Digital Montage

Now for a change, this post has nothing to do with bookbinding.  I've been lucky enough to take several online classes and workshops (most of the free) from Cynthia Powell.  The latest workshop or rather series of workshops, which I have most willingly paid for, is called Digital Montage Studio and it is a series of classes that explore digital image manipulation.  One program used is Adobe Photoshop Elements which is a program that I have but I've only touched the surface in my use of it. 

There are five workshops in the series and each one is a stand alone entity so that you can opt in for which ever topic interests you.  The first workshop was for beginners and began with simple explanations of layers and blending modes.  Cindy and Sherre, the co-instructors, run a Yahoo group that allows great communication among participants and the course leaders.  A lot of sharing of resources and insight and constructive help takes place in this group.  Files are posted for download and resource links are available for use at any time.

Here is a run down of the workshop descriptions taken from Cynthia's website:

July 19-30th-Workshop #1-Blending Texture & Color Layers-Blending/Overlaying for dynamic visual effects. Bonus technique: "Trappings" will be shared in this workshop. SOLD OUT!

August 16-27th-Workshop #2-Creating & Using Custom Distressing Tools-Create unique brushes (from found images) and learn how to use various digital tools to create the illusion of age to your backgrounds & elements. Bonus technique: "Gesso Effects" will be shared in this workshop!

September 13-24th-Workshop #3-Bonus "Digital Stenciling" Technique will be shared in this workshop!-A truly unique way for using Stencils in the virtual world of digital imaging. The results are stunning! Plus create a variety of digital stamps for your own personal collection.

October 18-29th-Workshop #4-Shadow & Light-Creating depth with Shadows, Bevels, Styles and Lighting effects + additional blending techniques. Work with text and photos! Bonus technique for creating a truly unique signature for your art!

November 15-24th-Workshop #5-Filters & Patterns-Filters can change your whole perspective, when you discover what they can do for your art! Throw in some patterns and your digital world becomes a playground for your art.

These workshops are loaded with fabulous digital mixed media techniques and a few New Bonus Techniques as well!

For more information, to see samples and to sign up for these great on-line workshops-visit:  Digital Montage Studios

Here are some of the montages that I created for Workshop I:

This assignment was called "Widow's Walk".  Several images were added in different degrees of transparency.  Texture was added as an overlay.  Special effects were added to the layers.  Every image was placed on a different layers

 

This was a bonus assignment after Workshop II.  In this one, I practiced taking out the background from around images so that the dolphins and the paint splashes sat cleanly on the black background.  This technique will be useful when you want to take an element out of one picture and add it to another or use it in your own artwork.Once again, I really, really, need to practice my digital photography.  Some of the participants in these workshops take amazing pictures.  Those of us who can't are left to rely on copyright free images found on different web sites or purchase for use images from sites like istockphoto.

If you are interested in digital art and image manipulation and would like to learn more about using the software, I would highly recommend the course offered by Cindy and Sherre.

Bind It All

I have to admit that I first got intrigued by the idea of journals when I saw the Bind It All featured on the Quietfire Design site here.  I saw how easy it was to use and since I loved using coil bound journals myself because they always opened flat for writing I thought this would be a great tool to own.  I also liked the idea of being able to bind single pages and thought of the possibilities for altered books since that was one of my main interests at the time.  With the added thickness of embellishments, some of the pages were proving to be unwieldy in regular books.

I purchased a Bind It All before I began to learn about sewn structures.  That doesn't mean that I've given up using coil bindings.  I still think that they are great for certain things.  They just don't have that rich, traditional fell that sewn bindings have.

Here are some samples of my earliest coil bindings.

This journal is covered in handmade paper and you'll notice that the coils don't go all the way from top to bottom.  That makes the journal a little more loose when you open it, but that is good if you intend to embellish the pages.  I haven't decorated the cover of this one yet.

The covers of this journal are made from artist canvas.  I painted the canvas using acrylic paints and then embellished using metallic words.

This journal was covered in torn pieces of mulberry paper and stamped with a word quote "Love where you're at and believe life will lead you to where you want to be" Joanne A Ross  from Quietfire Designs.

Sorry about the glare on the picture.  I was using the overhead light in the workroom and this journal has a protective coat of gloss varnish on it.  I shouldn't have photographed it flat but I didn't see the glare in the lens of the camera.  (I really will have to improve my camera skills).

Fabric Journals

I tried my hand at fabric journal when I took an online course with Sue Bleiweiss of Three Creative Studios.  She guided us through a variety of fabric journals and I loved every minute of it.  I had a bit of experience sewing but the instructions were quite clear and you didn't need a fancy machine to accomplish the task (which is a plus for me because I don't have all the bells and whistles on mine).

You can see in the picture above that beads were added to the long stitch on the journal spine for decoration.

This journal was done in a faux suede cover with a patterned cotton lining. The suede is also used to make an inner pocket.  Each signature is wrapped in decorative paper and the signatures are attached to the spine with a long stitch binding.  A metal clasp is used to secure the journal.

I also repeated this style of journal using bold prints with elastic closures (they were actually fuzzy headbands from the Dollar Store).  I used a large, decorative shell button as the catch.  These journals were popular with my nieces.

You can see that the covering paper for the signatures picked up the bright colours from the fabric cover.

Both journals have a fold over flap that keeps the journal and it's contents protected.

My First Hardcover Journal

I remember the first hardcover journal that I ever made.  I saw an announcement for a one day workshop being held in Grimsby, Ontario (the home of Wayzgoose) and it was the first and closest (in Canada) opportunity that I had come across.  The workshop was taught by Louise Kratka from Guelph.  Putting a hardcover journal together from start to finish is not something you would usually do in one day, so some of the finer points of bookbinding were skipped over for the sake of speed.  At the end of the day though, we did have a hand sewn hardcover book with paper cover and cloth spine.  We used commercial, premade headbands.

The paper we used for the text block was Mowhawk superfine 8.5 x 11" which is a short grain paper so that when you fold the paper in half, the grain runs parallel to the spine.  This prevents the pages from warping when they are glued into (or cased in) the book. We did have some warping of the book covers but I learned from later workshops that this was due to the heavy nature of the cover paper and the light weight of the end paper.  To counteract this, we should have used a filler on the interior of the cover.  This would have evened out the discrepancy in height between the two papers and would have helped with the warping.  This was probably a result of a time shortage in the workshop. 

Our books were still a bit damp when we took them home and in ideal conditions, they would have dried under weights.  All in all, I was pretty pleased with my first hard cover book and when I look back on it, I can see the things that I have learned since that time and I keep it as a reminder of my first effort and as an example of why I should not rush the process. 

I have to admit that sometimes when the end is in sight I have a tendency to rush to the finish line rather than take my time and enjoy all the steps along the way.  When I do this, I'm usually dissatisfied with myself and the finished product.  When I'm tired I become all thumbs and that makes for sloppy workmanship.  That's when I need to tell myself to walk away.

Raven's Foot Binding

Another type of binding I've tried (and I think this time the materials came from Club Scrap) was a Coptic Stitch binding called the "Raven's Claw".  The reason for that will be easily apparent when you see the picture of the binding.

The signatures were sewn over cords that were inserted into the cover boards in the shape of a raven's claw, then feathered and glued to the board before being covered with decorative paper.  My top row of stitching was not quite straight.  I didn't get my sewing station pierced quite evenly though the other two sections look better.  I would choose a different paper to cover the boards in a second attempt at this book.  I don't think the paper chosen sets off the character of the book.

Quietfire Designs

Suzanne Cannon over at Quietfire Designs has put together some great instructions and kits on several styles of bookbinding.  I've never been lucky enough to attend one of her classes on the west coast but I have taken advantage of the opportunity to work through several of her bookbinding kits.

One of the kits I've tried has been an exposed spine book or Coptic stitched book.  It was called the Pipe Organ stitch and was done over cords which were then threaded through the cover of the book.  I made a small change in adding some old buttons that I had to hold the cords.  Here is the original.  Here is a photo of my book with buttons.  The paper came with the kit.

The second book I tried was the Caught in Canvas Journal bookbinding kit.  The covers were made with 6" x6" canvas and the signatures were sewn over leather tapes.  I used an image transfer and texture on my canvas to make multi media covers.  Here is a photo of my finished journal.

Here is a link to the original kit and other samples shown.


The instructions were really easy to follow and all the basic materials were provided in the kit.  With the instructions and sewing templates it will be quite easy to use them as the starting point for other journals.


I really wish I was closer to Suzanne and Quietfire Designs because I'd love to learn how to make the Copper Etched Journal.

Distractions

I am so easily distracted.  I sat down over an hour ago to write a quick post and upload a picture.  That was all I was going to do.  While I was making a quick edit on the picture, I thought "I really should post that to the ning group  Lovin Mixed Media (which is a fantastic group by the way.  Gary is incredibly creative and shares wonderful techniques) because I'm new to the group and I haven't shared any work yet.  While I had the picture up on the screen it seemed a reasonable thing to do because I have a terrible memory and who knows when I'd be likely to think of it again?

Sooooo, I went to Google Reader and opened the site I wanted and was immediately caught be a posting, more like a rant, about abstract art.  What caught my eye was this:

I was happily reading the front page of LMM as I do every day. And I found miss Butlers piece there, having never heard of her I read on while sipping a nice cup of coffee. First thing was boy she has a lot of grants and awards,must be a great artist. Then the pictures invaded my screen..ok I am not going there again. To each it's own,remember the modern art thread I made lol. nope not this time,let that bear rest...for now. No, what made my toes curl the wrong way was this:



"Working larger than I have in recent years, I’m engaged with the slightly off-kilter, the not-quite-right, the un-straight line,discordant color, and awkward alliances. The visual language derives loosely from ideas inspired by everyday objects and imagery, like ships-in-bottles, car dealer flags, construction materials, mind maps, fireworks, floor plans, the number eight, Lily Pulitzer dresses, geometric motifs from my father’s old paintings, vomit, cage-like
crosshatched lines, and, of course, art history"



So.."I’m engaged with the slightly off-kilter, the not-quite-right, the un-straight line,
discordant color, and awkward alliances" uhm..yeah. granted it was early in the morning so my brain was not yet in full gear..I read the same thing again,later that day...yeah no..WHAT are you saying there? So I read on..

"The visual language derives loosely from ideas inspired by everyday objects and imagery, like
ships-in-bottles, car dealer flags, construction materials, mind maps, fireworks, floor plans, the number eight, Lily Pulitzer dresses, geometric motifs from my father’s old paintings, vomit, cage-like crosshatched lines, and, of course, art history""

Well, once I started reading that, I just had to finish and then go to my ning group and see what the follow up discussion was like.  It seems it is a well worn abstract vs realism in art debate with a sidebar on artist statements and philosophies. I had to admit that I couldn't really understand what her description actually meant so I had to go and look up her artwork as well.  And that lead to her her CV because it was there on her site.  It wouldn't be art work that I would choose because I find it jarring rather than interesting but then that is what she seems to be saying. 

By the time I actually posted my picture and wrote a description (and by this time it wasn't feeling anything like art) the hands of the clock had been quite busy in their rotations.

And that was a fairly quick return to task for me.  I just took one side trip.  Well, maybe two if you count the artist's site.  Maybe three if you count her blog as a separate site.  I'm just glad that I didn't really like her art or I might never have gotten back to my real goal.

I find it hard to believe that a few short years ago I was a very on task person.  Now I have the memory span and focus of a goldfish.  Not good.

Back to point.  The picture I am going to post is the result of a mixed media workshop I took at Sarnia Craft Supply, our local craft shop, that involved painting with acrylics.  It was my first time trying to use this medium to create realistic flowers and I still need a lot of work.  

I can't draw or paint - realistically. I know, I know, everyone can draw in some form or another but I have trouble with getting objects to look realistic. What I envision seldom appears on the page. I just can't seem to get my hand to draw what I want. I can trace or copy, however. When it comes to painting I haven't yet grasped the concept of building up layers to create the shading that I want.

This was a large canvas, about 24" x 36". To begin with, we prepared the canvas by adding a small box to the back of the canvas as a recess for the poppy pods and then adding a thin, smooth coat of Frescalina to the entire surface. This is a texture substance that accepts paint like a fresco. We used heat guns to speed up the drying process.

I used a large template and graphite paper to trace the poppies (they were taken from the Altered Art magazine, I think). Thicker layers of texture were added around the poppies towards the outer edges of the canvas. We used sea sponges to dab on our background colours. I was using ochre, and raw umber and raw sienna. I liked the earth toned background.

The instructor walked us through the painting of the poppies. She was doing a canvas as a demonstration so that we could see how she used the colours for shading. Her poppies looked a lot better than mine and I did have to get her help in rescuing a petal on the large poppy. To me it still looks like it is bending out rather than up when I first look at it. We actually sanded the poppies to bring back some of the lighter colours that were underneath and add a distressed texture to the canvas.

I found that the leaves and stem were much easier to shade, though I think I'm most pleased with the bud or poppy pod or whatever the green thing hanging down is. I like the subtle shading on that. I can see the depth and shape of it.

We used large foam stamps (I chose the diamond pattern) to stamp a painted design on the canvas. I also had some finer flourish stamps that I used to embellish the areas around the actual pods and the text. I added more Frescalina to the area around the text and stamped the flourishes into the texture medium. When you look at the canvas you can see the embossing.

The quote was supposed to be painted with a script brush but my hand is just not steady enough for that -- not if you want to read it that is. I ended up using a paint pen.

Finally, to add an extra touch we put sizing on several areas around the poppies and when the sizing was tacky we added gold leaf and burnished it.

So I didn't actually draw the poppies freehand - I used a template. The entire group did. Though maybe others could have drawn their own poppies, it made it easier to coordinate the instructions for shading if our poppies all had petals opened in the same way.

I had a great time at this workshop and Melanie was a very, very patient instructor. She's also a very good painter.