I didn’t stay too far from my usual subjects. Florals dominated the month. I did experiment with a few new techniques in watercolor and collage. I learned a lot. That is always fun.
One of the reasons I enjoy digital collage, is that I am always learning new techniques. I want to do something, make it look a certain way. And often times, I have to figure out just how to do it. Haha.
My favorites are the ones I had the most fun with. Some of you have already shared your favorite pieces with me. It is always interesting to know what others find appealing.
I count my September as a successful one. I picked up a brush, after many months of not painting. My desk is a mess, and I have ideas in mind for new work. I am looking forward to that. And also to the February 2025 session of the Gathering.
I will be adding some of these to my Society6 shop next week. I will let you know when they are available. I appreciate your interest in purchasing my art. Color me excited!
Thanks again friends, I really appreciate hearing from you. Your support means a lot to me. God Bless!
I apologize, my site is being transferred to a new server, and there have been issues that caused the site to be down. It may still be offline, on and off, for a few more days.
Here are the last two weeks of the Gathering.
I tried another new watercolor technique with the coneflowers, above. A looser style. I didn’t quite get it right, but I was happy with how they turned out. I will be trying that again. The last two florals are mixed media. I am really having fun mixing watercolor, collage and digital collage.
The final days are like a blur. Time was passing so quickly. I think that is a good sign. I was in the zone, and having fun. I tried a new style, inspired by Lucie Duclos. I signed up for Sketchbook Revival, and followed her session. She uses a clean, simplified style. Also a bit retro with a 60’s feel. Really a fun way to approach collage.
The large pink collage was also inspired by Lucie. I had so much fun with that, I did not want to stop. I painted the background. Some of the elements are hand panted as well. But the collage work is 100% digital.
Many of my favorites were from the final week. I am so thankful that my energy did not dwindle. In the next post, I will share my collage for the month, and also my favorites. The group gallery video will be up shortly as well.
Thanks again for following along. Happy day to you!
My usual M.O. is to make a plan, and have a few themes in mind at the beginning of the gathering. The journey usually presents a different path, and I follow where it leads.
Not the abstracts I had in mind. But still a good month. Filled with learning, some mild frustration (part of learning), and meditative moments.
I made use of scrap paper. A couple of extra wide bookmarks. Some smaller, simple florals. I worked in several sizes. 4 x 4, 8 x 8, a couple 10×10’s. I worked with watercolor, acrylics, mixed media & digital collage.
Below I share each piece, including larger views of a few of my favorites. You will see my 30 day collage, and my favorites collage.
Do you remember the overhead projectors in school? And how the teacher would sometimes layer the acetate sheets to show a change of angles or size. Well that is a simple way to think about digital collage. It’s all about layers.
For the landscape above, I started with a painting. Plain colors & shapes.
In the foreground I added a bit of digital painting for texture and an extra layer of color for the darker areas.
On the front range, I added a layer of an old letter. I tilted it, and changed the color.
On Mingus, I added a layer of pattern. A mixture of dots, lines and triangles.
The moon is piece of copyright free clip art. I softened the color, and added a glow effect. I exaggerated that so that it would reflect on the mountain.
To the sky I digitally painted some texture, but most of that is from the original painting. I added digital splatter, and deepened the color to more of a twilight feel.
Of course for each layer, there is experimentation. Different patterns, different colors. Different effects. Some pieces can have up to 30 layers of bits and bobs.
Thanks so much for taking a look. I always love hearing which ones you like best, and why. I am actually happy with all of them. There are only two I would make changes on. That is amazing to me, considering it took me two weeks to feel in the groove. I did make changes to a few pieces, following suggestions by friends in the group. Thanks so much for your help!
