Click here for more about bristol.
Click here for an interview with comic artist James Sturm.
Tell us what you think about this month's post! Email LearningCenter@utrecht.com.
...]]>Click here for more about bristol.
Click here for an interview with comic artist James Sturm.
Tell us what you think about this month's post! Email LearningCenter@utrecht.com.
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This month's Learning Center features many references to bristol, so it may help to clarify... Bristol is a heavyweight paper used for technical drawing, illustration, and other two-dimensional art forms. It's particularly popular among comic artists and illustrators.
Unlike Illustration Board, the front and back of Bristol are identical which means that both sides can be drawn on. The surface texture can vary for different applications, including a smooth (plate) finish and a medium (vellum) finish. A vellum surface has a bit more tooth and artists working with rough pencil, chalks, or charcoal would use the rougher texture. Plate finishes are generally more suited to other types of media, such as technical pencils or inks.
We're happy to carry a full line of smooth and vellum bristol from Strathmore.
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James Sturm is an internationally recognized cartoonist and the cofounder and Director of The Center for Cartoon Studies (http://www.cartoonstudies.org). His writings and illustrations have appeared in scores of national and regional publications including The Chronicle of Higher Education, The Onion, The New York Times and on the cover of the The New Yorker. He is also a co-founder of The Stranger, a Seattle arts and news weekly. His book, The Golem's Mighty Swing, was named the 2001 Comic of the Year by Time Magazine. His most recent books include Satchel Paige: Striking Out Jim Crow, James Sturm's America, and Adventures in Cartooning.
While in grad school in New York City James worked in the Utrecht store on 4th Avenue! James was good enough to answer a few questions for us and send along images that show off his process.
Tell us about your process of making comics...
My approach to making comics is probably closest to that of a novelist except I am doodling my drafts using words and pictures as opposed to just words. My early drafts are very loose and the drawings are little more than stick figures. Each subsequent drafts allows me to become more intimate with the material.
What are your essential tools?
To begin with paper and pencil. Early drafts are on just regular copy paper. The next draft is on drawing paper and the final pen and ink drawings are on bristol using various pen nibs including a hunts 102, speedball c-5 and c-6, a G-nib, and various Faber-Castell markers. An Ames lettering guide also comes in handy.
What stock (brand/finish/and size paper) do you use for your final inking art?
I've been using 2 ply Strathmore 500 series bristol with a vellum finish for awhile now. I buy the large sheets and cut them into six pieces. The paper takes ink extremely well, never any bleeding. The 2-ply is sturdy enough to stand up to the eraser and thin enough so I can transfer drawings onto it via a light box.
There are many ways to stay green in the art studio. One of the best ways is by finding a use for the scraps and leftovers that might otherwise be thrown out. This month we showed you how to cut a simple mat, but before you throw out that piece you cut out of the middle, here are a few ideas on ways you can re-use them. *Mat scraps will have a beveled edge that can be pretty sharp, it can be easily trimmed off for any of these uses.
Other tips for keeping a green studio:
The more research you do and the more effort you put in will have a greater impact on the quality of life in your studio and environment at large. If you have any great green tips or practices, be sure to share them with us by leaving a comment or sending an email to learningcenter@utrecht.com. We'll add them to this list! Stay Green!
Once you master the basic steps, use your creativity to experiment with your own designs, such as those shown here.
First, a little about matboard...
Matboard is a multi-layered product made especially for framing artwork. The most commonly available matboard is made from processed wood pulp. It comes in a wide variety of surface colors and textures and the core is typically white or cream-colored. (Some matboard has a core that is black or a few other colors.) The surface is a thick covering of art paper that is fade and bleed resistant. Untreated wood pulp contains acid, which, over time, damages what it comes in contact with. To protect the work you’re matting, use buffered, acid-free matboard. Most matboard is available in 32" x 40" sheets and some come in even larger sizes.
Measure twice, cut once
To determine the mat opening size, you must allow at least ¼" (7mm) overlap on each edge of the chosen image so the edges don’t show or fall through the mat window. Use the following worksheet to help calculate the sizes of your opening, borders, and overall matboard.
With these measurements, set the parallel mat guide to your chosen border width. Insert the matboard, color side down, and mark all four sides.
Hook the bevel cutting head onto the rail, and align the silver start and stop indicator with the pencil line closest to you. Firmly push the blade into the mat.
While keeping steady downward pressure on the blade, slide the cutter forward until the indicator line reaches the top pencil line. Pull the blade out of the mat.
Repeat this step three times to complete the mat.
Now you’ll need to adhere your artwork to the mat. A simple but effective method is called the t-hinge. Using a framer’s acid free hinging tape, follow the following steps:
1. Lay your matboard face down on a clean surface and position the artwork face down over the window.
2. Cut and apply two small vertical tabs of tape along the top edge of the artwork, an inch or so from the corners.
About half the tape should adhere to the art and half to the mat.
3. Lift up the mat and ensure the image is displayed in the window as you wish it to be. Move the tape and image around, if necessary.
4. Cut and apply another tab of tape horizontally across the tape on the mat. One horizontal piece on each of the verticals, to form Ts.
That’s it!
Click here for ideas on recycling your matboard scraps and other tips on working in a "green" studio!
Seventeen year old Jordan Else Pemberton of Tecumseh, Michigan, is the winner of our 5th Annual Self-Portait Contest, Co-Sponsored by the Savannah College of Art & Design. Jordan attends the Interlochen Arts Academy in Interlochen, Michigan, and will graduate from their visual arts program in May 2009.
In addition to winning our student contest, Jordan’s recent awards include first place and best in show in the Northwestern Michigan College High School Art Contest, a gold key award for printmaking in the Scholastic Art Awards, the Interlochen Arts Academy Fine Arts Award, and the Interlochen Arts Camp Summer Maddy Award. Her art has been included in exhibitions at the Margulies Collection, Northwestern Michigan University, and the Interlochen Center for the Arts. Her artwork has been published in the Interlochen Review and the Red Wheelbarrow, printed on two album covers and used for retail advertisement. Jordan is interested in portraiture, and the media she enjoys most are painting, drawing and photography. She hopes to study photography in college.
See Jordan and the rest of the winners from this year's contest here.
Ink can be for much more then just drawing! Ink has a wonderful brilliant vibrance right out of the jar that can be used in many of the same ways as watercolor paint. One of the benefits however is that it's already in liquid form. In this post we'll use ink to create some nice washes and we'll use it with a traditional dip pen. We're working on a send-up of one of our favorite Rembrandt drawings on an Ampersand Aquabord Panel, which is an awesome wet media surface. It gives you all the benefits of working on paper without the buckling and warping.
We'll begin by brushing water onto the panel to assure some nice bleeding of color. Then we'll water down our inks and do some light washes, letting the color do whatever it wants.
Here we can see how the washes lend themselves ot the drawing that we are going to do on this panel. Using the organic shapes of the first washes we can determine the composition of our final drawing which you can see being laid in here with another yellow wash.
We'll use that second yellow wash as a guide for our drawing. The drawing is done with black ink and a Speedball Artists Pen Set. The wash helps speed up the drawing process and adds some richer color underneath the black lines of the pen.
Now that the drawing is complete, we'll go back in and do a much darker red wash to finish our composition and help the drawing stand out. Here is the final result....
So get out there and give it a shot, try drawing over some washes... Try doing the drawing first and using the ink washes to color your images. If you create something you like we'd love to see it! Send an image to learningcenter@utrecht.com.
There are a variety of alternatives to painting on canvas or paper. Many of the Old Masters painted on wood panels and today a variety of contemporary surfaces are available, offering unique opportunities to explore new ways of creating images. Ampersand has created a series of archival quality painting surfaces that are acid-free, non-yellowing and engineered not to warp or bow.
The Museum Series Panels include an unprimed hardbord that allows you to build up your own unique grounds and textures, and a ready to paint gessobord delicate enough for glazing but strong enough for pallette knife painting. Ampersand also offers the two types of panel used in this month's Learning Center on ink washes; claybord and aquabord.
Claybord is an incredibly smooth and absorbant kaolin clay-primed multi-media panel that accepts ink, gouache, acrylics, pencil and airbrush and makes a great surface for collage and photo transfers. The clay surface allows you to add thin layers of paint or ink then remove, reapply or even scratch through to create contrast and texture.
Aquabord is another acid-free clay surface that absorbs watercolor like a fine paper, but without any threat of shrinking, tearing or buckling. The surface offers the ability to lift color out with a wet brush or work in countless layers of color. Perfect for watercolor and gouache, but also a great option for encaustics or acrylics.
Mark Penxa is the artist behind the stunning internet exhibition "Stealing Signs: Dead-Ball Era Baseball Memories from My Last Life;1927". A beautiful collection of mixed media drawings of well known and unknown players from the golden years of baseball. A project that began as a gift to his grandfather and snowballed into one hundred pieces of art dedicated to America's Past time that can be enjoyed individually and as an entire body of work.
A native of Detroit, Michigan, Penxa developed his style and aesthetic from the worlds of skateboarding and punk rock, earning his first freelance check from a skateboard company at 15 and touring with the punk band Telegraph for 8 years after high school. Mark has designed images for Girl Skateboards and is currently in the sketching phase of a snowboard design for DC Shoes. He brings great energy, an excellent eye for line and a do-it-yourself attitude to his work that makes you want to stop and look... and keep looking.
Over the next few months Mark will be working on a series of paintings tackling his home town and it's current political climate as well as curating a gallery show with friend Andy Jenkins about baseball and the art it has inspired.
Bellow are are small sampling of the works in "Stealing Signs" as well as a few other of Mark's drawings and paintings, enjoy.
Mixed Media painting and few sketchbook images...
"None of us were able to choose whether to be an artist or not and you can't learn how to be one but, you can always learn how to be a better one and we should. Constantly. There's a certain amount of responsibility that comes with all of this. It doesn't matter how you maintain it, just that you do." - Mark Penxa
Marker paper's translucence gives you the convenience and ease of tracing paper, but is much stronger and holds up to multiple layers of ink. Thanks to these qualities marker paper has long been the choice of illustrators and comic artists. You can shop Utrecht's selection of marker paper, vellum, tracing paper and bond here.
Testing Tombow Brush Tip Markers on the two sides of marker paper.
Share on Facebook...]]>Andy's work was featured in the 2009 Utrecht Resource Guide, you can see a short bio here, as well as a marker comp from Charlatan Ball. Let's get to our interview with Andy...
Learning Center: What do you like to work with for your marker comps?
Andy Suriano: My recent favorites: Copics! I love the Copic "sketch" w/the brush nib. Because they're alcohol based, they blend really, really well together. I also use the Copic refill inks to lay down tones (more on that below). Also the Copic wide. That being said, I couldn't work without my Prismacolor markers. As for paper, almost always Bienfang Graphics 360, 100% rag, translucent marker paper. The black pens I like to ink with are Tombows, if possible, I'll ink on a separate paper stock (usually a toothier animation paper), then use a copy machine to run that image through onto the marker paper. Although, more times than not, I just continue to marker directly on top of my original inks, which sometimes feels like a fresco painting.
LC: Can you walk us through your comp/illustration process?
AS: Well, I do 2 types of marker comps: 1) the kind I use for my comic books and 2) the kind for illustration and animation development.
For the comic book page comps: After inking the original page in blacks with usually a Tombow or whatever other manner of black pen, brush or more likely brush pen I can get a hold of, I load some (Bienfang Graphics 360) paper into a copier, and copy the page down about 65% or so onto that paper (usually two, just to be safe). I'll then take one of my Copic refill bottles and dab onto a paper towel and work over either the entire page or individual panels with the color tone I want as my "base" (like an underpainting). Since markers are an unforgiving medium, it then becomes an "additive" process, meaning: I work from light to dark. All the while trying to adhere to a light source.
For the illustration: Underlaying my original sketch under the marker paper, I pretty much work the same way as with the comic page roughs. Once again starting off with the refill vile and using the natural textures of the paper towel, I create textures. I usually use the same piece of paper towel for different colors, accepting the happy "accidents" or bleeds from mixing or picking up the darker color on the towel. I then start the additive process, working light to dark--knowing what my highlight or lightest color will be and where. I work broad then build into details. Finally, I will polish off with some Prismacolor pencils, crayons and even white out over top of everything.
Here is a look at the process...
LC: Do you have any tips for other marker artists out there?
AS: Don't forget what SIDE of the marker paper to use! With the brand I like, it's the underside (so I have to tear and flip). TEST each side of the paper as each take the marker differently. One way is to fold a triangle, marker over both: one is waxier than the other and doesn't bleed through as nice--you want the side that bleeds all the way to the other side solidly. Mark that side and you're good to go.
Since markers are so final, leave room around your "live area" to test the colors first, also test how each blends or lay on top of each other, sometimes you want that stark contrast, but usually you need something closer in shade.
Work light to dark, always "adding" another layer. You can't lay a lighter color over a dark one (although you CAN sometimes brighten one if you have a really strong yellow!)
Also, a little plug for the dying medium that is marker comps: the thing I like about illustrating with markers vs. digital computer coloring is: 1) Sometimes limiting your palette gives a better, cleaner, stronger read. 2) The tactile, organic feeling of marker on paper. Digital illustrations more times than not read "dead" to me. I'll stand behind my paper towel and ink against "manufactured texture" any day.
LC: Thanks Andy!
AS: Your welcome and thank you! It's so much fun to talk about my process.
Many thanks to Andy for that great information and behind the scenes look at his process. You can keep up with his many projects by visiting his blog Andy Updates. Be sure to check out his book, The Art of Andy, and go to your local comic shop and ask for Image Comics' Charlatan Ball...
Share on Facebook...]]>Starting with a pencil sketch and a quick color study that helps determine the markers that will be used in the final drawing. You can see some experimentation with the blender marker's reaction to various colors at the top of the color study.
Next we'll tape some marker paper over our color study and get the essentials down with a thin drawing pen. (Be sure to use a low tack artists' tape to avoid tearing your paper.)
Now it's time to start playing with color! Working from light to dark we add layer after layer, using the Blender marker to soften the edges and blend two (or three!) colors together. Remember that there is no "white marker" so any areas you want to remain white need to be left alone for the paper to show through.
Things are starting to come along and have a nice feel. We can now start working in some darker layers of color. (Keep an extra sheet of the paper you are using handy to test your markers and layers on. Another great thing about the Tombow Brush Tips is how nicely you can blend using a light colored marker as well as the traditional blender). We used a light yellow to blend the reds and oranges together with nice results.
The final steps of this marker comp involve adding the darkest color layers and doing a light treatment of the background. The shadow underneath our turtle is established by using the same blue from the sky and laying two different browns over the top. The fading in the sky is done by using a light blue marker to blend out a darker blue.
There is lots of room to experiment with these and different papers will give different results. Try marker paper, bristol, vellum and even right into your sketchbook. Good Luck and happy blending!
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A great way to create multiples of an image is by screenprinting. In this post we'll create a screen of a vintage "Utrecht Linens" logo that can be screened onto t-shirts, aprons or canvas bags. The easiest way to get started is with a screen printing kit, it will have everything you need to create your image either through the photo emulsion process or by drawing the image directly on the screen.
In order to achieve a vintage weathered look we've chosen to draw our image directly onto the screen with a brush and drawing fluid. We used push pins to elevate the screen while painting it (remember the screen is mesh, you don't want the fluid seeping through to your image, they'll get stuck together!).
Now that the image is painted on it's time to add the screen filler. The area that is painted is the area where ink will be able to get through to transfer your image.
Cover the image in one pass, then use the excess filler to cover the areas of the screen that do not have the image. Make sure there are no puddles of screen filler and return the extra to the jar. Now you want to let this dry before washing out the drawing fluid.
Here is the screen before and after rinsing. We used a traditional sink sprayer, a hose will work too. Anything that can provide enough water pressure to wash out the drawing fluid. Allow the screen to dry then tape up the edges to prevent any ink getting through gaps that may exist.
We put another image on this screen for another project, since we don't want it to print we'll cover it with masking tape on the bottom of the screen (taping on the top, or printing side, of the screen will give you problems when applying ink). Now we're all set to print and can spoon on some of the ink.
Lift one edge of the screen so it's not making contact with your printing surface. Make a pass forward with the squeegee and one back to flood your image with ink. Now lay the screen flat on your printing surface.
Applying firm pressure make another pass with your squeegee. This forces the ink through the screen and results in the image transferring to your surface. Now you're ready to make an entire edition of shirts or fine art prints!
...]]>A great way to collect original art in a less expensive manner is to seek out and purchase limited edition prints. This is the best of both worlds as you can get a signed original work, created by hand, that is very affordable due to the artist's ability to create and sell multiples.
Etchings, block prints, screen prints and lithographs are wonderful additions to any collection and can often be obtained for a fraction of the cost of an original painting. If you are intersted in starting a collection (or adding to one) prints are an excellent option for the cost-conscious collector!
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Printmaker Chris Speakman grew up on the south shore of Massachusetts. He earned a degree in illustration from the University of Hartford's Art School in 1998. After working as a graphic designer for 9 years, Chris chose to devote his full time into his website, Sports Propaganda Art. The site features original sports-themed screen prints that are heavily influenced by the propaganda posters of the 30's, 40's and 50's. In Chris's opinion the war-time posters capture simplicity in concept and graphic style as well as a strong "us" vs. "them" message. The game of baseball seemed to lend itself to that style, as many teams have long histories and traditions. To Chris, the merger of the two areas seemed quite natural.
Hired by Dunkin Donuts in February of 2008 to create a series of Boston Red Sox propaganda posters, Chris got the approval from Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players Association to use team logos and player images for these beautifully designed works of art. This led to the launch of sportspropaganda.com, starting mostly with Red Sox and Philadelphia Phillies prints and constantly expanding to other Major League cities.
Chris designs and illustrates each image "by hand" in Adobe Illustrator, and then outputs the separate layers onto a transparency. From there he uses photo emulsion on a fine mesh screen and transfers the image with a heat lamp. Each color is shot on a different screen and then aligned during printing. The results are striking limited edition posters that impress the
sports fan and art collector alike.
Click here for a step by step on screen printing at home!
Click here to see more of Chris' prints.
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This first image shows our supplies, a set of Van Gogh Oil Pastels, a filbert brush and Utrecht Linseed Oil. You can also see that we've roughed in our drawing on a Master Panel with the two colors we want to carry throughout the whole work, yellow ochre and burnt sienna. The next step is to bring some of the other colors into your still life.
We continue on building color with the oil pastels, keeping it loose knowing that the details and blending will be done with a paint brush and linseed oil. The objects in the still life retain a light value, warranting a nice dark background of burnt umber and burnt sienna.
These images show the blended work. This effect was achieved by dipping into the linseed oil and blending together the layers of oil pastels. The brush was cleaned with mineral spirits between colors to keep the image from getting muddy. In the second image we've gone back in with the pastels to work in a few more details and some shading. You can continue to work between the pastels and oil & brush until you're satisfied with the results.
Here is a detail of the drawing before and after blending. You can see what a difference can be made with a little oil and some brushwork. The amount of blending is a personal choice and results will vary depending on your surface. This was done on a smooth panel and gives a light wash effect, using a porous surface like watercolor paper or unprimed canvas gives a totally different result. Experiment and enjoy!
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Oil pastels are a drawing medium that consist of pigment mixed with a non-drying oil and wax binder. They are conveniently portable and can be used for quick sketches or intense layered works of art. They are a relatively "young" medium, as most drawing and painting methods have been around for centuries.
Looking for the smooth application of a crayon and the intense colors of pastels the oil pastel medium was first developed in the 1920's by the Sakura Crayon Company. This lead to the color sticks known as Cray-Pas, widely regarded as a children's medium. In 1947, however, artists Henri Goetz and Pablo Picasso, looking for something that would allow them to draw on almost any surface, approached Henri Sennelier with the idea of designing a professional version of the children's product. Finally in 1949, with the help of the two artists, Sennelier invented the first professional oil pastels with a smooth texture and vibrant color quality.
Currently many brands of oil pastel are available and the number of uses and styles seem to be increasing as well. Oil Pastels offer unique flexibilty and archival quality and are a great medium to experiment with.
To learn about The Oil Pastel Society, click here.
For an instructional about blending oil pastels with Linseed Oil, click here.
...]]>The Oil Pastel Society is a web-based group that allows like-minded artists to exchange ideas and methods, spread interest in the medium of oil pastels and to share beautiful works of art. Each year they put together a fantastic group show available for all to view in an online gallery. The following work is from their 2008 show "Transitions".
You can learn more about The Oil Pastel Society by visiting their website.
"Carousel Stampede" - Charles Wood
"Jade Buddha" - Connie Chadwell
"Annunciation" - Stephanie Neely
"Opus II" - George Shipperley
Historically the gold or silver would have been placed between sheets of parchment and pounded with wooden mallets until it was thin and malleable. The sheets were then cut down and placed between sheets of paper for their protection. Today's technology allows the production of micro-thin sheets from a number of metals and alloys that can easily take the shape of the item being gilded, such as sculptures, frames, jewelry and mixed media artworks. Metal leafing comes in many varieties: gold, silver and copper as well as variegated (irregular color patterns) greens, reds and blues. It can be made from genuine gold, genuine silver or a composite of metals created to have the look of gold.
Click here for a tutorial on metal leafing.
Click here to see metal leafing used in the work of contemporary painter Paul Hunter.
Stage #F - Paul Hunter - Bronze, Gold & Acrylic on Canvas
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Paul Hunter is internationally renowned for his uniquely luminous landscape paintings on gold and metal leaf. He has adapted a centuries-old technique to give expression to his Modernist vision. His abstract minimalist landscapes combine the exceptional glow and reflective qualities of the flat metals with the emotional depth of gestural painting.
Paul Hunter’s work is in private, corporate and museum collections. The artist has had numerous solo and group exhibitions in galleries across the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, the United Arab Emirates and China. His work hangs in museums including:
Paul Hunter has received awards from Pollock-Krasner Foundation, Artists Space, National Studio Program: PS 1, Institute for Art & Urban Resources, Canada Council and Quebec Arts Fellowship.
To see more of these amazing paintings visit paulhuntergoldlandscapes.com
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