Diana Trout's blog

Paper and a Book

Playing with the lovelies

An orchestra of pattern

Pulling you in on one path and out an unexpected route.

And these from the Paper Source

To make this

A photo of the lovebirds to be added on the cover

Day Off

After a fantastic day teaching at The Ink Pad on Sunday, I treated myself to a couple of days off and after some nice time with my sis in Princeton (Paper Source!), some "must do's" and a nap, I put in some play time with my journal.

One of my students told me about the ghosting technique using Dylusions ink, water spray and a stencil and I was playing around with it. Here is the video.

A lotta bang for your buck with this technique.I tried (briefly in class) with watercolors and technically it should work since both watercolors and Dylusions inks are liftable. We'll see. 

I felt an urge to paint some stripes with watercolors. It was a colorful messy afternoon. The overspray and drips made for a lovely "drip catcher" paper. I'm using nicer paper for that these days. Dividend. 

Now that the house is dusted, the laundry done, bring on the rest of the week! Why is it that cleaning the house and fresh sheets feels like self-care? Is that pathetic? And here's another question. I have plenty of art supplies but have been lusting after some of these Dylusions since I saw them last year at Ink Pad. I bought a bunch. Self-indulgence? I'm calling it a treat. 

Pics from my class on Friday!

What's Doin'

Scurrying around today in between a Monday/Tuesday trip to Maryland and a Thursday-? trip to take care of my auntie. 

I managed to make a couple of prints using my new Gelli Artz plate and Golden Open Acrylics. Amazing. Making prints is thrilling for me. I minored in printmaking in art school so this was really REALLY exciting. The cleanest monoprints I've made without a press ever. I am using washi paper and the plan is to turn that into papercloth and do the stitching on it. 

I think I need a bigger plate. 

In the straight up fabric and stitch, there is more inspiration than there will ever be time to complete ...

The violet and golden in the upper portion of this picture is making me drool ... sun and mountains.

I am off to pack my bag full of stitching while I take over the nursing. Eeegads. I'm a dreadful nurse but my sis, who actually IS  a nurse has been there and will train me to take over. I'll bet we do fine! Wish me luck. 

Spicy Colors: DIY, from Sketchbook Challenge

You can see this post at Sketchbook Challenge today as well. Get in the fun over there. This month's theme is Spice of Life. Check out this month's giveaways as well! 

... Look no further than your kitchen and neighborhood for this journal entry. Based on my experiments with botanical dyes last year, I decided to whip up some DIY stains for this month's theme. This is a great way to explore nature. 

Paprika, Turmeric, Walnut Ink & Pokeberry, Journal Page, Diana Trout

 

Paprika and turmeric are readily available at your grocery store. Add about 3:1 water to spice and let them sit for a while. You may need to add a bit more water as the spice absorbs and it won't absorb completely. It will be grainy.

Please note, this is just for playing around. The "paint" will be full of undissolved spice. I painted the colors on (see above), let it dry and just brushed off the undissolved spice.

Pokeberries grow wild and are usually in full berry right about now here in the Mid-Atlantic, US. The snowstorm we had last week clobbered our neighborhood bush so I was only able to gather a few. Put the berries in a little bowl and squish them with a fork (or your finger) to release the "ink." I don't mind getting messy, so I pick up one of my berries after squishing and pushed it around on the page. Great fun for adults and kids.

If you have a black walnut tree around, you can find the nuts on the ground in autumn. Smack one with a hammer (if it's not already broken) and then cook the outer hull in about 1/2 cup water. Just bring it up to a boil and simmer a bit. It is very intense! Badda-Bing: home-made walnut ink.

I did the little drawings and writing on this page with the DIY walnut ink and a dip pen. 

There is a clip at the end of this video showing me-self making and using pokeberry ink (the above page. The clip begins at 6:32 so skip ahead to that (unless you'd like to see my daughter in action at her post-grad job a couple of years ago :)

Enjoy!

Women x 3 = Inspiration

Doing some research lately on women artists who inspired me and here they are:

Candy Jernigan. Elegant, raw and honest. There are no barriers or borders. 

There is a wonderful book full of Jernigan's Art called Evidence. I have a copy of it from a few years ago and it is quite pricey now. But you can always stalk it on Amazon to see if it comes down in price.

Eva Hesse: Her minimalistic abstract drawings and scupltures and installations are breathtaking

and then

Helen Frankenthaler, the Mother of Color Field work. Color starring itself.

and Floods of color. 

My tastes are tending to the minimalist these days and abstraction. There is something consuming about abstraction. It seems so pure to me right now.

Color Play: Inktense & Aquamarkers

If you've read this blog for a while, you know this: I will play with color endlessly and, of course, since I do it: you should too (bossy britches, yes).

Inktense Palette

I finally got around to messing around with Inktense blocks. I've used them but hadn't gone through my little "what happens when I mix this color with this color." A color soiree, so to speak. I have the set of 12 Inktense Blocks and was very pleased to see the variety of mixes that resulted. Especially with the ochre and sienna. Very good. These are top drawer art supplies. Just remember that they are INK, not watercolor. Once you lay them down and they dry, that's it: no lifting. Since I adore the Inktense pencils, it was an easy purchase for me to make. 

Aquamarkers

These Aquamarkers are fairly new on the market and I bought this set. Here's a run down.

They are pretty juicy. You need to use them on good watercolor paper. The sets are uneven: for instance the pure yellow in the set I have is very pale and you need to use a very heavy hand with it and a very light hand with the greens and blues to mix it. You would really need an extensive palette to get an extensive pallete. Clear? No? Ok, leave a comment if you want me to explain more

Another complaint is that these markers are rough on the paper. Put them down with care and don't scrub or your paper will get crummy.  On the positives, I can see that you would have control with these markers and get the color into tight spaces. The colors are lovely by themselves. These markers are a more expensive option. Not the most practical of choices but, hey!, you don't have to be practical all the time.  I may be asking for another set for my holiday stocking.

Just scanning back through this post, it is so clear to me how truly juicy those Inktense colors are. These are, imho, the cat's meow.

Teddy Loves Inktense

Naming Colors

Inktense Pencils

I am working with a limited palette on this new series. Just a few colors based on the muted, earthy colors in Italy: sun, field, sea, poppies. 

It seems like enough. Playing with mixing some watercolors. Wet in wet: the poppy/black and sun/field on the top right is making me drool a little. The poppy/field rectangle: yeah. That is good.

Watercolor Palette

A sketch ...

Sketch, RowHomes, Diana Trout

Organized - hah

Starting pulling some papers to make sketches and smaller works for this new series. It is easiest to just pull everything and sort into color categories. My palette is decided upon (more about that later). The pile grows larger as I pull until it seems overwhelming.

I also found a bunch of paper cloth (?) that I'd made and will come in handy. Do you squirrel things away and then forget about them? Just at the tipping point, I sorted and folder-ized things. 

It looks like a collaboration in underway between my present self and my past self. Glory Be! Another collaboration is underway and I'll catch you up with that soon. 

Painting in the Mud Zone

Mud is a negative word for painters.

Spring is all about the mud and the clear color of the early blooms. It is taking a delicate hand to control the browns and grays.

I am thanking you again for your thought provoking and honest comments. It is a joy to read. One of our fold has just started a new blog. Wendy has an elegant and thoughtful voice. See Late Start Studio.

I hope you all have a most joyous weekend and Happy St. Patrick's Day. xo Diana

Painting Yellows

It is indescribably joyful to mix colors. I painted a bunch of yellows here, some straight from the tubes and then mixing the yellows both on the palette, wet in wet and layers.

I mixed some purples to see what kinds of grays and browns I'd get. The gray at the top of this picture is a watered down black. So much richer when you mix yourself.

This was my favorite mixed gray. Warm and lively.