inspiration Archives - Page 8 of 27

Shadow and shapes for drawing

inspiration, masking stencils, tools / Linda Germain / August 27, 2021

You know that part of my practice is to go to the woods for inspiration. I love to capture cast shadows and use them as a drawing reference.

Using the photo as reference seems to help me to see shapes instead of leaves and branches.

I do the outline drawing one day and come back and fill the shadow shape in with black paint on another day.

I hope this inspired you to look for shadow shapes to draw. Sometimes I have to take a lot of shadow pictures before I get one that is good for reference. Got to love our phones and digital cameras.

Sometimes I use shadow shapes to make stencils for gelatin printmaking.

Happy Printing!

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Circle back to the woods

fabric prints, foam plate printmaking, inspiration, mark making tools / Linda Germain / August 12, 2021

I stopped walking in the woods for the last few weeks, because I found a tick attached to my neck and I had stayed on the trail.

But today, I went back to my old trail in the woods by the lake and was so supported by the energy of the place. I had let that little bug, fear and frustration stop me from going on my “healing” walks.

I shared the trail with a big dear and a quiet blue heron and plenty of shadows.

I bring that good energy back to the studio and get more done.

I always find tools and inspiration in the woods. Different seasons offer different tools. Currently I am looking for strong twigs and weeds to use in the soft plate relief class, starting soon.

This is a low tech way to make relief style plates without needing to carve your design. You can use the process to print on paper or fabric.

Check out the details on the printmaking workshop page. And start collecting tools and inspiration!

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Trust yourself – Make Marks

artist book, drawings, inspiration / Linda Germain / July 26, 2021

Sometimes, I just have to begin and trust that the path will evolve.

I do this “just begin” thing a lot, and I am still surprised when magic happens, things work out and I make something that I like or learn from.

I keep it simple to begin:

take a photo
go for a walk
clean my work bench for 20 minutes
make some doodles

So I say try it, and see what happens. I think it helps to let go of any demands that it work out and just explore the present moment.

Before you know it you may have a whole collection of art work! Check out the current online class offerings

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Use your paper scraps

collage, inspiration, relief prints / Linda Germain / June 8, 2021

I trim a lot of paper and usually have a lot of scraps of the same size.

I use these paper trimmings to make:

small books
cards
to do list papers

My everyday print paper is Pacon heavyweight drawing paper, 90lb. I like to buy the ream 12″ x 18″. Then I can cut some common sizes that are easy to frame.

Most recently I have been making a daily collage with odd scraps in the recycle bin. I pull out 5 pieces of paper and give myself 15 minutes to make a collage.

One time I used the trimmed paper from a book project to make a long skinny book for foam relief prints. So don’t throw those paper trimmings away.

I use a lot of little “To Do” lists. So I added some stamped marks to the bottom of some waste paper and made my lists a little more fun!

So what do you think you could do with your paper scraps and trimmings? I hope I have stimulated your thoughts and you make some fun stuff!

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Happy accidents and pulling that last print

fabric prints, inspiration / Linda Germain / May 24, 2021

I find the many times the last print of the day, when I am warmed up, and not over thinking things is my favorite print of the day.

Some reasons for this maybe:

is that the inner critic is not so active at that time.
the ink is just right
your mark making tools are primed.

So I encourage you to take advantage of that time and pull that one more print.

If you would like to have some happy accidents with gelatin printing on fabric, now is the time to do it. The Monoprinting Fabric online workshop starts June 2, 2021.