Mother’s Day Gift for Artist Mom

If your mom is an artist, or likes doodling, this gift will be just right for Mother’s Day. Buy (or make) a flower pot with an inspiring phrase on it. This one says “thrive,” which is great for both the plants and mom.

You’ll need:
Terra-cotta flower pot, about 4-inch diameter, with base
A 1-lb bag of rice or beans, in any color
A small piece of plastic wrap
Masking tape
Colored paper. I used Mei-teintes for color-fastness
5 Prismacolor pencils, unsharpened
5 pink pencil-top erasers
Scissors

Line the pot with plastic wrap to keep the beans in the pot and not sliding out the drainage hole. Fill the pot with (uncooked) beans or rice. Beans are less messy. Pinto beans (as shown) give a nice variegated look.

Buy several colored pencils, watercolor pencils, pastel pencils–whatever Mom uses most. The picture shows Prismacolor pencils in various shades of green to make the stems more believable. Buy the pink pencil-top erasers you used in grade-school, too.

Put the erasers on the end of the pencil that doesn’t have the SKU barcode printed on it. Sink the end with the barcode into the pot, hiding it.

Cut pointy ovals from colored paper. I cut them freehand, they don’t need to be perfect. In fact, slightly different sizes and shapes give them a realistic look. If you are ambitious, cut out green ovals that are smaller and skinnier than the petal ovals.

Cut a strip of masking tape (about 3 inches) in half lengthwise. (It comes in different widths, but can easily be cut to fit) about the width of the eraser edge. Holding a leaf against the eraser, press the tape over it. Alternate colors, or, if you are using green for the sepals, alternate those. Keep the tape tight, but don’t overwork this. It takes a bit of patience, but it’s not hard.

Continue around the eraser till you have attached four or six petals. You can use any number, but simpler is better.

Repeat with all the other pencils and tuck pretty tissue around the pot, tuck in a box or bag.

–Image and tutorial by Quinn McDonald. Quinn is a certified creativity coach and artist. See her work at QuinnCreative.com (c) 2008 All rights reserved.

Tutorial: Using Fixatives on Your Artwork

Fixatives give you two choices: workable fixative or non-workable fixatives. Well, neither one is really satisfying by title alone.

Let’s get the bad news over with first: most of them come in spray cans. Some have fluorocarbons, some not. I’m not a fan of spray cans, they take up a lot of space in a landfill. I’ve never seen a fixative in anything else except a spray can, although I’d be happy to hear about another application.

The spray can creates the ideal delivery system–tiny drops in a wide spray. The purpose of most fixatives is to keep charcoal, Conte crayon, pencil, and pastels from rubbing off.

The other purposes of a fixative is to protect your work from damaging UV rays and other environmental horrors. The best ones protect with a sealant that can be removed by conservators.

Here’s the important part: unless you use fixatives correctly, you will not be doing your artwork any favors. And most people don’t use them correctly. Here are some tips:

1. Make sure your artwork is finished. Including your signature. Any work you do after using a fixative is going to rub the sealant around the page, and that’s not so great for the paper or the medium.

2. Several light spritzes are better than one blast. I see people do this over and over. They slap their expensive paper down, then apply fixative until the paper is soaked. This isn’t a brownie pan and it’s not non-stick spray you are wielding. The key to success is several light, sweeping sprays.

3. If your paper is wet, you’re doing it wrong. Keep the nozzle about a foot away from your artwork. Push the nozzle down and mist the paper in a gentle sweep. Pretend you are applying a wonderful perfume, rather than waterproofing your sneakers. Let it dry. Really. Dry till the back of your hand doesn’t feel cool when placed against the artwork. Then repeat. With a light touch, three coats are just right. With a heavy spray, one coat is too much.

4. Give the spray a chance to spread out. If you hold the nozzle too close to the paper the propellant will blow off the top layer of charcoal or pastel, and mottle your work with moisture. Holding the can a foot above the paper will give you the best results.

5. Choose the finish you want. Read the label. There are matte, transparent and gloss fixatives. Choose the one you want, not the one that’s there. Dickblick.com has a big variety worth checking out.

6. Clear the nozzle when you are done. The stuff you are spraying is a type of varnish. If you don’t clear the nozzle you will never use up the can because the nozzle will be hermetically sealed with fixative. To clear the nozzle, turn the can upside down, make sure the hole is facing away from you, and depress the nozzle. It will begin to spray, but after about 3 seconds, only the propellant will come out. Let the propellant hiss out for at least two seconds. Yes, this wastes some of the fixative. But if you don’t do it, you’ll waste a lot more as it gets stuck in the can.

7. If you are not done, use workable fixative. Workable means you can continue to work on the piece without smudging. Non-workable means you are done. If you continue to work on non-workable, you will be rolling varnish over the surface of your paper, picking up tiny rough pieces of chalk or charcoal. You are now scrubbing the surface of the paper, and bits of the paper are rolling around in this mess, too. When you go to put more charcoal down, it will be on a different surface and it will not look the same. You’ll have thicker and thinner layers of color, and the surface, now more absorbent, will mottle when you go back with more fixative.

A light touch, and letting the work dry completely before doing anything else is the best way to use fixative. Even a light touch can change the tonal value of your work. Before you “fix” it, let the fixative dry completely. You won’t have to work so hard.

Image: Conte crayon on Canson 98-lb. Mi-Teintes paper. Quinn McDonald (c) 2008 Quinn McDonald is a certified creativity coach who has learned to wear shop aprons when working with glues and fixatives. See her work at QuinnCreative.com

Tutorial: Desk Organizer, Brush holder

Trying not to add plastic to the world means not buying it in the first place. I needed a place on my art desk to keep my brushes, pencils, and knitting needles. Might as well keep all the long, sharp things in one place.

Materials. Use heavy cardboard tubing (mine came in a piece of furniture packing) , the core of a skein of knitting yarn,  and another recyled object–I used a painted gourd from another project.  

You can use mailing tubes. I f you choose paper towel cores, you will have to cover them with maps or grocery bags to make them sturdy enough. The round shape can also be a used tennis ball. Go for a different shape entirely by recycling crushed aluminum foil or a plastic pudding container.

Measure the length of all the items that are going in the holder. In my group of items to store there was a short group (pencils) a medium group (sumi-e brushes) and a tall group (knitting needles and that long sumi-e brush). I made a mark on one of the tubes so I could make two cuts, one from each end. That gave me a machine-cut perfectly flat end to glue down and the cut end I’d make, not so perfect, to face up.

Cut the tube so you can throw out the middle section. It will have two hand-cut ends, and in my case, they were not perfectly even, so they’d wobble if I tried to glue them down. I used the flat end as the glue point.

Use a hand saw to make the cuts. I used a heavy serrated bread knife, because my tools aren’t here. Don’t use anything with an electric blade, it will build up heat and could set the cardboard tube on fire.

Paint the tubes if you prefer. I like the natural look and feel of plain cardboard.

Arrange the tubes into a pattern that will let you remove what you need without knocking over other items.

Glue the tubes to each other first. I added a dried gourd, cut and painted white, that I had left over from another project. This gives the arrangement an organic shape.

Fasten with a rubber band to hold them in place. When the glue is dry, remove the rubber band.

Glue again. When the tubes are no longer in danger of slipping apart, put glue on the bottom of each of the tubes and glue the entire piece to a larger piece of cardboard. This will give the whole piece more stability.

Place pencils, pens, knitting needles in place. I topped it with a few long stems of dried flowers. You can put it on your desk with a heavy article such as a few books or a pencil sharpener standing on the cardboard for additional stability.

Images: Quinn McDonald (c) 2008 QuinnCreative. com

Tutorial: Paper and Ink

Ink and brush are an ancient combination that create contemporary art. These illustrations make wonderful handmade cards. With a little practice, the art of sumi-e yields wonderful results. You can leave them black and white or you can add a touch of color. You can buy the ink, or you can buy a stick of sumi-e ink and a grinding block.

The ink stick looks lacquered. It is. Rub the short end against a wet grinding block until you have a puddle of ink. I like to use distilled water in a spray bottle to create a deep black ink.

If you buy the fat brushes traditional for this art, soak and rinse the brushes. They are stiffened with fish glue to help them keep their shape in transit.

The basic strokes are simple: hold the brush upright, start with the tip of the brush, then push down, drag, then lift up as if it were an airplane taking off. That’s a leaf. A stem uses the tip of the brush pushed down and dragged, then pushed again.

The rest is practice. 15 minutes a day yields good results in about a week. The minimalism is soothing. The suggestion of the completed piece is all you need. Your mind does the rest. Creativity in action.

–Quinn McDonald is a certified creativity coach and an artist. She develops and runs training programs in communication. She believes art is an important form of communication that doesn’t require words, although words are art in themselves. (c) All rights reserved. 2008.

Tutorial: Speaking to Your Co-Workers

Public speaking is delivering a speech to a large group of people. But public speaking is also having a business conversation with your supervisor, persuading your spouse to go to the movie you want to see, speaking up at staff meeting and asking questions about the menu in a crowded restaurant.

Most people are afraid of public speaking because they don’t want to look stupid, sound scared or make a fool of themselves. Mark Twain, the American author of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, said “There are two types of speakers: those that are nervous and those that are liars”.

Here are seven tips for improving your speaking skills:

1. Public speaking doesn’t come naturally. You have to practice. Even something as simple as persuading your spouse to see the movie you have been wanting to see gets better with practice.  Lenny Laskowski, a professional speaker and member of the National Speakers Association points out that Proper preparation and rehearsal can help to reduce this fear by about 75%.

2. Don’t rehearse in front of a mirror. That’s not what you’ll see when you are speaking. Rehearse by speaking the words you want to say out loud. You can do this while driving, in the shower, or while doing dishes. You’ll want to say the words out loud to hear how they sound, to work on breathing and to gain confidence.

3. It’s not about you. You are doing the speaking, sure, but the point of your speaking is directed at an audience–strangers or co-workers. How can you reach them best? What phrases are they familiar with? What examples will they understand?  I once wanted to make an important point, and chose to emphasize it with a classic Greek quote from the poet Homer, who wrote The Odyssey. I spoke the quote with all seriousness, then saw, to my panic, that no one had ever heard it before.  “It’s Homer,” I said, hoping to make myself clear. A young woman in my audience looked at me quizzically. “Homer Simpson said that?” she asked. Use words, examples, metaphors and references your audience knows.

4. Ask questions. Often speakers think they have to have all the answers. If you are speaking to your supervisor, you may need information. This can be uncomfortable, as you have to risk admitting you don’t know something, maybe something you should know. Instead of starting out with “I know I should know this, but I don’t. . .” start with, “I’d like to ask you a question about the marketing plan you mentioned last month. . .” People like to feel like experts. If you give the question context up front, your supervisor will be able to follow along and answer your question.

5. Speak briefly; start with the main point. A common mistake people make in staff meeting it to start with a long explanation or background. The audience becomes impatient waiting for the punch line. The room gets noisy with coughs and people shifting in their seats, or rattling papers. That makes the speaker nervous and defensive. Saying something like, “I hate to keep asking this, but. . .” doesn’t help you get heard. It tells people about your insecurity.

• Start with the main point, “I have a question about our budget.”
• Then put some context in. “On page 4, the second paragraph says that we may be laying off people. . .”
• Finally, frame your specific question. “Will this affect our department?”

Then wait for an answer. If you want someone specific to answer your question, ask the person at the beginning of the question, not at the end.

If someone asks you a question, break eye contact and give yourself a few seconds to think through the answer. This avoids space fillers, such as “ahhhh” and “ummm,” or even poor answers like, “Why would you ask me that question?”

6. Don’t use the word “why.” Asking someone why they used that PowerPoint presentation, gave their article to the webmaster, or other specific questions make people defensive. Avoid saying “Why did you do that?” or “Why did you think that was a good idea?” Instead, say, “Could you tell me more about that?” or “How did you get to that decision?” Asking for more information or a specific point without the question “why” will get you more information and less anger.

7. Prepare for small speeches and big ones. This article started with that suggestion, and I’ll end with it. Practice at least three times. The first time you practice, you’ll discover words you don’t want to use. The second time, you can hear where you need to put in more proof statements or examples, and the third time builds confidence.

Speaking in public takes practice and patience, but it pays off quickly. Try one of the tips above at the next meeting and see if you don’t do a better job of speaking. Now you are on your way.

–Quinn McDonald is a professional speaker, and a member of the National Speakers’ Association. She is also a certified creativity coach who helps people develop and deliver speeches.

Looking v. Seeing and Time for Art

While waiting for my husband to sell the house and join me in Arizona, I moved into an apartment. I work on borrowed card tables, sit on borrowed folding chairs. Of all the things I don’t have, I miss a lemon zester the most.

It’s lemon season in Arizona, with lots of fat, juicy, fragrant yellow fruit hanging on trees in parks and bus stops, there for the picking.

But this isn’t another lemon dessert post. It’s about the thing I don’t miss: TV. My new acquaintances are shocked when they hear I don’t have a TV.
“What do you DO at night?”
“I’d die without a TV!”
“Don’t you care what happens on [name of program]?”

The writer’s strike is still on, so I gather I’m not missing much. I gave up TV right after I watched, in embarrassment for writers and TV producers alike, Donald Trump honking, “You’re fired!” in the first show of the first season of The Apprentice.

When the TV went dark, I began to develop a whole evening life. Previously, I had always been “exhausted” and “so tired I just want to be passively entertained.” Without a TV, I read books, walk every evening (and have lost 20 pounds doing it, without denying myself chocolate), write these posts, read other people’s posts, and . . .draw. I always thought of myself as a horrible illustrator. It turns out that drawing skill is not magic or secret. It lies in seeing the world around you. Not looking at it, but seeing it. There is a difference.

With the TV off, the apartment is quiet. The same quiet that makes people nervous is actually soothing. I put on some ambient music, grab a pencil and something to draw. I look at it first, noticing the shapes, sketching them in. Then I refine the shape. After that comes the shadows and textures. This takes time. Which is exactly why I didn’t draw before.

You can’t draw a good picture in 30 seconds. Well, I can’t anyway.

My evenings now include some drawing time. I find it has benefits. My blood pressure dropped. I’m calmer. I have more patience. I think more clearly. I laugh more often.

You know that time you always want and don’t have? Your TV sucks it up, along with hours of your busy life.

Spend two nights away from your TV, and you may never turn it on again. If you think you will be shunned by your peers, you can listen to them talk and ask questions. People like being listened to and no one will know your secret.

–Quinn McDonald is a writer and certified creativity coach who lives in Mesa, AZ. See her work at QuinnCreative.com Pear painting: one of the things she drew while not watching TV. (c) 2008 All rights reserved.

Tutorial: Mosaic Heart Card

Valentines Day is this Thursday–time to make cards! I’ve always preferred hand-made cards to purchased ones, and I prefer cards that are a little different. Most of all, I like original art–pieces I think up and make myself. It’s a little harder than assembling cards, but it’s more satisfying as well.

Yesterday we did the Valentine Tree Card. today we’ll do the Mosaic Heart Card.

In this case, the cards are green, too. Not the color, but the pieces are cut from watercolors that didn’t work out. Watercolor paper is expensive and recycling it for cards is a good way to save paper and money.

Steps to make Mosaic Heart card:
1. Choose a good quality watercolor paper. Cheap paper will curl and fold, and won’t look like a card. I used 140-pound cold press Arches paper. I work small size pieces, so I purchased a 9 x 12 block, folded it once to 4.5″ x 12 inches and cut it in half so I had two cards 4.5″ x 6″. I trimmed a bit more off to make the top (where it came off the block) smooth.

2. Using a #6 watercolor brush, I applied a blue wash over the top two-thirds of the card. You want the wash to be uneven, it gives a more interesting background. You do not need to be a watercolor expert, or even talented, to get it right. Apply a blue-purple wash on the bottom third. You don’t need to be precise. An interesting background makes for a visually interesting card. Dry the piece of paper completely.

3. Paint another piece of paper with a red wash. You want to get different shades of red into the piece, so don’t be shy using and mixing color. Let it dry before cutting.

In my case, I took a disaster painting that had red in it and used it. Cut out strips and then cut the strips into smaller squares and rectangles. They should not be even. Put the pieces in a shallow dish to keep them together.

4. Fold a piece of lightweight paper (copier paper is fine) in half lengthwise. Trace have a heart on it, starting at the fold. Cut out the heart and unfold it. This is your heart stencil.

5. Using an HB pencil, and your heart stencil, lightly draw a heart shape starting about an inch from the top of the card, in the center of the card front. Tilt the heart slightly for a more interesting effect.

6. Pour glue onto a folded piece of paper, making a puddle about the size of a dime. Using a cheap watercolor brush, paint the glue on the edge of the heart drawing, no more than the size of a postage stamp.

7. Working quickly, touch the tip of the glue brush to a piece of red paper, and stick it onto the glue area. Start by working at the edge of the heart. Keep the pieces close to the edge without going over. If some of the pencil outline shows, it’s fine. Work close to the edge, keeping the pieces close to each other. Once the outline is done, you can work toward the middle. The pieces don’t need to touch. I had one piece that had a white stripe in it. I placed it so it formed the edge of the dip in the heart. This adds visual interest to the piece, but it is not necessary.

8. When the heart is all filled in, put a few pieces around the top and bottom to give the illusion that the piece is moving. Let dry completely.

9. When the glue is dry, put the card between two pieces of wax paper and press it between heavy books overnight. You can either make and envelope or simply buy one that is a bit larger than the card.

10. To make an envelope, trace around the card, leaving about 1/4 inch of space around it. Over the center of each side put a dot about three inches up. Draw a line from the dot to each corner of the outline. Before you cut, make sure the flaps will cover the card completely. Adjust as necessary.

You can also purchase mailers or save envelopes from cards sets that left you with a spare envelope.

Write a message inside that links the illustration with a loving thought.
Examples:
You make my life come together with love
Your love fills my heart
My heart is filled with pieces of your love

–Quinn McDonald teaches card making at the Mesa Art Center in Arizona
(c) 2008 All rights reserved.

Tutorial: Valentine Tree Card

Valentines Day is this Thursday–time to make cards! I’ve always preferred hand-made cards to purchased ones, and I prefer cards that are a little different. Most of all, I like original art–pieces I think up and make myself. It’s a little harder than assembling cards, but it’s more satisfying as well.

Today we’ll do the first card, and tomorrow a different one. Today’s card is the Valentine Tree Card.

In this case, the cards are green, too. Not just the color, but the pieces are cut from watercolors that didn’t work out. Watercolor paper is expensive and recycling it for cards is a good way to save paper and money.

Steps to make Valentine Tree card:
1. Choose a good quality watercolor paper. Cheap paper will curl and fold, and won’t look like a card. I used 140-pound cold press Arches paper. I work small size pieces, so I purchased a 9 x 12 block, folded it once to 4.5″ x 12 inches and cut it in half so I had two cards 4.5″ x 6″. I trimmed a bit more off to make the top (where it came off the block) smooth.

2. Using a #6 watercolor brush, I applied a blue wash over the top two-thirds of the card. You want the wash to be uneven, it gives a more interesting background. You do not need to be a watercolor expert, or even talented, to get it right. Apply a green wash on the bottom third. I tilted my paper too much and got a lighter spot. This actually adds visual interest. Dry the piece of paper completely.

3. Paint another piece of paper with a green wash. You want to get different shades of green into the piece, so don’t be shy using and mixing color. Let it dry before cutting.

In my case, I took a disaster painting that had green in it and used it. Cut out hearts freehand. You want them to be different sizes and shapes.

Tip: You can probably cut out half a heart shape well, but not the other half. Me, too. So I cut out half, then turn the paper over, and can do the “better half” again, creating a pretty good heart.

4. Paint a heavy piece of paper in red watercolor. You can also use acrylic for a different effect. But make sure it’s very red. No pastels here. Let it dry completely. Cut out a fat heart shape, slightly larger than any of the others.

5. Using an HB pencil, lightly draw a tree shape starting about an inch from the bottom of the card, in the center of the card front, over the green wash, reaching into the blue wash. It doesn’t have to be perfect, as you will cover most of it with leaves.

6. Using lots of watercolor on an almost dry brush, paint in the trunk. Use several colors of brown, starting with the palest and working toward black. Let each layer dry, or use a hair dryer carefully to dry the paint. The darker the color, the less you use. Let dry.

7. Arrange the green hearts over the branches of your tree. Using a cheap watercolor brush, put a dot of glue on the card and a dot on the heart and glue each heart down. You want a mix of sizes and colors, and you want the hearts to overlap in places. Put the red heart in a prominent place and let one or two other overlap it slightly.

8. It’s fine if some of the hearts stick out over the edge. When the glue is dry, trim the pieces that extend beyond the edge off.

9. When the glue is dry, put the card between two pieces of wax paper and press it between heavy books overnight. You can either make and envelope or simply buy one that is a bit larger than the card.

10. To make an envelope, trace around the card, leaving about 1/4 inch of space around it. Over the center of each side put a dot about three inches up. Draw a line from the dot to each corner of the outline. Before you cut, make sure the flaps will cover the card completely. Adjust as necessary.

You can also purchase mailers or save envelopes from cards sets that left you with a spare envelope.

Write a message inside that links the illustration with a loving thought.
Examples:
Your love brightens my life
Your love is special to me
In the world of love, yours is unique
Your love is the one I pick

–Quinn McDonald teaches card making at the Mesa Art Center in Arizona
(c) 2008 All rights reserved.

Tutorial: Collage Background (3)

The background of a collage is held together visually by a pattern, a color, a texture, or a mixture of all three. I’ve come across a background technique that is easy to learn, but complicated to master.

It can be done with pencil, colored pencil, ink, crayon, or anything that draws a fine line. The examples below show the technique on handmade paper, and the spots are petal inclusions.

Prepare a sheet of collage background paper by painting or using handmade paper. Using a pen, colored pencil, or other instrument that will draw a fine line, draw a line across the paper, as straight as you can. The trick here is not to be perfect, but to let your imperfections make this a beautiful background.

Draw another line, as close to the first as possible. As the shapes take place, vary one line a bit, then follow that outline for a while. At the bottom of the page, you will have a background of interest, texture and shape that you can then fade by blending or painting over with transparent washes. I found that using color defined the area and that coloring in the space between the line created a drawing in itself that required little else.

You can also try this with pencils of varying hardness and watercolors. If you blend watercolor pencils (aquarells), you will get a much different effect.

Have fun!

(c) Quinn McDonald, 2008. All rights reserved. Quinn McDonald is a writer and certified creativity coach. She teaches journal writing and collage at the Mesa Art Center.

Tutorial: Envelope Journal

The journals I like to make best are ones with just a few pages. That way, I can fill them up quickly, and make another one. Like most people who make things, I often enjoy the design and creation more than using the actual finished piece. So I always leave room for the possibility of altering my work some more.

Materials: This tutorial uses simple things you already have: cardboard for the cover (I used mat board), number 10 size envelopes, masking tape, bookbinding tape (it’s expensive, you can substitute gaffers tape), cotton thread, a pointy awl and watercolors.

Purpose: This envelope journal has room to write in and room to keep a note, a concert ticket, or a photo along with the memory.

Assembly: 1. Cut black (or another solid color of mat board) into rectangles slightly larger (about one-fourth inch all the way around) than the envelope you will use. Put them next to each other, long sides together, but about one-quarter inch apart. Cut a piece of gaffers tape about 2 inches longer than the covers. Center the tape over the covers and place it down gently. Lift the covers, turn them over and smooth down the piece of tape at the top and bottom. Cut another piece of tape to cover the space in between the top and bottom overlaps. Cut it long enough so you have all the sticky part of the tape completely covered.

2. Lay two envelopes, flap side down, in front of you, side by side. They should be about one-eighth inch apart. Tape them together, the long way, using masking tape. Create three sets of these. If you want to have the envelopes face in different directions, take into account that these pairs of envelopes will nest.

3. Nest the pairs of envelopes and line up the top and bottom. Place them in the center of the open book covers.

4. Using the awl, or a self-centering screw punch (you get them from a hardware store) punch four evenly spaced holes in the tape between the envelopes and book covers.

5. Thread a tapestry needle with cotton thread. It should be thick enough not to tear. Starting from the back of the book, come up through the top hole. Go down into the next hole, come up through the third hole, and down through the fourth. If you want to make your book sturdier, come back up through the third and work your way to the top. The needle should exit out of hole # 1. Tie the thread off and trim the ends.

6. Decorate the cover. Paint geometric figures on the plain side of the envelopes. Leave enough space for writing.

–Quinn McDonald is an artist, writer and certified creativity coach. She teaches at the Mesa Art Center in Mesa, Arizona. Images: Quinn McDonald. (c) 2008. All rights reserved.