I’ve been a bit more quiet than usual, as you might’ve noticed. Mostly I’ve been recovering and trying to get things back together after last month’s show. The current decorative motif in the studio is Hoarder Nouveau. I’ve been attempting to shovel out. For a while I thought I was making good progress. I now don’t feel like I’m making good progress. It’s pretty hard to do anything in there at the moment.
However, last week I decided @#$% it, and managed to move enough piles aside to make room for a little paste painting. I’d come across an interesting set of scraper/spatula things at a store that were, the package said, for the kitchen. (Really–are you going to scrape dough and not paint with something that looks like that?) I also recently found some interestingly shaped toothbrushes and a square wire whisk. I’ve been wanting to try out my new toys tools.
(Clean and unused) cat litter pans of water are great for wetting sheets of paper.
I like to work on a sheet of plexiglass. The white surface you see underneath is a super absorbent incontinence pad. It was a gift from a friend, who told me they’re wonderful for when her kids paint and do messy things. She’s right–it makes cleanup easier and keeps all the nasty stuff off my cutting mat underneath. This has been a very thoughtful gift.
A square wire whisk was new for me. This definitely has possibilities. This is painted on Tyvek.
Toothbrushes.
This was originally done with a fat grouting comb and a golden color that I didn’t like so much (nothing against the tool–I just didn’t like the paper). Then I went over it again with a different color, and liked the result even less. So most recently I went at it a third time with a thin rubber comb pattern and a different color. Now I like it.
Feel free to correct me, but that looks as if it would be fun to do. And I really, really like the final almost strobe lighting effect you got with the one that you did and redid. Though all of them bear closer inspection and re-examination.
Hope your recovery is nearly complete.
Things were getting better until I tried to post to my blog for the first time since being lured into updating my theme. You might’ve noticed that the display is rather weird at the moment. My sidebar is now at the bottom of the page, amongst other things. SIGH… I really can’t stand WordPress. So I am now just taking a break from support forum and blog setting purgatory.
Aside from that, yes, paste painting is terribly fun. I love doing it because it’s absolutely mindless, and if you do something you don’t like, you just paint over it and try something else. It requires all the careful planning and technique of finger painting. And then when it’s dry, you (hopefully) wind up with some pretty cool dimensional looking, yet smooth papers. On the down side (especially for folks like you and me), it requires a bit of setting up, including making the paste. And the cleanup cannot be put off when you’re done, or you’ll wind up with everything ruined the next day. I tend to keep going and not realize how wiped out I am until it’s too late. And then it’s time to clean up. But overall it’s definitely a fun thing to do, if I can pull it off.
Hmmm, cleaning. Never a fun thing to do. And I am sort of pleased (in my usual sick puppy way) that someone else keeps going until way after they should have stopped. Wonderful results you achieved though – and so many of them do look three dimensional.
I thought you’d understand that. All too well… !
Yup. As you say, all too well. Sigh.
I should add that the page layout problem is now, obviously fixed. Over an hour in help forum purgatory finally led me to the answer.
I just looked at the whole batch on Flickr – I loooooove them!
Thanks Annie! :-)
Great tools and super great results!
(from a paste paper enthusiast who loses all her enthusiasm when it’s time to wrap up and clean!)
Thanks Anna! Tee hee… isn’t it funny how that last cleaning step can feel longer than the actual time spent painting? The mysteries of time… (says the fool who thought she’d squeeze in “just a few” pieces with some leftover paste last night and wound up staying up way past her bedtime washing brushes).
Utterly inspired again about paste paper… wow x 10 to the power of a kajillion on the “Toothbrushes”. The best example I’ve seen, yet, of it piling up more on certain edges that, with savvy and finesse, really become 3D shadows. Thank you.
Thanks Jeff! And sorry for the late response—I don’t check this old blog that often. I appreciate your kind comment. Makes me want to play with paint and paste again!