28 Apr 2016
by angelajkidd
in Art Tips, Artwork, Children's Illustrations
Tags: acrylic, art tutorials, artwork, children's illustration, collage, dreams, ink, mixed media, style
collage, acrylic, ink
Greetings, My Lovelies 🙂
Happy Almost-Friday! I’ve decided to share with you another new art piece that I’m excited about. This piece helped fuel my inspiration and basically makes me happy every time I look at it. It opened doorways that allowed me to re-envision an ongoing art project that I put aside for quite some time. Yata!
What I love about the technology age is that there has never been a better time to be an artist. Why? Because we have access to so many styles and tutorials at our fingertips. No longer must one simply go to an expensive art school to learn traditionally. There is certainly nothing wrong with going the traditional route, but in today’s fast-paced, modern world, not everyone has time or money for this. Even if they do, everyone can benefit from additional education and opportunities for growth.
I learned this collage technique from artist nicoletta zanella in this video. I encourage you to go online and find some art classes or web videos to watch. Engage. Be curious. Take on a new challenge. See where it takes you and how you can incorporate it into your own personal style. And in the end, you may find that you’ve expanded your world and you can be more YOU.
22 Apr 2016
by angelajkidd
in Artwork, Meditation, Self-help, Sumi-e Paintings
Tags: artwork, cherry blossoms, fish, gyotaku, imperfection, ink, Japan, sumi-e painting, watercolor
ink print
So as promised, here is the artwork I created at the Japanese art class. The above fish ink painting is inspired by the Japanese art of printing fish known as gyotaku. We used rubber fish, but typically artists print from the real thing! The tradition may have started as a way for fishermen to record their catch. It’s harder than it looks because you have to use just the right amount of ink and then press in all areas evenly. But boy was it fun to paint a fish!
watercolor and ink
This next piece is considered a Japanese scroll painting of cherry blossoms. I thought it was perfect for the season 🙂 There’s actually an interesting story behind the process of creating this painting. My friend and I attended this workshop together. Both of us like watercolor AND controlling the outcome of our work. But those two things don’t really go together. The nature of watercolor supports spontaneity and embracing happy accidents.
Well, we finished our blossoms and couldn’t seem to go any further, although the next step was to take a clean, wet brush and paint over the surface to produce a beautiful, loose, watercolor effect. Were we doing that? No way! But then I decided I needed to grow. So I took a chance…a slightly calculated, slow, rhythmic, in-the-flow chance. And wow, the world didn’t end and my painting didn’t get wrecked. Under total surrender, the painted deepened in its value and aesthetic beauty all because I took a chance. And you know what? I looked over at my friend who appreciates control far more than I do. And what is she doing? She’s embracing water and freedom and lack of control like crazy! And truthfully, it looked like a perfect storm on her paper for a few minutes. We could not predict the outcome to save our lives. BUT as the water and paint dried, there emerged these blossoms as if from a fire of smoke, water, and ashes. Imperfect. Beautiful. Just like life.
15 Apr 2016
by angelajkidd
in Artwork
Tags: artwork, flowers, greeting cards, ink, mixed media, watercolor
Greetings my lovely readers! I’m still making cards. I recently attended a Japanese art class where we painted cherry blossoms. Look for that in a later post 😉 But meanwhile, it inspired me to go home and create even more artwork! I decided to try painting some of my mixed media flowers with watercolor and ink. If you would like to see others like this, check out my post here. Enjoy 🙂
11 Mar 2016
by angelajkidd
in Artwork, Children's Illustrations, Poetry
Tags: artwork, collage, greeting card, ink, moon, owl, poetry, spring, stars, sun, watercolor
Happy almost spring, dear readers! Are you getting pumped for the time change? I know I am. Sure, we lose an hour, but we gain a whole hour of daylight!
I’m celebrating the end of hibernation by making my own cards, which I haven’t done in years. I’m excited to reignite this pastime, which one of my dearest friends got me hooked on ages ago. Here’s a little poem for inspiration.
Go towards the daylight
go willingly
even if it ends in sleep–
Catch stars in your wings
For you were born among them
Shine brighter than the sun and moon combined
© 2016 Angie Kidd all rights reserved
08 Apr 2014
by angelajkidd
in Art Exhibitions, Artwork, Promotion
Tags: #twitterartexhibit, charity, collage, dance, donation, ink, Japanese fans, Orlando, postcard art, special needs, watercolor
postcard art for charity at #twitterartexhibit in Orlando
Here’s a look at some of the postcard art displayed at the #twitterartexhibit in Orlando. All of these works have been donated from artists around the world to benefit The Center for Contemporary Dance, Special Needs Students. Postcards are still available to purchase online until April 11th. The postcards have a set price of $35 plus $7 for shipping and 100% of donations go to the above named charity.
My entry is posted on the bottom right, 4th one over at the top. You can view and purchase it here. You can also check out other amazing postcard art for purchase. See my previous post for further details.
21 Feb 2014
by angelajkidd
in Art Exhibitions, Artwork
Tags: #twitterartexhibit, art exhibition, artwork, charity, collage, dance, fan, hand-dyed paper, ink, Japanese, mixed media, Orlando, postcard, special needs
hand-dyed paper, collage, and ink
I’m very excited to introduce a new piece of art that will be part of an international group art exhibition in Orlando, FL this year. This show features postcard art from all over the world and will benefit The Center for Contemporary Dance, Special Needs Students. It runs from March 20 – April 11, 2014. You can check out the awesome entries online.
Although there is no theme, some people chose to honor the art of dance. I originally titled my piece Japanese Fans. But do you notice anything special about the fans? First of all, they’re all cut from different paper, symbolizing the unique identify of each individual. What about the placement of the fans on the postcard? Do you feel a sense of movement? Like they might just dance off the page? I hope so! That’s why I decided to rename them Dancing Japanese Fans. But for the exhibition, they will be labeled with the original title. That way the message will be open for viewers to interpret. Whatever people take away from the piece is fine, but I hope they will see that despite our differences in appearance and ability, we are all united by dance 🙂
As to the process, I wanted to reflect my connection to and affinity for Japanese culture. The fan shapes were cut from papers that I hand-dyed myself using liquid watercolor and a Japanese folding technique. Then I created a collage with the fans and added ink as a final touch. Voila!
The Japanese Fan Dance has been around for centuries. Although the fans originally represented high social status, they now symbolize friendship and are often exchanged as signs of good will and respect for one another.
Japanese fans are considered highly symbolic, with the handle of the fan representing birth and the blades symbolizing many possible paths in life. What path will you take in life? Will you hide behind your fan? Consider letting your unique self show and maybe even dance!
24 Jan 2014
by angelajkidd
in Artwork, Children's Illustrations, Sumi-e Paintings
Tags: artwork, children's illustration, collage, ink, Japanese, koi, lily pad, mixed media, sumi-e, watercolor
Japanese sumi-e ink and collage on rice paper
Japanese sumi-e ink and collage on rice paper
Happy Friday! Welcome to my current style. I’m also practicing the idea of carrying a character from illustration to illustration. What do you think will happen next???
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