IN THE WIND

For four days or so, we have had rather cold dismal weather-  temps in the 50s, too cold for the mower to start, and to mow for the first time this year. Meanwhile the grass and the weeds are gaining by inches every day.

This brings me to say, in spite of best laid plans, one does not always have control of all the factors involved for dealing with daily tasks. I see many yard work responsibilities, which must be addressed when the weather is right, and in a timely manner. Sometimes it is hard to keep up with it all.

Therefore I am probably not going to blog as often as I would like over the summer months. I will write when I can, do art work when I can, with the reduced goal of blogging twice a month for a while.

Ruth Zachary.

TOASTER DOODLE?

White Bread. Computer Design in Kid Pix and Photoshop. 12x16"            © by Ruth Zachary.

This design began using Kid Pix. It started using small KP drawing and paint tools, and another, which outlines droplets, strokes, lines etc. Over the textures created, I added roughly drawn bread slices in a grid configuration. Geometric shapes, and Grids are designed to exploit patterns and composition on a two-dimensional picture plane.

After that, randomly generated tools were applied to the grid pattern, which included some areas of patterned details, and also other diagonally defined blocks of color.

When the grid was copied into Photoshop, open transparent areas appeared between the colored shapes where white appeared in Kid Pix. Another textured (beige) layer was placed behind the grid, to border and fill the transparent areas.

A piece of real gluten free bread was scanned into Photoshop, and the shape was cut out and placed on top.

Please note: I use my art work to illustrate other blogs, Earth Born Health, and R Z Writestuff. This image was posted yesterday on my health Blog. To identify the image as mine, and to show readers how to find my art blogs, I have added the blog address on top of the image. This information is not attached to the actual art work, if anyone is interested in acquiring a particular piece.


Writing and Images are the Copyright © of Ruth Zachary

FROM STUDY TO FINISHED ART

Concert in Blue Flat Minor, Study. 12x16" © by Ruth Zachary

This study was one of several geometric abstractions started by using Kid Pix, and then copied into Photoshop for further development. Although I like the compositions developed in this way, I also like the hands-on approach with painting or collage, and the ability to move actual cut out paper images from one place to another.

The concept of this piece was to express the sorrow I feel over the suffering of all people who are caught up in war. I found an article containing letters from soldiers, and I copied fragments of the letters and collaged them into a piece  based on this earlier study, but on a canvas format that was not as long as the first image concept.

Design elements printed on good papers from the study along with flower images and the letter fragments were adhered to the canvas with acrylic medium. The result is shown below.

Concert in Blue Flat Minor, Acrylic Collage. Size 20x24". ©by Ruth Zachary

As  can be seen, the finished rendition at the bottom is a different arrangement than the first, although in my opinion both versions have compostional integrity and work well. I chose to depart from the strictly vertical direction with a slight slant to the right, to suggest depth.

When I print out computer images, I use a light weight paper capable of retaining photographic detail.

When adhering papers to the surface, I coat the foundation surface with medium, soak the paper briefly in water, blot it briefly, and then place the cut or torn paper on the surface and smooth the air pockets toward the edges. Sometimes wrinkles are left for texture, but if not wanted, the brief presoak on both sides is enough for the paper to shrink and bond to the foundation. After it is dried, the surface is finished with two coats of acrylic matte varnish. 

(Note - some papers will allow ink colors to run, or blur or turn too dark. This feature can be used to an advantage, but it is best to know what the outcome will be beforehand.)

The frame was made by a friend from wood, and the frame was painted to complement the artwork.

Writing and Images are the copyright © of Ruth Zachary.

COMBINING REALISM WITH ABSTRACTION

RUTH ZACHARY MONTAGE

Polkadot Pig. 8x11" Computer Composition.  © by Ruth Zachary

Ultimately, I think my goal as an artist is to be able to combine recognizable imagery and abstraction.
After years of combining realistic images in a montage presentation, I felt my work lacked spontaneity, but I found it hard to return to present the images in any approach but realism. I have struggled a long time to be able to be able to express my art in a the way I would wish.

EPIPHANY WITH A POLKADOT PIG

In the previous Post and Abstract experiment, I had just discovered that a cut out subject transplanted into a composition could be integrated into the character of the previous work by layering it into the background by applying different modes.

Recently I have also been working to create more realistic work with a bicycle theme, and had already cut out a bicycle in great detail, with a blank background. I moved the bicycle to a new document, and adjusted the size so it would fit into Scribble Paint 9. (Layer 1)  The  realistic bicycle worked pretty well without changing the mode because of linear qualities in the abstract background.

I liked Scribble Paint 9 as an abstract piece, but I could also envision a pink pig, riding the bicycle, outlined in yellow, painted in the splashy style of the abstract Apple Works paint strokes. Layering, using modes on the pig could make the pig consistent with the rest of the composition. I created the pig twice before copying it into the composition. Then I tried all the modes available on the pig cut out, some of which worked and some that didn’t. I adjusted the pig to 90% opacity, so some of the paint strokes beneath showed through, which helped a lot.

What  I learned in that moment was that I had been painting my subjects so realistically, that the subject or the background were no longer consistent in character. I want to maintain an image that is true to the realistic form, but not necessarily photographically detailed, as in my Bicycle Café painting, shown in sequence on my Montage Blog. I need to paint in a manner consistent with the surrounding impressionistic elements of the painting. It requires seeing the whole in a different manner.

ANOTHER EPIPHANY

The act of putting a cut out object into the abstract setting, could have ended with the same sort of inconsistency, not integrated into the whole. But using cut out shapes with Layers in Photoshop offers infinite possibilities for integrating realistic images into an abstract composition. And what is learned can be applied to hands on painting! Or not. The choice is up to the artist.

More adjustments were required.When the pig cutout was copied into the image, I needed to adjust the size and perspective of the happy little creature. When applying different modes, the pink pig with yellow outlines was changed to pink and purple with white outlines, but the new colors still worked with Scribble Paint 9. In one part of the  pig’s surrounding area (a semi transparent apricot tone) was  cut out, copied back in as a fourth layer, and flipped vertically and horizontally so it dominated the top of the composition, with the intention of seeing if the modes helped.

The original orientation of Scribble Paint 9 (layer 1)was flipped horizontally, as was layer four.  I tried different modes on the top two layers. Eventually, I deleted small areas of the top layers so the composition retained some of the original color and character of the background retained in the normal mode. I decided eventually to change the mode of the bicycle, which in this variation, picked up the other colors of the composition.

Eventually I rejected the pig composition, as too busy, which is the price of experimentation, and yet the rewards are so many, I can't complain. Finally I took another Abstract, Scribble Paint 8 and layered the bicycle into that.

Scribble Paint 8 with Bicycle. 8x11". © Ruth Zachary

To see the bicycle paintings and another version of this post, follow this link to 

Ruth Zachary Montage. However, blogger adds a %20 to my Url, and it will not take a viewer
to the correct site. Every time I re enter the Url, it does the same thing again. I don't know why.

Writing and Images on this blog are the Copyright © of Ruth Zachary.