"Give and Take" 7-30-09

Here it is, finally. I am satisfied with it and only wish I could have finished last week. I am the worst procrastinator. This is the class sample for a mixed media and collage class that I will be teaching August 11th and 12th. She works... In the Studio's Summer schedule listings the class is listed as mixed media and collage. If I were to give the class a title it would be: Patchwork Portrait. The background of the work (which is 6 by 8 inches on canvas board), is done in the style of the incomparable Kelly Rae Roberts. I love the look of it and use this type of background often if I am "stuck", so to speak. The face is actually a magazine image which has been greatly altered. When I first began to learn the face, I often lifted images out of big fashion magazines and simply altered them. It worked for me. This idea is hardly new and a lot of mixed media artists do the same. You can find this idea in many "how to" books on mixed media and collage. Anyway, that is a wonderful way to introduce the face and still make it your own.

So, this is my current style, yes? And although not everyone will like it, a nice portrait can be achieved. The students will see how easy it is to put together a great background with little to no thought or sweat. The focal image is a magazine face or perhaps a photo copy face of a relative and then the actual drawing is very simplistic in style. I think we will work with an 8 by 10 canvas board and I am going to do another sample for the class in that size. This smaller one was the only canvas board I had at home at the time and you know how it is, I just wanted to get started and finish it so Lucy had a sample :) I titled the piece Give and Take and my thoughts for the title came from the message on the work. take hope and courage from others, give of your heart to others especially in times of darkness.

k