Sunday, September 18, 2011

Techniques & Tools: Chapter 1


Welcome to the 5th edition of The Pulse -- The State of the Art -- a survey in words and pictures of the online artist community. The Pulse is a collaborative project that aims to introduce you to new artists, help you get to know familiar faces even more, and allow you access into the creative hearts and minds of a very talented crew of individuals. More than 130 artists have answered a series of questions which make up The Pulse. Their responses will be presented in a series of online posts which will run every Sunday.

Style File was the first project posted and links to all 12 posts can be found on the sidebar of my blog. The second project, Techniques & Tools, begins right now...


Participants were asked: 'The one technique or tool that you cannot live without is... ' I have added links of my own choosing to each contribution below, sometimes to products, sometimes to videos, sometimes to the artist's own work, and sometimes to something unexpected. Even the contributors do not know what I will be linking to!
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Paint splatter. I learned this from Lynne Perrella and I find myself using it on almost everything I do. I love to experiment with thin and thick paint mixtures and different angles and brush tapping techniques. Endlessly diverse results.
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I love my stencils. I use stencils when it would be easier not to. They protect the best areas, they can add pattern or texture. I like sticky stencils, quilting stencils, paper stencils, hand cut stencils. scrapbook stencils, and every other kind of stencil. Anything with a hole in it can be a stencil. Anything you can cut a hole into is potentially be a stencil. 
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Caran d'Ache water soluble wax pastel crayons.

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Stitching. It's obsessive, nostalgic, and holds everything together.
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Spray ink and stenciling/masking. So versatile. I am constantly finding new ways to use spray ink.
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There are too many! I'm still in love with Creative Paperclay. There are so many ideas I have for its application. Now I just have to find the time.
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At the moment (and this changes from year to year) I would have to say Photoshop. I can't go a day without playing with my Photoshop.
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I can't live without my Fretz hammers. I refuse to consider it. My best piece of advice on this is: get the best tools you can afford.  
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Hmm...so many...have to say TomBow glue sticks
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Alcohol Inks from Ranger.
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Next 'Techniques & Tools' will be posted on Sunday, September 25th 

15 comments:

lyle baxter said...

good idea seth. its fun to see other people work! thanks

Sonya Johnson said...

Even though I don't work in mixed media (yet...), I am fascinated by it, and really enjoyed visiting the links of the artists you profiled here.

Great post; look forward to seeing more!

sf said...

Shirley's answer made me smile; it is so her, and also, I think people don't always realize what a fabulous and fabulously basic technique stitching can be. And UTTERLY economical.

bohemiannie! art said...

I kind of liked that there weren't pictures this time. It made me want to go to each blog/website and enjoy those that I may not have visited if a picture HAD been included. :)

Anonymous said...

Fun stuff! Love your links!!

Jill Zaheer said...

What a treat of a post for me- loved reading about everyone's favorite tools and what a wonderful idea of yours to include all of these great links and tutorials!! Never heard of paperclay and loved to see how to use spray ink and alcohol inks in addition to seeing the stencils used. Super new ideas. Thanks Seth for all of your efforts in putting this great post together!

Bleubeard and Elizabeth said...

I spent much of the afternoon reading various blogs and learning about various techniques and tools. This has been a fun day, and I look forward to the next techniques and tools installation, and of course, I look forward to Wednesday, too.

Artsnark said...

ooh - can't wait to follow these links & find some new tools for my toybox! Thanks for sharing

Bill said...

Go, Lani! :O)

layers said...

well this was certainly wonderful.. to go to new links to find new and creative artists and their blogs or websites.. thanks Seth!

Jo Murray said...

As always, heaps of interesting stuff here Seth.

Unknown said...

great ideas! you are the king of bringing creative ideas together.

Beulah Bee said...

Never thought about stencils as a tool but of course they are! Anne Bagby's video inspired me to spend the afternoon cutting a stencil and I can't wait to use it. Fun! Thanks for the inspirational posts.

Parabolic Muse said...

aaah, those water-soluble pastel crayons....

~*~Patty S said...

another blog post jam packed with goodness Seth!

Big Congrats on being published yet again ... they could not have featured a better person for their first issue than you!

lots to read and enjoy
Many thanks to you!
oxo