Another day of class and this is what I finished up with.  You can see why I say you really need to take the full class.  The progression is a journey that takes your artwork to a place you didn’t imagine when you started.  This piece isn’t done, but very close, with just the final touches left.  I know I need another shape of some sort in the upper left side.  I want to enhance different areas with shimmery watercolors and make sure every square inch is layered to its most beautiful.  Truly, once you see one of these collages in person, you’ll see what I mean about the luminosity and depth that hand-dyed tissues bring to a painting.

Alright, so you have your inspiration, your sketch, all of your wonderful dyed tissues…now what?

First of all, you have to control yourself.  Really.  Delving into a large container with a rainbow of dyed tissue is exciting and if you’re in a room of others doing the same, oohs and ahhs will fill the air, punctuated with squeals of excitement.  Tell yourself less is more and harmonize without being too close in color.  Choose 3-5 tissues to use.  That’s it.  No more.  You’ll be able to add later for drama if needed.     

Now, go to your sketch and transfer the basic outline to a prepared canvas.  You can either go straight onto a white canvas, or add random gold and silver foil papers before you begin.  These add drama and glow when the  piece is done.  I sketched with a brush and light brown paint the outlines of my leaves.  Having the sketch be the same or nearly the same as your canvas is very helpful.

As promised, I’m here to show you what I did with some of those fabulous tissues that I dyed with Susan Rogers-Arreger at the tissue collage class. 

First, start out in an inspiring location.  We were at Ho’omaluhia Botanical Gardens in Kane’ohe and artists and tourists alike are constantly tromping around the trails and roads to snap photos and paint.  You could go there everyday and never paint the same thing twice.  I found an intriguing variagated Ti plant, with dark purple leaves, and some leaves with orange and green stripes. 

Second, walk around your subject to see it in different lights and shapes.  The shapes are really important in collage, so make sure you “see” the positive and negatives of your subject.  Make a large rough sketch in pencil and fill with watercolor, or just sketch directly with watercolor. 

Painting sketch includes arrow for light source.

Taking the time to sketch will save hours of time and perhaps discouragement later.  Simplify, simplify.  Create bold shapes and lights and darks.  Keep in mind where the light is coming from, and make that consistent throughout the painting.

Stay tuned…tissue selection is next!  See tools and books I use to create here. 

One of the most creative things an artist can do is to learn a new technique or art form.  Stretching your mind and fingers to do new things gives a different perspective on the talents you already have.  It can also bring a broader dimension to your current art work, and on a personal level, lets you give and take energy with others that are inspired by art. 

This past Friday I had the opportunity to take a wonderful class.  With eight other curious and excited participants, we took the plunge dipping and dying tissue paper.  Yes, it will work with the proper technique and materials, and the results caused oohs and aahhs around the room all morning long.  Here’s where we started the day, with jars of dyes and oil paints, lined up waiting for us.

Into the pans went dyes, oil paints, and a lot of curiosity.

Instructor Susan Rogers-Arreger then spent the next few hours mixing and adding a variety of colors as the rest of us dipped batch after batch of tissue, setting our piles on the side to drip and dry.  A word of caution here, this process is not for the timid, or the impatient.  At the end of the day you wrap all your work in a garbage bag and haul it home.  Then, find somewhere to spread it all out and wait for it all to dry, not knowing what it will all look like in the end.

Lucky for me I have a garage, so there they sat all night.  Being patient is all worth the wait, because the next morning is like Christmas.  Carefully, each paper is opened to reveal the tissue inside, and those are separated and stacked.  Nice and neat, for the moment, my days’ work looks like this -

For the next three days I’ll be learning more techniques from  Susan on what to do with the paper. 

Although I dove in and created my own hand-dyed tissue a few months ago, my technique resulted in simpler paper that doesn’t have the complexity of these new papers.  I’ll be keeping you updated on new works of art with these new papers and combining them with more of my photography and digital paintings.  See tools and books I use to create here.