Finyovislan

hello hello

2011-08-22T21:14:00.000+01:00

is there anybody there? Has anyone done any more of the exercises from the book?

Wendy

auditioning fabric

2009-03-08T23:01:00.004Z

I've been adding to the piece I started last year. A lot more mark making. The center fabric is mine, the ones around the edge are commercial. Shiva stripes across the stamped design, gold dots all along the edge of the stripes and black pen on the stamped design.

Ex-4 patterns

2009-02-14T17:30:00.008Z

patterns created by selecting an area of this exercise

i could spendthe rest of my life playing with this and the results would be satisfactory no matter what. But i want to move on to the next exercise.

neki desu

Ex. 4- marks

2009-02-09T15:09:00.004Z

tempera with brush, contè, pencil,pilot pen.

pilot rolling ball pen

pencils different hardnesses, graphite bar .

india ink pens different nibs.

India ink and chinese calligraphy brush

charcoal stick,bamboo pen and ink.

pressed charcoal

neki desu

Exercise 4 Mark Making

2009-02-06T20:52:00.004Z

I finally got back to the book yesterday. Visual Exercise 4 has you trying lots of tools to draw. This is a play lesson. The goal is to forget about composition and just explore the possibilities of using marks in quantity. I do like that it encourages you to use tools you have and also tools you didn't think of using. I don't think the pictures loaded in order, but I don't really think that matters. I used an old credit card, brush, stencil brush, calligraphy marker, calligraphy pens with different nibs, the edge of spiral bound notebook paper after it is torn, a Zig pen, a Fantastix tool and a soda pop cap. The one I didn't like too much was the Fantastix tool using Tsukineko ink. I think I like the real calligraphy pen and India ink the best. But the credit card was fun. I did try to be careful, but ink is ink and it is messy. And it's always good to use the credit card for painting instead of spending.

OK, who's next to try this and post? It's really fun and sort of like doodling. I drew 4" squares in my sketch book and filled them in with the techniques instead of using an entire page.

inspirational

2009-02-03T12:37:00.002Z

watching a video by Bonnie McCaffrey recently I realized that these projects by Larkin Van Horn are extensions of the kinds of exercises we have done.

Anyone here finished anything from the explorations we began last year? As you can see by the last comment posted, our public is waiting for the next chapter...

Or are we done here?

lesson three and screen print

2008-11-10T11:08:00.006Z

I took one of the patterns from the cut outs of lesson one, traced it to make a line drawing then cut two stencils. The first one was screen printed using multiple colours of ink. Not a good scan, (the background fabric is lime green).

This is the two stencils over printed

The image on the right is part of the print. It is starting to have possibilities.

I don't know whether this is what we were supposed to do with exercise three, but I have decided to move on to four.

textures

2008-11-09T18:00:00.005Z

This is a scan of the handle of a weaving tool from Africa, I think. It is used to push the wefts into place on a tapestry. It is beautifully made and my favorite part is the lashing holding the pieces in place. I cloned it in photo editing software and made a whole sheet of it.
Exercise #4 didn't excite me at the moment so instead of remaining stuck in the mire of trying to do the uninteresting, I just moved on. Hope ya'll will excuse my lack of linearity.

Excercise 3

2008-11-07T20:24:00.006Z

I've been sort of working on excercise 3. Mainly, I guess, I've been playing around, Jane Dunnewold style with these images that I've had around for quite awhile. Ihave posted pics of what I've got so far. I'm going to take a hiatus from posting for awhile for two reasons: 1. I'm feeling a need to stop with these images and just have a go at them until I'm "done", and 2. I'm a bit overwhelmed with other things I'm doing and that won't get any better until after holidays. I have a quilt I want to finish for my Etsy store before Christmas.

So, I will lurk and quite possibly post comments. I have found that there is such tremendous depth to these excercises that I have to take it real slow. I'm looking forward to seeing what the rest of you come up with. Thanks, Diane

Re: Jane Dunnewold

2008-10-30T12:53:00.002Z

I have been e-mailing Jane over another issue. Would it be acceptable to mention this blog we are doing with her book? I wouldn't consider mentioning it without everyone's consent.

somewhat better

2008-10-29T13:55:00.002Z

And true to what our elders used to say -practice makes perfect. i took another shape traced it (second row right) and started playing sort of mindlessly. The drawings, if one can call them that, reminded me of jewelry drawings. And the outcome was somewhat better than the previous try. Goes without saying that the embellished shape is far much interesting than the plain outline shape

neki desu

Excercise 2

2008-10-28T15:21:00.002Z

I'm really a slowpoke -- I'm still playing around with stamps. I don't think I've made more than ten, but I have been enjoying turning everything I see into a stamp (at least in my mind)! I even took some interesting designs from my husband's new work boots. I will post pics later.

I decided not to do anything else to the box. It is varnished and looks good for its intended purpose. But I have set up my print table and today I intend to play with the same set of prints on some fabric.

I've also been reading a wonderful book, "Painted Paper" byAlisa Golden. I'm gong to use some of the techniques with my stamp designs and other ideas that I work out with this group work. A good way to play around with things I generate here.

I'll eventually get to excercise 3!!!

exercise three

2008-10-26T15:24:00.002Z

I am struggling with this one too. None of my original cutouts seem to give an interesting outline.

Invitation

2008-10-26T13:17:00.002Z

I read about the project on Lynda's blog and thought it was just what I needed! As if I needed any more projects BG. Thanks for accepting me Wendy. I will participate as much as I can and as time allows.
I already have the book and had been intending to do the exercises myself, but I'm sure I will do more belonging to a group like this.

woes

2008-10-26T12:13:00.003Z

i'm not having much luck with this exercise. Find the results visually boring. Changed the cut out i used from ex#1 and made something new. Still...

Got discouraged and stopped. Let's see if tomorrow i can improve. If not, time to move on.

neki desu

The Box -- Finished (?)

2008-10-21T20:13:00.006+01:00

I finished the box over the weekend. It now has two layers of printing plus basecoat and glazing. And that's where I go no further! It is very difficult for me to do multiple layers to a surface. I do like simplicity of design, but I know that more layers doesn't necessarily mean it has to lose that quality. I will also post images of a paper example with another layer as well as a pic of the box with an acetate sheet with another layer.

Please let me know what you really think, because I'd like to go beyond where I am now -- or, if you really like it as is, that's good! Keeping in mind, I don't want the box to be too busy (and loud) for my nap room. But, if I were developing the design for another purpose, maybe more would definitely be better.

Or, maybe I'm just lazy! BTW, the circular design cam from a paper filter or some such thing that I found plastered to the asphalt of a parking lot. As far as my visual voice goes, I do know that I am very attracted to industrial type imagery, but used in a softer manner. I long ago let go of needing the natural world to be totally natural -- man made can be very interesting if redesigned by a woman, don't you think?

Exercise 3

2008-10-21T19:10:00.002+01:00

I decided it was time for me to move on to the next exercise in the book. Exercises 1 & 2 were extremely useful and as a result, I have numerous new quilt designs in my sketchbook. I don't plan to abandon Exercises 1 & 2, but to keep adding to them as I go along. The goal of visual Exercise 3 is to alter flat, solid shapes into line drawings. I started with an 8" square of black paper and randomly cut it with my rotary cutter. I traced a 9 1/2" square onto white newsprint and expanded the square into this design. Then, as the instructions say, I traced it (using another piece of newsprint...easy to see through). As you can see in the tracing below, I used my bendable curve ruler to re-trace the lines. Then, to complete the goal of Exercise 3, I drew patterning within the lines. I plan to use this as a quilt block (or small quilt) and the patterning lines will be my machine quilting lines. Now, I'm stuck on whether to put designs together to make larger quilts or make smaller ones like below. I suppose I can do both.

The line drawing is a bit smeary as I drew it in pencil. Anyone know of a pencil that doesn't smear when you sketch? I even asked in the art store and no one had a clue. Now, I'm off to play with some fabric.

Re: Finyovislang Notebook

2008-10-21T18:52:00.003+01:00

Having read in Jane's book about keeping a box, of imagery, I decided to start including pictures of things (designs, art) that I like in a section in my finyovislang notebook. So I played with that a bit last night and came up with some interesting visuals. I have some old art publications that work real well for this kind of excercise. There's something about looking at art from another era that allows you (or me at least) to see line, design, things other than the art piece as a whole as someone else has done. I still have my box of found pieces for inspiration as well.

Yesterday on my daily walk, I came across a treasure which I will post here. Could be cut into an interesting stamp, or, as it is rusty, I could lay it on cloth or paper and make a rust imprint.

stamping ahead

2008-10-20T11:24:00.002+01:00

Spent the whole weekend carving, cutting and stamping. Filled half a drawing pad with patterns, but don't want to bog you down :). Being a weaver i tend to work with the classic repeats i.e. drop, half drop brick etc.
But i'm trying to break away and do a little experimentation. Here's a composite of the first 3 stamps alone and together with a bit of color. i'm trying to standardize the exercise by keeping it black and white and when using color using the same colors. Not very exciting, but as i see i'm still at a learning phase. The production phase will come later on.

neki desu

Excercise 2 -- Stamping

2008-10-17T23:04:00.004+01:00

Today's work -- I stamped the big box and so far, I'm happy with the results. This was a found stamp -- rather large and not easy to print with, but interesting just the same. It is one of those poured pulp shipping things that came with some electronics. I have another found item -- circular -- that I am going to make a stamp out of and possibly over stamp with another sort of industrial stamp. I'll try to cut that stamp tonight after enlarging the image. I'll call the piece "Industrial 1". I like the soft colors and if I overstamp, I'll make the lt blue color a bit darker and then possibly over glaze.

Can you tell I'm getting fired up about these excercises? Speaking of which, do any of you have Jane's book, "Improv Screenprinting"? Care to comment. I can see that screen printing with our stamps will greatly improve ease of application, etc. Now for posting the pics!

Re: Getting Organized

2008-10-17T20:13:00.002+01:00

Vivian -- closing closet doors does count! I forgot to mention, that I use 3-ring plastic page protectors in my notebooks. That way, anything can easily be added.

I sort of have my stamp making materials in one place, but with Vivian's reminder, I will do better with that today. I also like to move about with these supplies, and join my husband while I cut stamps. I just received Jane's book for our group work.. I read last night that she suggested a box for image selection. I have something like that together, but I will also organize that better today as well.

I am almost 62, and I have recently discovered that I have a myriad of learning disorders, etc. I think I'm somewhat ADD and have always had to struggle with organization. I am only recently learning to get better organized. I recently did a complete rearrangement of my studio and as a result, I was able to add another 4x8 table. If I make an effort to clean up after working, I have quite ample room for working. I do lack shelving, and there is simply not the room for more of that. So it is a problem for me to put things away. I do have plastic storage drawers -- I like storage that is see through. Now that is an area where I could do better. Ummmmmmm . . . . . .

Well, enough of thinking about things -- time to do something. Hopefully I'll have some stamp designs to post soon.

Happy creating, everyone!

Getting Organized

2008-10-16T20:38:00.002+01:00

Before launching a full scale stamp making session for myself, I decided to get better organized. Over the past few years I have discovered that plain white, plastic covered 3-ring notebooks are the best way for me to stay organized for a multitude of projects. I put an example of the subfect matter for each particular notebook in the spine and front cover of each notebook.

So, I've got my Finyonlang notebook all set for Excercise 1 and am now ready for Excercise 2. I have several images in mind, including some"found" designs, and some special stamp projects in mind.

Yesterday I base coated a large box that serves as a bedside table in my little bedrm off of my studio (a great nap taking hideaway!) I plan to do a tone on tone stamp pattern to give the plain box some more interest without making it too busy for a small room.

I also got some ideas for cutting triangles (which I hadn't done in excercise 1). So I will get started with that and try some more stamps -- after a good nap!

BTW, I am very appreciative of everyone posting on this blog -- it helps to stay focused and committed to following through the book project.

And, Wendy, I'm having the same problem with picture placement. hope that's something I work out soon.

Thanks, Everyone!

rubber eraser stamps

2008-10-15T19:53:00.010+01:00

I carved these 21 stamps from erasers. (Blue block) I made some more using foam mounted onto mount board but made such a mess when I tried to print with them, I won't show you those - I will have to find some thicker foam.

I had a play overlapping some of the stamps, the white background is a bit stark, but I can see possibilities. I used chalk stamps on paper, it will be interesting to see how these work using textile paint on fabric.

Now if I could only get blogger to accept where I want the pics to go I will be happy!!

of stamps and stamping

2008-10-15T15:23:00.004+01:00

i'm carving erasers like a maniac. Have also tried cutting a sponge mat i have, but i don't like the way the stamp behaves when covered with paint nor the resulting print. Perhaps the sponge should be denser. Will look into that. i also located rubber by the meter and i'm also trying that. But it's a royal PITA.
Being more effective at the computer than with carving tools this is some of the work i've done so far.

Image 1 original cut out ex#1
Image 2 area selected for pattern
Image 3 pattern made square
Image 4 defined pattern flood fill- not good
Image 5 seamless pattern same image but made seamless. Note stray pixels on the left hand side and cleaned image on the right.
Image 6 Seamless pattern flood fill, gradient background. Image rotated 90ºleft.

Not sure if this is considered cheating or not.

neki desu

triangles

2008-10-14T09:17:00.004+01:00

i can keep on this exercise forever. But i guess it's time to move on.

What i've learned with this exercise:

to train the eye to read negative spaces
how positive spaces depend on spacing
how spacing affects the quality of a line

This is the last one as i've already started carving erasers. With a trembling hand.

neki desu

circles

2008-10-12T13:10:00.002+01:00

i'm having a ball. But deliberately trying to escape the soccer ball look.
The big ones i find somewhat visually boring. It was not until the exercise kicked in that i started getting more interesting things. Like the widely spaced circles. :)
i'd appreciate some feedback as this is getting to be sort of a private practice.

neki desu

Squares and Getting Sidetracked

2008-10-09T11:59:00.006+01:00

Here's exercise#1 worked with squares. The eye is definitely getting trained. However the mind strays and doubts if the work is yet one more visual clichè. Not that i'm dying to be original. But the purpose is finding personal expression.
Circles are making their way next.

Got carried away as i was having fun and sidetracked into this.

neki desu

Excercise 2 -- Stamp Pattern, Stamp, and Plastic Thingy

2008-10-08T22:20:00.004+01:00

Forgot to post the picture. I think doing the stamp excercise is going to be interesting. I'm already seeing pattern possibilities to everything I look at. Cutting the stamps is another matter . . . . .

Excercise 2 -- Stamp Making

2008-10-08T22:09:00.003+01:00

Thirty days of making stamps will either improve my ability greatly, or result in severely cut up hands and fingers. At least I'm working with a color now, if only brown!

This design was copied from a little plastic thingy that holds the legs together on rotisserie chickens. I have collected a pile of them -- finally found a use for the design at least. Even though a simple repeat, it is more pleasing to me than the black and white grid designs.

Really hope to get comments (critiques). I'm finding that having others to work with makes the doing of all this interesting. Getting (and giving) some strengthening critiques could add a whole lot more to making use of this book. TIA

Excercise 1 -- More Repeat Patterns

2008-10-08T22:04:00.005+01:00

My favorite is the one to the far left. The immediate left reminds me of dollar signs -- the effects of the economy coming through I suppose. Anyway, time to move on -- try mixing it up a bit more!

Excercise 1-- Repeat Patterns

2008-10-08T21:58:00.006+01:00

Here are some designs created using multiple squares. I like the circular shape created with this one. Perhaps some possibilites here.

To the far left, an increasingly complex design -- but not my style!

Excercise 1 -- Leaf

2008-10-08T21:56:00.003+01:00

One leaf altered. I shall have to try more.

Excercise 1--Circles

2008-10-08T20:38:00.007+01:00

These were harder than the squares to get any variety of design. I see that some of you did not follow directions, and rather than maintain the original shape, allowed the design to take on a new shape. I think I like that a lot better. The organic nature of allowing a shape to find its own new shape seems to result in a better design. Any comments on that?

So here are my circles:

Excercise 1--The Last of the Squares

2008-10-08T20:29:00.005+01:00

And some arrangements. I can see I've got to figure out how to post the images smaller. Hope I'm not popping anyone's eyes out with the very large black and white images!

The last little image to the left, is a cropped version of the image to the far left. I can see that one can keep going and going with these graphics, but doing so is not getting anymore pleasing to me.

Excercise 1--More Squares

2008-10-08T20:16:00.008+01:00

It will take me awhile to get the hang of using a blog for posting, so please bear with my first attempts. Here are more of my squares:

I've finally introduced a curve, but still very rigid.

Excercise 1

2008-10-08T20:03:00.004+01:00

I found these excercises to be very mesmerizing -- the time went by so fast! So here are my first pictures of an altered square, circle, and leaf. For the most part, too grid-like for my tastes, but I hope that will work itself out in time.

Exercise1

2008-10-08T09:33:00.004+01:00

Finally got down to doing exercise1. Not entirely satisfied with the end product, but much interested in the process. Loads of fun and i think i'm going to spend some time on it to really juice it out. Perhaps it would be a good idea to work with all the basic forms before moving on to ex#2.

neki desu

Stamp Carving

2008-10-06T20:03:00.003+01:00

I carved four stamps using two erasers, both sides. This is a combination of the four designs. I think I like best the one that looks like a ladder. I now have four carved, that means 26 more to go! Good thing I love carving stamps...I find it very relaxing (and messy).

Combined Shapes

2008-10-06T19:55:00.004+01:00

This is the exercise from Exercise One that suggests enlarging and/or reducing some of your shapes and then combining them. I used Adobe Photoshop Elements to do this and found it fairly easy. I can envision using parts of these shapes in future quilts, maybe with color.

Exercise #3

2008-10-06T13:05:00.004+01:00

The next challenge was to trace over the rearranged shapes using a variety of lines and marks. At least this is how I read the description. I wouldn't have gotten that idea from looking only at the example sketches on the page. So I'm wondering if I really did interpret the exercise the way it was written.

My favorite is the last one. I can see it as a quilting sample.

irresistible color

2008-10-02T12:44:00.011+01:00

No matter how you spell it, color certainly makes the exercise more fun.

I used two different stamps and overlapped - precise and careful. My usual mode. Or is it a rut? Looks like a curtain design from the late 50's, early 60's doesn't it?

The red squares are filled in with a brush and paint. They are the impressions of the clamp I used to keep the foam on while the glue dried. I left a couple of them white on the upper right. I think filling them in really improves the design.

Now this one is a mess - but it's not precise, not in my rut, is it? I like the top better than the bottom but I was getting tired of seeing the white cardstock, so I thought I would just cover it. Yuk. Better to start over on fabric and do the squiggles again. Tomorrow.

Couldn't resist colour...

2008-10-02T06:52:00.001+01:00

The lure of colour was far too great! Spent quite some time playing with the cut stamps and above are a selection of examples. Printed within a stencil, as suggested in the book, could have gone on and on as this idea held me and plan to take it further although not entirely sure in what direction! Very useful as a layer of surface decoration to build onto further.
Have now cut reverse image of three stamps so have pairs of wings!
Also printed onto a piece of fabric, just a tiny bit(no self control).

2008-10-01T19:16:00.000+01:00

I’m not going to say I’ve finished exercise 1 because I don’t think I have. I really did find this exercise absorbing but I don’t think I have come up with anything exciting so would like to keep going until I do – maybe even trying another shape.
And yes, some of them do look a bit mucky. I ran out of Spray Mount and had to use Pritt stick – get into more mess than the children ever did with that stuff :)
I seem to have been a bit obsessed with variations on this one.In the top one here I tore the card instead of cutting – but I did have to leave a couple of the smaller bits out to make it all fit in and of course, that goes against what the exercise said to do.On this page I decided to draw a square, cut shapes and fit them in. This is not quite as easy as it sounds. Maybe I should have cut the black card square a lot smaller than the drawn square.I scanned three of the designs in then played around in PSP and used the displacement filter.I quite like the last one which looks a bit ‘fluffy’.
As I said, I still want to do some more with this one but I have got all my bits ready for exercise 2. Haven’t got any erasers and thought rather than go and buy some I would use up some of the materials I already have including some foam which I shall glue into layers before cutting and a piece of lino.Also want to try and make some stamps with this. Saw it on the Traci Bautista DVD. Its a bit squishy though so probably won’t get a sharp outline. Anyone else used one of these before?Going to try and carve six stamps a week in one sitting rather than one a day for 30 days. Will see how I get on.
Am also going to work through the exercises in order rather than dart about – will maybe get more out of them that way.

mission impossible

2008-10-01T02:09:00.006+01:00

When I made this stamp, I thought of it as an unfinished star. Vivian saw it as a lemon slice. Now that I've stamped it on fabric in an interlocking style, there are giant Ss!

Maybe it needs some more marks on it. I'll save it for a future exercise.

I used a Staz-on stamp pad. Then I turned it over and it says "not recommended for fabric." Hmmm, wonder if it will self-destruct in 30 seconds?

Shapes

2008-09-29T22:55:00.003+01:00

I found these very soothing to cut. Especially the squares above. I have found out in the last few years that I really like squares. After I pasted the pieces, I noticed the top one looks like a monkey. Can you see it? The rectangles were my first ones to cut and I didn't like the shape so much. But I see how I can make squares out of them.
My leaves resemble footballs or is it because we watched football yesterday. Now to expand or shrink some of these.

Printing Blocks

2008-09-29T18:47:00.004+01:00

Blocks were made from childrens "funky foam" mounted onto foam core board, have always found this the easiest way to make printing blocks.
Wrestled with my fear of white paper and after printing into pre-painted sketch book I printed onto A4 sheets of paper, really to enable to reduce/enlarge and print just using black and white. Prefer the paisley shapes, definately "wings" in the making but hadn't noticed until I started printing although Wendy had. Looking forward to further development of these.

2008-09-29T07:16:00.004+01:00

Exercise 1: Find blank sheets of white paper(as suggested in the book) far too scary so painted pages first.
Used a circle and then a paisley shape. Really enjoyed doing the exercise, it confirmed what I already knew... I much prefer curved lines rather that straight, finding the shapes that were dissected with curved lines far more pleasing than the straight.
Have cut stamps, not thirty I hasten to add, using the shapes i liked most so aim to print a little with them today.

2008-09-28T15:09:00.016+01:00

At first I thought, "drat, I'm getting an imprint of the edge of lid."

And then I thought, "wow, I'm getting an imprint of the edge of the lid!"

I used a Staz-on green stamp pad at first and then without cleaning it, added watered down Golden acrylics spread out on a nonstick craft sheet.

2008-09-28T14:29:00.007+01:00

These are stamps made by cutting out phun foam and glueing it on plastic lids. I think the almost clear lids will make it easy to place the stamps - except of course, on black fabric.
It was just a repeat of the circle exercise - I cut out a circle and then dissected and reassembled them almost duplicating the paper circles.

Squares

2008-09-26T12:32:00.006+01:00

I'm not in a mood to move on yet. Still working on Exercise #1 with a different shape.

Heart shape exercise 1

2008-09-21T20:07:00.032+01:00

I used a heart shape. Cut out a bunch and played around. The hardest thing was trying to keep the cut pieces within a heart outline. All the samples here were cut from a heart the same size.

I photocopied one image (middle page, bottom image) and played around with it. It didn't take long to achieve two border designs and a handful of repeat patterns.

I transfered the image onto an eraser using a solvent transfer medium and cut it out. To get the mirror image I inked up the stamp and stamped onto another eraser.

Circles

2008-09-21T17:46:00.005+01:00

These are my circles cut and reassembled. I chose one of the designs to expand on the idea. I don't know why I picked a circle, I should be working in a grid if I want to have any translation to my weaving.

Finding your own visual language

2008-09-20T10:11:00.001+01:00

A blog for those of us who have a copy of the book and would like to work alongside to help and support. If you have a copy and would like to join us, please leave a comment.