Painting Paper Beads....

Well, talk about going from the sublime to the ridiculous!

One day you are painting large canvases, the next you need the magnifying lamp to see what you are painting.

The beauty of folk painting is that once you have developed your skills, they can be adapted to sooooo many surfaces.

Are you a jewellery maker?  Have you thought of making your own beads to achieve a unique look?

Last year, I learned how to make paper beads.

I then taught a group of women from my local church how to make them, and now we make and sell them for women and children's charities.

 



 

This year we will be donating the money raised to an HIV/AIDS orphanage in Thailand.  You can check out the website here.

 



The beads all start from strips of white paper and are rolled, sealed, painted, sealed, then 2 coats of varnish applied.



Did you see my previous post about lettering for folk artists?  This is one of the occasions basic lettering skills come in handy.

The lettering on the beads was applied with a calligraphy pen (with very small nib) and folk art paint.

So, don't think your folk art skills need to be restricted to wooden objects or canvases.
Step outside the box...

Till next time
Fiona

Lettering for folk artists....

Hi everybody.

The sun is out on this beautiful Autumn day (after a very dismal, soggy, wet and miserable summer here in Oz) and the sky is perfectly blue and sparkly.

I promised myself that if I would get this post uploaded in time, then I could treat myself by taking the dog for a walk down to our little village (with maybe an outside table at a coffee shop and a little sketching into my notebook being the end destination ;) ....).

So, let's get on with it then!

If you have not attempted lettering in your folk painting work as yet, then I want to encourage you to 'give it a go'.

It is really not as difficult as it seems.

We don't need to study a 3 year course on the finer points of calligraphy, we just need enough basic information on how to apply lettering in a pleasing, non-splodgy manner to our work.

Now, the first thing I would suggest is - buy some basic calligraphy books.  The ones you see above is my collection, gathered over the years.

A basic calligraphy book, with clear instructions on how to get started, line up your work and load your pen, etc. will be enough to get you adding some nice lettering to your painting.



Once you have a good basic book, you might want to consider looking for a few more specialist books, if this is what interests you.

Here are a few pages from some of my books that I find inspiring. (bear in mind that I don't actually write like this, I just drool over it).

This is a page  from my book 'Medieval Calligraphy - It's history and techniqe' by Drogin.

As the name suggests, he includes a lot of interesting background on the lettering and the monks that practiced it.

A page like this is wonderful to put tracing paper over, and then you can practice the flow of the lines and strokes.



 

Then there are the Celtic styles.

They are beautifully pictorial.



 

And the illuminated styles.



 

Now that I've whetted your appetite, I'll show you some of the tools you might need to get started.

Bear in mind, I am not a calligrapher, just a folk artist doing some lettering.

For practice, you will need a board, paper, and something to prop the board on, like a rolled up towel.



 



 

Now, you can paint your lettering with a flat brush, but I most often choose to use a calligraphy pen.  The type that is a holder, with a nib inserted into it. Like below.

 



 

Now, before you tell me off for the state of my nibs and holders, I have been using them for MANY years.  They have seen a lot of use.

 



 

This type of nib is called a 'Speedball' nib, and it's the type I use most often.

Not sure why, it just is.



 

This is the 'other' type of nib.



 



 

The lettering on the rose blocks below, was done with a very small flat brush.  I will use a brush if the lettering is larger than my pen sizes.  The principles for both are the same.  I just prefer the pen because it doesn't lose it's 'chisel' edge.



 

This lettering was just done with the tip of the round brush I was painting with at the time as I wanted it a bit more rustic.



 

 

Using the flat brush.

 

When you go through your basic instructions in your calligraphy book, they will explain to you the importance of drawing lines, before applying your lettering (you can do this on tracing paper first, draw your lettering, then transfer it to your surface.  This way you get the placement right the first time.)

The lines are what keep the lettering the same height.



 



 

I have found the best thing for me to letter with, is my Jo Sonja paints thinned with water to a milky consistency.  And this way, you have a wide colour choice.  I've used inks, but this is just as good.

 



 

 

Filling the nib with thinned paint, using a brush.



 

I like to apply some to the tip of the nib as well.



 

 

Make sure that you make a few practice dabs first, to blot the pen.



 

 

Apart from working between the lines, the most important thing in achieving uniform lettering, is holding your pen at the same angle, the whole time you're writing.



 

 

And most calligraphy books will show the letters, with little arrows to indicate which direction and order to write them.

Can you see how the direction and the angle of the pen make the thick and thin bits of the letters?



 

It's a good idea to rule up pages with lines and practice.



 



 

I've drawn some lines on here, to show you how the body of the letters fit in between them.  Your ascenders and descenders (tall bits and long bits) will not fit between this basic set of lines.  You can draw extra lines for these, but for what I'm trying to achieve, I usually don't bother.



 

I hope you do decide to try some lettering, and if you do - let me know how it goes!

Till next time
Fiona

I like your 'chops'.....

Now, you are probably wondering 'what on earth is she talking about - what do chops have to do with folk painting?"  Has she gone mad?

No.

Let me explain.

Musicians practice to get a technique, or new musical skill, 'in their fingers', so to speak.

In other words, their brain doesn't have to painstakingly think it through each time they incorporate that technique in their performance - the 'memory' of the technique is now in the muscles of the hands and fingers.

This is what is referred to as a musicians 'chops'.  Skills that have been well developed in the musician, that are performed with seeming ease.

So how is this done?

It is achieved by repetition - training the brain, nerves, muscles, etc. to adhere to a pattern, until you can do it in your sleep and you don't have to give much thought to it.

Do you remember learning to tie your shoe laces?

The exciting part is, that this is where creativity really kicks in. Our early attempts at something are usually stilted, encumbered by the mental process of thinking each step through.

Once we become free of the thinking, our brush strokes 'flow off the brush' with seeming ease.

So, for those of us that want to improve our painting skills (develop our chops), here are a few points I've been mulling over.

Don't spend all your painting time working on actual projects that need to be completed, that need to 'become' something.

Get sample boards ready - or better still, get heavy drawing paper (at least 210gsm I'd say), tape to a board, base paint, practice away.  Without the hindrance of completing a coherent piece.

 



 



This is exactly what I was doing in the last post about Norwegian Folk Art.  I wasn't painting a design, just components of one.



Make notes as you go - list colours used, brushes, etc.



 



Store the pages in a folder.  This is a GREAT way to record your progress and to let you see how much you have improved.

Next.

Find beautiful strokework.  Get tracing paper and lay it over the pages.  Draw over with a pencil, stylus, whatever, and feel the rhythm of the shapes.

Continually doing this teaches your brain. You know - develops your chops. :)

Ok.

Now it's your turn.

Off you go.  And don't forget to have fun!

Till next time
Fiona

I'm discovering the joy of Norwegian folk art painting...

I want to talk a bit in this post, and more so in the next one about spending time in skill development, rather than always focusing on painting a completed piece.



 

So last night, while home alone, I decided to 'play about' with a style of painting that I haven't really tried before.  Rosemaling.

I have been developing a bit of an interest in Scandinavian folk art styles recently, mainly Swedish, and I have some books and a DVD on Norwegian styles (Rosemaling).

A friend gave a copy of Sigmund Aarseth's 'Rosemaling Design - Norwegian Rosemaling Telemark Style' years ago, but I have never really looked at it.

I also bought, many years ago, Jo Sonja Jansen's 'The New Rosemaling Primer' - which is now out of print.

Along with these, my husband bought me the Jo Sonja DVD on Telemark Rosemaling, which had sat in the cupboard unopened.

It is unopened no more.

I painted up some sheets of heavy cartridge paper, masking taped them to a board, got my cup of tea, opened up the books, and plugged in the DVD.

Why did I wait so long!!  Last night was the most fun I'd had in ages.  It was 10.30pm before I went inside (the studio is in the shed) and I didn't want to stop.

I think one of the reasons I enjoyed myself so much, was that I was only 'painting on paper' - no nagging mind telling me that I'd better do a good job or I'd ruin the piece.  More on this subject in my next post.

Telemark is all about scroll work.  It is based on the Acanthus leaf and Baroque and Rococco scrolls.  It took a bit of time to loosen up and get the feel of the movements.



 

 

There isn't a lot of blending going on either, which takes a lot of the stress out of it. It's the liner work at the end that pulls it all together.



 

Each Rosemaler develops their individual styles.

Once you had the basic skills under your belt, the fun is in how you choose to express yourself through this art form.



 

By the time I got to this stage (and I had scrolls and flowers all on top of each other on my by now 'getting very cramped paper'), I was in seventh heaven.  It was extremely exhilarating to 'play'

 

 



 

Apparently it's all about balance.  Giving the design a strong core.  Establish your main scrolls, then add on from there.



 

 

When this is varnished, I will store it in a folder, to give a recording of my progress.

If you haven't given Rosemaling a go, I strongly encourage you to get out the paints and brushes, and have fun.

 



 

Till next time
Fiona