters are about 2.5 inches tall (64 mm) and being cut from foamcore.
Poppy the Fairy is being kept busy with her correspondence. These are two accordion books, meant for Ava and Aria to embellish, made from watercolor paper and simple punched shapes. That’s Poppy’s new sigil.
… As well as Ava’s name rendered in triangles, and another tiny sketchbook for Lynnie (at proper 1:12 scale). Her’s from last week was, um, appropriated by her associates :)
This week, Poppy made a two-inch square book to answer some of the girls’ questions: Can you do ballet, like me? Do you eat snacks? Tucked into the reply scroll are California poppy seed pods, because one of the things fairies do is gather seeds.
Inside the book are quick ink and watercolor illustrations with text. Here are a few of the pages, listing some of the things fairies do:
I can perhaps see a series, as my understanding of the fay way grows :)
Maddie Lou spent the weekend with us as her parents enjoyed a night in the City to celebrate their anniversary. Here’s Maddie working on a surprising and spontaneous new deployment of her beloved magnetic blocks in the sun room.
The final arrangement. Can you tell her favorite color is blue?
So awesome on so many levels :)
House guests, Poppy, Plastics
We had house guests for the weekend. Here you see a SW Ep.VII Stormtrooper encounter a San Francisco summer, much to the delight of her more acclimated traveling companion. The reflection in the giant TV is our foggy Pacifica sunset, with powerlines.
Poppy the Fairy was welcomed back from her nine-sleep vacay with drawings and correspondence from Ava and Aria (and Lynnie). In this drawing we see Ava and Aria and her parents, as well as the Fairy Mail box, with Poppy peeking out. I believe the green squiggles represent the recent landscaping, and a purple heart encircles them all.
Poppy is collecting her/his thoughts for response. (Ava is convinced Poppy is a boy.)
I signed the back of the plastics collage with these, um, economical but not un-fabulous “unfinished wood letters & numbers” from Creatology™, which I think is a brand from the Michael’s crapstores.
Some of the drillings and and nail insertions into the quarter-inch frame for the Plastic Litter Collage were regrettably less than expert, so I am embracing the concept of fuckedup recycled materials, and will further intentionally distress — but not too much! — the frame, as I sand and paint, sand and paint, sand and paint.
nancyland.com 