Indigo and Shibori Dye

Yesterday was my first ever attempt at indigo dying and checking out the concept of Shibori. I Googled "Shibori" and found out that: it is a Japanese term for several methods of dyeing cloth with a pattern by binding, stitching, folding, twisting....

It was lots of fun even though it was so hot yesterday. I was very happy with some of my projects. It is strange but I forgot to take a picture of the Shibori pole-wraped silk scarf!!! I still have some indigo left in my dye vat and I definitely want to do some more dying.

I invite anyone who is interested to check out these websites: http://shiborigirl.wordpress.com/

and

http://www.maiwa.com/documentaries/pc_callender.html

I just had to download a few of their informative podcasts too.

What a great experience! So, I wasn't really sure what to expect so I had "prepared" a few items for the dye bath. However, what I like the most wasn't my dyed pillowcases but the Shibori dyed silk scarf. I know that I have a few more packages of silk chiffon and my fingers are just itching to get them in the dye bath.

So, in the beginning ... there is plain white cotton and in this case, two pillowcases. I went to the dollar store and got some elastics (500 in a package no less) and started to "tie" my fabric. I was surprised to find out that elastics have changed from what I had used in the past (who knew?!!)

Okay there are a few things going on in the snap below. I have a piece of watercolour paper, an old sweater that had some stains on it and yes a pole. With some helpful instructions from my good friend Leanne, I have taped, wrapped and bound with crochet cotton my silk scarf to the outside of the pole.

I didn't know that the dye would at first appear to be green until the oxygen gets at the fabric and turns it the lovely blue shade.

One pillowcase successfully dyed!

So here is the one pillow case. The worst part of doing this was untying the elastic. I ripped out, snapped off as much as I could with a pair of scissors. I was just a bit concerned about doing that since I was afraid of cutting the fabric. Secondly, I was wondering how my fingers and nails would look the next day. My finger nails only have a slightly blue tinge today!

Oh so reminiscent of the 1970's!!! I love fun!

Oh and if you are wondering; yes, I am still doing hair on my final drawing project!!!

Okay, I'm at Starbucks in town so I can use the free WiFi internet and downloading the latest updates for my computer. Along comes an "old fella" and asked one of the men if he is here to get away from his parents basement. He thought that we were all way to engrossed on what is going on our respective computer screens. When I looked up to survey my colleagues at the table I would have surmised that we are all over the age of 35. Obviously, we look silly to the "old fella" who was wearing a white canvas fedora (while indoors no less).

Final Drawing Project

Working certainly makes me a very dull girl! I will be working for 7 straight days in a row so I haven't had time to do any art. So, darn it all but I have not finished my final drawing project for art class tonight. I will try to get some of the hair filled in before I have to leave for work today.

I completed the skin on the face and neck while only my lunch break yesterday at Tim Horton's yesterday and had a very sweet kid come up and make some interesting comments. He had some good pointers to offer and I ended up using my kneadable to take off some marks that I knew I needed to but had not yet gotten around to it. He did say that I had done a good job so far! Yippee!!!! Unfortunately, I had hoped to get more done on my final piece but we ended up chatting, he is a construction worker and also enjoys drawing, tattoo designs (he had lots of them) and clay work. I have never gone to Tim's and drawn anything in the past, usually I just sit there and read a book. So it was an interesting lunch which afforded an objective critique of my drawing by a person I do not know

Nope, I'm not going to post it here since it will become a birthday gift for a very dear friend.

Here is the cover of my sketchbook that I put some left over paint on and doodled.

Nasty Hair

I had a not so lovely experience yesterday! I had a date with the dental surgeon to get my implant. It has been a long time in coming when the tooth fractured last August. Healing and bone growth take time. This next phase will take quite some as well! I'm glad that I opted to sleep through the procedure. What a slick operation the dental specialist has!!!! In one door and out the back door; to ensure that the patient is closer to the elevator on leaving so that no one can see you with your ice pack on your face.

So, yes that means I am "still" working on hair. I don't know what it is but I thought that I had the drawing dark enough but the picture says otherwise. In addition, I can see some errors in my perception. So the question is, are the flaws in my drawing going to make a big difference and change the overall appearance of the person. No, I don't think so, my drawing is close even if I do say so myself. Sometimes I wonder exactly what I was thinking at the time that I did the contour drawing. I drew it in "quadrants" and coloured it in using the quadrant method as well and still I have made some obvious errors in the hair style. No, I have no idea what I was thinking and why it is that I didn't see the obvious until now. So I think that I will call my attempt at drawing hair - "impressionistic realism".

Drawing and Music

I have read lots of posts by bloggers who cite classical music as the cats meow for making art. I have read that jazz greats like Thelonius Monk is another perfect option. These suggestions are often made for music to be part of the creative process but pushed into the background. I like mind just a bit more front and centre.

Hmmm! As with art, music is definitely a personal preference. I agree that classical and Thelonius have their place and there is certainly a good "marriage" between the two artistic realms. I have tried out these different genres with some success but find that I prefer my music a bit more uptempo whether it is a cold or sultry day! Music is so very subjective and I do change my mind oftentimes it is based on my mood. Of late, I have been leaning towards Latin/salsa and music from Africa, and the Arab world (Turkey and Egypt). I have a Macbook and I have different playlists that I use (my lovely daughter bought me some fabulous Bose speakers for my computer). I prefer world music BECAUSE I can't understand the words so I am not actually listening that closely and can continue to concentrate on the work [the art] at hand. The beat is just enough that keeps me happy but not so much that I get out of my zone and find myself "toe tapping".

Each to her/his own!

Thank goodness we have music because I am working on hair again today and need the tunes!

Today, I am listening to:

The Greatest Songs Ever: Middle East

Turkey - The Greatest Songs Ever

Arabic Groove

African Guitar Summit II - (recorded in Toronto)

Africa - The Greatest Songs Ever

Sleepless in Oro

I would prefer to still be asleep but since I can't I can appreciate the net without feeling guilty. I don't feel obligated to doing any chores around the house and being on the net is a "quiet" activity. I have my cup of hot coffee on my desk beside me so life is good indeed.

I hope to tackle drawing hair a little bit later as it is the next step in my weekly art assignment. Oh boy!!! I thought teeth were hard! Hair is every bit as hard as the rest of the face. The instructor says that hair is tedious and has tried to simplify the process for us. For some reason I think that I am having difficulty grasping the concept. I started the assignment yesterday and I just don't "see" when I should be using island, parallel lines and star bursts. Some of what he showed us is so obvious if only I am able to see the "little intricacies" of the big picture that is HAIR (Cowsills song). On the other hand, the way I see it, some marks are completely subjective. I feel concerned about the rightness and wrongness of my mark making. I must remember that marks have to visually flow so that it replicates our normal world as closely as possible. For example, if there is a clump of wispy hair here then the hair near or "under" it will be darker; remember that hair is darker near a part. That is the sort of thing that is all true but not something that we actually "think" about. Without actually saying so, I think our instructor is trying to get us to change the way we "see" or at least "interpret" what we see and how we make that mark on the paper. It is exactly like my issues with the teeth, we all think we have white teeth when in fact we don't.

Ahhh well, come what may!

It is not always about drawing!!!

I love the abstract nature of this snap! I stopped at a little parkette that I have driven by on many an occasion. It is right beside Camp Hillbilly!!! (seeing this name always makes me chuckle). I decided to stop yesterday on my way home from Deerhurst Resort. It was great because it was so cool and shady on such a hot day. I love how the lily pads are strong and clear in the foreground and the background is all blurry because it is the reflection of the trees in the water. No, I will never be Monet (I think he was the famous artist that painted the lily pads). I like the way it has percolated my creative thoughts. It makes me feel all bubbly with what if I did that or this or the other. Unfortunately, I have no time to do right now! But no complaints!

I had to take a snap of this little flower (weed)! It was the only touch of red in the whole park! It immediately caught my eye! No wonder! I'm sure that colour theory was modelled from nature.

Okay, so here is my portrait project so far! As you can see the bottom half is clearly different from the top half (hmm where have I heard that before??!!). My instructor said that my top half was too light so I drew the bottom half completely in 2B other than the mapping in which I did using an H lead. I had hoped to have time to blend the two drawings together so they actually looked like they "belonged" to the same face and without the line in the centre. That obviously didn't happen!

I was at a conference so I didn't spend as much time "checking" my work using my camera as my guide. Our instructors' critique was that my teeth are way to white. I can certainly see that my teeth are indeed way "too white"!! They almost jump off the page! Ugh! In fact, I think that he might just have a point, I think the whole drawing shows way too much white paper through the pencil. I think it is all about practice, practice, practice and yes, more practice. I have a ways to go on that score!

There was a "life perspectives" coach at the conference and she says that we need to do "NEW" things. So here I am, doing and learning something new and loving it. It is hard work but well worth the effort.

Drawing Challenges

I have to get my picture finished today in preparation for lots of chores to do in town tomorrow. Then art class!

This latest homework assignment has been difficult. Our instructor said that it would be the most fun of all his assignments this far. That may be so but it is also the most difficult. I have to put in all of the skin lines and hair (eyelashes) and such today.

I will try and post my final pic along with the instructors critique. I find that since I am looking at it now, I see many mistakes. I think that I might do my next drawing exactly the way the instructor does; piece by piece. He draws in segments and fills in the "colour" in segments like fitting a puzzle together. I have been working "all over the place" and I think that I am doing myself a dis-service because when I do find a mistake then it is often just too difficult to correct. I just can't force myself to erase all the work that I have done and start over. Well, maybe that is exactly what I should have done; started over. No matter, I don't have the time for that and so this effort will have to suffice in its current state; warts and all.

Then later today I have to pack up for the weekend at our trailer in Bracebridge. From there, I am going directly to Huntsville for a conference. Only saving grace is that it is only 33 kms from where I'll be at the camp and only and hour and a bit back home! The conference is finished on Thursday and I'll be heading home southbound so there shouldn't be an issue with the northbound tourist traffic!