Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Sketchbook: "Science Project Gone Wrong"


My sketchbook is DONE! It's going in the mail tomorrow to the Brooklyn Art Library, to be part of a traveling art exhibit. Perhaps the exhibit will show up in your part of the country and you'll get to see the variety of work submitted.
Anyhow, I'm excited to be able to share this goofy project with you before it heads off to its new home. I'm taking you through it in double-page spreads. It is a fusion of painting and collage, and the pages have been burned, torn and generally mangled on purpose to go with the theme "science project gone wrong". I'm starting with the cover and inside front page. At the library, they will be inserting a pocket with info on the inside front cover; hence it has been left relatively simple. Here we go!







OK, I don't know why I stuck in a dragon-like critter, but well, I'm kinda obsessed by dragons so it just HAD to be there.

OK, we're coming to the end. The burned up pages were my son's idea. I knew I'd never finish the whole thing, and the last pages were perforated so I removed and burned them. Fun, fun! He had actually suggested I burn up the whole thing and submit it with just ashes stored inside the cover. A fun idea, but not quite what I had in mind. To read my DaVinci style writing, just use a mirror.

That's it! DONE!

We had a snow day today, yippee! Today's unexpected day off gave me the time to complete my sketchbook.

Unlike those of you in the south, we've got the plows etc and with even our new 8" to 10" of snow, everything is fine for driving and we'll be back in school tomorrow. I feel so bad for those of you who have missed 3 or so days in a row. Yikes! I've been wondering about art teacher/blogger "Artful Artsy Amy" from Georgia, who has been off on a trip to Africa, and wondering if she is home yet or if she will have trouble getting back with all the airline delays.
A little secret: I actually LIKE to drive in the snow, at least around town, so I was happy to get cleaned off and out of the driveway for a trip to the gym in between coats of ModPodge on my sketchbook.

13 comments:

  1. This looks FANTASTC Phyl. I just love your approach and techniques!

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  2. I love clicking on these and seeing them BIG! They look like they came from the same place as your dragon (oops I'm forgetting her name!) They are awesome and have so much depth I would love it if they came here to CT!

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  3. I LOVE all the goopy, gloppy drips and drops!!!! Doesn't it feet great to put it in the mail??!!

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  4. to find the sketchbook tour info, go to: http://www.arthousecoop.com/projects/sketchbookproject/exhibitions

    After Brooklyn, I believe it goes to Austin TX for the South by Southwest music festival! Woo hoo! wish I could go THERE! Then to Portland Maine, then other locations... Brooklyn is closest to me.

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  5. You really took the theme and ran with it. I especially love the pages with the fluorescent color. Good for you!

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  6. What an awesome journal! Wish I could see it in real life. Congrats on finishing it.

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  7. Phyl I love what you have done with you sketchbook - so creative! I finally finished mine (what a relief!) and I would like to post my pictures on my blog. How did you make it so that you could click on the images and then view them large in another window?

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  8. Janelle, it's really pretty simple. First of all, I don't reduce the size/resolution of my photos to put on the blog. When I first starting my blog I tediously did that for every photo and UGH too much time, so Istopped reducing. I realize that 10 months down the road I've only used 25% of my free photo capacity without shrinking them, anyhow. I do shoot at a high resolution; I just like it better that way. Then (with the exception of my Sunday comics) I enter the photo on blogger using "small" for size. That way you can fit more photos in a row. And that's it! Click on them, and they open to full size, I guess. I just checked on your blog, and if you click on your photos they also open in a new window. But it looks like you are entering them as "medium" or "large to begin with, so they don't grow much when you open them. Hope that helps.

    Oh - Erica - the dragon in my art room is Lucy (in the sky) and her baby (yes there's a baby too) is Sparkle. I guess this dragon does have some similarity to Lucy, though Lucy's scales & coloring have more in common with the color of my sketchbook.

    And while I'm here rattling on - thanks everyone for your comments about the sketchbook. When you get right down to it, the artwork/drawing is rather juvenile but when I decided to do this project the goal was to have FUN and I did. My personal "thing" is rich color, so that's where I really went at it. Much of the painting was done by rubbing layers and layers with my fingers. I'm just a big kid I guess!

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  9. Oh - and by the way - I can't wait to see what you post for your sketchbook, too. I've browsed a few I've seen posted online here and there, and one after another they are spectacular and unique. They are so much more than "sketchbooks". Not a single sketch in mine at all, when you get right down to it!

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  10. Thanks for you help! I actually was reducing the size of all my photos before uploading them to my blog. It's great to know that I don't have to do that!!

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