Inspiration: A New Way of Seeing the Beauty of Japanese Art

Enter Alena Hennessy's Intuitive Painting Workshop: Techniques, Prompts, and Inspiration for a Year of Painting. Complete with step-by-step mixed-media art lessons, the book guides you through the year with new ideas to keep your gears turning. The regular practice will help keep you primed to create.

In the following excerpt from Intuitive Painting Workshop, you'll tap into the beauty of Japan to create a beautiful piece of art for the month of November.

Art by Alena Hennessy  

An Art Project for November by Alena Hennessy

This month we travel east to Japan and other worldly places to paint (even if it's just in our imagination). Here the symbolic, quirky, flat, and dreamy illustrative style of Japanese art will inspire and motivate new ways of seeing and creating. When we learn to see how other parts of the world take in their surroundings and express them through paint, we learn so much not only as artists but also as humans.

Do a Web search on Japanese artists or Japanese art and look through images until you find some that speak to you. Print several of them out to use as references. Take your time with this and choose some that you will be inspired to paint from!

1. Make a simple yet elegant background with just a few colors. I wet the Aquabord and then applied a light green ink. I blotted up the excess water or air bubbles with a paper towel, and then applied black ink into the center for a contrasting effect. Using a paper towel, I rubbed paint off down the center, leaving darker lines on the outsides.

2. I drybrushed any remaining black ink over the green parts to create an implied texture, almost like a wood grain. I did this simply by using a dry thick brush and dragging it into the semi-dry black ink. I then added a little more bright green ink over it to give the background another layer--for more depth.  

3. Japanese paintings are pretty flat or surface based, and they have a whimsical illustrated quality to them. Begin to sketch in your subject matter with a pencil or paint pen. Look to your inspirational pieces but do not copy them outright.

Because I'm creating a female figure, I used a beige (or flesh tone) water-based paint pen, and used a fine tip for her features (eyes, lips, nose) instead of a medium tip. I did use a medium tip for the rest of her, including her rosy cheeks.

4. When the paint pen is dry, add more details to your subject and refine the edges and lines by using your fine-point paint pens. I have found Japanese art to tell a story of some sort, along the lines of innocence and purity of being. What would you like yours to convey?

Finish off the painting by adding more details with the paint pens (it's always good to step away for a while and then revisit it with fresh eyes). Seal the painting with a clear spray varnish once it's complete. ~Alena

Visit ClothPaperScissors.com to view the images that accompany this step-by-step art demonstration, and get your copy of Intuitive Painting Workshop today. When you also add the Paint Mojo eBook to your cart, you'll receive that Paint Mojo eBook for free! These two amazing resources will have you inspired and prepared to create mixed-media art all year long.

brought to you by ClothPaperScissors.Com 

Embellish A Scarf in 7Easy Steps

This was in the Summer issue, but this will be an amazing project for your Fall Break or Christmas trips. Enjoy!
The May/June issue of Cloth Paper Scissors is all about creating mixed-media wearable art that fits your style. According to Editorial Director Jeannine Stein, mixed-media wearables are "something artists don't always think about when they're knee-deep in art journals, painstakingly piecing together an assemblage, or strategizing a collage design." She goes on to say, "But why shouldn't we create art to wear? Why limit our creativity to canvases and watercolor paper?" As you'll see in this issue, there's nothing to stop you from adding your flavor to aprons, purses, scarves, and more, for yourself, to give, or to sell.
 
Take, for example, the infinity scarf project that Lesley Riley shares in this issue (shown above). In this article, Lesley explains two ways to create a resist on fabric to add a favorite quote for a subtle punch of meaning. Get the May/June issue of Cloth Paper Scissors here for the full feature article and the rest of the techniques, plus plenty of other mixed-media projects and tons of inspiration.

Embellish a Scarf in 7 Easy Steps by Lesley Riley

	Figure 1

1. Iron the portion of the scarf where your quote will appear to a piece of freezer paper. Iron the scrap fabric onto freezer paper, too. The freezer paper holds the fabric in place and keeps it smooth.

2. Iron some resist shapes to the scarf. (Figure 1) These shapes will take the dye differently and appear darker when ironed later. I added paintbrush and pencil shapes that I cut from Transfer Artist Paper (TAP).

3. Twist a glue bottle top open about halfway and write some test words on some scrap fabric with the glue. You want the glue to flow smoothly, but not too fast or thick.

4. When you're pleased with your test samples, write the quote across your scarf fabric with the glue, writing just as you would on paper. (Figure 1) Lay down enough glue that your writing saturates the fabric and is visible on the back of the fabric. The glue seals the fabric, creating a resist for dyeing or painting. Leave the scarf on the freezer paper to dry.

	Figure 2. Pin this project on your mixed-media Pinterest board!

5. Peel the dry scarf from the freezer paper. Prepare your fabric dye according to the manufacturer's directions. Apply paint or dye to the fabric as desired, or submerge the scarf in the dye bath to achieve the desired color. Remember that the color will be lighter when the scarf is rinsed and dried, particularly if you used paint.

6. Rinse the dyed scarf as directed and wash it in hot water to remove the glue and excess dye. Massage the glue writing in water that's as hot as you can stand it in order to remove the glue. Do not iron the scarf until all of the glue is removed. If you used paint instead of dye, heat set it now.

7. Iron the scarf, attribute the quote with a permanent pen, and embellish as desired. I stitched "paint" on the tips of the paintbrushes. (Figure 2) ~Lesley

When you try this project, post it online and share your picture in the comments of the blog. It's a great way to network with other artists. Find the complete instructions in Cloth Paper Scissors, complete with a materials list and extra tips from Lesley, not to mention many more resources on wearable art projects.

Never limit yourself,
                                                                  Cherie Haas 
Online Editor
ClothPaperScissors.com

9 practical tips for sketching in your Art Journal

Jane LaFazio's Tips for Sketching in Your Art Journal

• Plan on spending less than an hour to sketch and then paint your drawing.

• Select something with a simple shape.

• Draw what you like, not what you think others will like. (Tweet this!)

• Draw in pencil first, you can always erase.

• Draw from real life (not photos). Your drawings will be so much richer.

• Choose just one thing: One flower, one leaf, one cup.

• When you're just starting out, it's easier to depict something about the same size as your page. Then you won't have to think about enlarging or reducing it as you draw.

• Remember, it's only a page in your journal; not every page will be a masterpiece.

• Turn the page when you're finished with your drawing, and plan on doing another page tomorrow. ~Jane    

Cloth Paper Scissors by Cheri Haas


P.S. Have you heard? Cloth Paper Scissors is proud to announce the Zen Doodle Drawing Contest! Enter your best work, and you could win $1,000 and publication. Good luck!