Wednesday, June 29, 2011

A Little More Art

I'm very much behind in my online "Composition for Collage" class with Claudine Hellmuth, but I am enjoying it tremendously. I wanted to share the two pieces I did for the "Horizon Line" assignment.

Claudine explains basically there are two horizon lines, high and low. She also said it was sometimes harder to find examples of high horizon, so I decided to do both of mine that way. (I still want to do low... someday. First I need to work on "vignette" and "grid.")

Above is a high-horizon snow scene. It's hard to tell from the photo, but the white paper is quite textured. I added a bit of gray watercolor for shadowing and to make the "hills" stand out. The paper for the sky is more navy than black, with flecks of gold and silver. The small moon doesn't show up so well -- it's gold foil. I'll probably rephotograph this in better light. I liked its stark simplicity.

This one needs work, I think. But not much. I basically like the uneven high horizon and the flow. The paper has lots of gray/aqua metallic elements and looks like a stormy sea. Overall, the eye seems to move well. But there is one spot where my eye, at least, seems to get stuck.

The little cat hanging outside the boat is bothering me -- enough that I think I'll cover him up with paper. My intent was that he was in the boat eyeing the "fish" stamp, but it looks more like he fell out! And the art style isn't the same, which in some cases is fine, but in this one might be jarring.

The class has two slide show lectures -- one about the various composition form, another called "From Cluttered to Clean" where she takes elements and moves them around or swaps them out to organize the piece. I will have missed both of the online chats due to work, unfortunately, but the transcripts are printed (though reading a chat transcript is disjointed at best.)

Best of all are the 20 pages of downloads she supplies every week. There is a nice variety -- color, black and white, vintage, photos. For $30 (indefinite use of class materials; feedback from Claudine is done at the end of this week), it has been well worth it!

Don't forget to check out what I've been reading on Chopsticks and String!

13 comments:

Dr. Kathy McCoy said...

Sounds like a great class and I love the pictures of your projects! Thanks for sharing them!

Sally Wessely said...

It is great that you are working on these projects. I liked the first one, but found the second one quite interesting.

Beth Leintz said...

I still think one of my all time favorite art books is Claudine Hellmuth's Collage Discovery Workshop- she really has insight in how to put it together- and I can definetly see her influence in your work.

Joanne Huffman said...

It looks like a great class. I love what you're doing.

Janet said...

These are both good. The kitties in the snow is my favorite.

~*~Patty S said...

looks and sounds like you are having a super time Jeanie!

oxo

Barb said...

What fun, Jeanie. I'm taken with the second which seems to tell a visual story. I wonder if high and low horizon is something like the rule of thirds in photography? Have a great 4th weekend. Is it still hot there?

Arti said...

"From Cluttered to Clean"... oh how I need that! This sounds like a wonderful class, Jeanie, and your work is so whimsical. I look forward to seeing more of your works in your future posts.

Tracy said...

Very fun... I love the sense of playfulness & whimsy in both these works, Jeanie... great to see what you have in progress. :o) Happy Weekend ((HUGS))

Annie Jeffries said...

Great class, Jeanie. I very much like the snow scene and that grinning kitty.

Bella Rum said...

Sounds like fun. So interesting. Enjoy! Love the snow scene.

Privet and Holly said...

I think everyone
should take an
art class now and
then, just to stay
connected to the
creative, free-flowing
side of our brains!
Love your collages!
xx Suzanne

Anonymous said...

the textures are wonderful ♥

ohh and i'm so curious about

'there are two horizon lines'

was this a suggestion to place the horizon high or low to create a pleasing compositions - or is she offering a different idea??

looking forward to catching up in person on the 20th

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